Zurab Pololikashvili: Tourism is highly dependent on biodiversity, climate stability and natural resources

The G20 economies must lead the way in ensuring that tourism fulfills its enormous potential to build a fairer and more sustainable future for people and the planet.

At the meeting of tourism ministers of the G20 countries in Belem, Brazil, the Secretary General of UN Tourism, Zurab Pololikashvili, pointed out that the sector is on its way to fully recover to the pre-pandemic level by the end of this year.

With this in mind, the focus must now shift to the future, with an emphasis on empowering and involving local communities, combating climate change and advancing the natural network and circularity.

"Tourism is highly dependent on biodiversity, climate stability and natural resources. Accelerating climate action in tourism is key to the resilience of the sector and host communities", Pololikashvili pointed out. In this context, he welcomed the focus of the Brazilian G20 presidency on inclusion and sustainability.

Closing the meeting, Brazil's Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino, said that the Declaration of Belém affirms a collective commitment to promote more sustainable, resilient and inclusive tourism in the world.

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The future of tourism

UN Tourism emphasized the key importance of education and skills for the future of the sector and its transformation at the G20 meeting.

"ILO data shows that around 880.000 tourism jobs per year will require specialized training by 2030 and that 25 percent of tourism stakeholders report a significant shortage of skilled employees, especially in customer service and managerial rolesPololikashvili said.

The Secretary General also recalled the role that tourism can play in development and welcomed the G20 tourism's focus on financing development.

"For many developing countries, including least developed countries and small island developing states, tourism is a major source of employment, foreign exchange and tax revenue. Yet the sector continues to be neglected as a tool for development, with total ODA disbursements to tourism below 0,25 percent of total ODA", He said.

He thanked and praised the Belem Declaration adopted by the G20 tourism ministers, which highlights the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) as a tool for producing credible, comparable and integrated data on economic, social and environmental impact, as well as the Platform G20 Tourism and SDGs developed by G20 Tourism in cooperation with UN Tourism.

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G20 economies: powerhouses of tourism

The G20 economies represent more than 70% of all international tourism arrivals and revenues generated worldwide and 82% of global tourism GDP. In 2023, the sector directly accounted for 3,1% of G20 GDP, 5% of the group's total exports and 23% of total services exports.

International tourism recovered to 97% of its pre-pandemic levels in the G20 economies in the seven months of 2024. The direct value of G20 tourism GDP has fully recovered as early as 2023 to USD 2,8 trillion.

UN Tourism brought together ministers from G20 economies to advance tourism policies and transform governance across the sector. Ahead of the official meeting of the G20 tourism ministers, the side event called for a new approach to tourism policy and management that focuses on people and the planet. 

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At the event held under the Brazilian presidency of the G20, high representatives of Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the USA, as well as the Inter-American Development Bank, recalled the positive importance and impact of tourism in the economy and society and its potential to contribute to sustainable development goals and reduce inequalities within and between countries.

Opening the event, Pololikashvili welcomed Brazil's G20 presidency's focus on inclusion and sustainability and said:

"The challenges before us are enormous. As well as the opportunities offered by a sector that creates jobs and brings people together like no other. However, to really transform our sector, we need new policies and new governance models. We need to put communities and the environment at the center of our policies and we need stronger coordination across government agencies, as well as between national and local stakeholders."

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G20 ministers outline the path for the future

At a time of numerous challenges facing the world, participants agreed that with the growth of the sector, there are increasing multidimensional externalities that require a rethinking of tourism planning and management. Key conclusions included the urgent need for the following:

• The new governance is based on regular consultation and involvement of residents, stronger coordination between all agencies in government and between national and local authorities, as well as with the private sector.
• Targeted policies on gender, social inclusion, decent jobs, climate change, circularity, positive natural network and regional development in all areas of tourism.
• Improving the measurement of the impact of tourism in its three dimensions at the national and local level - economic, social and environmental. 

Participants welcomed the recent approval of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism by the United Nations.

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The G20 economies represent more than 70% of all international tourism arrivals and revenues generated worldwide and 82% of global tourism GDP. In 2023, the sector directly accounted for 3,1% of G20 GDP ($2,8 trillion), 5% of the group's total exports and 23% of total services exports ($1,3 trillion).

Last year, the G20 economies received 900 million international tourist arrivals. In the first seven months of 2024, international tourist arrivals in the G20 reached 97% of pre-pandemic levels with countries such as Saudi Arabia (+73%), Turkey (+15%), Spain (+11%), Japan ( +7 %) and Brazil (+1%) leading growth and already exceeding 2019 levels.

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