Recognizing the importance of regional cooperation as destinations across Asia and the Pacific re-open to tourism, UNWTO organized the workshop alongside the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal and the Nepal Tourism Board and with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.

Approximately 200 participants from nine Member States took part in the workshop, which began with a high-level discussion around the theme of “Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism for people, planet and prosperity”. Speakers emphasized the need for cooperation at the national and international levels in order to generate the reliable data needed to guide the economic, social and environmental aspects of tourism for sustainable development.

Interactive training sessions

Following on from the opening discussions, UNWTO hosted a series of technical training sessions focused on tourism statistics, measuring the economic impact of tourism and measuring the sustainability of tourism, and offered an interactive platform for participants to learn and exchange good practices. Participants then reviewed fundamental basics on tourism statistics in relation to the UN statistical standard “International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008”, before they explored the technical requirements for a successful TSA compilation.

The final session introduced the MST Statistical Framework, which offered unique insights on the importance of using MST indicators for policy development and the compilation of official tourism SDG indicators.

Pan-Regional Participation

Taking part in the workshop were high-level representatives from the National Tourism Administrations and National Statistical Offices of Nepal, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Maldives and Thailand, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative of Nepal.