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It’s time to rethink tourism, an economic lifeline for millions – Global issues

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is one of 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations, which aims to promote tourism worldwide, making it the engine of economic growth and sustainable development.

Speaking to UN News’ Bessie Du in late 2021, shortly after the agency’s general assembly, Ms Urosevic began by outlining the devastating impact of COVID-19 The epidemic continues to have on tourism and the prospect of recovery.

Interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Zoritsa Urosevic: Tourism is the industry hardest hit by the crisis, as are all the people and livelihoods that depend on it. Basically, it’s been a very difficult two years, but we see that, in the future, we’re going to have to look at the whole field again, and that could be an opportunity.

Developed countries were much better prepared to support the attack, mainly with financial packages to support industry and small businesses, and try to keep people’s jobs. Developing countries have really struggled to do that.

We created the travel recovery package, a tool to quickly assess what needs to be done in a particular country, and we created the first set of rules to protect travelers, because Building trust is actually a very important factor for those who decide to travel.

We are fully affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO) about the importance of engaging in safer tourism protocols rather than stopping tourism altogether, because we know how many livelihoods depend on tourism, not only directly, but also people working in industries that depend on this sector, such as food production, services, and manufacturing.

In a time when the population is increasingly moving to urban areas, rural development through tourism will undoubtedly be one of the key trends of the industry. We have launched an initiative called Best Tourism Villages and we will have a global hub for rural tourism development.

Visitors watch the Fuego volcano erupting from the Acatenango volcano, Guatemala.

UN News / Jing Zhang

Visitors watch the Fuego volcano erupting from the Acatenango volcano, Guatemala.

United Nations News: Would you say that tourism success is unprecedented?

Zoritsa Urosevic: This is definitely the biggest crisis ever for the industry. It’s basically like we’ve gone back 30 years to 2020. Over the past three decades, tourism has been growing steadily at about 4% per year, so now we have a situation where they are. We have a lot of supply, a lot of business, and no tourists.

Countries with its size and purchasing power, such as China, have been able to turn to domestic tourism, but it is for small, developing nations like Fiji, which have been hit hardest. by the crisis and where tourism accounts for 40 to 70 percent of GDP, this is not possible.

We are calling for harmonization of travel protocols, which are volatile because, even if countries reach an agreement, a change in the pandemic situation means it cannot be applied. use.

The most successful countries are the ones that can communicate very clearly and write down the protocols. Greece is a great example: they opened in July 2020, but communicated very well in advance, and many tourists planning to go elsewhere went to Greece because they were well informed.

United Nations News: How do you keep travelers informed on a daily basis about the advances made in international travel coordination protocols?

Zoritsa Urosevic: We have really expanded our social media presence and have a hundred times more followers than we ever had. We’re trying our best, but it’s never enough, so we welcome new ideas and new opportunities.

United Nations News: What do you tell people whose livelihood depends on tourism?

Zoritsa Urosevic: First, I want to say that the field is very sustainable: we all dream and we all want to travel. Currently, we need to improve education and training, but I think the future is bright. Visitors will return, and they will appreciate it more than before: there will be a new path to happiness in tourism and cultural exchange.

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