UNWTO Hosts Executive Training on Tourism for Rural Development in Middle East Middle East
As part of work on tourism for rural development, UNWTO has concluded its first Executive Training for the Middle East Programme.
Under the theme 'Tourism for Rural Development: A Practical Approach to Strategy and Product Development', the three-day session was held at the UNWTO Regional Office for the Middle East in Riyadh to address the underlying needs for continuous skills development for ensuring up to date learning, adaptation, and innovation.
This training programme demonstrates how determined and keen the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UNWTO are to promote the role of the Regional Office for the Middle East, and to provide every support and assistance possible to the Member States of the Organization in the region. Sultan AlMusallam, Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Saudi Ministry of Tourism
In the post-pandemic world, the role of tourism in rural development is more relevant than ever. Rural tourism has a high potential to empower local communities, stimulate local economic growth and social change. Zoritsa Urosevic, UNWTO Executive Director
Our Member States see rural tourism as a priority and we trust this training will support them for continuous learning, adaptation, and innovation. It aims to provide them with the adequate knowledge and capacities to plan and manage tourism in rural territories in a way that contributes to inclusive, sustainable, and resilient development,"
she added.
Building skills to support tourism and rural development
The training session was aimed at managers in charge of rural tourism in National Tourism Administrations from across the region. Around 35 participants from 10 countries joined present, representing Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Sessions focused on issues such as incorporating sustainability dimensions in tourism planning, setting indicators to measure rural tourism strategies, dealing with the specificities of the rural tourism offer and demand, understanding the concept of community engagement through community-based tourism and conducting practical exercises on experiences related to gastronomy, adventure, cultural and ecotourism.
UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Programme
The UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Programme was designed with the vision of making tourism a driver of rural development and well-being. It aims to advance the role of tourism in valuing and safeguarding rural territories along with their associated landscapes, knowledge systems, natural and cultural diversity, local values, and activities. The Programme also aims to promote innovative and transformative approaches for the development of tourism in rural destinations that contribute to the three pillars of sustainability – economic, social, and environmental – in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
About UN Tourism
The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.
Our Priorities
Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.
Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.
Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.
Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.
Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.
Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.
Our Structure
Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.
Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.
Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.
UN Tourism Communications Department
+34 91 567 8100
UN Tourism
