Enabling Frameworks for Tourism Investments During COVID-19
The webinar will be delivered in a hybrid format life and via Zoom, on the 17th May at 11:00 – 13:30 Madrid Time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard investments in the tourism sector. Announced foreign investment in the tourism sector fell from $48.5bn in 2019 to $12.6bn in 2020 according to fDi intelligence from the Financial Times. This represents foreign direct investment (FDI) into tourism plummeted by 73.2% in the first half of 2020 compared with the same period of 2019. The drop in the tourism sector is among the highest, especially when comparing with the Global FDI that collapsed by 42% in 2020 according to UNCTAD. As a result, the sector has lost around $910bn to $1.2trn in export revenues in 2020 compared with 2019 which suggests around 100–120 million direct tourism jobs at risk as the global FDI remains weak in 2021, experiencing a further decline of 5–10%.
In this context, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has prioritized Investments as one of our key areas as we move forward towards the economic recovery. We believe that sustainable investments and its cross-sectorial impact has a multiplier power to strengthen strategic large regional projects, but also the promotion of investments that stimulates entrepreneurship and innovation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which along with tech startups are an important driver of innovation and jobs creation.
For this purpose, we joined forces with World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and other key collaborators strengthen the capacities of the Member States that want to take measures to safeguard, attract and promote tourism investment projects during and after the pandemic for a faster economic recovery.
Purpose Workshop
The specialized capacity-building sessions will focus on frameworks and practical digital tools to improve your competitiveness in regards the attraction and promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI) to your region and country as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The exclusive sessions will provide relevant data insights and practical strategies to safeguard investments and formulate strategies for a sustainable recovery. In addition to those strategic frameworks, it will deliver exclusive access to digital platforms to attract and promote investments in collaboration with the fDi Intelligence from the Financial Times offering solid strategic foundations concerning investment attraction and promotion, but also practical measures and best practices to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Audience Workshop
The workshop will invite government officials working on tourism investments and tourism projects, Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) managers, and other key decision makers with a forward-looking vision to provide strategic leadership and sustainability measures during COVID-19.
Workshop Rationales
The Program offers the following topics addressed in a series of trainings depending on the needs and setting of the investment promotion and location:
- What are the trends and guidelines for Tourism Foreign Direct Investment (TFDI) during COVID-19?
- What themes will define the tourism investment landscape faster COVID-19?
- What are the Tourism Foreign Direct Investment drivers, determinants and investment decision processes?
- What are the best practices and digitals platforms available to enhance tourism investments recovery?
- How could governments use technology to promote Tourism Foreign Direct Investment?
- How can TFDI contribute to economic development and sustainability?
Content Workshop
- Tourism Foreign Direct Investment a global force for economic growth and development:
- A101- What is Tourism Direct Investments (TFDI) and why is important?
- A102- The benefits and Impact of TFDI
- A103- Dimensions of Investing in Tourism (Global Value chain and Ecosystems)
- A104- Case studies
- Enabling Frameworks for Tourism Investments during COVID-19:
- P201- Global TFDI Trends and Guidelines
- P202- Key success factors in attracting TFDI during COVID-19
- P203- Best practices in Lead Generation (Identification and Selection)
- P204- TFDI value propositions & country ́s competitiveness
- Digital Platforms for Tourism Investment Facilitation:
- F301- Best practices in Investment Facilitation
- F302- TFDI Competitiveness Benchmark tools (Demo)
- F303- TFDI Market Intelligence tools (Demo)
- F304- Zoom Tour tools for investment attraction during COVID-19 (Demo)
Preliminary Programme
Welcome address
Natalia Bayona, Director of Innovation, Education and Investments, UNWTO
Workshop 1: Enabling Frameworks for Tourism Investments during COVID-19 (UNWTO)
Natalia Bayona, Director Innovation, Education, and Investments at UNWTO
Guiding questions:
- What are the trends and guidelines for Tourism Foreign Direct Investment?
- What themes will define the investment landscape post COVID-19?
- How can TFDI contribute to economic development and sustainability?
Workshop 2: Strategies to Safeguard Tourism Investments during COVID-19 (WAIPA)
Bostjan Skalar, Executive Director at WAIPA
Guiding questions:
- What are the Tourism Foreign Direct Investment drivers, determinants and investment decision processes?
- How to safeguard tourism investments during COVID-19?
- What is the importance of investment promotion and role of IPAs in alleviating COVID-19 impact on TFDI?
Break
Case Study (Spain): Best practices and Key success factors in attracting investments (CEOE)
Rocio Güemes, Investor Relationships Director at CEOE
Guiding questions:
- What are the best practices and key success factors in attracting investors?
- What are the key success factors to identify lead investors towards a region?
Workshop 3: Digital Platforms to enable Tourism Investments during COVID-19 (Financial Times)
Juan C. Barrios, Economic Development Manager at fDi Intelligence, Financial Times
Guiding questions:
- What are the best practices and digitals platforms available to enhance tourism investments recovery?
- How could governments use technology to promote Tourism Foreign Direct Investment?
Workshop 4: Corporate Venturing Models to Accelerate Tourism Recovery (Wayra Telefonica)
Agustín Moro, Partnerships – Wayra Telefonica Connected Open Innovation
Guiding questions:
- What is Corporate Venturing and why is it importance for the tourism sector?
- What are the Corporate Venturing Mechanisms that could accelerate the tourism recovery from COVID-19?
- How can governments collaborate with the private sector using Corporate Venturing mechanism to finance innovation in the tourism sector?
