diversity of tourism

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What I’ve learned as a black traveler

Here’s why diverse perspectives make for better stories.

This year hundreds of African Americans will board flights to Ghana . For many it will be their first trip to the African continent. They’ll be answering a call issued by the West African country to come home. The ship believed to have carried the first enslaved Africans to what would become the United States of America set sail from Ghana. Four hundred years later, African Americans are yearning to understand better what and who was left behind. Ghana has declared 2019 as “ The Year of Return .” ( Learn about the last American slave ship discovered in Alabama. )

I’m not an African American, but as a black woman living in North America , I understand the attraction of the invitation. It’s no small thing to find a place in the world that wants to tell your story.

Travelers walk to Fort William, during a trip in Anomabo, Ghana, to explore a landmark of the colonial slave trade.

My history has always been impacted by race and travel. My parents emigrated from Jamaica to Canada in the ’70s. My childhood included annual trips to spots across Canada, the U.S ., and the Caribbean. Each time we ventured beyond our neighborhood, my parents—intentionally or not—drove home the idea that the world was mine to explore. My memories of travel focused on what I was seeing, not on how I was being seen. Warm welcomes were a luxury I took for granted. ( Visit these 13 destinations for African-American history and culture .)

As I got older I realized that for many before me—including my parents—that had not been the case. As children, they hadn’t had the opportunities to travel that I was being afforded. And when as adults they did venture out, their kids in tow and far from their black-majority homeland, they were often met with prejudices I was too young to recognize.

Years later, my own travels around the world as a journalist helped me understand that the color of my skin is an integral part of my experience. The stories I write don’t have to be overtly centered on race to share my perspectives as a racialized person.

Being a black traveler means that during a reporting stint in Ghana in my 20s a local leader could single me out to share how much I look like a member of a nearby tribe. It means that in Ethiopia , Rwanda , England , and Northern Canada I am called “sister” (and treated as such) by people who can find a connection in my skin color.

It can also lead to experiences that are jarring and to opportunities that provoke conversation. In China and India , my hair and skin have stopped curious crowds. ( Read what it’s like to travel while black in China .)

Developing a more inclusive travel perspective requires no sacrifice. It isn’t a charitable act; all travelers benefit when the fullest possible stories are told.

Showcasing our similarities allows for the possibility of challenging stereotypes that go beyond travel (we swim, we ski, we hike).

I embrace all of these opportunities and the platforms that have allowed me to tell my stories, because I recognize that there aren’t enough people who look like me who get the chance.

And that’s a problem.

When voices are missing from the mainstream narrative, their absence is normalized. After more than 16 years as a travel writer, I still struggle to find other black storytellers in mainstream outlets.

This despite a 2018 report that African-American travelers, who make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, spend around $63 billion a year on travel.

Many who have grown used to being an afterthought to prevailing conversations have carved out spaces of their own. It’s how you get a Green Book —the printed annual handbook that, until its last issue in 1966, detailed the places that were safe for black road trippers to stop, eat, sleep, or stay out past dark. ( Take a Green Book-inspired road trip through Alabama’s civil rights history .)

It’s what leads to the creation of Evita Robinson’s Nomadness Travel Tribe , a lifestyle brand and community with a membership of 20,000 travelers of color. Or Outdoor Afro , founded by National Geographic Fellow Rue Mapp, which aims to reconnect African Americans with nature. It’s why Karen Akpan’s Black Kids Do Travel Facebook group exists—as a safe space for parents of color to share their travel triumphs and concerns. And although both Kellee Edwards and Oneika Raymond head up Travel Channel productions, the list of people of color as the face of any TV program in the industry is short.

Seeing and reading about people who look like us impacts how we travel because in those stories is the recognition that our lives—the accomplishments, hardships, history, and culture—matter.

But the stories of African-American travelers are essential for other reasons too. When mainstream travel pieces speak about safety, people of color know that we’ll still need to save our questions about our particular fears for the direct messages of black friends and colleagues. (“Yes, I know the place is safe, but is it safe for me? ”) It’s a system not unlike the ones friends in the LGBTQ community have developed. ( See the 10 best destinations for LGBTQ families .)

And so when I take my kids, two black boys, into the world, I do so with all of these questions, opportunities, and responsibilities in mind. We have traveled to dozens of countries together, snapping family photos in front of the Eiffel Tower , the pyramids of Giza , the Great Wall of China , and Niagara Falls . I take them to places where their skin color is a fascination and to places where everyone looks like them. I’ve forced them into the travel narrative because they have every right to be there, but I also do it because I know that other families of color read our stories and, in our photos, see the possibilities available for themselves.

More diverse voices are needed, but you don’t have to be a minority traveler to make a difference. Developing a more inclusive travel perspective requires no sacrifice. It isn’t a charitable act; all travelers benefit when the fullest possible stories are told. And when we aren’t getting the full narrative, we are all robbed of facts and experiences that could prove transformational in the way we see the world.

Related: 25 unique traditions around the world

Tourists, travel providers, outlets, and agents need only recognize the potential for tunnel vision and ask themselves whether there are perspectives missing in what we are reading and watching. And then, make every effort to seek them out.

As you consume travel, ask yourself: On whom is the camera focused? Whose story is absent from the historical tour? And those of us with a platform—be it blog, social media, TV show, or magazine—must offer more opportunities for people of color to hold the pen, the microphone, and the camera.

Inclusion is a recognition that the whole story—with its flaws and complexities—is far more beautiful than its individual pieces.

Travel makes us better, and multiple travel perspectives make us better still.

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The Travel Industry’s Reckoning With Race and Inclusion

Tourists, particularly Black travelers, are paying close attention to how destinations and travel service providers approach diversity and equity after a year of social justice protests.

By Tariro Mzezewa

Between the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought tourism to a near-complete halt for months on end, and last summer’s protests for social justice, the past year has been one of reckoning for the travel industry on issues of race and inclusivity.

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing, everybody from hotel operators to luggage makers declared themselves allies of the protesters. At a time when few people were traveling, Instagram posts and pledges to diversify were easy to make. But now, as travel once again picks up, the question of how much travel has really changed has taken on new urgency.

“From the very emergence of the Covid pandemic and especially in the wake of uprisings last summer, there’s a question about place,” said Paul Farber, the director of Monument Lab , a Pennsylvania-based public art and history studio that works with cities and states that want to examine, remove or add historic monuments. “What is the relationship of people and places? Where are sites of belonging? Where are sites where historic injustices may be physically or socially marked?”

Monument Lab is one of several organizations, groups and individuals trying to change the way travelers of all colors understand America’s racially fraught history. Urging people to engage with history beyond museums and presentations from preservation societies is one approach.

In turn, many travelers are paying close attention to whether companies are following through with their promises from last year. Black travelers, in particular, are doubling down on supporting Black-owned businesses. A survey released earlier this year by the consulting firm MMGY Global found that Black travelers, particularly those in the United States, Canada, Britain and Ireland, are keenly interested in how destinations and travel service providers approach diversity and have indicated that it has an influence on their travel decision-making.

At Monument Lab, questions about belonging, inclusion and how history memorializes different people were coming up frequently over the past year, Dr. Farber said, particularly from travelers looking to learn about Confederate and other monuments while road tripping.

In response, Monument Lab, which examines the meaning of monuments, created an activity guide called Field Trip , which allows people to pause on their trips to learn about specific monuments. On a worksheet, participants are prompted to question who created the monuments, why they were made and what they represent.

In creating Field Trip, it became clear to Dr. Farber that there is a strong interest from travelers to learn about Black history. This sentiment is echoed by tour operators who offer Civil Rights and other social-justice-oriented tours like those focusing on the contributions of Black Americans, women and figures in the L.G.B.T.Q. community.

“There are a lot of white people who for the first time have had a conversation about racial justice and maybe even heard the words ‘systemic racism’ for the first time,” said Rebecca Fisher, founder of Beyond the Bell Tours , a Philadelphia-based operator of social-justice-oriented tours that highlight marginalized communities, people and histories. “People heard the new words and now they want to learn. That doesn’t mean that it is backed up with results, but I am seeing a trend in interest.”

On a tour with Beyond the Bell guests might, for example, participants hear about Philadelphia’s President’s House, but they’ll also hear about Ona Judge , an enslaved woman who escaped from George Washington’s home, and about the former president’s efforts to recapture her. One of the company’s most popular tours focuses on gay history in the city.

Seeking Black-owned travel businesses

Black travelers, in particular, are increasingly looking for ways to show their support for Black-owned travel businesses.

Even as the family road trip has made a comeback in the wake of the coronavirus, that sort of trip hasn’t been a source of unfettered freedom for generations of Black motorists because of Jim Crow laws enforcing racial segregation in America. And now, after a year in which protests of the police killings of Black people amplified the perils of skin color, Black travelers are seeking out Black travel agents, Black hoteliers and Black-owned short-term rentals in addition to organizing in groups dedicated to Black travelers.

In fact, according to the international survey of nearly 4,000 Black leisure travelers by MMGY Global, 54 percent of American respondents said they were more likely to visit a destination if they saw Black representation in travel advertising. In Britain and Ireland, 42 percent echoed that sentiment, and in Canada that number was 40 percent.

“Another highly influential factor in the decision-making process is whether the destination is perceived as safe for Black travelers,” the survey noted. “Seventy-one percent of U.S. and Canadian respondents felt safety was extremely or very influential to their decision.”

In Facebook groups, Clubhouse chat rooms and across other social media platforms, Black travelers regularly ask one another for recommendations about where to travel, particularly about where others have been where they felt safe and welcome. While these questions are often about foreign destinations, in a year when Americans could largely only travel within the United States, inquiries increasingly arose about where travelers felt safe within the country.

“I was just curious on some good and safe locations for a first time solo traveler here in the States,” one woman posted in a group specifically for Black women travelers in June.

“Where’s a good ‘safe’ place to travel in the States?” asked another woman who was planning a 35th birthday trip with her sister.

This type of community gathering, though now online, isn’t new. For decades, African American travelers have looked to one another for guidance on where to travel. The most referenced form was Victor Hugo Green’s Green Book , a guide for Black travelers that was published annually from 1936 to 1966.

Last summer, facing an onslaught of messaging from travel companies saying that they supported the Black Lives Matter movement and would be committing to diversifying their ranks and finding other ways to be more inclusive, Kristin Braswell, the owner of CrushGlobal , a company that works with locals around the world to plan trips, decided to make the inclusion of Black businesses central to her work.

As a Black woman with a passion for travel, she started making travel guides that focused on supporting Black businesses. Each guide, whether it be to national parks, beach towns or wine country, provides information on businesses owned by Black people as well as guidance about diversity in the area and more.

“These road trips and initiatives that speak to people of color in general are important because we’ve been left out of travel narratives,” Ms. Braswell said. “If you’re going to be creating experiences where people are going out into the world, all people should be included in those experiences.”

Ms. Braswell added that the bulk of her business comes from Black travelers. These travelers, she said, are looking for Black travel advisers who have the knowledge of places where they are welcomed and can help them plan their trips. Over the past year travelers across racial backgrounds have been increasingly asking for tours and experiences that include Black-owned businesses, she said.

Across the country, as people protested against police brutality, travelers demanded to see more travelers who looked like them in advertising; they spoke out against tourism boards that hadn’t been inclusive in the past and formed organizations like the Black Travel Alliance , calling for more Black travel influencers, writers and photographers to be employed.

The Alliance and others have been pushing for more Black travelers to be visible and included in the industry and in spaces of leisure travel.

Going beyond museums

At the same time, tour providers like Free Egunfemi Bangura, the founder of Untold RVA , a Richmond-based organization, are offering tours that center on the contributions of Black people. In a city such as Richmond, which was once a capital of the Confederacy, she said that means seeing the value of working outside the established system of preservation societies and museums that are typically run by white leadership.

To Ms. Bangura and other activists, artists and tour operators, museums and traditional preservation societies are part of the culture of exclusion that has historically left Black people out and continues to present versions of history that focus on white narratives. Ms. Bangura’s tours take place on the streets of the city as a better way to understand the local history.

At a time when state legislatures are pushing for and passing laws that limit what and how much students learn about the contributions of Black and other marginalized people to the country, Ms. Bangura and others said, tours that show their contributions are even more important.

“There is a way to take these experiences out of the hands of the traditional preservation community, so you don’t have to go into the walls of a museum,” Ms. Bangura said, adding that another reason institutions like museums aren’t optimal is because some people aren’t keen to visit them. “But think of how often it is that after you come outside of a Black-owned coffee shop, you’re actually able to hear about some of the Black people in that neighborhood or people that fought for Black freedom.”

Additionally, although the tourism industry took a hit last year, outdoor activities continued to draw visitors, making outdoor tours like Ms. Bangura’s and Ms. Fisher’s of Beyond the Bell popular. Ms. Bangura said the style of her offerings makes them accessible for all travelers, especially those without access to smartphones for scanning QR codes or those unable to take part in headphone-aided tours.

Among the several kinds of tours and experiences Ms. Bangura has created is Black Monument Avenue, a three-block interactive experience in Richmond’s majority-Black Highland Park neighborhood. Visitors can drive through and call a designated phone line with unique access codes to hear songs, poems and messages about each installation. Every August, she runs Gabriel Week , honoring Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved man who led a rebellion in the Richmond area in 1800.

“I call him brother General Gabriel,” Ms. Bangura said, adding that in her work, she encourages “people to decolonize their history by making sure that history is being told from the language of the oppressed, not the language of the oppressor.”

Walking tours, for those who go on them, also provide a visceral sense of history that differs from the experience of a museum. Even as the National Museum of African American History and Culture has attracted record numbers of visitors to Washington, D.C., tours like Ms. Bangura’s can provide a more local perspective and show visitors exactly where something significant happened.

“We can find community in walking together, we can find community in exploring a neighborhood together, and we can find a sense of where we are, we can find a sense of where folks have been and we can find common ground,” said Kalela Williams, the founder of Black History Maven , a Philadelphia company that primarily offers walking tours of the city that focus on Black history.

“It’s important to see where things were, how things were working in relation to one another,” she said. “You can see the proximity of folks’ houses and schools and churches. You can imagine how folks would have walked around and navigated and visited each other in a way that you might not in a museum.”

THE WORLD IS REOPENING. LET’S GO, SAFELY. Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter : Each week you’ll receive tips on traveling smarter, stories on hot destinations and access to photos from all over the world.

Tariro Mzezewa is a travel reporter at The New York Times.  More about Tariro Mzezewa

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Why diversity, equity, and inclusion matters to the Center for Responsible Travel

Written by Kelsey Frenkiel , CREST Program Manager

We are on a mission to improve our policies and practices to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive space for our staff and partners.

We know that responsible tourism cannot be sustained when it is designed by a homogeneous group of people because they cannot speak to all the ways that tourism benefits or harms diverse communities.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a key component of tourism sustainability. In this post, we’ll provide an update on our work as it relates to DEI, including an explanation of why it is important to the travel sector, and how we are defining it.

We call upon all tourism organizations, businesses, governments, and individuals to assess their own policies and practices.

What does Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mean?

