Fifty years after its founding, the United Nations’ tourism agency has decided it’s time to stop admiring the view and start rewriting the map.
Meeting in Riyadh for its biggest gathering yet, UN Tourism, the newly rebadged body once known as the UN World Tourism Organisation, unveiled an agenda that blends technology, inclusion and good old-fashioned cooperation. And if the mood among the 148 member states was anything to go by, the future of global travel is about to get very, very digital.
The biggest assembly yet
Over three brisk days in the Saudi capital, the 26th General Assembly attracted a roll-call of 90 tourism ministers, 70 ambassadors and enough policy wonks to fill a Dreamliner. They were there to map out how a half-century-old institution can lead an industry reinventing itself through innovation and artificial intelligence.
“We look ahead to the next half-century,” said Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, “and the sector will be transformed by innovation and AI. We are proud to support the top innovators and to guide our Member States to benefit from the power of AI to diversify the sector, drive inclusive growth and expand opportunities for all.”
In other words, tourism’s next revolution won’t be led by tour guides, but by algorithms.
From buzzword to blueprint
A dedicated thematic session on the impact of artificial intelligence drew the big names Microsoft, Amadeus, Trip.com and the World Economic Forum, among them, for a rare joint conversation about how data and machine learning could reshape travel from the back office to the boarding gate.
Delegates heard from UN Tourism’s executive director, Natalia Bayona, who framed AI not as a threat but as a toolkit: “Innovation is no longer a choice; it’s the framework through which tourism must evolve.”
The assembly also hosted the UN Tourism Artificial Intelligence Challenge, with Brazil’s Smart Tour platform taking out top honours. Its technology analyses visitor flows to help destinations manage overcrowding, proving that innovation isn’t confined to Silicon Valley.
A declaration with digital ink
The meeting culminated in the Riyadh Declaration on the Future of Tourism, a document that reads more like a to-do list than a press release. Signatories pledged to invest in digital infrastructure, close skills gaps, empower local entrepreneurs and weave sustainability through every byte of their new systems.
The goal: make tourism brighter, fairer and more resilient without losing the human touch that gets people travelling in the first place.
Leadership and legacy
History was also made on the opening day, when Shaikha Al Nowais was confirmed as UN Tourism’s next Secretary-General. She’ll take the reins in 2026, becoming the first woman to head the organisation in its five-decade history — a milestone greeted with an ovation that could have rattled the Riyadh skylights.
In another structural shift, member states approved the UN Tourism Africa & Americas Summit as a permanent biennial forum, alongside a new South-South Cooperation Mechanism. China secured backing to establish a regional office in Shanghai, extending the organisation’s footprint deeper into Asia.
A message that resonates in Australia
For Australia’s own tourism sector, still rebuilding after the pandemic and staring down chronic workforce shortages, the Riyadh outcomes offer both guidance and inspiration. Digital integration, community inclusion and investment in skills are precisely the pillars industry leaders here have been urging governments to support.
AI-driven forecasting and destination management could help regional towns avoid both boom-and-bust visitor cycles and overtourism. And with travellers increasingly booking through personalised digital ecosystems, Australia’s operators will need to keep pace with global benchmarks or risk becoming a digital backwater.
The road ahead
The General Assembly set the stage for future milestones: World Tourism Day 2026 will be themed “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence” and hosted by El Salvador; 2027 will focus on “Transforming Tourism through Education” and be hosted by Cabo Verde. The 27th session of the General Assembly will convene in the Dominican Republic.
That continuity matters. It signals that UN Tourism’s pivot toward technology and training is more than a one-off headline; it’s the scaffolding for the industry’s next chapter.
From Riyadh with resolve
There was a time when global tourism meetings produced more coffee breaks than commitments. Not this one. Riyadh delivered a sense of urgency, a hint of optimism, and, for once, a recognition that innovation is as much about people as it is about platforms.
Suppose the next 50 years of tourism are to be as transformative as the last. In that case, it will be because the industry manages to fuse humanity with technology, sustainability with growth, and curiosity with conscience.
Or, as one veteran delegate muttered while filing out of the plenary hall, “We’ve spent decades getting people moving. Now it’s time to get the data moving too.”
By Octavia Koo – (c) 2025
Read Time: 4 minutes
About the Writer
Indonesian-born Octavia Koo arrived in Australia in the early 1980s, drawn by the creative promise of Sydney and a place at UNSW, where she studied Arts and soon discovered her flair for visual storytelling. She began as a graphic designer, quickly turning her sharp eye for detail towards the digital frontier, designing websites and crafting polished descriptions that draw people in—and keep them reading.
Her next chapter took her to Singapore, where she built and managed blogs for several tourism platforms, uncovering a natural gift for SEO long before the term became fashionable. There, amid the buzz of ITB Asia, she met Stephen, who suggested she consider Global Travel Media. A few years later, she did just that.
Now part of GTM’s editorial family, Octavia brings a quiet brilliance to her work. She merges art, technology, and intuition to tell travel stories that charm and perform, much like their author.
