The role of challenges on successful efforts for a better and sustainable future and practices in cities through tourism makes UN Tourism and Spain’s Office of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat Partner) to have cooperation and common vision.
A meeting was held with the support of the Department of Territorial Planning of the Basque Government on ‘Promoting sustainable urban tourism: development of tools for sustainable urban tourism’, bringing together experts from UN agencies, international organisations, academics and the private sector. The expert group explored how the sector can contribute to the creation of more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities, as well as addressing the challenges around urban tourism.
The expert meeting focused on identifying the current challenges for sustainable urban tourism and understanding the role of tourism in the urban agenda. At the same time, exploring the latest trends and ongoing initiatives, policies and plans for urban tourism was considered as a key aspect of the meeting.
Exploring how innovative approaches could contribute to promoting sustainable tourism in urban contexts, areas and territorial environments is of utmost importance for both UN Tourism and UN Habitat Partner.
The Expert Group Meeting takeaways will deepen the work of both UN Agencies on advancing sustainable and resilient cities and territories and will serve to guide regional and local governments and other stakeholders in identifying the key challenges facing urban tourism in order to move towards sustainability in their contexts, providing them with tools and proposals to address them. The conclusions from the meeting will also serve to prepare the discussions and events on sustainable urban tourism at the 12th World Urban Forum (WUF 12) in November 2024 in Cairo, Egypt and the Mayors Forum for Sustainable Urban Tourism, led by UN Tourism.
About Urban Tourism
According to UN Tourism, Urban Tourism is “a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport. Urban tourism can represent a driving force in the development of many cities and countries contributing to the progress of the New Urban Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Tourism is intrinsically linked to how a city develops itself and provides more and better living conditions to its residents and visitors.
Fulfilling tourism’s potential as a tool of sustainable and inclusive growth for cities requires a multi-stakeholder and multilevel approach based on close cooperation among tourism and non-tourism administrations at different levels, private sector, local communities and tourists themselves. Sustainable development and management needs to be integrated in the context of urban development.