We use the following definitions in our discussions around DEI: 

Diversity : The understanding of individual differences along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, geographic background, life experiences, age, physical abilities, cognitive abilities, health, physical characteristics, body composition, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other perspectives and ideologies. 

It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. 

Diversity is a reality created by individuals and groups from a broad spectrum of demographic and philosophical differences. 

Equity: Fairness and equality in outcomes, not just in resources and opportunity. We recognize that each person needs something different to succeed and; to reach their own purpose, values, and goals. 

Inclusion : The achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equitable access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Travel & Tourism

We believe that sustainability cannot exist without diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. True sustainability balances the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. 

Black, indigenous, and people of color make up a huge portion of the hospitality workforce in the US. For many US indigenous communities, tourism is a major source of revenue. Marginalized communities that are disproportionately affected by rising sea levels and flooding are at the mercy of millions of tourists driving, flying, and cruising to their destinations every year.

The Black Travel Alliance’s recent #PullUpForTravel study confirmed that black travel content creators are under-represented in the travel industry and “there is, for the most part, lip service paid to diversity and inclusion.” The majority of tourism policymakers, planners, and managers do not have those voices at their theoretical tables. 

CREST is a founding member of the Future of Tourism Coalition . Our guiding principles emphasize “seeing the whole picture,” “collaboration,” bringing equitable tourism benefits to destination communities, reducing tourism’s social burden, and protecting the sense of place. In this way, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in sustainable travel and tourism are a “must have,” not a “nice to have.” 

There is evidence for the return on investment more broadly: according to McKinsey & Company , “companies in the top quartile for workforce diversity are 33 percent more likely to financially outperform their less diverse counterparts.” Tourism businesses, governments, DMOs, nonprofits, and others must be willing to make an investment in these principles in order to do their jobs well. 

What CREST is doing to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive

Why dei is important to crest.

Our vision is to transform the way the world travels. Travel impacts everyone, and so it must be designed and managed in a way that is equitable and brings all voices to the table. We have developed a DEI Vision Statement to guide our work in this area:

The CREST staff  diligently working to improve our organization and ourselves through a diverse, equitable, and inclusive lens. We acknowledge our imperfections but strive to make intentional improvements each day. We seek to create a more equitable future for destinations and communities through sustainable tourism solutions by challenging marginalization in tourism development, bringing a diverse spectrum of voices to the forefront of our initiatives, and fostering equitable access to opportunities and resources to the best of our ability. 

Who we’re working with

CREST is working with Papilia , a woman-owned company that offers customized diversity, equity, and inclusion, communication, leadership, talent management, cultural learning, coaching services, and wellness solutions for travel organizations and individuals in the travel industry. 

What steps has CREST taken so far?

So far we have taken the following actions: 

• Conducting a DEI audit to understand how to improve our internal and external practices
• Holding unconscious bias and emotional intelligence training sessions 
• Reviewing and revising our staff and internship recruitment process 
• Reviewing our website to ensure it is accessible for people with different abilities 
• Conducting an audit of our conference speakers in order to establish a system that encourages the amplification of different voices  
• Conducting a DEI staff survey to serve as a baseline to measure progress and to create annual DEI metrics/accountability measures 
• Examining how to ensure underserved and marginalized identities are represented through our programmatic portfolio.   

What will this mean moving forward?

Our next steps are: 

• Developing baseline DEI metrics and accountability measures 
• Developing a DEI policy
• Integrating DEI into our five-year strategic work plan 
• Diversifying the composition of our board members 
• Expanding our stakeholder mapping process with each project 
• Updating our Academic Affiliate and Experts Network recruitment and onboarding process  
• Developing a communications strategy that informs and generates conversation about topics critical to advancing sustainability and DEI in the travel industry. 

You can find more information on CREST’s evolving DEI commitments and actions on our DEI page . 

We call upon all tourism organizations, businesses, governments, and individuals to assess their own policies and practices. We invite you to reach out to Program Manager Kelsey Frenkiel if you are interested in learning more about our journey or have questions, comments, or feedback to share.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, diversity in tourism: a perspective article.

Tourism Review

ISSN : 1660-5373

Article publication date: 7 January 2020

Issue publication date: 20 February 2020

This paper aims to consider growing calls for diversity and inclusion in tourism scholarship, practices and operations. It briefly overviews evolution in the thinking on diversity in tourism and considers issues arising for the future.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on theories of intersectionality and decolonial thinking, this paper offers a review of the evolution of thinking on diversity in tourism.

Diversity is essential to the future of tourism to build more just, equitable and sustainable futures.

Research limitations/implications

The tourism academy and the tourism industry must engage in all forms of diversity to respond to a rapidly changing world. Engagement with diversity also allows for innovative and creative thinking that will be essential for a just and sustainable future.

Originality/value

This paper addresses an under-studied development in tourism: transitions to diversity. It reviews concepts emerging in tourism scholarship, including intersectionality and decolonial thinking. These are essential tools for understanding diversity in tourism and developing just and sustainable futures.

• Intersectionality
• Empowerment
• Decolonial thinking

Higgins Desbiolles, F. (2020), "Diversity in tourism: a perspective article", Tourism Review , Vol. 75 No. 1, pp. 29-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-06-2019-0226

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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• Open access
• Published: 02 September 2024

A qualitative dynamic analysis of the relationship between tourism and human development

• Pablo Juan Cárdenas-García   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1779-392X 1 ,
• Juan Gabriel Brida   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2319-5790 2 &
• Verónica Segarra   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0436-3303 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1125 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Development studies

This study analyzes the dynamic relationship between tourism and human development in a sample of 123 countries between 1995–2019 using a symbolic time series methodological analysis, with the number of international tourist arrivals per capita as the tourism measurement variable and the Human Development Index as the development measurement variable. The objective was to determine if a higher level of tourism specialization is related to a higher level of economic development. The definition of economic regime is used and the concept of the distance between the dynamic trajectories of the different countries analyzed is introduced to create a minimum spanning tree. In this way, groups of countries are identified that display similar behavior in terms of tourism specialization and levels of human development. The results suggest that countries with a high level of tourism specialization have a higher level of development as compared to those in which tourism has a lower specific weight. However, the largest group of countries identified is characterized by low levels of tourism specialization and economic development, which appears to translate into a poverty trap. Therefore, policies related to tourism activity expansion should be created since higher tourism levels have been linked to higher levels of human development. In the case of less developed countries, however, these projects should be financed by international organizations so that these countries can escape the poverty trap in which they are currently found.

Introduction

Traditionally, the Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP per capita) is considered the go-to variable to determine a population’s economic development and is restricted exclusively to an economic measure (Todaro and Smith, 2020 ). Recently, however, studies on development have begun incorporating other noneconomic factors, such as education and health. These factors, together with the economic criteria, provide a baseline for measuring a population’s development in broader terms (World Bank, 1991 ; Lee, 2017 ). In the search for economic activities that enable economic growth and improve the level of economic development, many countries have been especially interested in tourist activity since it is an economic activity that has a strong potential for job creation, the generation of foreign currency, and revenue increase. In short, it may be able to boost economic growth in host regions (Brida et al., 2020 ). In some cases, the development of tourism has been found to contribute to reducing inequality (Chi, 2020 ; Nguyen et al. ( 2021 )) or reducing poverty (Garza-Rodriguez ( 2019 ); Folarin, Adeniyi ( 2019 )).

In fact, what is actually important in economic policies is not only the promotion of a country’s economic growth but also, the channeling of this economic growth into improved economic development in the territory (Croes, 2012 ). This latter concept is much broader and it serves to satisfy the needs and demands of the resident population, improving its quality of life (Ranis et al., 2000 ).

In terms of the analysis of the relationship between tourism and economic growth, many studies have researched this connection. Most of them agree that a causal relationship exists between both variables, that tourism influences growth (Balaguer and Cantavella-Jordá, 2002 ; Brida et al., 2016 ), that the economic cycle influences the development of tourism (Antonakakis et al., ( 2015 ); Sokhanvar et al., 2018 ), and that there is a bidirectional relationship between tourism and economic growth (Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ; Hussain-Shahzad et al. ( 2017 )).

Given that a relationship between tourism and economic growth has been proven in the economies of host countries and national governments, despite a lack of sufficient empirical evidence, various international organizations have been promoting tourism activity as a tool to facilitate the population’s development in those host regions that attract tourist flows to their territory (OECD, 2010 ; UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( 2011 )). Such has been the case with the relationship between tourism and economic growth, with the suggestion that tourism is a tool for economic development (Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ).

Many studies have already analyzed the relationship between tourism and GDP per capita, finding long-term equilibrium relationships between the expansion of tourism and economic growth, whereby a higher level of tourists received means higher levels of economic growth (Akadiri et al., 2017 ). As previously mentioned, the economic development of a population, in a broad sense, and in addition to the economic variables, has to be linked to additional variables with a multidimensional content (Wahyuningsih et al., 2020 ). In this scenario, although some studies have measured development in a broader sense (Andergassen and Candela, 2013 ; Banerjee et al. 2018 ; Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ; Li et al., 2018 ), there is a clear lack of analysis of the relationship between tourism and economic development as a multidimensional variable.

In this regard, human development, and its measurement through the Human Development Index (HDI), is a multidimensional variable related to the living conditions of the resident population (income, education, and health), which has been used on many occasions (more than level of poverty or income inequality) to measure a country’s level of development (Cárdenas-García et al., 2015 ; Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ; Croes et al., 2021 ). The link between tourism and human development arises from the economic growth generated by the expansion of tourist activity. This economic growth is used to develop policies that will improve the education and health levels of the host population (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ).

This article analyzes the relationship between tourism and economic growth, measuring the economic growth of the countries in the broadest possible sense, with a link to the concept of human development (Cárdenas-García et al., 2015 ). As a novelty, a wide set of countries is used for this analysis. This overcomes the limitations of prior works that analyzed the relationship between tourism and human development using small country samples (Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ).

Although distinct works have already analyzed the relationship between tourism and economic development, they tended to focus on the application of econometric tests to determine the type of causal relationship existing between these variables (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ). This work takes a distinct approach, analyzing the qualitative dynamic behavior arising between tourism and human development. Different country groups are identified that have similar behavior within the group and, simultaneously, with differences as compared to the other groups. Thus it is possible to verify the relationship existing between tourism and human development in each of these country groups, to determine if a higher level of tourism specialization is linked to a higher level of human development.

This approach does not attempt to determine if a causal relationship exists by which tourism precedes the level of development. Rather, this approach of grouping countries aims to determine if, at similar levels of development, the country groups with a higher level of tourism specialization display higher levels of human development. This would suggest that tourism activity is an economic activity that promotes human development to a greater extent than other economic activities.

In this context, this study analyzes the dynamic relationship between tourism and economic development, considering development as a multidimensional variable. It uses a data panel consisting of 123 countries for the period between 1995–2019 and considers the diversity of countries in terms of tourism development and their economic development dynamics. To perform this dynamic analysis, the concept of economic regime is introduced (Brida, 2008 ; Cristelli et al., 2015 , Brida et al., 2020 ), and symbolic time series are used (Risso ( 2018 )).

This article contributes to the empirical literature examining the relationship between tourism and economic development. It analyzes the qualitative dynamic behavior of the countries without considering any particular model. Therefore, this analysis enables the identification of groups of countries with similar dynamics, for which economic models of the same type can be identified. The results of this study indicate that there are different groups of countries displaying similar dynamic behavior in terms of both tourism and development. These groups are characterized by their level of tourism specialization and economic development. Therefore, it is interesting to note the heterogeneity existing in the relationship between tourism and development, as well as the consequences that this situation has for both the empirical analysis and the political implications.

The rest of the document is organized as follows: the following section reviews the literature on the subject under study, section “Data” presents the data used, section “Methodology” details the methodology applied, section “Results” presents the results obtained, section “Discussion” includes a discussion of the paper, and, finally, section “Conclusions and policy implications” outlines the final conclusions and policy implications of the work.

Literature review

Economic growth versus economic development.

Traditionally, studies on development have focused on economic growth and have been based on the premise that the efficient allocation of resources maximizes growth and that the expansion of growth and consumption is a measure of population welfare (Easterly, 2002 ). However, the emergence of new studies at the end of the last century, beginning with the works by Sen ( 1990 , 1999 ), resulted in a change of focus for studies on development. They moved from an exclusive view of development linked to economic growth to the inclusion of new factors that connect it to the population’s living conditions (Croes et al., 2018 ).

Economic growth and development are distinct concepts that do not need to be linked. In other words, increased economic growth does not necessarily imply improved economic development (Croes et al., 2021 ). However, it is also true that economic growth, and the revenue generated, can be used to improve a population’s living conditions through better health care, infrastructures, and education (Banerjee et al., 2018 ; Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ).

In this regard, the first studies to analyze the relationship between tourist activity and the economies of host countries focused exclusively on the relationship between tourism and economic growth, using a traditional view of development that is linked to economic variables.

Tourism and economic growth

Numerous studies have analyzed the relationship between tourism and economic growth. Therefore, it is a highly relevant research area in the economic analysis of tourist activity, with three streams of perfectly defined results in which these works may be grouped (Alcalá-Ordóñez et al., 2023; Brida et al., 2016 ).

Firstly, different studies have determined that tourism development drives economic growth, identified under the tourism-led economic growth hypothesis. Both the first study to analyze this causal relationship (Balaguer and Cantavella-Jorda, 2002), as well as the later studies (Brida et al., 2016 ; Castro-Nuño et al., 2013 ; Lin et al., 2019 , Pérez-Rodríguez et al., 2021 ; Ridderstaat et al., 2016 ), have confirmed the existence of this relationship.

Secondly, other studies determined that the evolution of the economic cycle has an influence on the development of tourism, identified under the economic-driven tourism growth. These studies indicate that those economies with a greater level of investment, stability in the price level, or lower level of unemployment determine the development of tourism (Antonakakis et al. ( 2015 ); Rivera, 2017 ; Sokhanvar et al., 2018 ; Tang, Tan ( 2018 )).

Finally, a third wave of studies determined that the relationship between the development of tourism and economic growth has a bidirectional character. These studies note that the relationship between both variables is a causal bidirectional relationship (Antonakakis et al., 2019 ; Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ; Chingarande and Saayman, 2018 ; Hussain-Shahzad et al. ( 2017 ); Ridderstaat et al., 2013 ).

Human Development as a measure of development

Since the end of the last century, the scientific literature has shown that the concept of development cannot be linked exclusively to variables of economic content. Instead, development should be considered along with other non-economic factors that are related to the population’s living conditions. Therefore, it is a multidimensional concept (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ).

When measuring development using a multidimensional perspective, this concept is often linked to human development (Cárdenas et al., 2015 ; Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ). In this regard, the HDI is a multidimensional indicator that, in addition to considering variables of economic content, in this case per capita income, also incorporates other non-economic factors, specifically, life expectancy and educational level of the population (United Nations Development Program, 2022 ).

The HDI offers some major advantages as a measure of development over other indicators, providing a more complete vision of society’s progress and focusing not only on economic factors but also on factors related to the population’s living conditions. This makes it possible to identify inequalities that need to be addressed to promote more equitable and sustainable development (Sharma et al., 2020 ; Tan et al., 2019 ). Moreover, since it was created by the United Nations Development Program for a large group of countries, it permits homogenous comparison-making between a broad base of countries at a global level (Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ).

