UNWTO outlines 2022: year of rethinking tourism

02-01-23

2022 was the year to rethink tourism. Countries around the world translated the World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) vision of a greener, smarter and more inclusive sector into real action.

"2020 made clear the importance of tourism for sustainable development. 2021 laid the foundations for the transformation of the sector. In 2022, we have achieved it," says the world's leading tourism authority, UNWTO.

January

2022 started on a positive note. UNWTO data showed that tourism was taking off cautiously and needed a rethink. The UN amplified UNWTO's global claim of tourism's role in recovery. The UNWTO collaborated with other agencies such as the WHO, for example, to jointly warn that "blanket travel restrictions do not work.

February

Advancing shared goals with the United Nations, UNWTO and WHO called for the lifting of the travel ban and agreed to collaborate on a global structure for travel recovery. Numerous leaders pledged to join UNWTO's initiative to build environmentally and socially sustainable tourism. February ended with UNWTO raising its voice for tourism for peace and solidarity in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

March

UNWTO tourism data continued to reflect a promising start to 2022. This month, UNWTO published new guidelines making women's empowerment one of the linchpins of the tourism reboot, and announced the launch of the second edition of Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO to promote rural development through tourism.

April

At the first extraordinary session of the UNWTO General Assembly to date, held in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UNWTO Members voted in favour of the suspension of Russia as a Member. Reinforcing the global objectives, UNWTO launched the "Awake Tourism Challenge" for startups. The Glasgow Declaration has continued to expand since its launch at COP26 and more than 500 signatories are now willing to move to climate action in tourism.

May

An important moment. UNWTO and tourism were at the top of the UN agenda: the first UN General Assembly High Level Debate on Sustainable Development in New York, which triggered immediate action and reverberated throughout the rest of the year. Other milestones in May were the upgrading of SMEs through the Digital Futures programme, and the strengthening of consumer rights as more countries joined the International Code for the Protection of Tourists.

June

In the face of uncertainty, tourism continued to grow, as reported in the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This was the context for the 116th session of the UNWTO Executive Council in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. UNWTO successfully advocated tourism actions at the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, prior to the major event on tourism and youth.

July

Youth empowerment is a priority for UNWTO. The first World Youth Summit on Tourism brought together young people from 57 countries to participate in tourism decision-making, as reflected in the Sorrento Call to Action. In the same month, the UN Secretary-General's report on progress towards the SDGs used UNWTO's statistical work to track tourism's role as an engine of growth.

August

International tourism continued to show positive data, with 250 million international arrivals recorded during the first five months of 2022. This was the context for World Tourism Day 2022 and its theme of "Rethinking Tourism".

September

World Tourism Day on 27 September emphasised the sector's unique potential to drive recovery and promote positive change for people around the world. The Day followed the G20 tourism working group meeting in Bali, where UNWTO presented the Bali Guidelines for SMEs. Looking at progress since the beginning of the year, tourism was at 60% of pre-pandemic levels.

A busy month in which UNWTO also promoted tourism and rural development at the 6th Wine Tourism Conference in Alba, Italy, and promoted tourism education with the launch of the first UNWTO Students League competition in Switzerland.

October

Sustainability and the green transformation of tourism took centre stage in October when the UNWTO International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) expanded with new members and several ministers agreed to boost circularity and climate action in pan-European tourism.

November

Tourism was transformed at the UNWTO Ministers' Summit, the most successful edition to date, with delegates joining UNWTO's vision for rethinking tourism. UNWTO championed the role of tourism at COP27, which it attended on behalf of the more than 700 signatories of the Glasgow Declaration to promote a net zero emissions sector. This was followed by new data showing that arrivals were at 63% of pre-pandemic levels for the period January-September 2022. This was the backdrop for the 117th session of the UNWTO Executive Council in Marrakech, Morocco.

December

Rural development, inclusiveness and sustainability were the topics of conversation at the 7th World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism.  The announcement of the Best Tourism Villages winners and the Students' League capped 2022 with their solutions to boost rural development through tourism. In 2023, we look ahead, moving from rethinking to transforming the sector around key priorities: jobs and skills, education and youth development, and sustainability and innovation. With UNWTO as the voice of tourism at the global level, including at the UN General Assembly, the sector has never been more relevant, nor more needed. (Taken from the official UNWTO website).