The 3rd World Sports Tourism Congress (WSTC) gathered worldwide experts and leaders of sports and tourism at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Co-organized by UN Tourism and the Government of the Region of Madrid, with support of Visit Nayarit and Turkish Airlines, the Congress highlighted the transformative potential of sports tourism as a driver of economic growth, social development, and sustainability.

This Congress, as well as the whole line of activity on Sports Tourism developed by UN Tourism through the Affiliate Members and Public-Private Collaboration Department, represents the continuation of a path we embarked upon several years ago. The World Sports Tourism Congress was designed as a platform to exchange and generate knowledge, showcasing best practices, and fostering connections. Working together, we can make Sports Tourism a key driver of economic diversification for destinations worldwide. UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili
Madrid is a leading region and a point of attraction for all those who want to enjoy sports in a unique setting. In addition to its cultural, heritage, and leisure offerings, it provides a vast array of sports activities for a wide audience. Furthermore, the regional government is committed to improving the quality of life for its citizens through physical activity and sports. Mariano de Paco Serrano, Regional Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Sports, of the Region of Madrid

Spotlight on Leadership and Inclusivity

The WSTC featured 40 speakers across 10 panels, addressing a variety of topics such as government strategies, sponsorship trends, best practices in sports tourism and sustainable, reinforcing its position as a unique platform for dialogue and the exchange of knowledge. The congress also featured conversations with inspiring sports figures, including Gilberto Godoy, UN Tourism Ambassador for Sports Tourism and volleyball Olympic medallist from Brazil; Gabriela Szabo, Romanian track and field Olympic medallist and former Minister of Youth and Sports; and Teresa Perales, swimmer, and 28-time Paralympic medallist. On this occasion, UN Tourism officially welcomed Perales among its Ambassadors for Sports Tourism, recognizing her as an example and symbol of perseverance given her important contributions to sports and the promotion of inclusivity in tourism.

Main Outcomes

The main outcomes arising from the discussions of the Congress focused on:

  • Innovation: The need for investment in modern technologies to enrich visitor experiences and operational efficiency through VR, smart systems, augmented reality, smart venues, AI-driven personalized recommendations.
  • Infrastructure: The value of multi-purpose, sustainable sports venues that promote year-round engagement. From eco-friendly constructions and operations to energy-efficient technologies- ensuring that sports venues align with global environmental goals and appeal to conscientious travelers.
  • Impact of sports events: both mega or amateur, play a critical role in driving tourism, community engagement, and generating economic benefits at destinations.
  • Collaboration: Building partnerships across governments, local communities, and sports entities to address shared challenges and maximize the sector's potential.

The venue of the event, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, embodied the forward-thinking vision of Madrid as a global leader in sports tourism. In line with this, Madrid's infrastructures, and upcoming projects, such as the Ciudad Atlético initiative and NFL-hosted events, and the upcoming Formula 1 Circuit underscore the Region position as a destination where sports drive tourism, sustainability, and innovation.

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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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