Tourism and human development

The expansion of tourism activity can influence the level of human development (Croes et al., 2021 ). The common link between these two variables is the economic impact generated by the expansion of tourist activity since this is a linked process, whereby a higher level of tourists results in an increase in income generated and thus, a higher level of economic growth (Brida et al., 2016 ). Countries can take advantage of this higher level of economic growth to develop specific policies aimed at improving the living conditions of the host population, thereby improving human development (Eluwole et al., 2022 ).

This link between tourism and human development has also been highlighted by the United Nations Tourism in its Millennium Development Goals of 2000, which declared that factors such as health and education are very important in economic development. It was suggested that tourism may improve human development given that it has an influence on these non-economic factors (UN Tourism, 2006 ).

The triple component of the HDI, the most frequently used indicator to measure economic development, has been considered in most of the studies analyzing the relationship between tourism and economic development (Alcalá-Ordóñez and Segarra, 2023 ).

Distinct studies have attempted to determine whether tourism is a tool for economic growth in host countries, although most of the studies have exclusively used economic content to measure the concept of development (Wahyuningsih et al., 2020 ). Therefore, there is a major lack of empirical studies that consider whether tourism influences development and that do so while considering development to be a multidimensional variable encompassing other factors (beyond those associated with the economy).

Some of these studies have outlined that the expansion of tourism has led to an increase in the level of development for host countries. This suggests that tourism has a positive unidirectional relationship with the living conditions of the population (Meyer and Meyer, 2016 ). Fahimi et al. ( 2018 ), examining microstates, found evidence supporting the idea that the expansion of tourism leads to an improvement in human capital. Other studies have also noted that this causal relationship between tourism and development exists, but only in developed countries (Banerjee et al., 2018 ; Bojanic and Lo, 2016 ). Some studies have suggested that only the least developed countries have benefited from the tourism industry in terms of increased economic development ratios (Cárdenas-García et al., 2015 ).

However, although it has been indicated that tourism influences economic growth, some authors have noted that tourism does not have an influence on the development of host countries (Rivera, 2017 ), or simply, that the expansion of this activity does not have any effect on human development (Croes et al., 2021 ).

As an intermediate position between these two schools of thought, some works have suggested that tourism has a positive influence on the development of the resident population, but this causal relationship is only found when certain factors exist in the host countries, such as infrastructure, environment, technology, and human capital (Andergassen and Candela, 2013 ; Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ; Li et al., 2018 ).

Along these same lines, in a study using panel data from 133 countries, Chattopadhyay et al. ( 2021 ) determined that, although no global relationship exists between tourism and human development for all countries, the specific characteristics of each country (level of growth, degree of urbanization, or commercial openness) are determinants for tourism to improve human development levels.

Finally, other studies in the scientific literature have looked to determine whether the relationship between tourism and development is a bidirectional causal relationship, with papers affirming the existence of this relationship between tourism and development (Pulido-Fernández and Cárdenas-García, 2021 ).

Therefore, when examining the few studies that have analyzed the relationship between tourism and development, it may be concluded that contradictory and biased results exist. This may be due to the characteristics of the samples chosen, the variables used, and the methodology employed. Currently, there is no defined school of thought in the scientific literature with regard to the ability of tourism to improve living conditions for the resident population. This contrasts with the conclusions drawn regarding the relationship between tourism and economic growth.

This gap in the scientific literature provides an opportunity for new empirical studies that can analyze the relationship between tourism and development.

In this study, data from different sources of information were used with the objective of analyzing the relationship between tourism and economic development, in accordance with the methodology proposed in the following section. The data used in the present study are available for a total of 123 countries, covering all geographical areas worldwide. The specific data for these countries are as follows, including a web link to the availability of the data to provide greater transparency:

Tourist activity. The number of international tourists received was used as a variable for measuring tourist activity. For those countries for which this data was unavailable, the number of international visitors received was used, based on annual information provided by the United Nations Tourism between 1995 and the present (UN Tourism, 2022 ).

Data on international tourists received at a country level are available at https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance

Economic development. The HDI, developed by the United Nations Development Program and available annually from 1990 to the present day, was used as a variable for measuring economic development (United Nations Development Program, 2022 ).

Data from the HDI for each country are available at https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI

Total population. The de facto population was used as a measurement variable and counts all residents regardless of their legal status or citizenship. This information was provided by the World Bank and is available from 1960 to the present day, on an annual basis (World Bank, 2022 ).

Data on the population of the distinct countries are available and accessible at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.pop.totl .

Based on the data indicated above, the initial variables are transformed, specifically, in the case of tourism, through the use of the relativized per capita variable. A descriptive summary of the variables used in the analysis is presented in Table 1 . Finally, two variables have been used to analyze the relationship between tourism and economic development:

International tourists per inhabitant received in the country (number of international tourists / total population of the country), as a measure of tourism specialization. The unit of this variable is established at a relative value, by dividing the number of tourists by the population.

HDI of the country, as a measure of economic development. The unit of this variable is established at a relative value for each country, which, in all cases, is between 0 (lowest level of human development) and 1 (highest level of human development).

Regarding the tourist sector, the measurement of tourism is a subject that has generated great interest, and, on many occasions, the selection of different indicators leads to different results (Song and Wu, 2021 ). As a result, the results of the empirical analysis may be affected by the indicators used to represent the tourist demand (Fonseca and Sanchez-Rivero, 2020 ), with there being important differences between studies with respect to the tourism indicator. According to Rosselló-Nadal, He ( 2020 ), tourist arrivals or tourism expenditure are frequently used to measure tourist demand; however, when looking at the literature, differences in the results are found depending on the indicator considered. Indeed, in their study, which looked at 191 countries between 1998–2016, the authors found evidence that estimates may differ depending on the indicator used for the tourism demand of a destination (international tourist arrivals, or international tourist expenditure in this case). Other studies use indicators that do not measure the degree of tourist activity of a destination, as is the case for the number of tourist arrivals, the expenses, or the revenues. Instead, they consider an indicator that measures the degree of specialization that an economy has in tourism, for example, international tourist arrivals in per capita terms or expenditure or income as a percentage of GDP or exports. This work uses the number of international tourist arrivals, in relation to the population, and thus obtains the degree of tourism specialization of a destination (such as Dritsakis, 2012 ; Tang and Abosedra, 2016 ).

With regard to the measurement of economic development, the arrival of the HDI has resulted in a notable improvement in terms of GDP per capita, which is traditionally used to measure the progress of a country linked only to economic aspects (Lind, 2019 ). In fact, the HDI includes other noneconomic factors as it measures three key dimensions of development: a long and healthy life, being well-informed, and having a decent standard of living. This is why this index was created from the geometric mean of the normalized indices for each of the three dimensions indicated: (i) health: life expectancy at birth; (ii) education: years of schooling for adults and expected years of schooling for children; and (iii) standard of living: Gross National Income per capita (United Nations Development Program, 2022 ). Therefore, since the emergence of this index, there have been increasingly more studies that have incorporated HDI as a measurement of economic development. This variable has been shown to represent development better than other variables that are based exclusively on economic factors (Anand and Sen, 2000 ; Jalil and Kamaruddin, 2018 ; Ngoo and Tey, 2019 ; Ogwang and Abdou, 2003 ; Sajith and Malathi, 2020 ).

The time scale considered in this study covers the period between 1995–2019, in order to perform the broadest possible time analysis. On the one hand, there is an initial time restriction in terms of the data, given that the first data available on international tourist arrivals, provided by the United Nations Tourism, refer to the 1995 fiscal year. On the other hand, the data for the 2019 fiscal year are the latest in the time series analyzed. Therefore, the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, which may have had a different impact at the country level, as well as the level of recovery in international tourist arrivals, do not affect the results of this work.

Methodology

In this work, an analysis is carried out involving the dynamics of two variables: tourism specialization and the HDI. Each of the countries considered in the analysis is represented by a two-dimensional time series of coordinates of these two variables.

In order to compare these dynamics and thereby find homogenous country groups sharing similar dynamics, it was first necessary to introduce a metric permitting this comparison. A fundamental issue in this analysis is that the units of measurement used for each variable are different and the relationship between them is unknown since tourism is measured in the number of tourists per inhabitant while the HDI is an index that varies between 0 and 1. Therefore, the frequently used Euclidean metrics are not valid for this analysis. For this reason, in this study, the problem was analyzed within the framework of complex systems by introducing the concept of “regimes”.

In economic literature, the term “regime” is used to characterize a type of behavior exhibited by one economy, which can be qualitatively distinguished from the “regime” that characterizes another economy. In this way, one regime is distinguished and differentiated from another, so that the economy as a whole may be considered a system of multiple regimes. Intuitively, an “economic regime” may be considered a set of rules governing the economy as a system and determining certain qualitative behaviors (Boehm and Punzo, 2001 ).

Regime changes, on the other hand, are associated with qualitative changes in the dynamics of an economy. Identifying and characterizing these regimes is a complex issue. For example, when working with mathematical models, a commonly used criterion is through Markov partitions (see Adler, 1998 ). Another widely used criterion when working with data is the division of the state space using various statistical indicators, such as the mean, median, etc. (see Brida and Punzo, 2003 ).

Firstly, a distance between countries was calculated to compare their trajectories; secondly, a symbolic time series analysis was used and the concept of “regime” was incorporated; as a result, the original two-dimensional series was transformed into a one-dimensional symbolic series. Then, a metric allowing for the comparison of the dynamic trajectories of the different countries was introduced; finally, a cluster analysis was performed to group the countries based on their dynamics.

The symbolic time series analysis methodology, still quite undeveloped in the field of economics, has been used in some previous works, such as that by Brida et al. ( 2020 ) that analyzes the relationship between tourism and economic growth. All analyses have been performed using RStudio software.

Time series symbolization

To identify the qualitatively relevant characteristics, the concepts of regime and regime dynamics were introduced (Brida, 2008 ; Brida et al., 2020 ). Each regime had its own economic performance model that made it qualitatively different from the rest. The partitioning of the space of tourism states and the development was established by means of annual averages of international arrivals per capita (x) and the HDI (y). The space was divided into four regions, which were determined by the annual averages of tourism and economic development, \({\bar{x}}_{t}\) and \({\bar{y}}_{t}\) respectively, with \(t=1,\ldots ,25\) . Using this partitioning of the states space into regimes, two types of dynamics are distinguished: one within each of the regimes and one of change between regimes. While the dynamic observed in each regime determines a performance model that differs from the models that act in the others, the dynamics of change from one region to another indicate where an economy is at each temporal moment. This dynamic describes performance in terms of tourism specialization and economic development in a qualitative way.

A change of regime of course signals some qualitative transformation. To explore these qualitative changes for every country, let us substitute a bi-dimensional time series \(\left\{\left({x}_{1},{y}_{1}\right),\,\left({x}_{2},{y}_{2}\right),\,\ldots ,\,\left({x}_{{\rm{T}}},{y}_{{\rm{T}}}\right)\right\}\) , by a sequence of symbols: \(s=\left\{{s}_{1},{s}_{2},\ldots ,{s}_{T}\right\}\) , such that \({s}_{t}=j\) if and only if \(\left({x}_{t},{y}_{t}\right)\) belongs to a selected state space region, \(\,{R}_{j}\) . It is defined four regions in the following way:

Regime 1: countries with above-average HDI and tourism specialization. In this regime, the most developed economies specializing in tourism are expected to be found. The majority of European countries are expected to be found in this regime; countries in other regions with a high level of tourism specialization could also be included.

Regime 2: countries with high HDI and low tourism specialization. In this regime, the most developed economies, but in which tourism activity has a less important weight in their economic base, are expected to be found. Some large countries such as the US and Germany are expected to be found in this regime. Other countries may also be found here even if they do not present similar levels of development as European countries, for example, they have higher levels in relative terms (above the sample average).

Regime 3: countries with low HDI and low tourism specialization. In this regime, economies with a lower level of development and where tourism activity is not relevant to their economic activity, are expected to be found. Countries such as China, other Asian countries, countries on the African continent, and countries in South America are expected to be included in this regime.

Regime 4: countries with low HDI and high tourism specialization. Countries with a lower level of development and a high level of tourism specialization, such as Caribbean countries and some island countries, are expected to be found in this regime.

Once the one-dimensional symbolic series is obtained, a metric is introduced that allows comparing the dynamics of the countries, and which in turn allows for obtaining homogeneous groups. Given the symbolic sequences \({\left\{{s}_{{it}}\right\}}_{t=1}^{t=T}\) and \({\{{s}_{{jt}}\}}_{t=1}^{t=T}\) the distance between two countries, i and j is given by.

Intuitively, the distance between two countries measures the number of years of regime non-coincidence during the period. If the distance between two countries is zero, the countries have been in the same regime for the entire period. On the contrary, if the distance between two countries is T, the countries have not coincided for any time during the analyzed period. If the distance between two countries is α, it means that they have not coincided for α years during the period. In other words, they have coincided for T-α years.

Using the defined distance, the hierarchical tree was created using the nearest neighbor cluster analysis method (Mantegna, 1999 ; Mantegna and Stanley, 2000 ). Using the algorithm by Kruskal ( 1956 ), the minimum spanning tree (MST) was created. This tree was created progressively, joining all the countries from the sample using a minimum distance. According to this algorithm, in the first step, the two countries whose series had the shortest distances were connected. In the second step, the countries with the second shortest distance were connected. This pattern continued until all countries were connected in one tree.

Symbolic time series analysis

Figure 1 shows the point cloud corresponding to 2019, with the respective averages of each variable. Each point represents a country in this year with its coordinates (Tourism, HDI). As is expected, the points are distributed in the four regions, showing that qualitatively the countries perform differently. A clustering in the second and third quadrants can be observed, indicating a clustering in the sections with a low level of tourism specialization, and, in turn, there are not many countries in the fourth quadrant. In other words, few countries have been considered to have a high level of tourism specialization but low levels of development, in the last year (Belize, Fiji, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, the Maldives, and Samoa).

Cloud of points of the 123 countries for the year 2019.

Table 2 shows the percentage of time spent by each of the 123 countries analyzed in each of the previously defined regimes, showing that the large majority of the countries (80 countries) remained in the same regime for the entire period or, at least, for three-quarters of the period analyzed in the same regime (16 countries). In this regard, using the symbolization of the series, 4 clear groups were identified, made up of countries that remained in the same regime for the entire period:

Group 1: made up of countries that are in regime 1 for the entire period (high level of tourism specialization and high level of development): Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Switzerland, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Singapore.

Group 2: made up of countries that are in regime 2 for the entire period (low level of tourism specialization and high level of development): Germany, Argentina, Australia, Chile, South Korea, Costa Rica, Cuba, the United States, Russia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Panama, United Kingdom, Romania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine.

