World Tourism Day 2023 – “Tourism and Green Investments”

Every September 27th, the world celebrates World Tourism Day. This is to raise awareness of the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political, and economic values worldwide.

This World Tourism Day 2023, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO),  under the theme “Tourism and green investment” highlights the need for more and better-targeted investments for the Sustainable Development Goals

Tourism accounted for about four per cent of the global economy before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sector suffered large losses during 2020–2021. Investment plays an important role in the recovery of global tourism and needs to contribute more to its greener and more sustainable future. The sector is highly vulnerable to climate change and at the same time leads to significant emissions of greenhouse gases. UNWTO pledged to promote the following:

1. Investment in education and skills (People)
2. Sustainable infrastructure and green transformation (Planet)
3. Innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship (Prosperity)

In Riyadh, Secretary-General Pololikashvili introduced “Tourism Opens Minds“, a landmark initiative designed to showcase the powerful role that tourism plays in bridging cultures and fostering peace and understanding. The focus will be on:

• Making lesser-known destinations more accessible to all tourists and ensuring all visitors receive a warm welcome by host communities.
• Promoting lesser-known destinations and actively working to make tourists visit them.
• Working with governments and the private sector to encourage tourists themselves to be more open-minded in their choice of travel destination.

For the People by investing in education and skills: Tourism is a dynamic and evolving sector, and investing in education and skills can help ensure its sustainability, growth, and competitiveness. Looking ahead, the global tourism workforce will require millions of hospitality graduates annually between now and 2030 and a further 800,000 jobs a year will require specific vocational training. For these reasons, we need to invest in people, as they are the foundation of tourism so that all those who wish to be part of the sector have the same opportunities to access quality tourism training, anywhere in the world.

For the Planet by investing in sustainable infrastructure and accelerating green transformation: Looking into the future, the need to reduce emissions provides an investment opportunity of $24.7 trillion in the green buildings sector of emerging market cities by 2030, in which hotels, resorts, and restaurants account for $1.5 trillion. In addition, tourism faces a lot more investment opportunities related to new solutions and technologies to decarbonize the sector as well as to ensure climate-resilient infrastructure through adaptation solutions.

For Prosperity by investing in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship: Digitalization and innovation programs are a strategic priority to support particularly young people and women, which are critical to upskill the tourism sector’s workforce. Moreover, the global need to increase investments in programs that support and incentivize entrepreneurship and generate opportunities for innovations is highly need it in the tourism sector.

The overall disruption in the tourism sector brought about by COVID-19, provides an opportunity to redefine and recalibrate the direction and narratives of tourism investments for a more sustainable future for the People, the Planet, and prosperity.

Looking into the future, the need to reduce emissions provides a significant investment opportunity in green buildings for hotels, resorts and restaurants. In addition, tourism offers investment opportunities related to new solutions and technologies to decarbonize the sector and to ensure climate resilient infrastructure through adaptation solutions.