Ministers of tourism and high-ranking officials meeting at the 93rd session of the UNWTO Executive Council have highlighted the role of tourism in addressing continuing challenges in the world economy, from a slowdown in growth to global unemployment.

Biodiversity is tourism’s natural capital, motivating millions of people to travel the world each year. Yet biodiversity is at risk on a global scale due largely to unsustainable human activities.

On June 4, 2012, at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Le Chalet-à-Gobet located at 1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland, 170 final year students from the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) are being challenged to build strong strategic plans for 10 Silk Road countries through the EHL/UNWTO (UN World Tourism Organization)Silk Road Strategy Challenge.

Visa facilitation is central to stimulating economic growth and job creation through tourism, the World Travel & Tourism Council has argued. The G20 can have a particularly important role to play in this respect, boosting their international tourist numbers by an additional 122 million, generating an extra $206 billion in tourism exports and creating over five million additional jobs by 2015 the body argued.

Myanmar president U Thein Sein has confirmed the country will initiate the process of restoring its membership of United Nations World Tourism Organisation. Officials in the country argue the destination is unique in that it can offer a relatively untouched, authentic experience that few countries around the world can still truly deliver.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has given a decisive stamp of approval on how Victoria Falls is shaping up as the signed-and-sealed destination for its August 2013 global General Assembly. UNWTO executive director Zoltan Somogyi led a delegation of three on an appraisal visit to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and Livingstone (Zambia) in the first week of March 2012.