Group 3: made up of countries that are in regime 3 for the entire period (low level of tourism specialization and low level of development): Azerbaijan, Benin, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Algeria, Egypt, Gambia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Lesotho, Morocco, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nicaragua, Nepal, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Sudan, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Togo, Tuvalu, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Finally, Group 4, made up of Belize and the Maldives, which are in regime 4 for the entire period (high level of tourism specialization and low level of development):

It is worth noting that according to the results obtained, regime changes can be difficult to observe. This could be a result of the fact that a regime change implies a structural change in the economy and in such a period as the one analyzed in this study (25 years), the observation of a structural change may be circumstantial in nature. In other words, the timing of structural changes seems to be slower than the tick of the chosen clock; in this case, an annual tick.

Within the group of countries that always remain in regime 1, two groups of countries can be identified. One of the groups is that in which tourism is an essential sector for the economy (like in the case of the Bahamas or Barbados, which have tourism contribution rates to GDP of above 25%), and in which tourism seems to have an influence in the high level of development. The other group is that in which, while tourism is not necessarily an essential sector for the economy, due to the existence of other economic activities, it is an important sector for development (such as Spain or Portugal, with tourism contribution rates to GDP of above 10%).

Within the group of countries that always remain in regime 2, there are fundamentally countries in which tourism has a marginal weight in relation to the level of population (like in the case of Germany, the US, and Japan), due to the lack of or little exploitation of the country’s tourism resources, which would result in development seeming to be related to other economic activities.

Within the group of countries that always remain in regime 3, there is a large group consisting of 41 countries (a third of the sample) that seem to be in a poverty trap, due to the low level of development and low level of tourism specialization. This is in such a way that the low level of development hinders the expansion of tourism activity, and, in turn, this lack of tourism development makes it difficult to increase the levels of development.

Finally, within the group of countries that always remain in regime 4, there are only two countries found, which are characterized by a high level of tourism specialization but have not transformed this into an improvement in development, possibly due to the existence of certain factors that hinder this relationship.

Therefore, the first issue to note is the little mobility that countries have in terms of their classification between the different regimes, given that 80 countries (two-thirds of the sample) remained in the same regime during the 25 years analyzed, which seems to show that the variables are somewhat stable, and thus justifies the fact that no major changes were observed during the period analyzed. This behavior reveals that the homogeneity in the tourism and development dynamic is the rule and not the exception.

In fact, only 27 countries, out of the 123 countries analyzed, are in a different regime for at least a quarter of the period: Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Brazil, Botswana, Canada, Colombia, Slovakia, Eswatini, Finland, Fiji, Hungary, Jamaica, Jordan, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Saint Lucia, Sweden, Thailand, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, and Samoa.

In this regard, Fig. 2 shows the time evolution of the symbolic series for some selected countries. As can be noted, there are some countries, like Brazil, that always have a low level of tourism specialization and alternate between periods of high and low economic development, with it seeming as though there is consolidation as being a low HDI country in recent years (until 2002, Brazil had an above average level of development but, after it was hit by a crisis, the country moved to the low development regime. Then, in 2013, it managed to return to the high HDI regime, albeit temporarily as in 2016, in the midst of a political and economic crisis, it returned to the low development regime, where it currently remains). This is similar to what happened in Fiji, insofar as it was almost always specialized in tourism and alternated HDI, consolidating itself in Regime 4 of the low HDI. As such, it seems as though certain countries define their behavior according to the degree of tourism specialization; in this case, not particularly specialized countries.

Top panel: Brazil (left) and Fiji (right). Bottom panel: Latvia (left) and Eswatini (right).

However, the behavior of Latvia or Eswatini seems to be determined by HDI and not by tourism specialization. As to be expected, Latvia remained always in regimes 1 and 2 with a high HDI while Eswatini remained in regimes 3 and 4 with a low HDI. In both cases, they alternated periods of high and low specialization in tourism.

Grouping homogeneous countries

In the case analyzed, there are many countries with zero distance. These are the countries that have the same symbolic representation, that is, the regimes dynamics are coincidental given that these countries always remain in the same regime. Therefore, there are three groups that start to form with countries that have zero distance (countries that are always placed in regimes 1, 2, and 3), and a small group, formed by Belize and the Maldives, which are the only countries that remained in regime 4 for the entire period analyzed. According to this algorithm, 6 groups were obtained, while some countries were not included in any of the groups as they were considered to be “outliers”.

Specifically, there was a graph with 123 nodes corresponding to each country and 122 links; however, given that there were several countries with the same dynamic (the distance between these countries is zero), each of these groups is represented in a single node; that is, the countries that always remained in regime 1 were considered together as one single node, with the same happening for the remaining three groups of countries with identical dynamics (groups 2, 3, and 4). Therefore, in this case, there is a node representing 18 countries from group A and another node (both pink) that represents multiple countries; the Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Mauritius, and Slovenia, which all share the same dynamic (they always remain in regime 1, except in 1995). There is a node representing 19 countries from group B (light blue), another node representing 41 countries from group C (green), and a final node representing Belize and Maldives in group D. In this way, 80 countries are represented in four nodes. To complete the tree, 38 other nodes, each corresponding to a country, were established. Using Kruskal’s algorithm ( 1956 ), the MST is built, in which all nodes are connected in a single tree from the minimum distances. In this way, a tree is created having links that connect the nodes to represent the minimum distances between them (a longer arrow indicates a longer distance).

Figure 3 shows the MST. It is worth noting the central position that these multiple nodes have within the groups, that is, nodes that represent a group of countries with the same dynamics. The structure of the MST seems to be almost linear; moreover, while group C (green) is the most numerous, it is also the most compact of the large groups.

(Nodes: Pink group A/Light blue group B/Green group C/Yellow group D/Orange group E/Blue group F/Red Outliers. Distances according to arrow color: black 1/red 2/light blue 3/green 4/blue 5/orange 6/pink 7/gray 8/violet 9).

Figure 4 shows the geographic distribution of the different groups. There are 6 groups (3 large and 3 small), while some countries are not included in any of these groups, as they are considered to be “outliers”:

Group A: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bahamas, Barbados, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mauritius, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Uruguay. This group is made up of countries that predominantly remained in regime 1, that is, in general, these are countries with a high tourism specialization and high economic development.

Group B: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Germany, Ecuador, United Kingdom, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Mexico, North Macedonia, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United States. This group is made up of countries that predominantly remained in regime 2, that is, in general, these are countries with a low tourism specialization and high economic development.

Group C: Azerbaijan, Benin, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Egypt, Gambia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Laos, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Myanmar, Mongolia, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Nicaragua, Nepal, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Sudan, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Togo, Tuvalu, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This group is made up of countries that remained the majority of the time in regime 3, that is, in general, these are countries with a low tourism specialization and low economic development. With the exception of the Dominican Republic and South Africa (96% and 92%, respectively), all countries remained in regime 3 for the entire period.

Group D: Belize and the Maldives. This group is made up of the two countries that always remained in regime 4, that is, in general, these are countries with a high tourism specialization and low economic development.

Group E: Armenia, Moldova, Thailand, and Turkey. This group has the particular characteristic of having low tourism specialization throughout the period but alternating between a high level of development (regime 2) and a low level of development (regime 3).

Group F: Botswana, Jamaica, and Tunisia. This group is made up of countries that fundamentally remained in regime 4, that is, these are countries with a high tourism specialization and low economic development, however, unlike group D, they moved during the period analyzed through other regimes.

Outliers: Canada, Fiji, Saint Lucia, Sweden, Eswatini, and Samoa. These countries presented different dynamics and were not integrated into any of the previously-defined groups.

(Note: Pink: group A/Light blue: group B/Green: group C/Yellow: group D/Orange: group E/Blue: group F/Red: Outliers).

As can be seen, group A, which consists of countries with a high tourism specialization and high economic development, is basically made up of European countries, some Asian countries, and Uruguay (the only country in the Americas to be part of this group).

The countries in group B, that is, those countries with a good level of economic development, but a low specialization in the sector, are more geographically dispersed. This group consists of some European countries (in particular, Eastern European countries), a large part of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the US, Australia, and some Asian countries.

Group C, that is, those countries with a low tourism specialization and low economic development, consists of the vast majority of African countries, as well as a significant number of Asian countries, in addition to Bolivia and Paraguay in Latin America, as well as some countries in Central America.

The countries in Group D, that is, those countries that had a high tourism specialization but a low level of economic development throughout the period analyzed, as well as those in Group F, which were also in this regime for most of the period, do not have a uniform geographic pattern, since they are located on different continents.

Finally, the countries in Group E, that is, those countries with a low tourism specialization and alternating levels of economic development, are also geographically dispersed between Europe and Asia.

As can be seen in Table 3 both Group A and Group B are made up of countries with a high level of development; however, the countries in Group A, which also have a high level of tourism specialization, on average, have a significantly higher level of development than the countries in Group B, where the level of tourism specialization is low. These results appear to show that in terms of those countries specialized in tourism (Group A), the link with development is higher than for those countries that have achieved high levels of development due to the development of other economic activities.

Similar results can be found when comparing the data from Group C (countries with a low level of tourism specialization and low level of economic development) with the data from Groups D and F (countries with a high level of tourism specialization and low level of economic development). This is because, despite the level of development being low in all the countries, in the Group D and F countries, the level of development is significantly higher than in Group C countries. This appears to show that for those countries specialized in tourism (Groups D and F), the link with development is greater than for those countries that rely on other sectors as the basis of their economy.

Tourism’s relevance lies not only in its contribution to economic growth but also in the fact that the improved economic growth generated by the expansion of tourism activity may translate into improved living conditions for the host population. Due to this chained process, many countries have opted for this economic activity with the aim of improving income, education, and health. In short, they hope to increase their levels of human development.

Although distinct works have analyzed the relationship between tourism and human development by applying causality tests to determine the type of relationship between these variables, this study adopts a different approach. It analyzes the qualitative dynamic behavior between tourism and human development, to identify clusters of countries that display similar behavior with regard to this relationship.

Firstly, it is necessary to note the little movement there is of the countries between the different regimes, which indicates great stability, given that 80 countries (two-thirds of the sample) remained in the same regime throughout the entire period analyzed (1995–2019). These results regarding the stability of the countries in the different regimes differ significantly from the results obtained in other studies that have used the same technique for the analysis of the dynamic relationship between variables (Brida et al., 2020 ). This is because even when there is a movement of the countries between regimes, this happens, at most, between two or three regimes (Jordan and Samoa are the only exceptions, passing through all four regimes).

Furthermore, the results appear to show that groups of countries with a higher level of tourism specialization have higher levels of human development. Therefore, tourism is configured as an effective tool to improve development levels, as previously stated in works such as that of Cárdenas-García et al. ( 2015 ) conducting a joint analysis with data from 144 countries or Bojanic and Lo ( 2016 ), whose global analysis referred to a sample of 187 countries.

Specifically, these results are found both in the group of countries with the highest level of development, (countries of Group A versus the countries of Group B), as previously revealed in works such as that of Meyer and Meyer ( 2016 ) analyzing South Africa and that of Tan et al. ( 2019 ) analyzing Malaysia. These results were also found in the case of countries with a lower level of development (countries of Group D and F as compared to the countries of Group C), as previously suggested by works, such as that of Sharma et al. ( 2020 ) examining India or Croes ( 2012 ) analyzing Nicaragua.

However, despite these majority results, countries have been identified that, despite having an important tourism specialization (Belize, Botswana, Jamaica, Maldives, and Tunisia), had a low level of human development. This has not allowed for the high level of tourism specialization to become a tool to improve the living conditions of the population in these countries.

This exception may be due to the link between tourism and human development, which, in addition to being affected by the level of tourism specialization, also depends on the destination’s characteristics. These characteristics include the provision of infrastructure, the level of education, and the existing investment climate in the receiving countries, as previously suggested by Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández ( 2019 ), or by the level of economic growth, the development of the urbanization process, or the degree of commercial openness of the receiving countries, as identified by Chattopadhyay et al. ( 2021 ).

Conclusions and policy implications

Distinct international organizations have shown that what is really important is not the contribution of tourism to economic growth, but rather, that this economic growth generated by the expansion of tourism activity permits the improvement of living conditions of the host population (EC, 2018 ; IADB - Inter-American Development Bank ( 2020 ); UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( 2020 )).

Given the importance of economic development for the host countries, empirical studies that analyze the relationship between tourism and economic development have begun to emerge. These works mainly link the multidimensional concept of development with human development, measured by the HDI. Here, the link between tourism and human development is produced through the economic growth generated by the expansion of tourism activity. This economic growth is used to develop policies to improve the host population’s education and health levels.

However, few such studies exist, and the scientific literature does not reveal a defined trend with regard to this relationship. Furthermore, most of these existing works rely on causality analyses to determine whether there is a relationship between tourism and human development. They do not analyze whether having a higher degree of tourism specialization, for groups of countries with similar levels of development, implies a higher level of human development, which would suggest that tourism promotes development to a greater extent than other economic activities.

Due to the methodology used, this empirical work cannot determine the type of relationship existing between tourism and development, that is, whether there is a unidirectional or bidirectional relationship between both variables. However, it does allow us to determine if countries with a higher level of tourism specialization have a higher level of development than those specializing in other productive activities.

This study aimed to contribute to the empirical discussion about the relationship between tourism and development through the use of a non-parametric and non-linear approach; specifically, the qualitative dynamic behavior of these two variables was compared using the definition of economic regime and clustering tools based on the concept of hierarchical and MST (Mantegna, 1999 ; Kruskal, 1956 ).

The results seem to indicate that tourism is an economic activity that can promote human development more than other economic activities. Indeed, at similar levels of human development, both in the case of countries with a high level of development (countries in Group A versus countries in Group B) and in the case of countries with a low level of development (countries in Groups D-F versus countries in Group C), the country groups with a higher level of tourism specialization have higher human development values than those countries specialized in other productive activities.

Therefore, public administrations should develop specific actions to increase the level of tourism specialization since tourism is a strategic tool that improves human development levels, as compared to other economic activities. It is necessary to invest in the improvement and expansion of tourism infrastructure, including the improvement of transportation systems in host destinations, increasing and improving the supply of accommodations and basic tourism-related services. Moreover, an attractive offer should be provided, both in terms of resources and attraction factors. This includes complementary services to attract a greater number of tourist flows, while developing destination promotion campaigns and, therefore, ensuring greater tourism specialization.

It should also be noted that, of the identified country groups, the most numerous one is that which includes countries from Group C, which is made up of 43 countries (approximately a third of the sample). This cluster is characterized by low tourism specialization and a low level of economic development, which seems to translate into a poverty trap, given that the low level of development prevents the expansion of the tourism activity, and, in turn, this lack of tourism development makes it difficult to increase the levels of development.

Policies should be developed that consider the lack of financial resources of these countries to carry out investment projects. International organizations and institutions linked to development, such as the United Nations Development Program, Inter-American Development Bank, or World Bank, should finance specific projects so that these countries may receive investments related to the improvement and expansion of tourism infrastructure, so as to improve human development through this activity. Suitable regulatory frameworks should be established in these countries, to encourage public-private collaboration for the development of tourism projects. In this way, private investments could make up for the lack of public financing in these destinations.

