Guatemala Participated in UNWTO Tourism Event in Uzbekistan to promote tourism
Guatemala City (AGN/UNWTO) – The Guatemalan Tourism Institute -Inguat- announced Guatemala’s participation in the 25th General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization -UNWTO-. This meeting took place from October 16 to 20 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, as part of the activities developed within the context of this assembly.
Anayansy Rodríguez, Director of Inguat, represented the country on the international panel on the evolution of tourism education and its contribution to sustainable tourism development.
The Education Forum, which aims to discuss key strategies for transforming tourism education systems, mentioned how high-performing countries have reformed their educational programs, focusing on integrating technological resources and constantly updating content.
The Inguat director also stressed the importance of creating programs to promote and strengthen business and creative capacities for a better academic future for the global tourism industry.
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The event included activities such as the Global Investment Forum. The main goal of this forum was to promote sustainable investments focused on specific guidelines established by the UNWTO.
Likewise, the 119th session of the UNWTO Executive Council was held. The meeting focused on tourism investments’ different points of view to promote new investment forms. These contemplate strengthening actions in the hotel and infrastructure sectors, turning them into sustainable fields. The meeting also addressed global trends in tourism investments.
The UNWTO Assembly is a meeting for leaders from the public and private sectors related to tourism. This year, under the leadership of Uzbekistan.
The General Assembly’s mission is to promote sustainability and tourism development at the global level, and it functions as a generator of connections between nations.
UNWTO New Regional and Thematic Offices
UNWTO’s commitment to moving closer to its Members and being on the ground in
every region was further emphasized as the Assembly was given an update on work to
establish new Regional and Thematic offices. Members heard:
• The Regional Office for the Middle East, opened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2021, is
an established hub for tourism education and tourism for rural development. From
here, UNWTO has opened the Riyadh School for Hospitality and Tourism, launched a
first Education Toolkit for high schools, and also launched the Best Tourism Villages
initiative.
• UNWTO signed an agreement with the Government of Brazil to establish a Regional
Office in Rio de Janeiro, to be focused on investments.
• The planned Regional Office for Africa in Marrakesh, Morocco, will focus on the
priorities of innovation and investments in tourism.
• The hosts of this Assembly, Uzbekistan, presented its proposal to establish a
Thematic Office for Tourism on the Silk Road. The proposal was approved by the
119th session of the UNWTO Executive Council.
World Tourism Day Report
Just three weeks after World Tourism Day 2023, Member States were given an update
on UNWTO’s work growing the sector’s global day of observance. The Secretary of the
Assembly provided a recap of the past two events and looked ahead to the two years
to come.
• World Tourism Day 2022 was hosted in Bali, Indonesia, around the theme of
Rethinking Tourism, with the 2023 celebrations – the biggest to date – held in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, around the theme of Tourism and Green Investments. The General
Assembly agreed to adopt the “Tourism Opens Minds” pledge, introduced by
UNWTO that day, and recommends that the Secretariat takes steps to advance the
initiative, including through the funding of relevant programmes and campaigns.
• Members of the General Assembly approved the themes and the hosts for the next
two years. For 2024, the theme will be “Tourism and Peace”, to be hosted by Georgia,
and then Malaysia will host World Tourism Day 2025 around the theme of Tourism
and Sustainable Developments.