Source: UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Save the Children Dominican Republic have launched a new challenge to promote the development of educational ideas and experiences through the tourism sector in Central America and the Caribbean.

The challenge seeks innovative and technological proposals in 'Early Stage' development that offer new educational opportunities through the tourism sector. The challenge has two categories:

  • New technologies: People or startups that promote the use of technology to provide solutions to the tourism and education sector.
  • Local impact: People or startups that promote transformation and social improvement, and that belong to the tourism and education sector.

According to Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Zurab Pololikashvili, “tourism is a leading provider of opportunities for young people throughout Central America and the Caribbean, and innovation and new technologies can help us reach more young people, allowing them to benefit as tourism returns to the region.”

"For our organization, the launch of this challenge represents a unique opportunity to capitalize on the potential of the tourism sector in our country and the region, thus generating innovation in favor of childhood education with a high social impact," says Juan Tomás Díaz, President Save the Children Dominicana.

Tourism for the SDGs

Projects must be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations. Additionally, they must be framed in one (or several) of the following areas:

  • The management of destinations or the private management of solutions/products/services developed around and education as tourism and education products;
  • Seeking a balance between sustainable development and the profitability of the project, maximizing its positive impacts.
  • The connection with the market and the user experience in all phases of the journey

Applications are open until 25 June, 2022. The winning projects will be selected based on several criteria, such as the degree of innovation, and its viability and sustainability. The winners will be invited to the Tourism Tech Adventure in the Dominican Republic that will take place in November 2022.

Tourism education for empowerment

Tourism is one of the largest sectors in the world, accounting for more than 4% of direct global GDP in 2019. In the Americas, the contribution of tourism to regional GDP fell from 3.4% to 1.6% during the pandemic. Central America and the Caribbean represent 4.8% of global international arrivals, and reflect the potential in all tourism sub-sectors, and their needs for good training and education.

After the effects of COVID-19, this sector is reinventing itself to achieve more responsible, innovative and accessible tourism. The pandemic has also disrupted education systems around the world, highlighting that digital learning must become an essential service available to all. This means that all children and young people have access to first-rate digital solutions that facilitate personalized learning and open the doors to a better future.

UNWTO supports digital education and innovation initiatives promoted by Startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, which will play a leading role in the revival of tourism in the coming years.

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About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

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