The analysis performed in this work has also identified groups of countries that, despite their high degree of tourism specialization, do not have high levels of human development (Belize, Botswana, Jamaica, Maldives, and Tunisia). This highlights the importance of identifying factors or characteristics that provide the destination with ideal initial conditions to permit the economic impacts generated by the expansion of tourism to be channeled into an improvement in human development. In addition to being conditioned by the host country’s level of tourism specialization, the link between tourism and human development also depends on infrastructure provision, education level, investment climate, urbanization level, and the degree of commercial openness. Although this current of scientific literature has not been widely studied, it has been addressed by some works analyzing the relationship between tourism and human development (Cárdenas-García and Pulido-Fernández, 2019 ; Chattopadhyay et al., 2021 ).

Policies established by public administrations should consider a dual objective: on the one hand, investing in the improvement and expansion of the tourism infrastructure and, on the other hand, increasing and improving the factors found to be determinant in configuring tourism as a tool for human development. Given that there are entities investing in projects linked to tourism aimed at improving the living conditions of the resident population, the failure to act on the determinant factors of this relationship could result in inefficient policies in terms of the allocation of resources linked to improved development.

Finally, this study has certain limitations, including the variables used to measure tourism specialization and economic development. With regard to tourism, it has been shown that changing the indicator used leads to differences in the results obtained. In terms of economic development, while other factors such as poverty level, quality of life, or income inequality are related to development, human development, and its measurement through HDI, is the most frequently used indicator to measure it. Moreover, the short period analyzed (1995–2019) is another limitation. There is a restriction in the initial period used since it is the first year in which data were available on development and this may determine the small variability between countries among the different regimes. Another limitation lies in the fact that it does not analyze the characteristics of the destination as a determinant in the relationship between tourism and human development, in accordance with the new current of the scientific literature. In terms of methodology, the choice of the measure used for the symbolization of the series can affect the results. For example, the mean may be influenced by outliers in the data, and this can be relevant for certain variables, such as tourism, which displays a high degree of variation. It would be interesting to perform the same exercise using other measures for the symbolization of the series, such as the truncated mean, the median, or some type of threshold.

Future lines of research may highlight the fact that this study consists of an analysis at the country level, although it is clear that the impacts of tourism are produced in the territory at the regional and local levels. As a result, it may be interesting to replicate this work at the regional level using different countries as an analysis, depending on the availability of such data.

Moreover, as a continuation of this study, in addition to the degree of tourism specialization, it may be interesting to analyze the type of tourism received by each of the groups of countries that have been identified. In other words, to examine whether the characteristics of the type of tourism received (accommodations, motivations, or level of expenditure) in each cluster also determine the relationship between tourism and human development. Furthermore, it may be interesting to introduce the influence of other factors on the relationship between tourism and development into the analysis of this relationship, as discussed previously in the limitations.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Cárdenas-García, P.J., Brida, J.G. & Segarra, V. A qualitative dynamic analysis of the relationship between tourism and human development. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1125 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03663-5

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DEI Standards for Organizations

In 2020, Travel Unity assembled over 100 individuals and organizations from inside and outside the travel industry to collaboratively create living standards for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the world of travel and tourism. 

These standards are meant to engage the travel industry in an ongoing dialogue and encourage the sharing of best practices in DEI.

In 2023/2024, we undertook our standards revisions process, following best practice for review every 3-5 years. We have updated our initial DEI Standards for Organizations to incorporate learnings from the last several years and ensure they remain relevant and impactful in an evolving landscape. The current version reflects valuable feedback from stakeholders and integrates best practices for applied DEI in the travel and tourism industry. 

In all cases, local law supersedes any of the below criteria. Those seeking certification to demonstrate alignment with these standards can clarify their specific legal restraints as needed.

Looking for just an overview of the Standards?

Please review the  intro deck .

Download a copy of our

 dei standards for travel & tourism.

Pillar A: Leadership & Workforce

A.1. organizational commitment, a.1.a. the organization has a well-defined, publicly available mission statement..

i) The organization’s mission statement defines the organization's work in relation to the people it serves.

ii) The organization’s mission statement is readily accessible, including in the organization's online presence.

A.1.b. The organization has a public-facing DEI commitment.

i) The organization’s DEI commitment directly relates to the organization’s mission.

ii) The organization’s DEI commitment considers a diverse range of identities and abilities.

iii) The organization’s DEI commitment statement is readily accessible, including in the organization's online presence.

A.1.c. The organization includes DEI in its internal operations.

i) The organization regularly includes DEI-related topics in staff meetings and other relevant internal discussions. 

ii) The organization regularly considers relevant perspectives and opinions as part of decision-making processes.

iii)The organization is committed to hiring a diverse workforce.

iv) The organization is committed to diversity in organizational leadership, including the Board of Directors and other comparable bodies.

A.2. Hiring & Pipeline

A.2.a. the organization has a protocol to determine employee pay..

i) Salaries are based on defined standards.

ii) Offers within a salary range are determined based on experience, skills, and other pre-defined factors.

iii) Employee pay scales are regularly reviewed.

iv) The organization follows a protocol for negotiating pay and benefits. 

A.2.b. The organization has a protocol to determine employee benefits.

i) Employee benefits are regularly reviewed.

ii) Employees have the opportunity to provide input about the benefits they receive.

iii) The organization has a gratuity and gift policy.

A.2.c. Job postings are clearly written and include relevant information about both the role and the organization.

i) Job postings are reviewed by relevant employees prior to the role being posted.

ii) Job postings clearly distinguish between required and preferred qualifications.

iii) Job postings include information about the organization's mission and DEI commitment.

iv) Job postings include clear information on where work will be conducted (remote, fully in-office, or hybrid).

A.2.d. The organization engages with a diverse pool of job candidates.

i) The organization follows a protocol on how internal versus external candidates are considered for open roles.

ii) Job postings are placed in channels accessible to people of different identities and abilities.

iii) Candidates are provided relevant information on the interview and hiring process/timeline.

iv) Reasonable accommodations are provided to job applicants with disabilities.

v) The organization monitors how changes to job postings and posting channels affect the applicant pool, and it adjusts accordingly.

vi) Candidates are informed in a timely manner if they are not going to be offered a role.

A.2.e. The organization avoids hiring biases.

i) Job interviews are requested based on candidates’ alignment with the qualifications outlined in job postings.

ii) Individuals involved in recruitment, both employees and contractors, are trained in implicit bias.

iii) Interviews include predetermined questions to allow for standardized comparison of candidates.

iv) Interviewers have the option to ask additional questions as appropriate during an interview.

v) Interviewees are invited to ask questions throughout the interview process.

vi) Multiple people from the organization are involved in the interview process for management and leadership roles.

vii) Positions are offered to the candidates most qualified for the roles, based on pre-established criteria.

A.3. Onboarding, Development, & Evaluation

A.3.a. the organization maintains a comprehensive employee handbook that is available to all employees..

i) Organization-wide policies are consolidated in an Employee Handbook.

ii) The organization's mission statement and DEI commitment are included in the Employee Handbook.

iii) The organization's ethical standards and whistleblower policy are included in the Employee Handbook.

iv) Information on topics related to health, safety, and security are included in the Employee Handbook.

v) Employee review policies are outlined in the Employee Handbook.

vi) Discipline and termination policies are outlined in the Employee Handbook.

vii)The organization’s upward feedback protocol is outlined in the Employee Handbook.

viii) A sick leave policy that supports both physical and mental health is outlined in the Employee Handbook.

ix) Family leave and work sabbatical policies are outlined in the Employee Handbook.

x) The Employee Handbook is regularly updated.

A.3.b. New employees are onboarded through a clear and consistent process that includes DEI-related information relevant to their roles.

i) New employees are provided training in topics addressed in the Employee Handbook.

ii) An orientation/training process introduces new employees to their roles, work environment(s), and relevant co-workers.

iii) Employees are informed of appropriate channels to share work-related concerns, including channels in addition to their direct manager(s).

iv) New employees are offered an opportunity to request reasonable accommodations to complete their duties.

v)  New employees are introduced to the organization’s DEI initiatives.

vi) New employees are trained in the importance of DEI in their roles.

vii) New employees are offered an opportunity to provide feedback on the interview and onboarding process.

A.3.c. The organization balances employee roles with professional development opportunities.

i) Employees regularly receive feedback and guidance to help them develop within their roles.

ii) The organization provides training/development programs and/or flex time to help employees grow professionally.

iii) Employees have access to an up-to-date organizational chart.

A.3.d. The organization follows a clear and consistent protocol for employee reviews.

i) Relevant employees set a process and criteria for reviews.

ii) Formal employee reviews include both performance evaluation and goal-setting.

iii) Employees have a minimum of one formal review per year.

iv) There is a process for both employees and managers to share performance feedback.

v)  The organization maintains a secure record of all employee reviews.

A.3.e. The organization follows clear and consistent protocols for employee recognition, rewards, disciplinary actions, and termination.

i) Relevant employees set a process and criteria for employee recognition, rewards, disciplinary actions, and termination.

ii) The organization maintains secure records of employee recognition, rewards, disciplinary actions, and termination.

A.3.f. The organization follows a protocol for career advancement.

i)  The organization follows a protocol to avoid biases when considering career advancement.

ii) Internal career growth pathways are defined and recommended as appropriate to employees.

iii) Reviews for promotions include both performance evaluation and goal-setting.

iv)  Employees have an opportunity to provide feedback about their experiences in the roles that they are departing.

A.4. Belonging

A.4.a. the organization promotes belonging in the workplace..

i)  Staff input is invited and considered regarding the organization’s programs, policies, and procedures.

ii) Reasonable accommodations are provided to employees with disabilities, both in regular workspaces and as needed for work-related travel.

iii) The organization supports the creation of voluntary, employee-led affinity, special interest, and/or employee resource groups.

iv) Employees are invited to share demographic information.

A.4.b. The organization shares relevant information with staff.

i) Employees are provided information that affects the overall organization, along with opportunities to ask questions and discuss.

ii) Employees are provided information relevant to their roles, along with opportunities to ask questions and discuss.

iii) Departments conduct regular all-department meetings.

iv) There are processes for departments to share relevant information with other departments.

v) The organization has crisis response plans that are shared with relevant individuals, with accompanying training.

A.4.c. The organization promotes work/life balance and well-being for employees.

i) Employees are not pressured to deliver more than the standard requirements of their role.

ii) There are clear and balanced expectations on both availability for additional work and responsiveness outside of normal work hours.

iii) Flex time and/or leave options are offered for full-time employees to balance their personal and professional lives.

A.4.d. The organization follows a protocol when employees are not able to perform their duties.

i) Employees are provided channels beyond their direct manager to report if they are having difficulty in their roles.

ii) The organization follows a protocol to arrange reasonable accommodations for employees with physical or mental health conditions.

iii)The organization has regular dialogues with employees regarding changes in role expectations for those who are filling in for absent employees.

A.5. Offboarding

A.5.a. there is an offboarding process for employees who voluntarily leave the organization..

i) Voluntarily departing employees are offered an exit interview that includes an opportunity to share input on DEI-related concerns.

ii) Exit interviews include predetermined questions to allow for standardized comparison of experiences.

iii) The organization follows a protocol to process input from exit interviews. 

iv)The organization tracks its employee retention rate.

A.5.b. Channels are provided for former employees to share input with the organization.

i) Former employees are provided channels to communicate constructive feedback at any time after their employment.

ii) The organization follows a protocol to process feedback from former employees.

Pillar B: Community

B.1. civic engagement, b.1.a. the organization complies with relevant laws and regulations in the jurisdictions where it operates..

i) The organization complies with relevant laws and regulations.

ii) The organization keeps records of relevant permits and comparable documents.

B.1.b. The organization monitors and addresses its environmental impact, especially as it pertains to local communities.

i) The organization applies environmental standard operating procedures that align with both best practices and applicable laws, as demonstrated by internal documentation and/or an outside assessment.

ii)The organization is dedicated to developing and implementing sustainable consumption practices.

iii) The organization itself does not impede local access to water, energy, or other natural resources.

B.1.c. The organization follows a plan for civic engagement.

i) Leadership monitors relevant social and political issues at local, national, and global levels.

ii) Leadership actively seeks feedback from staff around engagement with local community organizations.

iii) The organization supports employees volunteering in the local community.

B.1.d. The organization maintains regular engagement with a diverse set of local residents.

i) The organization monitors issues that impact residents’ well-being.

ii) The organization is involved in direct discussions with local

residents regarding issues that impact local access to shared public spaces.

iii)The organization engages with relevant groups and communities regarding products that relate to diasporan, local, and/or Indigenous cultures.

B.2. Stakeholders & Supply Chain

B.2.a. the organization follows a stakeholder engagement plan..

i) The organization regularly reviews stakeholder relationships.

ii) Sufficient staff time is allocated to engaging with stakeholders.

iii) Relevant information about stakeholders is shared with employees.

iv) The organization provides opportunities for stakeholders to share feedback.

v) There are examples of actions and strategic planning inspired by stakeholder input.

vi) DEI initiatives are regularly communicated to stakeholders.

B.2.b. The organization follows a plan for engaging with members of its supply chain.

i) The organization regularly reviews supply chain relationships. 

ii) Sufficient staff time is allocated to engaging with members of the organization’s supply chain.

iii) Relevant information about supply chain members is shared with employees.

iv) The organization provides opportunities for members of its supply chain to share feedback.

v) There are examples of actions and strategic planning inspired by members of the organization’s supply chain.

vi) DEI initiatives are regularly communicated to members of the organization’s supply chain.

B.2.c. The organization follows a supplier diversity plan.

i) The organization invites current and potential members of its supply chain to identify as diverse suppliers.

ii) The organization determines identities that are underrepresented in its supply chain.

iii) Diverse-owned businesses are considered during the procurement process.

iv)The organization’s procurement policy includes consideration of suppliers’ DEI practices.

B.3. Workforce Development 

B.3.a. the organization informs local residents of job openings and industry career opportunities..

i) The organization shares information about job openings with relevant local partners.

ii) The organization engages with job fairs and similar events.

B.3.b. The organization maintains connections with local colleges, universities, and vocational programs.

i) The organization provides opportunities for employees to appear as guest speakers at educational institutions.

ii) The organization takes part in surveys and studies conducted by educational institutions.

B.3.c. The organization is engaged in work-based learning programs for local students.

i) The organization provides work-based learning opportunities to local students, through its own initiatives and/or through collaboration with schools and other organizations.

ii) The organization facilitates at least one youth worksite visit per year, arranged in coordination with schools and/or other organizations.

B.3.d. The organization builds awareness of the impact and opportunities of the travel industry.

i) The organization is involved with trade organizations, destination organizations, chambers of commerce, and/or similar bodies that engage in advocacy and education.

ii) The organization engages in thought leadership around applied DEI in travel.

Pillar C: Travelers

C.1. welcoming experiences, c.1.a. the organization provides training to employees and volunteers to address traveler concerns, including those that relate to identity and/or ability..

i) Training addresses both general and specific concerns that pertain to the organization’s target markets, including relevant information on cultural, social, and political issues.

ii) Traveler feedback is regularly analyzed and is utilized as part of training.

iii) There is a record of past training.

