Elena Kountoura, Minister of Tourism, Government of Greece.
WTTC’s Global Best Practices Recognition Initiative seeks to compile quantifiable best practice across Travel & Tourism to provide the sector with a wealth of insights that will enable both the public and private sectors to learn from the successful experiences of other countries as they develop, review and implement Travel & Tourism related policies.
SEVILLE – The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched its Global Best Practices Recognition Initiative, to equip Tourism Ministers, sector leaders, and policymakers worldwide with the insights to develop and implement proven policies in the sector.
Travel & Tourism is one of the most dynamic economic sectors in the world, representing 10.4% of global GDP, 1 in 10 jobs on the planet (319 million) and 6.5% of global exports in 2018. Given its forecasted growth and its ability to drive job creation, reduce poverty, foster regional integration and connect people across the world; Travel & Tourism is a unique position to make a difference, providing opportunities for developing and emerging nations to move up the value chain.
Yet, despite the sector’s ability to be a force for good, best practices across Travel & Tourism are not readily available for both the public and private sector, often compelling governments to unnecessarily reinvent the wheel, researching solutions to problems that have already been successfully innovated on elsewhere in the world.
In this context, WTTC’s Global Best Practices Recognition Initiative seeks to compile quantifiable best practice across Travel & Tourism to provide the sector with a wealth of insights that will enable both the public and private sectors to learn from the successful experiences of other countries as they develop, review and implement Travel & Tourism related policies.
This will be an ongoing Initiative, continually updated by integrating the most recent quantifiable success stories into a new online repository to ensure that the most innovative policies are shared among Travel & Tourism networks.
Today, the Initiative will launch by promoting ‘Quick Win’ policies and ‘Game Changers’ in the areas of Securing & Facilitating Travel, Prioritising the Sector, and Planning for Sustainable & Inclusive Growth. This will extend to policies related to infrastructure, workforce, technology, regulation, innovations, entrepreneurship, resilience and crisis planning in the future.
Among the policies identified in this initial phase are the USA’s Global Entry program, which provides expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival; Colombia’s significant investments and rebranding that have rebuilt the country as a safe and desirable destination; and Palau’s ‘Pledge’, which permits entry to the island upon the visitor signing a pledge asking them to respect the island’s ecology and support local business.
Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC commented, “When I was the Minister of Tourism for Mexico, I would have greatly appreciated such a toolkit, and I am confident that policymakers across the globe will find the Global Best Practices Recognition Initiative invaluable to their efforts to enhance Travel & Tourism competitiveness.”
Tiffany Misrahi, Director of Policy, WTTC added, “As we launch the initial phase of our grand efforts in cross-pollinating government and private sector networks with best practice case studies, we call upon those same leaders to share with us the results of their own excellent work so that we may continue to amplify our online repository with the very best initiatives from across the globe.”
WTTC announces Minister Kountoura of Greece as 2019 Global Champion for Tourism
H.E. Elena Kountoura, Minister of Tourism, Government of Greece, has been awarded a prestigious WTTC Global Champion Award at the 2019 Global Summit in Seville, Spain, for her country’s tireless work on Destination Stewardship.
The annual WTTC Global Champion Awards recognise outstanding public officials or countries who, through their leadership, have made a difference through pioneering public policies and initiatives that have increased the competitiveness of the sector within their respective countries.
The WTTC Global Champion Award for Destination Stewardship recognises proactive and thoughtful leadership in working to overcome issues of uneven seasonality to improve the year-round tourism experience.
The government of Greece is setting an example to the world by extending its tourist season throughout the country. Furthermore, the industry has engaged in this vision by supporting tourism businesses and destinations to increase average visitor spending and reducing seasonality.
Policies such as the extension of the summer tourism season, the development of thematic tourism, and the promotion of new destinations and services (such as wellness and medical tourism) are expected to create new revenue streams by attracting visitors all year round resulting in a significant raise in the ‘shoulder’ and low seasons.
Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC commented, “The issue of destination stewardship is critical to the long-term sustainable growth our sector. One solution to tourism overcrowding is to distribute tourists more effectively throughout the year and across different sites thereby improving the visitor experiences for everyone. Greece has been bold in not only recognising this but embedding it into their strategy and ethos. For this reason, Greece’s success in reducing seasonality while increasing tourism revenue marks it out as a clear global champion.”
The award was presented at the Gala Dinner of the WTTC Global Summit in Seville, Spain, on Wednesday 3 April 2019.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
