Tuesday, October 8, 2024 UN Tourism recently concluded a productive week of multi-stakeholder meetings, underscoring its role as a global leader in tourism statistics and knowledge management. With the tourism industry increasingly focused on sustainability, these meetings at the Organization’s Madrid headquarters emphasized the importance of effective governance and standardized measurement and monitoring systems. Sustainability in Tourism Statistics The Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) held its fifth meeting, progressing from technical work on the UN-endorsed Statistical Framework to its global implementation phase.
Approved by the 55th UN Statistical Commission, this framework is a pioneering tool that integrates economic, environmental, and social data across scales, moving beyond GDP measurements. The Expert Group, consisting of representatives from ministries, national statistical offices, regional organizations, academia, and the private sector, explored the potential for standardized indicators to assess tourism’s sustainability impacts on an international scale. The UN Tourism Committee on Statistics celebrated its 20th anniversary, highlighting the leadership contributions of Austria and Spain as co-chairs, with Saudi Arabia and Seychelles as vice-chairs.
High-level delegates from 21 countries and various organizations reviewed past achievements and discussed the future of tourism statistics. The Committee also introduced a new touri.