C.1.b. There are methods for travelers to engage with an official representative of the organization to address concerns in advance of their travel.

i) The organization provides direct contact channels for travelers.

ii) The organization follows a protocol for responding to traveler outreach.

C.1.c. The booking and confirmation process considers travelers of diverse identities and abilities.

i) There are multiple methods to make a booking.

ii) Multiple payment methods are available.

iii) Reasonable accommodations are available during the booking process. 

iv) Relevant booking details, especially regarding disability accommodations, are included in booking confirmations.

v) Booking confirmations include relevant information on how travelers can address additional needs.

C.1.d. The organization follows best practices regarding consumer privacy.

i) The organization shares a clearly written privacy policy. 

ii) There are options for travelers to opt into and out of receiving communication.

C.1.e. Identity and disability are considered both when travelers arrive and when they depart.

i) Business entrances have welcoming signage.

ii) Employees are trained and empowered to address traveler needs, especially regarding disability.

iii) Employees are trained to provide information to help travelers safely continue their journeys.

iv) Travelers are invited to provide feedback during and/or after departure.

C.1.f. The organization assists travelers in addressing their needs.

i) The organization provides channels for travelers to receive support in urgent situations, along with alternate options.

ii)The organization determines the level of urgency of traveler needs and addresses relevant needs in a timely manner.

iii) Employees are empowered to connect travelers with relevant internal staff and/or external organizations to address traveler needs.

C.1.g. The traveler experience and built environment are assessed using DEI benchmarks.

i) A diverse pool of current and potential traveler profiles are considered when assessing the overall traveler experience.

ii) Immediate and long-term planned adjustments to the built environment are assessed using DEI benchmarks.

C.1.h. The organization provides channels for traveler feedback.

i) The organization provides clear methods for how travelers can provide feedback.

ii) The organization provides the contact information of multiple representatives, including direct phone numbers and actively maintained email addresses.

C.2. Communications

C.2.a. internal and external communications follow consistent dei benchmarks..

i) Internal communications are in line with the organization’s DEI commitment.

ii) Employees tasked with media appearances receive training in the organization’s DEI messaging.

iii) The organization maintains channels for dialogue with the media.

iv) The organization follows a protocol for initiating contact with and responding to the media.

C.2.b. Current markets and potential audiences are analyzed using DEI benchmarks.

i) Current markets are analyzed through market research, including industry data, surveys, focus groups, and/or other means.

ii) Potential audiences are analyzed through market research, including industry data, surveys, focus groups, and/or other means.

C.2.c. The organization’s media collateral is analyzed and adjusted to align with the needs and interests of current and potential markets, including travelers of diverse identities and abilities.

i) Media collateral accurately represents the products and services of the organization.

ii) All media collateral is regularly analyzed using DEI benchmarks.

iii)The collateral analysis considers the needs and interests of current and potential markets, including travelers of diverse identities and abilities.

iv) Representation of diverse identities and abilities is considered in the analysis.

v) Representation of local communities and products is considered in the analysis.

vi) Relevant employees within the organization and contracted marketing agencies are made aware of the analysis.

C.2.d. Marketing strategy and collateral of comparable organizations is evaluated using DEI benchmarks.

i) The evaluation considers both diversity of products and representation of diverse identities and abilities.

ii) Relevant employees within the organization and contracted marketing agencies are made aware of the evaluation.

C.2.e. Campaign strategies and goals are determined before the launch of the campaign.

i) The campaign's intended message and desired audience are clearly defined.

ii) Audience demographics of outlets for both earned and paid media are considered in campaign messaging and delivery.

iii) There is a framework for evaluating campaign results.

iv) Relevant employees within the organization and contracted marketing agencies are made aware of the evaluation.

C.2.f. Campaign plans are created using DEI benchmarks.

i) Campaigns that directly refer to specific groups utilize input from representatives of those groups.

ii) Launch dates and other aspects of campaign launches are planned with cultural and historical considerations in mind.

iii) Campaign adjustments are possible when issues arise regarding concerns related to identity.

iv) Products and partners promoted around specific holidays/commemorations are also promoted at other points during the year.

C.2.g. Campaign results are evaluated using DEI benchmarks.

i) Campaign results are evaluated against initial and adjusted targets.

C.3. Advocacy

C.3.a. the organization advocates for travelers of diverse identities and abilities..

i) The organization communicates with relevant government officials to address specific concerns faced by travelers from legally protected and/or historically marginalized groups.

ii) The organization is actively involved in external forums that address concerns experienced by travelers from legally protected and/or historically marginalized groups.

iii) The organization is engaged with community groups that address concerns faced by travelers from legally protected and/or historically marginalized groups.

iv) The organization communicates its implementation of applied DEI to its stakeholders and supply chain.

Past Versions of our Standards

• 2020 Travel Unity DEI Standards for Organizations

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WTTC releases major new guidelines for Inclusion and Diversity to aid global Travel & Tourism businesses

Research shows inclusive and diverse workplaces promote good business and greater profitability Inclusion is key to raising awareness and building tolerance, and ultimately to eradicating discrimination and celebrating diversity

London, UK: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched its new high-level guidelines for inclusion and diversity in the Travel & Tourism sector, which have been compiled to support businesses of all sizes and provide an inclusive work environment for all employees.

Research has shown that supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace companies experience benefits such as greater profitability, increased creativity and innovation, and a happier workforce.

The ‘Inclusion & Diversity Guidelines’ were compiled from insights and frameworks developed by private sector leaders in Travel & Tourism including Hilton, Airbnb, Accessible Travel Solutions and JTB Corp, leading DMOs, such as IC Bellagio and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, and industry organisations, including Travel Unity, a non-profit organisation focused on increasing diversity in the world of travel, along with major associations from other key sectors. 

The guidelines are divided into four pillars:

• Developing a Supportive System 
• Creating Safe Spaces 
• Supporting an Agile System 
• Exemplifying Inclusion & Diversity

Examples of the guidelines include:

• Having a clear, transparent, and bias-free framework that determines how staff are remunerated and how increases are calculated. 
• Integrating diversity and inclusion goals within regional and department objectives.
• Incorporating diversity and inclusion into organisational values and in all aspects of the business. Celebrate commitment to diversity and inclusion, provide frameworks to guide behaviour/champion fairness, reward successful demonstration of diversity and inclusion values, and create accountability, among others.
• Providing a safe space for employees to share their feedback, over time, on the organisation and their experience of it. 
• Creating an environment that facilitates difficult but respectful conversation about diversity and inclusion.
• Ensuring that decisions made about a certain demographic have members of that demographic in the room, wherever possible, empowering these individuals to share honest feedback and experiences
• Having inclusive marketing, media and communication standards to dignify representation of all people, elevate authentic voice, avoid cultural appropriation and recognise dynamic diversity and intersectionality.
• Engaging regularly, where possible, with industry bodies and local governments to share visitor feedback on diversity and inclusion, thus enabling the destination to enhance customer experiences in the future. 
• Collaborating with pertinent groups and communities around products that relate to local indigenous cultures.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC said: “WTTC is proud to release these important high-level guidelines, which will help Travel & Tourism businesses of all kinds, foster more diverse and inclusive workplaces. 

“The Travel & Tourism sector is one of the most diverse in the world, employing people from all socio-economic backgrounds regardless of age, gender or ethnicity, with almost 50% of whom are women and up to 30% youths.

“Furthermore, throughout its very nature, the sector promotes cultural exchange and understanding, therefore it makes perfect sense for the sector to reflect these values within the workplace as well. We look forward to seeing these guidelines make real change within the workforce.”

Chris Nassetta, WTTC Chair, President and CEO, Hilton said: “Part of what makes our industry so special is our incredible diversity – our teams come from all walks of life, and they are serving travelers from every corner of the globe. It’s critical that we create a truly inclusive home away from home for our team members and guests, respecting their differences and fostering the unique experiences they bring to every interaction. At Hilton, we’ve made strong commitments in this area and are proud to support WTTC’s Inclusion & Diversity Guidelines.”

Stacy Ritter, President and CEO, Visit Lauderdale said: “Inclusion means that all individuals feel respected, accepted and valued, which is the step that leads to awareness, which in turn leads to greater acceptance, and is ultimately the way to ending discrimination.

“We embrace this philosophy in Greater Fort Lauderdale every day and congratulate WTTC on launching inclusion and diversity guidelines to bring this issue to the forefront of all tourism organizations.”

Hiromi Tagawa, WTTC Vice Chair and Executive Advisor, JTB Corp said: “We have been making efforts to empower each individual's diversity as an essential core value of management in order to enhance the evolution of the JTB Group and link the activities of individual employees to business growth since 2006. This WTTC report contains many of the ideas regarding inclusion and diversity that the JTB Group has been promoting. 

“I am very pleased that these ideas are being shared with our global tourism industry and business partners through WTTC’s initiative.”

Andrea Grisdale, CEO - Sole Founder, IC Bellagio said: “Travel epitomises diversity and inclusion, it is through travel that we can learn from our differences and create a greater understanding of humanity in all its facets. To me, only with continuous learning and understanding can we be truly compassionate.”

John Sage, CEO and Founder, Accessible Travel Solutions said: “Inclusive policies and inclusive travel products are essential to support sustainability and social impact. Accessible Travel Solutions is proud to work with WTTC to make travel more inclusive for people with disabilities.”

According to WTTC’s 2020 Economic Impact Report , during 2019, Travel & Tourism supported one in 10 jobs (330 million total), made a 10.3% contribution to global GDP, and generated one in four of all new jobs.

To read the Inclusion & Diversity Guidelines in full, please click here .

New WTTC report provides framework for achieving Destination Stewardship

WTTC release key guidelines for Travel & Tourism businesses to advance the prevention of illegal wildlife trade

WTTC and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health release insight papers to help drive Sustainability in Travel & Tourism

DEI in the Hospitality & Tourism Industry

Under construction.

This guide is a work in progress. 

Need Help? Ask Your Librarian!

Library Resources

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• Glossary | Racial Equity Tools Key terms and definitions for ethnic studies

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Assistant Professor E'Lisha Fogle is the DEI Committee Chair for Collins College of Hospitality Management. She can be reached at [email protected] . 

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Why the travel industry needs to address its own diversity

If you asked me a few years ago what I would be doing in 2020, I could never have imagined dealing with a global pandemic while advocating on a world stage for representation within the travel industry. In 2017 I was working in fashion and was completely miserable. My only escape was travel, and after realising that brands only showed able-bodied, skinny, blonde-haired women across their media, I had to speak up. So I decided to dedicate my life to advocating for diversity and inclusion, to change the face of tourism. I had a small amount of savings, a passion like no other and the goal to be the change I wanted to see in the world. Tired of not seeing myself reflected in travel adverts or promotions, internally on firms’ teams or as a speaker at summits, I knew something had to change. I attended every conference I could, sat in the front row and asked decision makers of the world's top companies why their brands weren’t inclusive to the globetrotters who support them.

Diversity and inclusion are more than buzzwords, but I needed the industry to realise that they could also be driving forces to business growth. I wanted them to know that 70 per cent of multicultural travellers are more likely to spend money with brands in which they see themselves reflected. And I wanted them to acknowledge that connecting with inclusive communities – across race, gender, religion, sexual preference and more – meant that diversity and inclusion had to be top of mind, internally and externally, and not an afterthought.

After many failed attempts to connect with travel leaders, I decided to create the diversity and travel scorecard . In the first year I gave the industry a D, below average. I was beyond frustrated at the lack of response and that showed as I only gave examples of all the negative things that took place. But this year, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of calling brands out, I decided to call them in and spotlight companies that are doing great things so others could apply their methods. Overall, the score improved to C-. The shift has been slow but I’m elated that it’s finally moving.

Tourism boards such as Tempe Tourism Office in Arizona and Maine's MidCoast and Islands, plus airlines including Norwegian, were among the positive examples because their influencer trips are always inclusive. Conferences such as the Women in Travel Summit, BorderlessLive and Women in Travel CIC were mentioned because their speakers and sessions are representative of multiple niches. All the brands mentioned in the scorecard took the time to think about what it means to be a leader, regardless of if it was popular or not. It’s easy to show your beautiful hotel, but are you mindful of that plus-size guest and how they enter a room? Are you conscious of how close you put a Muslim family to the restaurant during Ramadan? Is the pool wheelchair accessible? Do you hire black and brown people for more than housekeeping positions? All these factors matter, and until companies tackle these issues the industry will continue to have a problem.

Brands often ask me, ‘Where do we start?’ My answer is always the same: ‘Until your team reflects inclusivity internally, you won’t be able to make any changes externally.’ At the end of my scorecard I give a list of consultants in 16 areas – including Glory Ali of Muslim Travel Rocks ; Sassy Wyatt , who writes about taking trips as a blind person; Jeff Jenkins of Chubby Diaries ; and Cory Lee, who shares his experiences as a wheelchair-using globetrotter on his blog Curb Free with Cory Lee – so there is no excuse. I have taken the time to research, collect data and create resources such as this so that firms take action, but I still cringe every time a business approaches me and asks me to give them more knowledge for free.

A lot of travel brands posted black squares on their social media for #BlackoutTuesday, but when you see their senior staff and board members, along with the imagery they use, there is no diversity. Black squares aren’t enough. Not making decisions within your company to be more inclusive is disappointing. It shouldn’t take a man being murdered and a global equality outcry to finally do the right thing. Not only is tokenism an issue, but recent reports of what black influencers earn in comparison to their white counterparts have shown that our wages are up to 60 per cent less. (Take a look at @influencerpaygap , dedicated to creating transparency and highlighting pay disparities.) Factors such as these are exactly why I, along with 15 other black travel influencers who represent multiple niches, launched the Black Travel Alliance this week. A community made to support black content creators around the world and increase their representation. We are committed to holding the industry accountable, and will continue to apply pressure. It’s time to make a change – in fact, it's overdue.

Like this? Now read:

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

Ethics, culture and social responsibility.

• Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
• Accessible Tourism

Tourism and Culture

• Women’s Empowerment and Tourism

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The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences, bring unique opportunities but also complex challenges for the tourism sector.

“Tourism policies and activities should be conducted with respect for the artistic, archaeological and cultural heritage, which they should protect and pass on to future generations; particular care should be devoted to preserving monuments, worship sites, archaeological and historic sites as well as upgrading museums which must be widely open and accessible to tourism visits”

UN Tourism Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics

Article 7, paragraph 2

This webpage provides UN Tourism resources aimed at strengthening the dialogue between tourism and culture and an informed decision-making in the sphere of cultural tourism. It also promotes the exchange of good practices showcasing inclusive management systems and innovative cultural tourism experiences .  

About Cultural Tourism

According to the definition adopted by the UN Tourism General Assembly, at its 22nd session (2017), Cultural Tourism implies “A type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions”. UN Tourism provides support to its members in strengthening cultural tourism policy frameworks, strategies and product development . It also provides guidelines for the tourism sector in adopting policies and governance models that benefit all stakeholders, while promoting and preserving cultural elements.

Recommendations for Cultural Tourism Key Players on Accessibility 

UN Tourism , Fundación ONCE and UNE issued in September 2023, a set of guidelines targeting key players of the cultural tourism ecosystem, who wish to make their offerings more accessible.

