Fostering Tourism for Development

Fostering Tourism for Development

Message from the Executive Director The year 2016 has been a year of consolidation and expansion for UNWTO Technical Cooperation. As the Programme actively engaged with Member States, it expanded its operations to new countries and destinations, covering an increasing variety of thematic areas. It was also a year of coordination, collaboration and cooperation, for the common cause of the development of the sector, creating benefits for local communities, for women and youth, and, making contributions to overall socio-economic development. The operations of the Programme were widely spread over the different regions, serving developing, emerging as well as developed economies, and included topics such as master planning and marketing, development of tourism statistics and Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), hotel classification, destination management and public-private sector partnership. Tourism is a sector based on partnerships, and, in the case of technical cooperation, partnerships are indeed essential so that human and financial resources are pooled to ensure that the best possible technical expertise is made available to a maximum number of Member States. For the financing of our tourism projects, we have forged excellent partnerships with national and provincial governments, development banks (World Bank and Asian Development Bank), and international institutions, such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), as well as regional associations, agencies and foundations. We are convinced that these relationships will grow from strength to strength in the years to come. The technical assistance needs of our Member States are further enhancing and diversifying, and we will make every effort to meet their requests. We stand committed to extending our technical assistance to as many Members States and on as many subjects as possible with accuracy, efficiency and quality. Shanzhong Zhu Executive Director Technical Cooperation and Services Fostering Tourism for Development 2

Technical cooperation activities in 2016 UNWTO provides technical assistance in the form of short-term missions and long-term development projects. Missions focus essentially on needs assessment, training, policy advice and guidance. Some of these missions may also result in the formulation of full-scale projects. The long-term projects tend to have a larger scope and can be implemented both at national and at local/regional level. The projects cover a wide variety of interventions, ranging from carrying capacity studies at specific tourism sites, to regional and national level tourism master planning; from capacity building of both government and private sector staff on topics such as marketing, statistics and customer care to establishing public-private sector partnerships; from developing tourism as a means of creating sustainable livelihoods at community level in least developed countries to establishing frameworks for long-term sustainable development of the sector. In 2016, the UNWTO Technical Cooperation and Services implemented 14 missions and 37 projects, benefitting a total of 37 countries. All missions and projects could be successfully implemented, thanks to a very active and constructive collaboration with the National Tourism Administrations and other stakeholders in the recipient countries as well as our supporting partners. 37 projects & 14 missions in 37 countries Main topics: master planning, marketing, TSA, statistics, ST-EP Europe Projects: Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYRO Macedonia Americas Middle East Projects: Aruba, Haiti (2) Missions: Bahamas, Cuba, Projects: Oman, Qatar, Central America/SITCA Missions: Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon Honduras, Paraguay, Africa United Arab Emirates (2) Asia Projects: Cambodia, China, India, Mongolia, Myanmar, Projects: Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Timor Leste (2), Rep. of Congo (3), Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, Philippines Ghana (2), Lesotho, Morocco, Mozambique (3), Missions: Bhutan, Iran, Zambia (2), Zimbabwe (2), RETOSA Missions: Nigeria, Tunisia Fostering Tourism for Development 3

Sustainable Tourism Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Projects Within the framework of the initiative on Sustainable Tourism Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP), four development projects have been successfully completed in 2016: the Kribi Ecotourism Project in Cameroon, the Nzulezu Project in Ghana, the Kartong Ecotourism Project in The Gambia and the Image Campaign for Tourism Recovery Project in Tunisia. On-going projects are being carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ghana, Haiti, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mongolia, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Several of these projects were launched in 2016 within the framework of UNWTO partnerships with the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the ST-EP Foundation and the Europamundo Foundation, whereas other projects continued from previous years with generous contributions from the Flemish Government, the Government of Macau S.A.R. China, and the ST-EP Foundation. Marketing of community-based ecotourism in Timor Leste Interview with Mr. José Quintas, SE, BA (Hons), MRSEHS National Director of Tourism Marketing and International Relations Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Timor-Leste UNWTO has collaborated with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Timor-Leste to implement a ST-EP project on the development and marketing of community-based ecotourism. Why is your Administration keen to support the development of community-based ecotourism in the country? First and foremost, on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, I would like to take this opportunity to extend our deepest appreciation to UNWTO for the continued support extended to Timor-Leste in its tourism development, in particular to its communitybased ecotourism development in the area of marketing. The country s National Strategic Development Plan 2011-2030 clearly points out that tourism has become one of the major economic sectors, besides oil and gas. The Government of Timor-Leste is also strongly committed to promoting community development through community-based ecotourism. This type of development is crucial to diversify and enhance the local economy, and also, it can help our people at the grassroots level to take part in tourism development. We are convinced that community involvement in the tourism sector will also contribute to diminish economic leakages from the tourism sector. Additionally, community-based ecotourism is another way to support and help local communities in the rural areas to improve Mountain landscape of Timor-Leste Fostering Tourism for Development 4

