The 5th T.20 Ministers´ Meeting (gathering the Ministers of Tourism of the G20 economies) debated the progress on visa facilitation policies among the G20 economies following 2012 Los Cabos Declaration, in which G20 Leaders recognizing the “role of travel and tourism as a vehicle for job creation, economic growth and development” committed to work on “travel facilitation initiatives in support of job creation, quality work, poverty reduction and global growth:”
“Clear progress has been made in the area of visa facilitation in recent years, namely among the G20 economies” said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. “Many countries have opened up unilaterally and advanced visa facilitation policies. Yet despite these significant advances, there is still room for improvement particularly when it its proven that visa facilitation... more
The ST-EP International Organization was presented to countries interested in joining as founding members on the occasion of the World Travel Market in London, 6 November 2013.
The process leading to the creation of the ST-EP International Organization was presented during the WTM and discussed with the over 35 countries which have so far expressed their interest in joining as founding members and hosting regional offices for the new Organization.
The creation of the new Organization follows the decision of the 20th UNWTO General Assembly, to transform the existing ST-EP Foundation into a full-fledged international organization, to be headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
The UNWTO Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating Poverty Initiative (ST-EP) was born in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesbur to promote poverty alleviation through the... more
The 3rd edition of the UNWTO International Conference on Tourism and the Media will take place in Estoril, Portugal, on 2/3 December 2013 with the topic of “How new media is shaping the news“. Following the success of previous editions, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will bring together key representatives of international media and the tourism world in this ever changing environment.
With the rise of the new media, both the media landscape and the way stories are being told are changing. Millions of consumers now have the possibility to directly engage in the editorial process due to faster than ever evolving technology. More recently, mobile technology and a myriad of applications for smart phone devices are increasingly influencing communication flows.
How has tourism’s media presence and narrative... more
