Symposium on Country Experiences and Third Meeting of the Expert Group

• All Regions
• 14 Dec 22

UNWTO Headquarters, Madrid (Spain), 14-16 December 2022

UNWTO is organizing a 3-day gathering on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism, consisting of:

• a Symposium on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism to exchange good practices among the pioneering pilot countries and clarify issues with leading experts worldwide, and
• the 3rd Meeting of the Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism to advance the development of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) which has become more necessary than ever as tourism aims to build back better following its worst crisis in history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Documents:

• Information note
• Final programme

Symposium on Country Experiences

Presentations

• (A) Welcome 
  • Ms. Clara van der Pol, Chief a.i, Statistics Department UNWTO
  • Mr. Peter Laimer, Statistics Austria and Chair of the Expert Group on MST (see presentation)
     
• (B) Overview of the Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism
  Ms. Clara van der Pol, Chief a.i. and Ms. Leandry Moreno, Officer, Statistics Department UNWTO (see presentation)
  Documents: 
  Experiences from Pilot Studies in Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism: A Synopsis for Policymakers
  Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism - Learning from Pilots
   
• (C) Environment sustainability of tourism on the ground
  • CO₂ emissions from tourism
    • Mr. Giovanni Finocchiaro, Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and Ms. Barbara Dattilo, ISTAT (see presentation)
    • Ms. Kate Augustine, Statistics New Zealand (see presentation)
    • Mr. Jonathan Lindahl, Centre for Regional and Tourism Research, Denmark (see presentation)
  • Environmental impact of marine tourism
    Ms. Etjih Tasriah, Statistics Indonesia (see presentation)
     
  • Linking integrated biodiversity and tourism accounts to poverty
    Mr. Tom Geme, Natural Capital Accounting and Ms. Hilda Aritnaitwe, Bureau of Statistics, Uganda (see presentation)
     
  • The carbon footprint and decarbonisation of tourism at regional scale 
    Mr. Calvin Jones, Cardiff University (see presentation)
• (D) Economic sustainability of tourism on the ground
  • Evaluating economic alternatives in the province of Quang Ninh, Vietnam
    Ms. Kim Thi Thuy Ngoc, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam (see presentation)
     
  • Using TSA and quick statistics to understand the evolving economic impact of Covid
    Mr. Ossi Nurmi, Statistics Finland (see presentation)
     
  • Measuring (economic) sustainability at the micro-destination scale
    Mr. Raúl Hernandez, Head of the Chair in Tourism, La Laguna University (see presentation)
     
  • How resilient is tourism in the Covid-19 aftermath?
    Mr. Michel Dubreuil, Destination Canada (see presentation)
• (E) Lessons on measuring social sustainability aspects of tourism
  • Community attitudes to tourism in Niue and Cook Islands
    Mr. Simon Milne, Auckland University of Technology (see presentation)
     

  • Visitor satisfaction as an element of tourism sustainability 
    Mr. Julio Lopez Astor, Turespaña (see presentation)

  • Organizing a system of information at the subnational level
    Ms. Ana Moniche, Andalusia Regional Government - Spain (see presentation)
     
  • A comprehensive approach to MST piloting
    Ms. Johanna Schulze Düding, DIW Econ, Germany (see presentation)
• (F) Governance, institutional and data availability issues
  • Towards the institutionalization of MST in Mexico
    Mr. Raul Figueroa, National Statistical and Geographical Institute (INEGI), Mexico (see presentation)
     

  • Saudi Arabia Experiences on MST  
    Mr. Faisal Al Saleemi, Ministry of Tourism, Saudi Arabia (see presentation)

  • A regional assessment and proposed roadmap for MST in the Arab region
    Mr. Ahmad Ragab, Minia University, Egypt (see presentation)
• (G) Considerations ahead of the 3rd Meeting of the Expert Group on MST
  • The value of MST for data integration and comparability
    Mr. Carl Obst, UNWTO expert (see presentation)
  • Conclusions
    Mr. Peter Laimer, Statistics Austria
     

3rd Meeting of the Expert Group

Presentations

1. Official opening 

   • Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director, UNWTO 

   • Mr. Peter Laimer, Chair of the Expert Group on MST and co-chair of the UNWTO Committee on Statistics, Statistics Austria

   • Mr. Julio Lopez Astor, co-Chair of the UNWTO Committee on Statistics, Spain Tourism Board (Turespaña) 

