The First World Conference on Tourism for Development, taking place in Beijing from May 18 to 21, will give a significant boost to the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a director at the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said in an interview with Xinhua.
Dirk Glaesser, director of UNWTO's Sustainable Development Program, said tourism has contributed UN goals such as promoting economic growth, allowing prosperity and development.
"Sustainable development in the tourism sector and society is very much needed," he added.
A total of 17 SDGs were adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015 with the aim of fighting poverty, ending inequality and injustice, and combating climate change among other things.
Glaesser said international tourism had grown from around 25 million travelers in the 1950s to "almost 1.2 billion tourist arrivals," in 2015.
In this context, the Beijing conference will dedicate a session to "Tourism for Peace" looking at how visiting a country helps promote better understanding between people.
"The tourism experience is an experience of people, cultures and mentalities. Through this greater understanding, we are able to promote a better future," said Glaesser.
He said how tourism could promote improved infrastructures in many parts of the developing world. This is also linked to the question of accessibility, which is becoming increasingly important with an aging global population.
Other SDGs which could benefit from the presence of tourism are education, as workers learn skills to deal with international visitors, Glaesser said.
"Product development and different economic activities promoted by the right mix of source markets and domestic and international tourism would help end the seasonality of many jobs in the tourism and related sectors," he added.
