Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency (Rosturism) will host the 23rd General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in St. Petersburg on September 9-13, RT reported.
The two sides signed an agreement on Tuesday to bring the UNWTO Assembly in the country for the first time, the report said.
Russia received the right to host the world’s largest tourism event following a vote at the 22nd session of the UNWTO General Assembly, which was held in 2017. It has been a member of the organization since 1975, and Russian is one of the four UNWTO official languages.
The Rosturism press service said the hosting of the event will “have a positive impact on the perception of Russia as a global tourist destination.” It said that tourism ministers from more than 150 countries will be able to see Russia with their own eyes and appreciate the country’s tourism potential.
UNWTO said on Friday that exports generated by international tourism reached $1.7 trillion in 2018, a 4% increase in real terms over the previous year, a new report from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows. For the seventh year in a row, tourism exports grew faster than merchandise exports (+3%), reflecting solid demand for international travel in a generally robust economic environment.
These figures consolidate international tourism among the top five economic sectors in the world, behind chemical manufacturing and the fuel industry but ahead of the food and automotive industries, the UN organization said.