The key partners in the drafting and expert review process were the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) . The ICOMOS experts’ input was key in covering crucial action areas where accessibility needs to be put in the spotlight, in order to make cultural experiences more inclusive for all people.

This guidance tool is also framed within the promotion of the ISO Standard ISO 21902 , in whose development UN Tourism had one of the leading roles.

Download here the English and Spanish version of the Recommendations.

Compendium of Good Practices in Indigenous Tourism

The report is primarily meant to showcase good practices championed by indigenous leaders and associations from the Region. However, it also includes a conceptual introduction to different aspects of planning, management and promotion of a responsible and sustainable indigenous tourism development.

The compendium also sets forward a series of recommendations targeting public administrations, as well as a list of tips promoting a responsible conduct of tourists who decide to visit indigenous communities.

For downloads, please visit the UN Tourism E-library page: Download in English - Download in Spanish .

Weaving the Recovery - Indigenous Women in Tourism

This initiative, which gathers UN Tourism , t he World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA) , Centro de las Artes Indígenas (CAI) and the NGO IMPACTO , was selected as one of the ten most promising projects amoung 850+ initiatives to address the most pressing global challenges. The project will test different methodologies in pilot communities, starting with Mexico , to enable indigenous women access markets and demonstrate their leadership in the post-COVID recovery.

This empowerment model , based on promoting a responsible tourism development, cultural transmission and fair-trade principles, will represent a novel community approach with a high global replication potential.

Visit the Weaving the Recovery - Indigenous Women in Tourism project webpage.

Inclusive Recovery of Cultural Tourism

The release of the guidelines comes within the context of the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development 2021 , a UN initiative designed to recognize how culture and creativity, including cultural tourism, can contribute to advancing the SDGs.  

UN Tourism Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 4: Indigenous Communities

Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism

The Recommendations on Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism provide guidance to tourism stakeholders to develop their operations in a responsible and sustainable manner within those indigenous communities that wish to:

• Open up to tourism development, or
• Improve the management of the existing tourism experiences within their communities.

They were prepared by the UN Tourism Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department in close consultation with indigenous tourism associations, indigenous entrepreneurs and advocates. The Recommendations were endorsed by the World Committee on Tourism Ethics and finally adopted by the UN Tourism General Assembly in 2019, as a landmark document of the Organization in this sphere.

Who are these Recommendations targeting?

• Tour operators and travel agencies
• Tour guides
• Indigenous communities
• Other stakeholders such as governments, policy makers and destinations

The Recommendations address some of the key questions regarding indigenous tourism:

Download PDF:

• Recommendations on Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism
• Recomendaciones sobre el desarrollo sostenible del turismo indígena, ESP

UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conferences on Tourism and Culture

The UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conferences on Tourism and Culture bring together Ministers of Tourism and Ministers of Culture with the objective to identify key opportunities and challenges for a stronger cooperation between these highly interlinked fields. Gathering tourism and culture stakeholders from all world regions the conferences which have been hosted by Cambodia, Oman, Türkiye and Japan have addressed a wide range of topics, including governance models, the promotion, protection and safeguarding of culture, innovation, the role of creative industries and urban regeneration as a vehicle for sustainable development in destinations worldwide.

Fourth UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Investing in future generations. Kyoto, Japan. 12-13 December 2019 Kyoto Declaration on Tourism and Culture: Investing in future generations ( English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Japanese )

Third UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture : For the Benefit of All. Istanbul, Türkiye. 3 -5 December 2018 Istanbul Declaration on Tourism and Culture: For the Benefit of All ( English , French , Spanish , Arabic , Russian )

Second UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference’s on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development. Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. 11-12 December 2017 Muscat Declaration on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development ( English , French , Spanish , Arabic , Russian )

First UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference’s on Tourism and Culture: Building a new partnership. Siem Reap, Cambodia. 4-6 February 2015 Siem Reap Declaration on Tourism and Culture – Building a New Partnership Model ( English )

UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage  

The first UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage provides comprehensive baseline research on the interlinkages between tourism and the expressions and skills that make up humanity’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). 

Through a compendium of case studies drawn from across five continents, the report offers in-depth information on, and analysis of, government-led actions, public-private partnerships and community initiatives.

These practical examples feature tourism development projects related to six pivotal areas of ICH: handicrafts and the visual arts; gastronomy; social practices, rituals and festive events; music and the performing arts; oral traditions and expressions; and, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe.

Highlighting innovative forms of policy-making, the UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage recommends specific actions for stakeholders to foster the sustainable and responsible development of tourism by incorporating and safeguarding intangible cultural assets.

UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage

• UN Tourism Study
• Summary of the Study

Studies and research on tourism and culture commissioned by UN Tourism

• Tourism and Culture Synergies, 2018
• UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2012
• Big Data in Cultural Tourism – Building Sustainability and Enhancing Competitiveness (e-unwto.org)

Outcomes from the UN Tourism Affiliate Members World Expert Meeting on Cultural Tourism, Madrid, Spain, 1–2 December 2022

UN Tourism and the Region of Madrid – through the Regional Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sports – held the World Expert Meeting on Cultural Tourism in Madrid on 1 and 2 December 2022. The initiative reflects the alliance and common commitment of the two partners to further explore the bond between tourism and culture. This publication is the result of the collaboration and discussion between the experts at the meeting, and subsequent contributions.

Relevant Links

• 3RD UN Tourism/UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE ‘FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL’

Photo credit of the Summary's cover page:  www.banglanatak.com

The travel industry’s best amenity? Its diversity

Research report.

• Companies across travel industries must create more effective strategies to foster a culture of inclusion and diversity (I&D)—a business imperative.
• Travel companies can undertake four key I&D initiatives to enhance engagement, improve customer interactions and earn long-term customer loyalty.
• By building a culture of equality that promotes inclusion and diversity, companies can drive innovation, creativity and competitive advantage.

C ompanies across the cruise, airline and hospitality industries are opening up the world to more travelers— regardless of gender, age, abilities, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Serving a more diverse demographic, travel companies must implement effective business strategies to cultivate a sense of belonging amongst both customers and employees.

However, according to an Accenture survey of more than 2,700 consumers from the airline, cruise and lodging segments across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, many travel companies do not prioritize inclusion and diversity.

With inclusion and diversity as a key driver of customer loyalty and business growth, our new research shows four key I&D initiatives that can enable travel companies to enhance engagement, improve customer interactions and earn long-term customer loyalty:

1. Make I&D a priority

From offering autism-friendly kids’ camps to providing advancement opportunities for under-represented groups within their organizations, travel companies must commit to and bring to life I&D practices that align with their customers’ values of I&D.

of travelers say it’s important that the company they book with is committed to I&D practices.

travelers say it’s important that their preferred travel provider demonstrate a commitment to I&D values similar to their own.

of travelers are willing to pay a premium of 5% to 20% to book their travels with a company that values I&D.

2. Boost I&D practices for all

Travel companies without a strong culture of I&D fail to gain and retain customers. By publicly reflecting inclusive practices and I&D values similar to their customers, these companies can foster true customer loyalty.

travel executives report that it is more difficult than ever to win customer loyalty.

travelers will switch providers if a company does not publicly reflect inclusive practices.

of travelers will switch providers if their preferred company doesn’t offer them a welcoming environment or treat them fairly.

3. Deliver inclusive customer experiences

When it comes to representing I&D principles to travelers, travel companies must offer more customized experiences that account for factors like age, ability, gender, gender identity and expression, religion and sexual orientation.

of travelers value feeling welcomed and being treated fairly.

care about whether a company offers a range of products and services to make those in their diverse segment feel included

of respondents are dissatisfied with the current array of travel products and services.

4. Create a quick response team

In the wake of the #MeToo revelations and other I&D-related incidents, big brands in the travel industry are finding new ways to take swift, corrective measures to address and solve their I&D challenges with quick response teams.

travelers believe that if a company is involved in a negative I&D-related matter, it should immediately take responsibility.

of travelers would stop booking with a company if a friend or family member posts about a negative I&D-related incident on social media.

Building a culture of equality

As travel companies focus on their I&D initiatives to meet and exceed consumers’ increasing expectations, they are also tasked with building a culture of equality within their organizations. By focusing on the following subset of business components, these companies can drive innovation, creativity and competitive advantage—demonstrating an authentic commitment to inclusion and diversity:

Bold leadership

Establish diversity, equal pay and advancement goals. Communicate process against these goals internally and externally by holding leaders accountable. Make these goals clear internally and externally.

Comprehensive action

Introduce HR policies to reflect I&D priorities by debiasing the talent management process. Create gender-neutral job descriptions and establish programs to hire and retain underrepresented groups.

An empowering environment

Support a workplace culture that promotes individuality, creativity and accountability. Leverage technology to accommodate everyone and establish comprehensive discrimination and harassment policies.

How travel and tech take the mystery out of things

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

Sarah partners with clients on diversity and inclusion engagements to envision, roadmap and execute large-scale transformations.

SENIOR MANAGER

A valued member of our team, we thank Ryan for his significant contributions to our community and that of our clients.

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How travel celebrates diversity and inspires inclusion, related capabilities, travel consulting.

See how we empower travel, airline and hospitality companies and their workforce to reinvent themselves.

Inclusion & Diversity

Discover how we are accelerating equality for all in the workplace.

Now boarding: Faces, places, and trends shaping tourism in 2024

After falling by 75 percent in 2020, travel is on its way to a full recovery by the end of 2024. Domestic travel is expected to grow 3 percent annually and reach 19 billion lodging nights per year by 2030. 1 Unless otherwise noted, the source for all data and projections is Oxford Economics. Over the same time frame, international travel should likewise ramp up to its historical average of nine billion nights. Spending on travel is expected to follow a similar trajectory, with an estimated $8.6 trillion in traveler outlays in 2024, representing roughly 9 percent of this year’s global GDP.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Caroline Tufft , Margaux Constantin , Matteo Pacca , and Ryan Mann , with Ivan Gladstone and Jasperina de Vries, representing views from McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics & Infrastructure Practice.

There’s no doubt people still love to travel and will continue to seek new experiences in new places. But where will travelers come from, and where will they go? We developed a snapshot of current traveler flows, along with estimates for growth through 2030. For the purposes of this report, we have divided the world into four regions—the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.

Our analysis identifies three major themes for industry stakeholders to consider:

• The bulk of travel spending is close to home. Stakeholders should ensure they capture the full potential of domestic travel before shifting their focus to international travelers. And they should start with international travelers who visit nearby countries—as intraregional trips represent the largest travel segment after domestic trips.
• Source markets are shifting. Although established source markets continue to anchor global travel, Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia are all becoming fast-growing sources of outbound tourism.
• The destinations of the future may not be the ones you imagine. Alongside enduring favorites, places that weren’t on many tourists’ maps are finding clever ways to lure international travelers and establish themselves as desirable destinations.

The bulk of travel spending is close to home

International travel might feel more glamorous, but tourism players should not forget that domestic travel still represents the bulk of the market, accounting for 75 percent of global travel spending (Exhibit 1). Domestic travel recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic faster than international travel, as is typical coming out of downturns. And although there has been a recent boom in “revenge travel,” with travelers prioritizing international trips that were delayed by the pandemic, a return to prepandemic norms, in which domestic travel represents 70 percent of spending, is expected by 2030.

The United States is the world’s largest domestic travel market at $1 trillion in annual spending. Sixty-eight percent of all trips that start in the United States remain within its borders. Domestic demand has softened slightly, as American travelers return abroad. 2 Dawit Habtemariam, “Domestic U.S. tourism growth levels off as Americans head overseas,” Skift, August 18, 2023. But tourism players with the right offerings are still thriving: five national parks broke attendance records in 2023 (including Joshua Tree National Park, which capitalized on growing interest from stargazers indulging in “dark sky” tourism 3 Scott McConkey, “5 national parks set attendance records in 2023, and the reasons may surprise you,” Wealth of Geeks, April 16, 2024. ).

China’s $744 billion domestic travel market is currently the world’s second largest. Chinese travelers spent the pandemic learning to appreciate the diversity of experiences on offer within their own country. Even as borders open back up, Chinese travelers are staying close to home. And domestic destinations are benefiting: for example, Changchun (home to the Changchun Ice and Snow Festival) realized 160 percent year-on-year growth in visitors in 2023. 4 Shi Xiaoji, “Why don’t Chinese people like to travel abroad anymore? The global tourism industry has lost 900 billion yuan. What is the situation?,” NetEase, February 12, 2024. In 2024, domestic travel during Lunar New Year exceeded prepandemic levels by 19 percent.

China’s domestic travel market is expected to grow 12 percent annually and overtake the United States’ to become the world’s largest by 2030. Hotel construction reflects this expectation: 30 percent of the global hotel construction pipeline is currently concentrated in China. The pipeline is heavily skewed toward luxury properties, with more than twice as many luxury hotels under construction in China as in the United States.

India, currently the world’s sixth-largest domestic travel market by spending, is another thriving area for domestic travel. With the subcontinent’s growing middle class powering travel spending growth of roughly 9 percent per year, India’s domestic market could overtake Japan’s and Mexico’s to become the world’s fourth largest by 2030. Domestic air passenger traffic in India is projected to double by 2030, 5 Murali Krishnan, “Can India’s airports cope with rapid passenger growth?,” Deutsche Welle, February 7, 2024. boosted in part by a state-subsidized initiative that aims to connect underserved domestic airports. 6 “India is seeing a massive aviation boom,” Economist , November 23, 2023.

When travelers do go abroad, they often stay close to home (Exhibit 2).

Europe and Asia, in particular, demonstrate strong and growing intraregional travel markets.

Recognizing this general trend, stakeholders have been funneling investment toward regional tourism destinations. An Emirati wealth fund, for instance, has announced its intent to invest roughly $35 billion into established hospitality properties and development opportunities in Egypt. 7 Michael Gunn and Mirette Magdy, “UAE’s $35 billion Egypt deal marks Gulf powers’ buying spree,” Bloomberg, April 27, 2024.

Europe has long played host to a high share of intraregional travel. Seventy percent of its travelers’ international trips stay within the region. Europe’s most popular destinations for intraregional travelers are perennial warm-weather favorites—Spain (18 percent), Italy (10 percent), and France (8 percent)—with limited change to these preferences expected between now and 2030.

Despite longer travel distances between Asian countries, Asia’s intraregional travel market is beginning to resemble Europe’s. Intraregional travel currently accounts for about 60 percent of international trips in Asia—a share expected to climb to 64 percent by 2030. As in Europe in past decades, Asian intraregional travel is benefiting from diminishing visa barriers and the development of a low-cost, regional flight network.

Thailand is projected to enjoy continued, growing popularity with Asian travelers. Thailand waived visa requirements for Chinese tourists in 2023 and plans to do the same for Indian tourists starting in 2024. It has aggressively targeted the fast-growing Indian traveler segment, launching more than 50 marketing campaigns directed at Indians over the past decade. The investment may be paying off: Bangkok recently overtook Dubai as the most popular city destination for Indian tourists. 8 “Bangkok overtakes Dubai as top destination for Indians post visa relaxation, reveals Agoda,” PR Newswire, January 18, 2024.

