Seminar of TIPs for SITCA

Day：2023.11.17

event ｜

Overview

Seminar on "Toolkit of Indicators for Projects" for SICA (Central American Integration System) member countries

Date

17 November 2023

Location

Online

Participants

Mr. Gustavo Santos, Regional Director for the Americas, UNWTO
Ms. Morena Valdez, Minister of Tourism, El Salvador and Pro-Tempore Presidency of the Central American Tourism Council
Mr. Carlos Peguero,Vice Minister of International Cooperation MITUR Dominican Republic
Ms. Ligia Miranda Ponce, Secretary General, SITCA
Ms. Katherine Vado, SITCA
Mr. Jorge Bonilla, Touristology Latin America Representative, CATELCO-UNICAFAM
Mr. Philippe Lemaistre, Office of Secretary General, UNWTO
Ms. Claudia Lisboa, Institutional Relations and Partnerships, UNWTO
Ms. Tomomi Sato, Associate Expert, Private Sector Development Group, Economic Development Department, JICA

Primary objectives and outcomes

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency with the mandate for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. JICA has been collaborating with UNWTO since signing a Memorandum of Cooperation in 2017 to further promote sustainable development through tourism.

As part of our collaboration with UNWTO, we have co-published TIPs (Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Through Tourism - Toolkit of Indicators for TIPs) in July 2023, and in cooperation with SITCA, TIPs was introduced to international cooperation officers of tourism ministries in the member countries of SICA by UNWTO and JICA.

Content of the discussions

This seminar was targeted at the SITCA Secretariat and international cooperation officials of the tourism ministries of SICA member countries, with the objectives of (1) increasing interest in TIPs among the officials and (2) discussing specific applications of TIPs in their projects. The event was attended by about 70 participants, including officials from tourism ministries, SITCA, UNWTO and JICA overseas offices.

Group photo of participants

In light of the lack of existing indicators to measure the effectiveness of tourism projects towards Sustainable Development Goals, JICA and UNWTO introduced an overview of TIPs and then focused on the specific potential uses of TIPs in the seminar.
The participants shared some examples and models of TIPs utilization in Central America's unique form of tourism.

Ms. Morena Valdez, Minister of Tourism of El Salvador, commented on the importance of multi-agency collaboration (UNWTO, SITCA, JICA) in addressing global issues such as tourism sector and shared her expectations for TIPs.

Minister of Tourism of El Salvador

Ms. Ligia Miranda Ponce, Exective Secretary of SITCA, expressed her appreciation for JICA's leadership and commitment in the preparation of the TIPs. And Mr. Gustavo Santos, UNWTO Regional Director for the Americas, spoke about the importance of the SDGs in tourism sector and the positive roles of the tourism industry in other sectors.

SITCA Secretary General

UNWTO Regional Director for the America

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