UN Tourism has opened functions for the 2025 version of its prestigious Greatest Tourism Villages initiative. This initiative marks a continued dedication to advancing rural tourism as a catalyst for sustainable growth and inclusion, whereas celebrating the wealthy tapestry of cultural and pure heritage, neighborhood values, and sustainable practices that make these locations distinctive.
Since its inception in 2021, the initiative has gained international recognition. Throughout the earlier 4 editions, UN Tourism has acquired greater than 800 functions from over 100 international locations. Immediately, the UN Tourism Greatest Tourism Villages Community consists of 254 members worldwide: over 180 villages acknowledged as Greatest Tourism Villages and 70 taking part within the Improve Programme, representing virtually 60 international locations throughout 5 world areas.
The Greatest Tourism Villages by UN Tourism celebrates rural locations the place tourism serves as a catalyst for alternative, cultural preservation, and sustainable progress
UN Tourism Secretary-Common Zurab Pololikashvili says: “The Greatest Tourism Villages by UN Tourism celebrates rural locations the place tourism serves as a catalyst for alternative, cultural preservation, and sustainable progress. By harnessing their distinctive belongings, these villages create alternatives for financial progress, safeguard native traditions, and promote a greater high quality of life for his or her communities. We’re desirous to welcome these villages that symbolize the position of rural tourism as a transformative pressure for good.”
Greatest Tourism Villages 2025 – Purposes Open
UN Tourism Member States are invited to submit as much as eight candidate villages via their respective Nationwide Tourism Administrations (NTAs).
Purposes will shut on Could 19, 2025. The villages acknowledged as Greatest Tourism Villages 2025 might be introduced within the third quarter of the yr on the event of a UN Tourism occasion.
An exterior Advisory Board comprising international consultants will consider functions primarily based on 9 key areas:
- Cultural and Pure Assets
- Promotion and Conservation of Cultural Assets
- Financial Sustainability
- Social Sustainability
- Environmental Sustainability
- Tourism Improvement and Worth Chain Integration
- Governance and Prioritization of Tourism
- Infrastructure and Connectivity
- Well being, Security, and Safety
Advancing Rural Improvement via Tourism
The Greatest Tourism Villages by UN Tourism initiative goals to leverage tourism as a software for rural growth, well-being, and resilience. By combining efforts to worth and protect rural landscapes, cultural range, and information techniques, the initiative advances revolutionary tourism methods aligned with the Sustainable Improvement Targets (SDGs).
The initiative contains three integral parts:
- Recognition as Greatest Tourism Villages: The popularity highlights rural tourism locations that excel in preserving cultural and pure heritage, community-based values, and sustainability practices. The analysis relies on their efficiency throughout 9 areas spanning financial, social, and environmental dimensions.
- The Improve Programme: Supplies focused help to villages that don’t totally meet recognition standards. These villages profit from tailor-made steerage to bridge gaps and improve their choices.
- The Greatest Tourism Villages Community: Serves as a platform for information change and collaboration amongst acknowledged villages and people within the Improve Programme. The Community organizes capacity-building initiatives to foster connections throughout sectors.
The initiative is a part of the Tourism for Rural Improvement Programme by UN Tourism.