A McKinsey ConsumerWise survey on consumer sentiment, conducted in February 2024, suggests that Chinese travelers are also exhibiting high interest in international travel, with 36 percent of survey respondents indicating that they intend to spend more on international travel in the next three months. 9 Daniel Zipser, “ China brief: Consumers are spending again (outside of China) ,” McKinsey, April 8, 2024. Much of this interest is directed toward regional destinations such as Southeast Asia and Japan, with interest in travel to Europe down from previous years. 10 Guang Chen, Zi Chen, Steve Saxon, and Jackey Yu, “ Outlook for China tourism 2023: Light at the end of the tunnel ,” McKinsey, May 9, 2023.

Given travelers’ preference for proximity, how can tourism stakeholders further capitalize on domestic and intraregional travel demand? Here are a few strategies:

• Craft offerings that encourage domestic tourists to rediscover local gems. Destinations, hotels, and transportation providers can encourage domestic tourists to integrate lesser-known cultural landmarks into their trips to visit friends and relatives. In France, the upscale hotel chain Relais & Châteaux markets historic properties that lie far from classic tourist sights—such as Château Saint-Jean in rural Auvergne—as a welcome escape from the bustle of Paris. In Mexico, the Pueblos Mágicos program has successfully boosted domestic tourist visits to a set of “magical towns” that showcase Mexican heritage.
• Fold one-off domestic destinations into fuller itineraries. Route 66 in the United States is a classic road trip pathway, which spurs visits to attractions all along the highway’s length. Tourism stakeholders can collaborate to create similar types of domestic itineraries around the world. For instance, Mexico has expanded on its Pueblos Mágicos concept by branding coordinated visits to multiple villages as “magical routes.” In France, local tourism boards and vineyards have collaborated to promote bucket list “wine routes” around the country.
• Make crossing borders into neighboring countries seamless. Removing logistical barriers to travel can nudge tourists to upgrade a one-off trip to a single attraction into a bucket list journey across multiple, less-trodden destinations. In Africa, for example, Ethiopian Airlines is facilitating cross-border travel to major regional tourist sites through improved air connectivity. In Asia, Thailand has announced its intent to create a joint visa easing travel among Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Source markets are shifting

The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, and France remain the world’s five largest sources of travelers, in that order. These countries collectively accounted for 38 percent of international travel spending in 2023 and are expected to remain the top five source markets through 2030. But interest in travel is blossoming in other parts of the world—causing a shift in the balance of outbound travel flows (Exhibit 3).

North Americans’ travel spending is projected to hold steady at roughly 3 percent annual growth. US consumers voice growing concerns about inflation, and the most cost-constrained traveler segments are reducing travel, which is affecting ultra-low-cost airlines and budget hotels. Most travelers, however, plan to continue traveling: McKinsey research suggests that American consumers rank international and domestic travel as their highest-priority areas for discretionary spending. Instead of canceling their trips, these consumers are adapting their behavior by traveling during off-peak periods or booking travel further in advance. Travel spending by Europeans paints a slightly rosier picture, with roughly 5 percent projected annual growth. Meanwhile, the projected 12 percent annual growth in Chinese travelers’ spending should anchor substantial increases in travel spending across Northeast Asia.

Alongside these enduring traveler segments, new groups of travelers are emerging. Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia are still comparatively small source markets, but they are developing fast-growing pools of first-time tourists (Exhibit 4).

India’s breakneck GDP growth of 6 percent year over year is bolstering a new generation of travelers, 11 Benjamin Laker, “India will grow to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027,” Forbes , February 23, 2024. resulting in a projected annual growth in travel spending of 9 percent between now and 2030. Indian air carriers and lodging companies are making substantial investments to meet projected demand. Budget airline IndiGo placed the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history in 2023, when it pledged to buy 500 Airbus A320 planes 12 Anna Cooban, “Biggest plane deal in history: Airbus clinches massive order from India’s IndiGo,” CNN, June 19, 2023. ; that same week, Air India nearly equaled IndiGo’s order size with purchase agreements for 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing jets. IndiGo later added an order for 30 additional Airbus A350 planes, well suited to serving both domestic and international routes. 13 “Airbus confirms IndiGo's A350 aircraft order,” Economic Times , May 6, 2024. The Indian Hotels Company Limited is ramping up its hotel pipeline, aiming to open two new hotels per month in the near future. International players are not sitting on the sidelines: seven hotel chains are launching new brands in India in 2024, 14 Peden Doma Bhutia, “Indian Hotels expansion plans: 2 new brands launching, 2 hotels opening every month,” Skift, February 2, 2024. including Marriott’s first Moxy- and Tribute-branded hotels in India and entrants from Hilton’s Curio and Tapestry brands. 15 Forum Gandhi, “Check-in frenzy: International hotel giants unleash fresh brands in India’s booming hospitality landscape,” Hindu Businessline , February 13, 2024. Development focus has shifted away from major metropolises such as Mumbai and Delhi and toward fast-developing, smaller cities such as Chandigarh and Hyderabad.

Southeast Asian travel spending is projected to grow at roughly 7 percent per year. Pockets of particularly high growth exist in Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. To capitalize on this blossoming source market, neighboring countries are rolling out attractive visa arrangements: for example, China has agreed to reciprocal visa waivers for short-term travelers from Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. 16 Julienna Law, “China launches ‘visa-free era’ with Southeast Asia. Will travel retail boom?,” Jing Daily , January 30, 2024.

Travel spending by Eastern Europeans is expected to grow at 7 percent per year until 2030—two percentage points higher than spending by Western Europeans. Areas of especially high growth include the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, where middle-class travelers are increasingly venturing farther afield. Major tourism players, including the TUI Group, have tapped into these new source markets by offering charter flights to warm-weather destinations such as Egypt. 17 Hildbrandt von Klaus, “TUI develops Czech Republic as a new source market,” FVW, December 22, 2023.

Although the number of travelers from these new source markets is growing, their purchasing power remains relatively limited. Compared with Western European travelers (who average $159 per night in total travel spending), South Asians spend 20 percent less, Eastern Europeans spend 40 percent less, and Southeast Asians spend 55 percent less. Only 3 percent of the current Asian hotel construction pipeline caters to economy travelers, suggesting a potential supply gap of rooms that could appeal to budget-constrained tourists.

While acknowledging that historical source markets will continue to constitute the bulk of travel spending, tourism players can consider actions such as these to capitalize on growing travel demand from newer markets:

• Reduce obstacles to travel. Countries can look for ways to strategically invest in simplifying travel for visitors from growing source markets. In 2017, for example, Azerbaijan introduced express processing of electronic visas for Indian visitors; annual arrivals from India increased fivefold in two years. Requirements regarding passport photocopies or in-person check-ins can similarly be assessed with an eye toward reducing red tape for travelers.
• Use culturally relevant marketing channels to reach new demographics. Unique, thoughtful marketing strategies can help destinations place themselves on first-time travelers’ bucket lists. For example, after the release of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara , a popular Bollywood movie shot in Spain with support from the Spanish Ministry of Tourism, Indian tourism to Spain increased by 65 percent. 18 “ Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara part of syllabus in Spain colleges,” India Today , June 6, 2004.
• Give new travelers the tech they expect. Travelers from newer source markets often have access to tech-forward travel offerings. For example, Indian travelers can travel anywhere within their country without physical identification, thanks to the Digi Yatra app. The Southeast Asian rideshare app Grab has several helpful travel features that competitors lack, such as automated menu translation and currency conversion. Tourism stakeholders should consider how to adapt to the tech expectations of newer travelers, integrating relevant offerings that ease journeys.
• Create vibrant experiences tailored to different price points. Crafting lower-budget offerings for more cost-constrained travelers doesn’t need to result in giving them a subpar experience. Capsule hotels, in which guests sleep in small cubbies, began as a response to the high cost of accommodations in Japan, but they have become an attraction in their own right—appearing on many must-do lists. 19 Philip Tang, “24 of the best experiences in Japan,” Lonely Planet, March 23, 2024.

The places you’ll go: The destinations of the future may not be the ones you imagine

The world’s top ten destination countries (the United States, Spain, China, France, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Italy, Thailand, Japan, and India, in that order) currently receive 45 percent of all travel spending, including for domestic travel. But some new locales are gaining traction (Exhibit 5).

A significant number of travelers are expanding their horizons, booking journeys to less visited countries that are near to old standbys. For instance, Laos and Malaysia, which both border Thailand—an established destination that is home to Bangkok, the world’s most visited city 20 Katherine LaGrave, “This is the world’s most visited city,” AFAR , January 31, 2024. —are up a respective 20 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in year-over-year international travel spending.

The world’s top ten destination countries currently receive 45 percent of all travel spending, including domestic-travel spending. But some new locales are gaining traction.

Several other countries that have crafted thoughtful tourism demand generation strategies—such as Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, and Vietnam—are also expected to reap benefits in the coming years. Vietnam logged a remarkable 40 percent increase in tourism spending in the five years before the pandemic. Postpandemic, it has rebounded in part by waiving visa requirements for European travelers (while indicating intent to offer similar exemptions in the future for Chinese and Indian travelers). 21 Ashvita Singh, “Vietnam looks to offer visa-free entry to Indians: India report,” Skift, November 20, 2023. The Philippines has made a concerted effort to shift its sun-and-beach branding toward a more well-rounded image, replacing its long-standing “It’s more fun in the Philippines” tourism slogan with “Love the Philippines.” Peru is highlighting less visited archeological sites while also marketing itself as a top-notch culinary destination through the promotion of Peruvian restaurants abroad. Rwanda is investing in infrastructure to become a major African transit hub, facilitated by Qatar Airways’ purchase of a 60 percent stake in the country’s major airport. 22 Dylan Cresswell, “Rwanda plots ambitious tourism recovery,” African Business , July 28, 2022. Rwanda has also successfully capitalized on sustainable tourism: by charging $1,500 per gorilla trekking permit, for instance, it has maximized revenue while reducing environmental impact.

Tourism players might consider taking some of these actions to lure tourists to less familiar destinations:

• Collaborate across the tourism ecosystem. Promotion is not solely the domain of destination marketing organizations. Accommodation, transportation, and experience providers can also play important roles. In Singapore, for instance, the luxury resort Marina Bay Sands partners extensively with Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Tourism Board to offer compelling tourism offerings. Past collaborations have included flight and stay packages built around culinary festivals. 23 “Singapore Tourism Board, Marina Bay Sands & UOB partner to enliven Marina Bay precinct,” Singapore Tourism Board news release, January 25, 2024.
• Use infrastructure linkage to promote new destinations. By extending route options, transportation providers can encourage visitors to create itineraries that combine familiar destinations with new attractions. In Asia, Thailand’s tourism authority has attempted to nudge visitors away from the most heavily trafficked parts of the country, such as Bangkok and Phuket, and toward less popular destinations.
• Deploy social media to reach different demographics. Innovative social media campaigns can help put a destination on the map. Australia launched its “Ruby the kangaroo” campaign in China to coincide with the return of postpandemic air capacity between the two places. A video adapted for Chinese context (with appropriate gestures and a hashtag in Mandarin) garnered more than 20 million views in a single day on one of China’s largest social media platforms. 24 Nicole Gong, “Can Ruby the kangaroo bring Chinese tourists hopping back to Australia?,” SBS, June 5, 2023.
• Embrace unknown status. “Off the beaten path” messaging can appeal to widely traveled tourists seeking fresh experiences. Saudi Arabia’s “#WhereInTheWorld” campaign promoted the country’s tourist spots by acknowledging that they are less familiar to travelers, using a series of images that compared these spots with better-known destinations.

As tourism stakeholders look to the future, they can take steps to ensure that they continue to delight existing travelers while also embracing new ones. Domestic and intraregional tourism remain major opportunities—catering to local tourists’ preferences while building infrastructure that makes travel more seamless within a region could help capture them. Creative collaboration among tourism stakeholders can help put lesser-known destinations on the map. Travel tides are shifting. Expertly navigating these currents could yield rich rewards.

Caroline Tufft is a senior partner in McKinsey’s London office, Margaux Constantin is a partner in the Dubai office, Matteo Pacca is a senior partner in the Paris office, Ryan Mann is a partner in the Chicago office, Ivan Gladstone is an associate partner in the Riyadh office, and Jasperina de Vries is an associate partner in the Amsterdam office.

The authors wish to thank Abdulhadi Alghamdi, Alessandra Powell, Alex Dichter, Cedric Tsai, Diane Vu, Elisa Wallwitz, Lily Miller, Maggie Coffey, Nadya Snezhkova, Nick Meronyk, Paulina Baum, Peimin Suo, Rebecca Stone, Sarah Fellay, Sarah Sahel, Steffen Fuchs, Steffen Köpke, Steve Saxon, Sophia Wang, and Urs Binggeli for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Seth Stevenson, a senior editor in the New York office.

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• Original Paper
• Published: 02 September 2024
• Volume 16 , article number  88 , ( 2024 )

Cite this article

• K. Milankumar Sharma   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7591-7655 1 ,
• Sapam Ranabir 2 ,
• N. Amardas Singh 3 &
• Prafull Singh 1  

The Indian subcontinent is well known for its rich geological and cultural diversity. The Magadh region, with its plethora of heritage sites, stands as a living testament to the rich tapestry of India's cultural and geological history. The geodiversity of the Gaya-Rajgir area of Bihar, India comprises of volcano-sedimentary sequences juxtaposing with Rajgir meta-sediments and volcano sedimentary sequence of Bathani, anorthosite-gabbro and granites suites of Barabar-Nagarjuni area. The present report highlights some of the important geological and cultural sites of this region. The pillow basalt site of Churi Hill, Gaya is proposed to be classified as a geoheritage site which needs immediate conservation in addition to the already classified Barabar caves geoheritage site having been known for its remarkable architectural antiquities, relics and inscriptions of the rich historical past of Mauryan dynasty as engraved in the granite of the cave. The area is also characterized by the presence of its rich natural, geological, geomorphological, and significant historical and cultural heritage especially the Churi hills, Mahabodhi Temple, Vishnupad Temple, Nalanda University relict site, Caves of Barabar Hill, Rajgir area, cyclopean walls, hot water spring of Brahmakund, peace pagoda etc. From the ancient ruins of Nalanda to the spiritual sanctuaries like Vishnupad Temple and Mahabodhi Temple, each site narrates a unique story of the past. The Barabar Caves and Rajgir add further layers to this narrative, offering a glimpse into the diverse facets of the region's history. As we explore and celebrate these heritage sites, it is essential to prioritize their preservation and promote sustainable tourism, ensuring the livelihood promotion of the local indigenous people and also conserving the beauties and significance that endure for generations to come.

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Corporation from Dr. Priti Rai (Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, CUSB, Gaya) and M.Sc. Geology students Department of Geology, CUSB Gaya is highly grateful.

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Sharma, K.M., Ranabir, S., Singh, N.A. et al. A Note on Spectacular Geodiversity and Cultural Sites In and Around Gaya-Rajgir Region of Bihar, India: Prospect for Geoheritage and Geotourism. Geoheritage 16 , 88 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-024-00994-2

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