UNWTO, Google scale up collaboration to drive tourism recovery

UNWTO has signed a MoU with Google to collaborate on harnessing the power of innovation, education, data and market intelligence to drive a sustainable and inclusive recovery for global tourism.

The new MoU builds on past cooperation between the UN specialised agency for tourism and Google, and comes as destinations in some parts of the world look to restart their tourism engines.

Notably, the two organisations will host trainings for DMOs, using a new Capacity Building Curriculum developed by Google. These sessions will empower destinations to switch to digital, with the training adapted to reflect their specific circumstances and the unique challenges every destination currently faces.

The new Capacity Building Curriculum will also complement existing joint initiatives, and a data sharing agreement for Google’s Travel Insights to power a portion of the UNWTO’s tourism recovery tracker.

Alongside this, the Tourism Accelerator Program, designed by Google in partnership with UNWTO, will also be scaled up globally. A pilot programme launched across EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) in 2020 showed the value of working with policymakers to put digital at the heart of their tourism recovery plans and the benefits of upskilling DMOs so they can make effective use of data and market intelligence.

The partnership will go beyond empowering destinations and businesses during the immediate recovery phase. Under the agreement, Google will provide ongoing support for a number of UNWTO’s leading initiatives, including Startup Competitions designed to promote and support innovation across the sector.

UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili said: “The strong partnership between UNWTO and Google will help put innovation and digital at the centre of tourism’s recovery. By working together, UNWTO and Google will empower destinations, businesses and tourism workers to realise the power of data and market intelligence, both increasingly important as global tourism looks to restart and recover.”

Looking ahead, UNWTO and Google will also collaborate on joint research projects related to tourism, providing governments, destinations and businesses with the data and insights to guide tourism towards recovery.

-TTG Asia.