(TAN): United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has strengthened its partnership with Telefónica, the Spanish multinational telecommunications company, to advance market intelligence in order to accelerate the tourism sector’s recovery from the impact of COVID-19, the UN agency said.
UNWTO has focussed on innovation as a key means of growing tourism back stronger and better. Additionally, with the global community now left with less than 10 years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (“The Decade of Action”), UNWTO is also driving tourism’s movement towards sustainability. This collaboration with Telefónica, which builds on an existing partnership, is designed to use digital transformation to support sustainable recovery and future growth.
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UNWTO and Telefónica will work together to promote the effective use of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence across the tourism sector. This will help destinations better understand tourist behaviour, allowing them to market their products more effectively. Management of data will also help destinations better manage tourist flows within the context of the new health and safety protocols being rolled out in response to the pandemic.
“The digital transformation of tourism will allow the sector to grow back stronger from the standstill caused by COVID-19. As UNWTO leads tourism’s restart, our partnership with Telefónica will allow us to provide member states and the sector as a whole the tools they need to accelerate recovery, build trust by guaranteeing safety and promote sustainability,” UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said.
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Miguel Llopis, industry lead of public sector in IoT and Big Data at Telefónica, said: “Tourism will return with force but the sector will have to face a structural transformation where new digital technologies, such as IoT and Big Data, will be a differential factor of competitive advantage.”
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