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The heightened importance of boosting investments and innovation was underscored as public and private sector leaders met to shape the future of the global tourism sector.
Further advancing UN Tourism’s leading role in these two key pillars of change, the Global Investment and Innovation Forum welcomed Ministers of Tourism, alongside key players from global finance and business.
Alongside UN Tourism, the Forum was supported by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, ProColombia, Invest in Cartagena and CAF (the Investment Bank for Latin America and the Caribbean). Underscoring the high-level discussions was a recognition of the vital need to increase investment into the sector while at the same time injecting it with new ideas and energy through promoting innovation at every level.
Opening the Forum, UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “There is both an urgency and an opportunity to build sustainable and inclusive destinations that support local economies, empower communities, and preserve their invaluable cultural heritage’.
“This Forum makes clear the vital importance of connections: both between public and private sector players and also between countries, to increase and better direct investments into tourism, and to accelerate its digital transformation, with innovation at the heart of everything we do.”
In a show of high-level political support for UN Tourism’s work, Colombian President Gustavo Petro addressed the Forum. President Petro made clear the important role the sector is playing in diversifying the country’s economy while also advancing goals around sustainability.
“We not only need money, we need innovation and a lot of it. And innovation has to focus on the decarbonization of tourism activities, integrally. Colombia can replace its coal and oil currencies in large part with tourism, and we would move forward.”
“This 122nd Session of the Executive Council of UN Tourism was proof that as a country, we have the capacity to work together to carry out events of great magnitude,” The Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Luis Carlos Reyes said.
“It has also been a very productive three days, in which we have shown the world our commitment to strengthening community-based, sustainable and environmentally responsible tourism. Tourism can be the central axis for the protection of nature, and we are pleased that the countries that are part of this Council share this purpose.”
“More investments and greater innovation are essential to take tourism to the next level,” said UN Tourism executive director Natalia Bayona.
“They can unlock many new opportunities, for businesses, jobs and building more resilience and inclusivity. Colombia shines as a top example of how investment in tourism really delivers, not least for rural communities, for women, youth and post-conflict societies.”
Partnerships the key
UN Tourism serves as the bridge, connecting governments and destinations with investors of all sizes. In Cartagena, the Forum put the spotlight on such collaboration, with a Leaders’ Dialogue emphasizing the role partnerships can play in driving growth and transforming tourism. Joining Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Tourism of Bahrain, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Zambia,
The Forum also provided a platform for enhanced cooperation between global regions. High-level conversations focused on investment strategies for tourism, including the growing relevance of free zones, financial instruments and reformed governance as a means of increasing levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) into tourism, both in the Americas and globally.
Innovation for the future of tourism
Alongside the huge importance of investments, the Forum made clear the key role that innovation will play in shaping the future of tourism, including through offering more inclusive and resilient growth. Highlighting the huge pool of talent across the Americas, UN Tourism celebrated the finalists of its Innovation in Green Projects Challenge, organized with CAF. The Challenge attracted ideas from more than 500 young entrepreneurs more than 20 countries from across Latin America and the Caribbean. Of them, more than 180 are based in Colombia. Natoure, from Mexico, which promotes innovation for nature conservation, was named as the winner.
Also looking to the future, a concluding panel on Innovation and Leadership, focused on the part future generations will play in transforming tourism, emphasizing the need to nurture young talent today through education, training and funding and networking opportunities.
