UNWTO, Google Partner For Recovery
A new agreement between the UNWTO and Google will see the two organizations working together to lead the global tourism recovery.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) builds on past cooperation between the UN specialized agency for tourism and Google. With destinations in some parts of the world looking to restart tourism, the new partnership will focus on harnessing the power of innovation, education, data and market intelligence to drive sustainable and inclusive recovery.
It will see the two organizations hosting training for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs), using a new Capacity Building Curriculum developed by Google. These sessions will empower destinations to switch to digital, with the training adapted to reflect their specific circumstances and the unique challenges every destination currently faces.
That curriculum will complement existing joint initiatives, and a data sharing agreement for Google’s Travel Insights to power a portion of the UNWTO’s tourism recovery tracker.
The partnership between UNWTO and Google will help put innovation and digital at the centre of tourism’s recovery
Alongside this, the Tourism Accelerator Program, designed by Google in partnership with UNWTO, will also be scaled up globally. A pilot program launched across EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) in 2020 showed the value of working with policymakers to put digital at the heart of their tourism recovery plans and the benefits of upskilling DMOs so they can make effective use of data and market intelligence.
However, the partnership will go beyond empowering destinations and businesses during the immediate recovery phase.
Under the agreement, Google will provide ongoing support for a number of UNWTO’s leading initiatives, including Startup Competitions designed to promote and support innovation across the sector.
