Tourism's potential highlighted at the 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries

10-02-23

• UNWTO presented tourism as a key pillar of sustainable development at the fifth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.

The Conference, held in Doha under the theme "From Potential to Prosperity", has taken place at a crucial moment, halfway in the timeline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and fully implement the 2030 Agenda. With the sector accounting for 7% of total exports, and up to 10% in non-oil exporting Least Developed Countries (LDCs), tourism has demonstrated its capacity to drive development. Its cross-cutting nature and labour-intensive nature also link it to many other economic sectors and make tourism a valuable sector for national development strategies and support to entrepreneurs, the backbone of the sector. Tourism has been one of the key factors enabling the graduation of LDCs that are also SIDS, such as Cape Verde, Samoa, Maldives and, more recently, Vanuatu.

The UN Conference brought together Heads of State, governments, civil society organisations, entrepreneurs, students, youth and public decision-makers. In Doha, UNWTO participated in the UN Chief Executives' Meeting, several high-level events and thematic roundtables with industry partners to assist in financing, forging commitments and underpinning long-term sustainable support for LDCs. Topics raised included climate action, innovation, new financing mechanisms, education, youth empowerment, digitalisation and training.

Private sector partnerships

The Private Sector Forum session on sustainable tourism, co-organised with UNWTO under the theme of "Achieving Universal Access to Clean and Affordable Energy through Partnerships", featured prominent representatives from TUI Care Foundation, the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia and the Asian Development Bank. Discussions focused on the potential of forging innovative partnerships that contribute to a sustainable recovery and lead to better policy and fiscal incentives for the private sector to rebound. UNWTO was proud to announce the creation of the "Tourism for Development Fund" for the Least Developed Countries, which will support projects in LDCs with a minimum of 10 million Euros until 2030, in partnership with the TUI Care Foundation.

UNWTO also hosted a special side event on "Harnessing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Tourism as Tools for Sustainable Development in LDCs", supported by Qatar Tourism. Here, startups from the UNWTO Global SDG Startup Competition showcased their solutions to help drive change in their countries and a panel discussion was held on how innovation and partnerships in tourism can accelerate economic development. Participating startups included SEMA (Uganda), Community Homestay Network (Nepal) and At hause Ltd (Uganda).

Qatar Tourism COO Berthold Trenkel said: "By 2030, Qatar Tourism aims to triple the number of visitors to the destination to over six million visitors per year, triple or quadruple spending, and increase the contribution of travel and tourism to GDP from 7% to 12%. Moreover, we want to double employment in the sector, while continuing to position Qatar as a world leader in service excellence. To achieve this ambitious goal, Qatar Tourism intends to leverage the entire tourism value chain, increase local and international visitor demand, attract investment to the sector and generate a multiplier effect on the national economy."

The 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries is a once-in-a-decade opportunity for the world's most vulnerable to find their place in global priorities. UNWTO is fully committed to the implementation of the Doha Agenda for Action, focusing on innovation, digitalization and new financing models to contribute to the economic growth and graduation of the Least Developed Countries.