Current Global Initiatives to Address the

Sustainability Challenge in Tourism

Scoping a ‘Tourism and environment reporting mechanism – TOUERM’

7th July 2014

SDGs

10YFP

Accelerating the change towards sustainable consumption and production patterns

SIDS

3rd International Conference on Small Islands Developing States, Samoa, September 2014

WCDRRThird UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

Sendai, March 2015

GOST

UNWTO Global Observatories on Sustainable Tourism

Nara Tourism Statistics WeekUNWTO Special Workshop on Tourism Statistics

Nara, Japan, November 2014

Report on the Economic Value of

Wildlife Watching Tourism

Committee on Tourism and Sustainability (CTS)

Composition

• Bahamas (Chair)• Bolivia • China • Iran, Islamic Republic of • Iraq• Israel (Vice-Chair)• Senegal• Serbia• Seychelles

• Flemish Community of Belgium, Representative of the Associate Members

• Instituto para la Calidad Turística Española (ICTE), Representative of the Affiliate Members

UNWTO’s statistical mandate

We are recognized as the appropriate organisation to collect, to analyze, to publish, to standardise and to improve the statistics of tourism.

1. Striving for international comparability, through development of standards

2. Securing international comparability through the implementation of standards,

compilation of international data and indicators,

3. Dissemination, encouraging analysis and use by tourism stakeholders

4. Direct support to countries : Capacity Building and technical assistance

Statistics is more than numbers:

it is a

PROCESS

You managed what you measure

If you can measure it, you can manage and improve it!

Measurement

Analysis

Policy/Strategy Formulation

Implementation and Monitoring

Evaluation

“Statistics permeate modern life. They are the basis for many governmental, business and community decisions”

Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, on World Statistics Day (2010)

The 2008 international consensus

Tourism as an economic sector (i.e. GDP, etc.)

supported by all UN countries and ILO, IMF, World Bank, WTO, European Commission

IRTS 2008: concept

s, definitio

ns, classifications

for basic tourism statistic

s

TSA: RMF 2008:

framework for

the economi

c measurement of tourism consistent with SNA, BoP

System of

Tourism Statistics

Credible, comparable statistics

UNWTO develops guidelines to implement

UNWTO develops guidelines to implement these international standards

• Compilation guide on tourism statistics

• World-wide consultation

• Adopted by the UN Statistical Commission in 2014

Regarding Tourism Statistics (IRTS 2008)

• Insight of tourism’s multiple facets – 145 indicatorsInbound, outbound, domestic tourism, tourism industries and

employment; and macroeconomic indicators – 209 countries

• Enables analysis of: one country’s current situation; one country’s historical evolution since 1995; many countries at a point in time; many countries over time

• Useful tool and reference guide for Member States for advocacy, policy design, results-based management and strategy

• Published since 1975

In 2011, the content of the Compendium had been expanded with new indicators. For the 2014 edition, a great number of countries provided us with their figures: Tourism industries: 188 countries Employment: 87 countries Domestic tourism: 108 countries Macroeconomic indicators: 170 countries

You manage what you measure!

Compiled into the most comprehensive statistical tourism database:

Compendium of Tourism Statistics: some examples

You look up the Compendium if you want to know, e.g.

• The number of hotels in Cyprus?• The turn-over (in US$) of travel agencies in Spain?• The number of self-employed in tourism industries in

Canada?• The number of departures from Belgium

• with an overnight stay?• and how many returned on the same day?

• The number of arrivals by railway in Lithuania?• The expenditures (in US$) of business arrivals in

Uganda?• The tourism balance (in % of GDP) of Argentina?• ….

Thank you!

Dr. Dirk GlaesserDr. Oliver HerrmannWorld Tourism Organization…………………………………..

Tel: + 34 91 5678 100Fax: + 34 91 5713 733

www.unwto.org