their living standards via tourism, as in our country, most of the tourism potential assets are located in the rural areas. The main reason to support community-based ecotourism initiatives is to help local communities to improve their services in the area of accommodations, handicrafts, restaurants, and many others, prior to promoting their businesses to the domestic and international markets. What are the major challenges for community-based ecotourism development in Timor-Leste today? Actually, we have started our community-based ecotourism development in 2007, however, there are still a number of challenges which our local communities are facing at the moment, including basic infrastructure, human recourses, difficulties in market access, and lack of financial capital to expand and promote their enterprises. How will the new community-based ecotourism marketing strategy that was prepared with the ST-EP project assist stakeholders to further develop and promote this product? I do believe that the community-based ecotourism marketing strategy is very useful as guidance for promoting this product in Timor-Leste. The strategy has provided details of what stakeholders can do in order to showcase and manage community-based ecotourism successfully, and also provides a wide range of recommendations and action plans on how to improve the quality of enterprises before embarking upon the implementation of marketing and promotion activities. In addition to the community-based ecotourism project, UNWTO also collaborated with the Ministry on a ST-EP project on capacity building for tourism employees, funded by the Government of Macau, S.A.R. China, and the ST-EP Foundation. What is your evaluation of the ST-EP projects in Timor-Leste? Again, on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Government of Macau, S.A.R. China, and the ST-EP Foundation for providing funds to carry out capacity building for tourism employees. This ST-EP project in Timor-Leste was really helpful, in particular for the young people, who wish to work in the hospitality industry. We have completed the 1st phase with training provided to 85 participants from 13 municipalities in different areas such as management skills, customer services, housekeeping, food and beverage, to name a few. This 1st phase was very successful as all of the participants attended the training till the end, and were very happy and enthusiastic in participating in the training sessions. In Timor-Leste, unemployment is one of the Government s priorities that needs to be tackled in the short and medium term, so, this project will help the Government to equip young people with vocational skills to compete in the labor market. Fostering Tourism for Development 5

The many facets of technical cooperation Through Technical Cooperation and Services, UNWTO channels its vast knowledge and competencies in the fields of sustainable tourism development; tourism policy, strategy and master planning; product development and diversification; statistics and tourism satellite account; quality standards including hotel classification; tourism trends and marketing strategies; destination management; tourism legislation and regulation; skills development and institutional strengthening; international and regional best practices; and, caters this knowledge and expertise to the individual and unique needs of each Member State. While technical cooperation in tourism policy, strategy and master planning, combined with statistics and tourism satellite account and hotel classification, continue to be top priorities of Member States, our portfolio is being continually diversified to meet the challenges of an expanding tourism sector. For example, in this edition, we present to you examples of technical cooperation in the fields of cluster development and skills development programmes for local staff employed in hotels in Botswana and the Republic of Congo, respectively. Development of tourism clusters in Botswana In an endeavor to market Botswana as a tourist destination of choice, the Government of Botswana, through its Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) and the Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO), have embarked upon initiatives to stimulate and diversify tourism product to spread the socioeconomic impacts and opportunities of tourism to all parts of the country. Tourism is an important sector of the Botswana economy and has been identified as a key seector of growth. According to the tourism satellite account prepared for Botswana by UNWTO, tourism contributes directly to 3.7% of Botswana s GDP and employs over 14,000 people directly. Tourism clusters add value to the development of the economy by creating groups of networked businesses in specific sectors and improving business capabilities by offering tailored support. They improve competitiveness, seen in a dynamic and global context; they enable economic specialization of a particular region in a range of related activities. At the level of tourism firms, clusters help companies to take advantage of market opportunities that they could not achieve alone and can reduce the barriers of cost and risk and adapt international rules and standards to the local context. After discussions with the Government, it was agreed that UNWTO technical assistance will focus in the identification and initial development of Tourism Cluster mentorship in the following areas: Kasane/Kazungula, Chobe District, North West Ngamiland, Ngamiland District, and Maun, Ngamiland District UNWTO will work with the Botswana Tourism Organization to enhance local economic growth through bringing together businesses in strategic groupings with a focus on developing collaborative engagement at both network and cluster levels. The project has carried out an analysis of local economies and gathered information about each cluster in terms of tourism development. It also identified a potential leadership team and set guidelines to support the development of a cluster vision. According to the planning of the project, Leadership Groups for clusters are expected to be established and fully functioning by the end of the project. In view of the interest of the Government to continue in the development of tourism clusters, UNWTO submitted a report for the continued technical support and mentoring of cluster development. A spectacular grove of ancient baobab trees in Ngamiland District, Botswana Fostering Tourism for Development 6

