With World Tourism Day (Accra, Ghana) , the UNWTO General Assembly (Astana, Kazakhstan) and the annual Minister’s Summit (London, UK) all planned for the remainder of this year it promises to be a busy few months for UNWTO. These key events will take place against a background of global challenges and important internal changes at UNWTO.

The World Economic Forum on behalf of its Travel and Tourism Community presented its report ‘Towards a Low Carbon Travel and Tourism Sector’ to Yvo de Boer, Director General of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as a contribution to the Copenhagen Climate process. The report is part of a longstanding action by the travel and tourism sector to respond to climate change and prepare for the shift towards the Green Economy.

UNWTO preparing for the challenges ahead
Madrid, Spain, 2 September 2009

In view of the current influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, UNWTO held a two-day review and preparation exercise on ‘Travel and Tourism under Pandemic Conditions’ in Madrid 26-27 August. The workshop was convened to anticipate the challenges the virus will bring over the next few months and ensure that the travel and tourism sector is fully prepared for the evolving pandemic.

With climate change and the global recession driving the current international political agenda, both politicians and businesses are increasingly drawn towards the idea of a global green economy.

The tourism sector is at the frontline of these key issues, yet is unlikely to receive the attention it deserves in the current high-level discussions concerning the replacement of the Kyoto protocol to be finalised in Copenhagen this December.