ITB Berlin News #3

I ITB BERLIN CONVENTION I
POLICY MAKERS NEED TO
WORK WITH INDUSTRY AND
COMMUNITIES TO (…) IMPLEMENT
A LONG-TERM AND SUSTAINABLE
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Alain Dupeyras
Head of Regional Development
and Tourism Division, OECD
Tourism trends and policies 2020
OECD releases important new industry reports
A keynote panel at ITB was set to tackle “Re-thinking Tourism
Success: Managing Destinations for Sustainable Growth”,
with the release of a new OECD report entitled "Tourism
Trends and Policies 2020" .
In the absence of the keynote, we asked Alain Dupeyras,
Head of Regional Development and Tourism Division, OECD
to give us some details about the report.
The 2020 edition of OECD Tourism
Trends and Policies 2020 analyses
tourism performance and policy
trends across 51 OECD countries and
partner economies. It highlights the
need for coherent and comprehensive
approaches to tourism policy
making, and the significance of the
tourism economy, with data covering
domestic, inbound and outbound
tourism, enterprises and employment,
and internal tourism consumption.
The chapter on “Rethinking tourism
success for sustainable growth”
explores the economic, social and
environmental benefits and costs
associated with tourism growth,
and the need for policy makers and
industry to better understand the
potential implications for destinations
striving to achieve more sustainable
tourism growth. The analysis
highlights that for many countries,
regions and destinations, tourism
growth remains economically, socially
and environmentally unbalanced,
often as a result of rapid and
unplanned growth in visitor numbers.
A selection of key policy
considerations are highlighted to help
both established and new destinations
to strike a balance between the
benefits and costs associated with
tourism development and implement
a sustainable vision for the future.
For many destinations, tourism
remains unbalanced, and as a result,
policy makers need to work with
industry and communities to strike
a balance between the benefits
and costs associated with tourism
development and implement a longterm
and sustainable vision for the
future.
Do you have any examples of best
practices?
The report is a rich source of country
examples and best practices. In terms
of sustainability, the examples below
are some of the most recent and
innovative initiatives introduced in
OECD countries:
• Mainstreaming sustainability.
Built upon extensive stakeholder
consultation, Plan T – Master Plan for
Tourism defines sustainability in all
its facets as the overarching guiding
principle for tourism in Austria. While
Perspective 2030 provides a new
vision of Destination Holland with the
ambition that by 2030, every Dutch
citizen will benefit from tourism. In
order to build a loved, valuable and
liveable destination.
• Engaging the industry. The
Tourism Sustainability Commitment
initiative in New Zealand is an industry
led initiative established by Tourism
Industry Aotearoa, which aims to
ensure that every New Zealand
tourism business is committed
to sustainability by 2025 (www.
sustainabletourism.nz). Developed by
industry for industry, it has established
8 industry-level sustainability Goals
and 14 Commitments.
• Designing new tourism strategies.
Under Canada’s new tourism strategy,
Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal
Tourism Growth Strategy, two of the
three main pillars have a specific focus
on investment to support sustainable
growth, with one of the key objectives
being to grow international visitation
outside of gateway cities and the
country’s most iconic tourism
destinations, and beyond the summer
season
THE OECD WORKS
TO DELIVER
BENEFITS TO
PEOPLE, PLACES
AND BUSINESSES
THROUGH
TOURISM
While overall growth trends
in this dynamic sector are
positive – despite potential
short-term impacts due to an
uncertain economic outlook
and external shocks (such as
health scares and extreme
weather events) – governments
are increasingly developing
policies that seek to maximise
the economic, environmental
and social benefits that tourism
can provide.
Governments are currently
facing two critical issues
in terms of managing the
tourism sector: leveraging
the benefits of the digital
transformation, and the need to
implement sustainable tourism
policies. Both of these topics
are addressed as thematic
chapters in the current OECD
flagship publications, Tourism
Trends and Policies 2020, and
Rethinking tourism success for
sustainable growth
ITB BERLIN NEWS • THURSDAY 19 TH MARCH 2020 • 13