UN Tourism Celebrates Milestones in Statistics, Sustainability and Governance

UN Tourism concluded a significant week of multi-stakeholder meetings at its Madrid headquarters, marking key milestones in tourism statistics and sustainability governance. The meetings brought together experts to advance the sector’s shift towards greater sustainability, focusing on improved governance, harmonized measurement, and monitoring systems.

The Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) held its fifth meeting, moving from the technical development of the UN-endorsed Statistical Framework to its global implementation. This framework, endorsed by the 55th session of the UN Statistical Commission, integrates economic, environmental, and social data, providing a holistic approach to measuring sustainability beyond GDP. Discussions centered on developing a common set of indicators for international reporting on tourism’s sustainability impacts.

Celebrating 20 years of progress, the UN Tourism Committee on Statistics recognized the contributions of co-Chairs Austria and Spain, and Vice-Chairs Saudi Arabia and Seychelles. High-level representatives from 21 countries shared their visions for future tourism statistics, while the committee introduced a new dataset on tourism employment, developed in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

A landmark event was the launch of a tourism-specific Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework. In partnership with the University of Oxford SDG Impact Lab and supported by easyJet holidays, UN Tourism hosted over 45 global experts to discuss the framework’s development. This initiative aims to create the first harmonized ESG guidelines for the tourism sector.

Looking ahead, UN Tourism will establish an ESG Advisory Panel to guide the framework’s progress and present preliminary terms for approval by its Executive Council, cementing its role in fostering sustainable tourism practices globally.