Luxor to host the 5th UNWTO Global Summit on City Tourism: Cities: Local Culture for Global Travellers

PR No.: PR 16073

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt are organizing the 5th Global Summit on City Tourism: “Cities: Local Culture for Global Travellers” on 1-2 November 2016 in Luxor. During the summit, UNWTO will launch the Mayors for Tourism Initiative.

Tourism has become a central component of the economy, social life and geography of many cities in the world and is ideally positioned to seize the opportunities provided by urbanization. Yet many challenges are emerging, including the need to effectively manage the growth of tourism in many cities around the globe.

The 5th Global Summit on City Tourism: “Cities: Local Culture for Global Travellers” will discuss city tourism trends and debate themes such as sustainable development, spatial organization and rejuvenation, innovation in city tourism, cross-cultural behaviour, and new business models or the so‑called ‘sharing economy’.

The development of clusters that engage public and private players from all sectors is central to the new paradigm of city tourism development, in which tourism needs to be a tool for social cohesion and cultural preservation, beyond its fundamental contribution to economic activity.

Within the framework of the Conference, UNWTO will officially launch the City Tourism Network, a forum offering participants an opportunity to learn the objectives and main lines of action of the network. The City Tourism Network is composed of key stakeholders from the public and private sectors working towards policies to encourage the sustainable development of City Tourism on local, national and international levels. In particular, the new initiative “Mayors for Tourism” will be presented, aiming to gather mayors and decision-makers from cities around the world to discuss and collaborate on tourism issues. The Mayors for Tourism Initiative aims to promote the important role of tourism as a driving force for socio economic development in cities, and prioritize the sector in the urban agenda.

Mayors of world cities have been invited to share best practices in managing the challenges and opportunities that tourism presents to local administrations and to propose formulas to align their tourism‑related policies with those of national governments.

The Summit will be preceded by the 104th Session of the UNWTO Executive Council, taking place in Luxor on 30 October-1 November 2016.

Useful links:

Programme of the Conference

Registration

UNWTO Global Report on City Tourism

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer: Rut Gómez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / [email protected]

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / [email protected]