Tourism: From IUOTO, To WTO, UNWTO And Now “UN Tourism” Kickstarts A New Era Today For The Sector Globally

From International Union of Official Travel Organisations [IUOTO], to World Tourism Organisation [WTO], and later United Nations World Tourism Organization [UNWTO] and now ‘’UN Tourism’’, the global industry body once again transformed into a new era today.

With this new brand, the Organization reaffirms its status as the United Nations specialized agency for tourism and the global leader of tourism for development, driving social and economic change to ensure that “people and planet” are always centre stage.

To achieve this goal, UN Tourism engaged the services of Interbrand, the leading global branding agency. Interbrand successfully translated the Organization’s renewed vision for tourism into a new visual identity and brand narrative.

This involved renaming the Organization, transitioning from UNWTO to UN Tourism. At the same time, a new brand narrative was meticulously crafted, one that seamlessly aligns with UN Tourism’s central mission and priorities.

This narrative pivots around three main messages: the UN as a global altruistic organization, the notion of connecting humans around the world, and the concept of proactivity and movement.

By moving away from acronyms, UN Tourism adopts a more approachable stance and capitalizes on its strengths: the “UN”, signifying authority, and tourism, a simple and relatable concept for all.

This change has been endorsed by the Organization’s membership, highlighting its united support for the profound transformation and reinvention of UN Tourism in recent years, as it has become more agile, visible, and ever closer to its Member States, partners and the sector as a whole.

With 160 Member States and hundreds of private sector affiliates, UN Tourism has its headquarters in Madrid, Spain, and Regional Offices in Nara (Japan) covering Asia & Pacific, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) for the Middle East, as well as forthcoming Regional Offices for the Americas (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Africa (Morocco). Its priorities center on promoting tourism for sustainable development in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals.

UN Tourism promotes quality education, supports decent jobs in the sector, identifies talent and drives innovation and accelerates tourism climate action and sustainability with: Member States – both as recipients of its services, assistance and as active stakeholders in the Organization’s Programme of Work.

Individuals – specifically travelers and local communities whose lives flourish through the empowerment of the economy through tourism and Private, semi-private, and public organizations – all engaging with UN Tourism’s work, including its data and insights, events and products.

Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of UN Tourism, said: “As society progresses, the tourism sector, much like many other sectors, needs to transform to serve as a catalyst for prosperity at a universal scale. Enhancing the well-being of individuals, safeguarding the natural environment, stimulating economic advancement, and fostering international harmony are key goals that are the fundamental essence of UN Tourism. The organization takes on the role of driving a sustainable force that is now central to many economies.”

Borja Borrero, Executive Director at Interbrand, said: “Transitioning from UNWTO to UN Tourism marks a significant new phase for the organization. The revised nomenclature offers several advantages, including simplicity, enhanced comprehension, improved legibility and memorability. It also serves to clarify the agency’s sphere of influence within the global tourism industry. The new elements of the brand are the foundations of a distinct and proprietary image – one that is direct, relatable, and relevant for diverse audiences.”

The new brand expression is not only limited to words and messages but also expands into a reinvented visual discourse. UN Tourism has a new design language starting from its symbol. “Bringing the world closer” is the new tagline that inspires the concept of a Pangea shaping a human figure in action. This drastic evolution from the former globe symbols reflects the Organization’s emphasis on the dynamic nature of tourism and on putting people first.

Beyond the symbol, the rebrand also includes a revamp of the entire visual system, which is now based on a grid of geographical coordinates meant to help people navigate the brand’s touch-points, both offline and online, such as events, website, reports, social media channels and campaigns. This system unlocks a rich universe of elements including imagery, fonts, colors, and pictograms all designed to personalize social media campaigns, events, posts, and videos.

The new brand will be gradually implemented across all UN Tourism touch-points over the next few months, beginning with digital channels such as the website, social media accounts and newsletters, followed by physical spaces such as offices and events, and elements such as reports and stationary.

History of the ”UN Tourism”

The origin of UNWTO stems back to 1925 when the first international congress of official tourist organisations was held at The Hague. The congress continued to meet annually, and in 1930, it decided to form a formal union, which in 1934 became the International Union of Official Tourist Publicity Organisations [IUOTPO].

Though, the history of organised tourism association did not start until 1925, when the International Corporation in tourism development had its beginning, and later when a conference took place in London in Oct, 1946 and in 1947 that IUOTO was founded.

This organisation represented over 100 National tourist offices of various countries as full members, and 88 National & International members as associates. IUOTO was the only organisation which grouped together the governmental/private tourist organisations all over the world.

Following the end of the Second World War and with international travel numbers increasing, the IUOTPO restructured itself into the International Union of Official Travel Organisations [IUOTO].

A technical, non-governmental organisation, the IUOTO was made up of a combination of national tourist organisations, industry and consumer groups. The goals and objectives of the IUOTO were to not only promote tourism in general, but also to extract the best out of tourism as an international trade component and as an economic development strategy for developing nations.

Towards the end of the 1960s, the IUOTO realised the need for further transformation to enhance its role on an international level. The 20th IUOTO General Assembly in Tokyo, 1967, declared the need for the creation of an intergovernmental body with the necessary abilities to function on an international level in cooperation with other international agencies, particularly the United Nations.

Throughout the existence of the IUOTO, close ties had been established between the organisation and the United Nations [UN] and initial suggestions had the IUOTO becoming part of the UN.

However, following the circulation of a draft convention, consensus held that any resultant intergovernmental organisation should be closely linked to the UN, but preserves its “complete administrative and financial autonomy”.

It was on the recommendations of the UN that the formation of the new intergovernmental tourism organisation was based. Resolution 2529 of the XXIVth UN general assembly stated:

In 1970, the IUOTO General Assembly voted in favour of forming the World Tourism Organisation [WTO]. Based on statutes of the IUOTO, and after ratification by the prescribed 51 states, the WTO came into operation on November 1, 1974, but effective 1975.

By Lucky Onoriode George