Tourism has become a key player in international commerce, outpacing global economic growth. In 2019, tourism injected $8.9 trillion into the global economy, 10.3% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The cultural sector depends greatly on the tourism industry (UNESCO, n.d). Before the COVID-19 pandemic, global tourism was experiencing a strong increase in growth over several decades.
Since the late 1990s, destinations earning $1 billion or more from international tourism have almost doubled that number today.
However, the tourism sector has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It exacerbated socioeconomic challenges, such as unemployment, inequality growth, and poverty, and has profoundly
impacted the global tourism industry. The Global South experienced significant problems since it relied on tourism as a major economic driver. These circumstances compounded the existing socioeconomic challenges in these countries, cities and localities in which tourism is a significant source of income and employment. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism contributes to about 9.5% of the world's GDP. With travel restrictions and lockdowns, there has been a significant loss of income and employment in these sectors, which led to increased poverty and unemployment rates. According to UNESCO, throughout 2020, international arrivals plunged by 74% worldwide. This dealt a massive blow to the tourism industry, which faces ongoing precarity and unpredictability (UNESCO, n.d).
Many developing countries rely on tourism for foreign exchange earnings. The drastic drop in international travel has resulted in a considerable reduction in these earnings, inhibiting many countries' ability to import necessary goods and decreasing the value of their currencies. However, sustainable tourism has demonstrated its capacity for resilience and adaptability.
The World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry,
the environment, and host communities". In the process of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, countries of the Global South looked to tourism as a strategic path for reinvigorating their cities’ economies.
Inclusive tourism can generate a series of social benefits that need to be considered beyond immediate income generation. Sustainable tourism is increasingly expected to provide possible pathways to economic growth, cultural development, and social cohesion. This could potentially be done through inclusion, gender equality, poverty reduction, peace, urban development, or sustainable use of biodiversity.
Thus, many cities and localities in the Global South have focused their efforts on reactivating responsible and inclusive sustainable tourism aimed at economic growth (the creation of jobs and economic gains generated by the consumption of goods and services) and the creation of ecosystems that benefit different territories and their communities.
UNOSSC and the South-South Cities Project, in partnership with UNESCO Mexico, implemented the pilot project "South-South Cooperation on Sustainable Tourism Development in Mexican World Heritage Cities”. This project was created to develop Mexican world heritage cities by focusing on increasing each city’s capacity for sustainable tourism and digital transformation. However, it also aims to strengthen knowledge-sharing, partnership-building, and mutual learning with other cities of the Global South. This is an effort to invite cities to use digital platforms to promote sustainable tourism while cultivating heritage and cultural diversity and taking advantage of the opportunities of South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
As part of this project, the present knowledge product explores and highlights innovative experiences and practices on inclusive tourism that contribute to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences and practices are built on the harmonization between tourism and cultural sectors via creativity and digitalization. This knowledge product showcases initiatives that have revamped their tourism policies and models according to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and “Sustainable Development Goal 11: “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.
This knowledge product intends to inspire and invite relevant stakeholders and partners working on tourism initiatives in cities and localities across the Global South to increase dialogue, engagement, and mutual learning through sharing and replication of practices, technology, expertise, and knowledge.
Tourism has become a key player in international commerce, outpacing global economic growth. In 2019, tourism injected $8.9 trillion into the global economy, 10.3% of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The cultural sector depends greatly on the tourism industry (UNESCO, n.d). Before the COVID-19 pandemic, global tourism was experiencing a strong increase in growth over several decades.
Since the late 1990s, destinations earning $1 billion or more from international tourism have almost doubled that number today.
However, the tourism sector has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It exacerbated socioeconomic challenges, such as unemployment, inequality growth, and poverty, and has profoundly
impacted the global tourism industry. The Global South experienced significant problems since it relied on tourism as a major economic driver. These circumstances compounded the existing socioeconomic challenges in these countries, cities and localities in which tourism is a significant source of income and employment. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism contributes to about 9.5% of the world's GDP. With travel restrictions and lockdowns, there has been a significant loss of income and employment in these sectors, which led to increased poverty and unemployment rates. According to UNESCO, throughout 2020, international arrivals plunged by 74% worldwide. This dealt a massive blow to the tourism industry, which faces ongoing precarity and unpredictability (UNESCO, n.d).
Many developing countries rely on tourism for foreign exchange earnings. The drastic drop in international travel has resulted in a considerable reduction in these earnings, inhibiting many countries' ability to import necessary goods and decreasing the value of their currencies. However, sustainable tourism has demonstrated its capacity for resilience and adaptability.
The World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry,
the environment, and host communities". In the process of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, countries of the Global South looked to tourism as a strategic path for reinvigorating their cities’ economies.
Inclusive tourism can generate a series of social benefits that need to be considered beyond immediate income generation. Sustainable tourism is increasingly expected to provide possible pathways to economic growth, cultural development, and social cohesion. This could potentially be done through inclusion, gender equality, poverty reduction, peace, urban development, or sustainable use of biodiversity.
Thus, many cities and localities in the Global South have focused their efforts on reactivating responsible and inclusive sustainable tourism aimed at economic growth (the creation of jobs and economic gains generated by the consumption of goods and services) and the creation of ecosystems that benefit different territories and their communities.
UNOSSC and the South-South Cities Project, in partnership with UNESCO Mexico, implemented the pilot project "South-South Cooperation on Sustainable Tourism Development in Mexican World Heritage Cities”. This project was created to develop Mexican world heritage cities by focusing on increasing each city’s capacity for sustainable tourism and digital transformation. However, it also aims to strengthen knowledge-sharing, partnership-building, and mutual learning with other cities of the Global South. This is an effort to invite cities to use digital platforms to promote sustainable tourism while cultivating heritage and cultural diversity and taking advantage of the opportunities of South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
As part of this project, the present knowledge product explores and highlights innovative experiences and practices on inclusive tourism that contribute to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences and practices are built on the harmonization between tourism and cultural sectors via creativity and digitalization. This knowledge product showcases initiatives that have revamped their tourism policies and models according to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and “Sustainable Development Goal 11: “Sustainable Cities and Communities”.
This knowledge product intends to inspire and invite relevant stakeholders and partners working on tourism initiatives in cities and localities across the Global South to increase dialogue, engagement, and mutual learning through sharing and replication of practices, technology, expertise, and knowledge.
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