Alberto Rubio
Pedro Sánchez yesterday underlined the “central role” of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the recovery of the sector, to which he sent a clear message: “the agenda of global economic recovery cannot be stopped, especially in tourism”.
In the framework of the UNWTO General Assembly and during the thematic session ‘Building the future: innovation, education and rural development‘, the President of the Spanish Government addressed the delegates, who have been meeting in Madrid since Tuesday, to stress that Spain’s commitment consists of a rapid, resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery of the sector.
Sánchez believes that these plans must be carried out “taking advantage of the current situation of change” to not only reactivate the industry, but also modernise it by boosting the digitalisation of companies. He therefore called for “redefining” the tourism industry with four basic actions: safe mobility, global vaccination, multilateral unity of action and a sustainable tourism model.
In this regard, he assured that Spain wants to “serve as a benchmark” for other countries to undertake the transformation of world tourism together. As an example of this commitment, the Spanish government has given the UNWTO the Palacio de Congresos building on the Paseo de la Castellana as its new headquarters.
The President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Julia Simpson, called for the lifting of travel restrictions because, she said, “closing borders does not work” and mentioned in particular that the restrictions currently imposed on several African countries should be lifted “quickly”. To this end, he proposed “universalising” vaccination and avoiding the bureaucracy that many countries have deployed with a “digital solution” to speed up safe travel.
At the same session, the Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, highlighted the role of women in tourism, which “is an engine of social and territorial transformation”.
For his part, the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, described yesterday’s event as “historic” because “we are going to talk about projects that are going to contribute to the development of inclusive and sustainable tourism”. He referred in particular to the ‘Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO‘ initiative, which yesterday recognised 44 villages from 32 countries. All of them have been valued for their respect for natural and cultural resources, their innovative and transformative approaches and their commitment to tourism development in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
