The commitment of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to moving closer to its Members and being on the ground in every region has been further demonstrated through confirmed plans for two new Regional Offices.

At the 25th UNWTO General Assembly (16-20 October 2023, Samarkand, Uzbekistan), Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili set out his leadership vision for the Organization, including the aim of adding to the growing network of Regional and Thematic offices. At the Assembly, Mr. Pololikashvili signed an agreement with Minister of Tourism of Brazil, Celso Sabino, to open a Regional Office for the Americas in Rio de Janeiro. Alongside this, UNWTO continues to work closely with the Kingdom of Morocco to establish a Regional Office for Africa in Marrakesh.

Reflecting the clear aims of the leadership vision for both UNWTO and the global tourism sector, Regional Offices will focus on one or more of the Organization's priorities. The planned Regional Office for Africa will focus on the priorities of innovation and investments in tourism, while the Regional Office for the Americas will also be focused on investment. They will join the Regional Office for the Middle East, opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2021, which is now a hub for tourism education and tourism for rural development, and the UNWTO Regional office for Asia and the Pacific in Nara, Japan.

Secretary-General Pololikashvili's leadership vision for expanding and enhancing UNWTO's presence on the ground also includes a commitment to new and more diverse Thematic Offices. At the119th session of the UNWTO Executive Council, also held in Samarkand, the Government of Uzbekistan presented its proposal to establish a Thematic Office for Tourism on the Silk Road in the city of Samarkand.

Additionally, after successfully unblocking stalled plans to move on from UNWTO's home for more than 50 years, the Secretary-General used the occasion of the General Assembly to report that the Spanish Government is now set to start work on a new headquarters in Madrid. Works are expected to conclude in the first semester of 2025.

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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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