2. Setting the scene

   • MST: ambition and process
     Ms. Clara van der Pol, Chief a.i., Statistics Department, UNWTO (see presentation)

   • MST as a catalyst for better work data 
     Mr. Rafael Diez de Medina, Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Department, ILO 

3. Introducing MST, its aim and scope: Chapter 1
   Introduction by the Secretariat 
   Ms. Pativaine Tevita, Chief Executive Officer, Samoa Tourism Authority
   Mr. Munthir Al Ansari, Senior Consultant, Ministry of Tourism, Saudi Arabia 
   Mr. Raúl Figueroa, Director of Satellite Accounts, National Statistical and Geographical Institute (INEGI), Mexico 
   Ms. Christina Gay, International Economist, US Department of Commerce 
   Mr. Arturo de la Fuente, Deputy Head of Unit, Eurostat (see presentation)
   
   Document: Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) – Chapter 1 – Introduction (draft)
    
4. Economic sustainability: Chapter 2
   Introduction by the Secretariat 
   Ms. Sheryl Crea, Policy Analyst, Tourism Seychelles (see presentation)
   Mr. Jonathon Khoo, Director, Centre of Environmental and Satellite Accounts, Australia Bureau of Statistics 
   Mr. Stavros Hatzimarinakis, Lecturer, University of Piraeus, and LaReTSA research fellow, University of Patras (see presentation)
   Mr. Pierre Girard, Chief, Services Division, National Statistical Institute (INSEE), France (see presentation)
   
   Documents: 
   Estimating Tourism Direct GDP with limited data
   Statistical Framework for Measuring the sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) - Chapter 2 - Measuring the Economic Dimension
    
5. Environmental sustainability: Chapter 3
   Introduction by the Secretariat 
   Ms. Lucia Maier, Head of Section, Federal Statistical Office, Germany 
   Ms. Zrinka Marusic, Senior Research Advisor, Institute for Tourism, Croatia  
   Ms. Ida Bjoierk, Regional Advisor on Environmental Statistics, UNESCAP (see presentation)
   Mr. Nico Heerschap, UNWTO Expert and former Statistics Netherlands (see presentation)
   
   Document: Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) - Chapter 3 - Measuring the Environmental Dimension
    
6. Social sustainability: Chapter 4
   Introduction by the Secretariat 
   Mr. Rafael Diez de Medina, Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Department, ILO 
   Mr. Michel Dubreuil, Senior Manager, Destination Canada  
   Mr. Wolfgang Strasdas, Study and Research Director, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany (see presentation)
   Mr. Igor Stefanovic, Technical Coordinator, Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department, UNWTO
   
   Document: Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) - Chapter 4 - Measuring the Social Dimension
    
7. The spatial perspective: Chapter 5
   Introduction by the Secretariat
   Mr. Raúl Hernández, Head of the Chair in Tourism, La Laguna University, Spain (see presentation)
   Ms. Kim Thuy Ngoc, Head, Division of Science and International Cooperation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Vietnam 
   Mr. Tom Geme, Natural Capital Accounting, Uganda 
   Mr. Nico Heerschap, UNWTO Expert and former Statistics Netherlands (see presentation)
   
   Document: Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) - Chapter 5 - Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism at Sub-national Levels
    
8. Applications and extensions of MST
   • The importance of data harmonization for the private sector
     Mr. Tim Fairhurst, European Tourism Association (ETOA)
      
   • The importance of measurement for key sustainability initiative of UNWTO
     Ms. Cordula Wohlmuther, Sustainable Development of Tourism Department, UNWTO (see presentation)
      
   • A collaboration to extend MST to business reporting (ESG)
     Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director, UNWTO, and Ms. Merolyn Whitaker, Oxford University SDG Impact Lab
      
9. Way forward
   • Summary of the meeting and next steps (see presentation)
     • Mr. Peter Laimer, Chair of the Expert Group on MST and co-Chair of the UNWTO Committee on Statistics, Statistics Austria
     • Ms. Clara van der Pol, Chief a.i., Statistics Department, UNWTO
10. Closing 

    • Mr. Peter Laimer, Chair of the Expert Group on MST and Statistics Austria 

    • Mr. Stefan Schweinfest, Director, UN Statistics Division

    • Ms. Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director, UNWTO
       

Photos of the Symposium on Country Experiences and 3rd Meeting of the Expert Group are available online at the flickr photo stream.