The World Travel & Tourism Council has launched a global best practices recognition initiative in order to equip tourism ministers, sector leaders and policymakers with the insights to develop and implement proven policies in the sector.

Tourism is one of the most dynamic economic sectors in the world, representing 10.4 per cent of global GDP, one in ten jobs on the planet (319 million) and 6.5 per cent of global exports in 2018.

Given its forecasted growth and its ability to drive job creation, reduce poverty, foster regional integration and connect people across the world, tourism is a unique position to make a difference, providing opportunities for developing and emerging nations to move up the value chain, argues the WTTC.

Yet, despite the sector’s ability to be a force for good, best practices across tourism are not readily available for both the public and private sector, often compelling governments to unnecessarily reinvent the wheel, researching solutions to problems that have already been successfully innovated on elsewhere in the world.

In this context, WTTC’s global best practices recognition initiative seeks to compile quantifiable best practice across tourism to provide the sector with a wealth of insights that will enable both the public and private sectors to learn from the successful experiences of other countries as they develop, review and implement related policies.

This will be an ongoing Initiative, continually updated by integrating the most recent quantifiable success stories into a new online repository to ensure that the most innovative policies are shared among tourism networks.

Among the policies identified in this initial phase are the USA’s global entry program, which provides expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival; Colombia’s significant investments and rebranding that have rebuilt the country as a safe and desirable destination; and Palau’s ‘Pledge’, which permits entry to the island upon the visitor signing a pledge asking them to respect the island’s ecology and support local business.

Gloria Guevara, WTTC president, commented: “When I was the minister of tourism for Mexico, I would have greatly appreciated such a toolkit, and I am confident that policymakers across the globe will find the global best practices recognition initiative invaluable to their efforts to enhance tourism competitiveness.”

More Information

Every year, WTTC, which represents the global private sector of tourism, holds its Global Summit in a different city around the world.

The 2019 WTTC Global Summit will take place in Seville, Spain, and will be hosted by Ayuntamiento of Seville, Turismo Andaluz and Turespaña.

Find out more on the official website.