(TAN): The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has announced to partner with Google for an online Acceleration Program for UNWTO Member States’ tourism ministers, top travel associations and tourism boards to develop innovation and digital transformation skills.
As part of the new program, ahead of World Tourism Day, the first UNWTO & Google Tourism Acceleration Program focused on insights from three countries of sub-Saharan Africa– South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. Data from UNWTO shows tourism represents 9% of global trade for Africa and 1 in 10 jobs directly and indirectly. Moreover, the sector drives inclusive growth, as women make 54% of the workforce.
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The Covid-19 crisis has disproportionately affected tourism, a sector that accounts for millions of jobs around the globe. While no one can say when tourism will recover, many have started planning for an outing close to home or to remote destinations. As more and more people go online to search where and when they can travel, accelerating the digitization of the tourism sector will be key to adapting to the new tourism reality, believes UNWTO.
“UNWTO is committed to helping Africa grow back stronger,” said Natalia Bayona, UNWTO Director of Innovation, Digital Transformation and Investments. “With the right policies, training and management in place, innovation and technology have the potential to foster new and better jobs and business opportunities for tourism in Africa while improving the overall wellbeing and prosperity of the region.”
Africa is home to 30% of the world’s population, adding every year hundreds of millions of new online users. Google is a highly trusted partner in Africa to find relevant and reliable information, and Search is one of the places they go when researching and booking travel.
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“We’re here to help the tourism sector rise up from this unprecedented crisis and emerge stronger. Our travel data insights and tools can help tourism authorities identify and understand the barriers and drivers to visit travel destinations for better tourism planning.” said Doron Avni, Google’s Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Emerging Market.
The session included the presentation of UNWTO impacts assessment data that showed some encouraging trends for tourism in the region. Google Search data from South Africa shows increased interest in tourism in recent days. Whereas, in Kenya the top questions users asked Google globally related to travel in August were related to where and when we can travel “right now”. In fact, 45% of the top 100 questions related to travel focused on the impact of Covid-19, the need to travel as soon as possible and travel safety.
