International Development and Cooperation

Acting on requests from Member States, the UN Tourism International Development and Cooperation carries out a wide range of projects – long-term as well as short-term – aimed at the promotion and development of tourism in developing and transition countries.

These projects are implemented through funding obtained from a variety of major donor agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the European Union, the Asian Development Bank, several bilateral donors and others. The UN Tourism International Development and Cooperation deploys the world’s leading experts and firms to implement technical cooperation missions and projects.

Our technical assistance covers many areas of contemporary interest and concern to our Member States and, inter alia, includes:

• Identification and assessment of potential tourism development areas;
• Establishment of coherent frameworks for long-term sustainable tourism development;
• Preparation of national and regional Tourism Development Master Plans;
• Development of community–based tourism;
• Alleviation of poverty through tourism;
• Development of rural and eco tourism;
• Development of human resources for tourism;
• Formulation and implementation of appropriate marketing and promotional strategies;
• Strengthening of institutional capacities of National Tourism Administrations;
• Adjustment and improvements in existing tourism regulations in accordance with international standards;
• Stimulation and promotion of public-private partnerships;
• Establishment of hotel classification systems; and
• Deployment of information technology in tourism.

Missions

Missions are carried out at the request of countries or groups of countries to identify, evaluate and describe their specific technical assistance needs and provide policy advice on the problems they are faced with. These missions are usually fielded for a short duration and result in further project proposals for funding and, in some cases, in direct UN Tourism recommendations to Members which they can implement themselves.

Projects

Projects are usually of long duration and aim to assist Governments in acquiring technical know-how in formulation of tourism policies and strategies in planning, product development, marketing and human resource development.

The projects are based on a policy of sustainability and focus on tourism master planning at all levels, establishment of tourism training institutes, formulation and regulations, preparation of marketing programmes, and national capacity building.