This article is written by Natalia Bayona, Director of Innovation, Education and Investments, UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation).

  • The problem: In a changing world with challenges compromising the post-pandemic recovery, the tourism industry needs to accelerate its process of digitalisation and embrace innovative solutions. The entrepreneurial and SME ecosystem requires support to gain expertise in tech and digital literacy as well as to attract investments in this field.
  • Why it matters: Tourism is a relevant employer in the world, and innovation represents an excellent opportunity to improve quality, accessibility and efficient management that can guarantee its sustainable and robust development in the long term.
  • The solution: Establishing public-private partnerships (PPP) that create and nurture open innovation networks that contribute to the mapping, visibility, implementation and funding of innovative solutions.

We are living in a period of fast change driven by exponential technological progress and myriad geopolitical instabilities that are jeopardising the post-pandemic economic recovery. When we zoom in to observe the recent progress that the tourism industry has experienced, we can celebrate that during 2022, 63% of the pre-Covid-19 levels were recovered, a figure expected to reach 80-95% during 2023.

Monitoring tourism recovery is an excellent benchmark to evaluate the strength of our economies, and consequently, the quality of life of our communities. Tourism is a resilient industry that employs a large workforce around the world, around 10%; it is the top employer for women and youth, and it is mainly comprised of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for around 85% of operating companies.

Hence, tourism is a global driving force for economic progress and transformation, and a key sector for least developed countries (LDCs), where the industry counts for 7% of international trade.

Innovation and digitalisation are excellent tools to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

When it comes to innovation, it is important to stress the fact that since the outbreak of the pandemic, most investments in tourism have been directed towards innovative, digital and tech solutions: foreign direct investment (FDI) in tourism software grew 41.9% in 2021 from a year earlier.

Still, startups with innovative solutions are not obtaining enough visibility and financial support to share their expertise and scale up their business at a global level, and SMEs require assistance when it comes to the implementation of digital technologies that can improve the efficiency of their operations, facilitating the creation of jobs and enhancing future resilience across the entire tourism value chain.

Implementing digital tools

Innovation and digitalisation are tools that support the improvement of the quality and accessibility of services that the tourism industry can offer while improving efficiency and environmental sustainability. They assist in the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are strategic instruments for governmental institutions that aim to accelerate the achievement of their mandates in sustainable social and economic development agendas.

The adoption of digital technologies and innovative solutions requires institutional support at a local, national and regional level, as it demands adequate education and capacity building, infrastructure and ecosystem investment and legislative reforms that support an ethical, stable and effective framework. The United Nations plays a relevant role in facilitating the creation of collaborative environments where the exchange of best practices can take place among global stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

UNWTO's efforts to drive the digitalisation of tourism

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has developed a series of initiatives that contribute to those efforts. Since 2018, it has launched more than 23 startup competitions and innovation challenges in over 150 countries, in partnership with public and private entities, and with the aim of identifying and supporting high-impact and scalable solutions for tourism development by connecting entrepreneurs to funding and governmental pilot-project opportunities.

As a result, more than 100 leading innovative startups have been mapped worldwide and invited to join our Innovation Network, where they can gain access to investments, visibility and personalised mentoring; which is composed of investors, incubators, accelerators, big corporations, academia, media and representatives from governments from all over the world. The funding raised by top startups during the last five years through our network reaches over $300K USD.

This year, 11 additional startup competitions and innovation challenges will be launched around the world and eight Innovation Forums will be organised in partnership with the respective countries’ governments.

Startups represent a fundamental pillar to the economic dynamisation of our economies when it comes to problem-solving strategies as they are innovative and, in most cases, digital in nature. Assisting them to obtain visibility, resources and funding is strategic for the development of the touristic sector and a priority of UNWTO.

A boost to economic growth and sustainability targets

Fostering innovation in the tourism industry can facilitate new opportunities for economic growth, while also promoting sustainable tourism practices that benefit local communities and the environment. Therefore, innovation and digitalisation are excellent tools to accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

An effective approach to tackle current and future challenges is by promoting innovation through the creation of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which help to align the interests of different actors and provide a framework for collaboration. A special focus needs to be placed on startups and innovative SMEs, as they can be relevant agents of change due to their disruptive nature.

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