Ministers from major tourism destinations and leaders from international organisations voiced their support to achieve a sustainable travel and tourism industry, through the Sustainable Tourism Global Centre (STGC).
The STGC is a multi-country, multi-stakeholder coalition established to "lead, accelerate, and track" the tourism industry’s transition to net-zero emissions, as well as "drive action to protect nature and support communities".
The centre’s strategy will be shaped by a coalition of governments, international organisations, academia, multilateral and financing institutions and industry associations.
The countries invited to be part of the coalition in phase one were the UK, USA, France, Japan, Germany, Kenya, Jamaica, Morocco, Spain, and Saudi Arabia.
The centre will deliver services and products across three avenues, including knowledge creation and sharing, measurement and monitoring, and industry enablement.
The STGC will focus on developing standards and resource provision for the tourism sector, capability building, and project funding and investment.
The centre will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and plans to open regional offices in other countries, with a multilingual online presence.
Felipe Calderon, former President of Mexico and chairman of the World Resources Institute, said there is a "window of opportunity" for businesses and governments to "come together" to drive the "critical" objectives.
"We share this initiative with global leaders who joined our mission to make tourism a lever toward achieving the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals," he added.
