UNWTO celebrated the Future of Environmental and Sustainable Tourism in Albania

08-04-23

Furthering UNWTO's work to promote cross-border collaboration, Secretary-General Pololikashvili hosted the first meeting of South East Europe Tourism Ministers. Ministers from eight countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) explored opportunities for further cooperation on projects in the region. Participants agreed to hold annual meetings of ministers and state secretaries to improve regional collaboration on tourism.

We must focus first on two priorities, people and investment, because without the right people or the right investments, our plans for transformed tourism will not take off.

Governance and cooperation

Organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Environment of the Republic of Albania in collaboration with UNWTO, the three-day forum brought together leaders from the public and private sectors to focus on the challenges and opportunities of sustainable travel. Opening the forum, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili underlined the great strides that tourism has made in sustainability, while stressing that much remains to be done: "We must first focus on two priorities, people and investment, because without the right people or the right investment, our plans for transformed tourism will not take off.

Further emphasising this political priority, UNWTO leaders joined the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, and the Albanian Minister of Tourism, Mirela Kumbaro, to lead high-level discussions focused on the need for more and better investment in tourism. Emphasis was placed on the importance of strong and clear governance to drive plans for greater sustainability across the tourism sector.

Tourism and the European Green Pact

In the framework of FESTA, Secretary-General Pololikashvili met with European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans to discuss the role of tourism in advancing the European Green Pact, which he leads. UNWTO is leading tourism's shift towards greater sustainability, in particular through the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism and the Global Initiative on Tourism and Plastics.