PADE and UNWTO: International Cooperation in action Statement by Mr Sékou Camara Operations Manager Fonds d Appui à Couts Partagés (FACP) Projet d appui à la Diversification de l Economie (PADE) World Bank, Republic of Congo The Support Project for Economics Diversification (Projet d appui à la Diversification de l Economie - PADE) was set up by the World Bank in the Republic of Congo to help reduce the economic dependence on the oil sector. The tourism sector has long been recognized as one of the sectors with the strongest potential for growth in the Republic of Congo. For this reason, tourism and hospitality are among the areas of focus covered by the PADE in its endeavors to help promote the private sector in Congo-Brazzaville. The PADE thus provides technical assistance to SMEs and local entities in the private sector through a matching grant program known as Fonds d Appui à Couts Partagés (FACP). The beneficiaries of the matchinggrants are local enterprises seeking financial assistances for capacity building activities. With a recent construction boom in high end hotels in the capital city of Brazzaville, the FACP was solicited to fund the training needs of some of these hotels. The PADE through its operational unit, the FACP, took the commitment to provide a grant to make available an expertise to identify all the training needs of the personnel of three new hotels (PEFACO Maya-Maya, Radison Blu M bamou Palace, and GHS) and an existing hotel the Olympic Palace. Notwithstanding its commitment to the funding of the hotels training needs, the PADE was faced with the inexistence of adequate training facilities or local expertise in the Republic of Congo capable of responding to the training needs of these high end hotels. This is what led the PADE to seek collaboration with UNWTO. As a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, UNWTO was indeed a suited partner for the PADE, since UNWTO has a track record of working with other World Bank funded projects in developing countries. By providing to the PADE an international consultant to do an evaluation of the training needs of the four hotels selected by the PADE for its hospitality training program, UNWTO made a decisive contribution to the whole program which is only in its first stage. The second stage will be the delivery of technical assistance based on the needs identified by UNWTO. It is fair to say that the contribution of UNWTO could also be essential when moving to the second stage of the program, which will require the identification of the training needed to all the hotels. Hence, the partnership between the PADE and UNWTO is a good example of international cooperation in the field of development, and the sectors of tourism and hospitality is ripe for many similar initiatives across the developing world. One of the four hotels in Brazzaville selected by PADE to be involved in the project Fostering Tourism for Development 7

Tourism development Master Plan and Tourism Destination Marketing Strategies for Shandong Province, China In the beginning of 2016, the Provincial Government of Shandong commissioned UNWTO to develop a new Tourism Development Master Plan (TDMP) for the Province of Shandong to guide the development of the sector over the period 2016-2025. UNWTO deployed a team of national and international experts who worked in close collaboration with officials of the Shandong Development and Reform Commission and the Shandong Tourism Development Commission to prepare the Master Plan. In July 2016, the draft TDMP was presented and approved in a meeting with the Governor and other senior officials of the Shandong Province and other senior officials. The Provincial Government regards the tourism sector as an important contributor to the national and provincial goal of stimulating consumption and is keen to improve the Province s performance in inbound tourism. Over the past five years, Shandong Province has experienced significant growth in tourist arrivals, in particular from the domestic market. During this period, domestic arrivals grew with an average annual rate of 13%, whereas international arrivals increased with an average of 5% per annum. In order to strengthen promotion in the international markets and build on the analysis and recommendations of the TDMP, UNWTO is currently developing tourism destination marketing strategies for Shandong in key source markets of the Republic of Korea, Japan and Europe. Field research, including interviews with outbound tour operators, is being carried out in Japan, Republic of Korea, France, Germany and the UK. The assignment is being implemented between September and December 2016, and will identify specific target market segments and geographic locations where Shandong should concentrate its marketing efforts, and will recommend a suitable promotional mix. The Project team on a field visit to Mount Tai Contact Us World Tourism Organization Technical Cooperation and Services Email: techcoop@unwto.org www.unwto.org Follow us: Fostering Tourism for Development 8