Regional tourism activities and their overall impact on employment and economic growth will be at the centre of the international conference “Knowledge as a Value Added of Tourism Destinations” (Malaga, 29-31 October 2008). Organized jointly by UNWTO and the regional Government of Andalusia, this global gathering aims at initiating the constitution of an international network of experts on tourism and regional economies.

The Malaga Conference aims to prove the increasing relevance of measuring the economic contribution of tourism at sub-national levels, which in turn can multiply the benefits of establishing links among tourist destinations.

The event will identify the necessary economic and social information and the appropriate economic analytic tools in the perspective of a more efficient destination management.

Jointly organized by the UNWTO Statistics Department and the Tourist and Commerce Board of the Government of Andalusia, the three-day gathering builds around four thematic areas:

1. Measurement and analysis of tourism economic contributions - Tourism Satellite Account, economic impact models, employment in tourism industries.
2. Measuring the flows of visitors - Statistical use of administrative records, measurement of cross-border and inter-regional flows, complementary statistical information and use of new technologies.
3. Tourism and territory - system of indicators (territorial, sustainability, etc.), Geographical Information Systems and tourism-environment linkage.
4. Tourism destination management - Monitoring and evaluating objectives, systems of indicators and measurement of the impact of the holding of large events.

Against this background, the Malaga Conference will be the first step towards the creation of an international knowledge network on tourism activity and the tourism economy at sub-national levels. This network will be created after the conference and will contribute to identifying all qualified institutions and researchers in the field of regional economies and tourism.