The G20 Ministers of Tourism recently met in Goa to discuss various issues and welcomed the Goa Roadmap for tourism for achieving sustainable development goals. The ministers affirmed the importance of working towards the full recovery of tourism from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while accelerating the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of its Sustainable Development Goals. The ministers supported five tourism priority areas identified by India’s G20 Presidency for the Tourism Working Group to develop a resilient and sustainable tourism sector. These include green tourism, digitalization, skills, tourism MSMEs, and destination management.
As per the release, the ministers mentioned that tourism significantly contributes to the main objective of the G20, which is to promote strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth, and they will work towards positioning the sector in accelerating sustainable development and achieving the SDGs.
In the meeting, there was also a discussion on the issue of the Ukraine war and its impact on the global economy. Most of the members stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and adversely impacting the global economy. The release mentioned that recognizing that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy. The ministers affirmed their commitment to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women through tourism policies.
We welcome the Goa Roadmap for Tourism as a vehicle for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as annexed, as a voluntary set of actionable policies to enable progress tourism towards the achievement of the SDGs, it said.
