ITB Berlin: UNWTO Says Tourism Comeback Starts with Positive Change

“Connecting Sports Tourism to Health” at the ITB Berlin 2023. Photo source: UNWTO.

The global travel and tourism industry is back on track with the number of arrivals expected to reach 80 to 95 percent of pre-Covid 2019 levels this year, said the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) during this year’s ITB Berlin.

With 70 million international arrivals already recorded in January, more than double the figure compared to the same month last year, the UNWTO sent a clear message at this year’s ITB: “Tourism is back and committed to delivering positive change that goes beyond the sector itself.”

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili at ITB Berlin. Photo source: UNWTO.

Opening this year’s ITB show, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili underlined the importance of education, training and investments in tourism.

In this direction, the World Tourism Organization announced plans to partner with Saudi Arabia to promote education and professional development in tourism.

Photo source: UNWTO.

The UNWTO also signed a new deal with the Business School of Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts to work together towards the creation of a new Bachelor of Science degree in International Sustainable Tourism.

Another priority for the sector this year is investing in people and recognizing the need for more and better-targeted investments to put transformative plans into action.

Announced during ITB, World Tourism Day 2023 (September 27) will be celebrated around the theme of “Tourism and Green Investments”. In this direction, the UNWTO released a new report highlighting the sector’s progress globally in measuring greenhouse gas emissions.

UNWTO honors International Women’s Day at ITB

Photo source: UNWTO.

Meanwhile, marking International Women’s Day, UNWTO was joined by UN Women to present a summary of the achievements of the “Center Stage: Women’s Empowerment During the Covid-19 Recovery” project, which focused on the impact of the pandemic on females working in tourism.

Lastly, the need for the sector’s diversification in areas that can deliver new benefits was underlined during a UNWTO roundtable discussion on “Connecting Sports Tourism to Health“.

ITB Berlin 2023 ran with the slogan “Open for Change”. The leading travel and tourism exhibition opened its doors on the Berlin exhibition grounds during March 7-9 for the first time as an exclusively B2B event.