A new report by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) investigates the capacity of tourism to integrate disadvantaged groups into its operations, and proposes a model for designing truly inclusive tourism destinations.
Titled "Global Report on Inclusive Tourism Destinations: Model and success stories", the report examines how new approaches to inclusive tourism can secure tourism's long-term sustainability and highlights the need for greater focus on these topics by the sector.
The report features success stories from a variety of stakeholders around the world, ranging from the Gauteng Tourism Authority and Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, to VisitScotland and the State of Michoacán, Mexico. Drawing on their many different approaches, it outlines a path towards inclusion that UNWTO says is adaptable, modular and scalable, and if followed could facilitate the transformation of tourism towards socially and economically inclusive models.
"As globalisation, interconnectivity and a growing middle class leads to ever more people travelling, the world will continue seeming to get smaller and inclusion will become even more of a priority," said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, adding that the report "will serve as an important tool for the tourism community to create and promote inclusion in destinations, and a valuable reference for all tourism stakeholders in developing best practices for a more inclusive sector".
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