This monthly Tracker is produced by UNESCO to monitor the role of culture in public policy with regards to the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. It highlights developments within national and regional contexts, as well as emerging debates on culture's contribution to sustainable development. Drawing on a variety of sources, it provides a broad overview of cultural policy trends worldwide at the national, regional and international level and looks at ways in which countries integrate culture into other policy areas.
AT A GLANCE
The tourism industry is a major casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, which in 2020 propelled a 74% drop in international arrivals and a US$1.3 trillion loss in global tourism revenues. Cultural tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the global tourism sector, with four out of ten tourists choosing their destination based on its cultural offer. In an ongoing context of uncertainty, governments around the world are identifying ways to deal with the devastating economic impact of the crisis and support resilient and inclusive recovery strategies for the future.
The Cultural Policy Highlights section presents the latest policy measures at national and local level.
In the Cutting Edge section, we look at how cultural tourism has grown to be a powerhouse for sustainable development, and what countries are doing to harness their cultural assets through tourism. We examine some the major challenges, risks and opportunities for cultural tourism development, and what steps governments are taking to transition to more sustainable models of tourism development - today and in the post-COVID-19 context.
The latest developments shaping policy at regional level are outlined in the Regional Perspectives section.
Over a third of all countries report specifically on cultural tourism in their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs): the section Culture in the 2030 Agenda covers these developments.