UN Tourism brings global leaders to build peace-sensitive tourism sector

Dhaka: On World Tourism Day 2024, UN Tourism brought together sector leaders from every global region around a common vision and commitment to building a “peace-sensitive sector”, recognising its potential to build bridges and foster understanding.

The official celebrations on September 27 in Tbilisi, Georgia, welcomed almost 500 participants from 51 different countries, including 13 Ministers of Tourism.

Reflecting its firm commitment to the day and its theme of "Peace and Tourism", the host country was represented by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as well as seven other Ministers, showcasing tourism's cross-sectoral importance.

Welcoming delegates, UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, said, "Without peace, there is no tourism. I call on all of you to help build a—'peace-sensitive tourism sector', one that plays a key role in building peace and ending conflicts, provides tourism stakeholders with tools to realise this potential, promotes tourism education as peace education, and links tourism to other peace building initiatives".

Reflecting on the theme of World Tourism Day 2024, "Tourism and Peace", the official celebrations featured a Ministerial Debate focusing on what this looks like in action, participated by Ministers representing Georgia, Uzbekistan, Sierra Leone and Bahrain.

Key takeaways include the important role of tourism in combatting disinformation and mistrust, and the essential need to ensure the benefits tourism delivers are enjoyed fairly and equally across societies.

To complement the public sector view, the day also featured a private-sector panel. The dialogue explored the private sector's potential and responsibility and to leverage its strengths and capabilities to promote peace and stability through tourism, and how it can work with the public sector to achieve these essential goals.

On the occasion of World Tourism Day, UN Tourism launched the latest edition of its growing portfolio of investment guidelines.