A capacity building seminar
13-16 December 2010, Trento, Italy

 

Organisers

The OECD LEED Trento Centre

The Training Centre for International Cooperation

in partnership with the OECD Tourism Committee

 

Background / The Seminar / Participants' Profile / 
/ Material / Contact Details

 

Background

The important contribution of tourism to the world economy during recent decades is widely recognised by OECD member and non-member countries. Indeed, international tourism has been growing at a slightly faster pace than the world economy and this seems likely to continue in the long-term, despite the current recession. But in order to continue this trajectory of growth and to provide employment as well as social development, tourism needs specific policies, which enable a city, a province, a region or a country to be competitive in the global tourism, travel and leisure market.

In order to achieve a sustainable tourism sector, there are a range of issues where policy makers and practitioners need to engage. Such issues include the innovative use and development of human capital, new forms of organisation and management, new approaches to for-profit and social entrepreneurship, community capacity building and community involvement, and new developments of intangible assets based on reputation, image-building, marketing and communication.
The to-do-list of governments is long. But the evidence shows that they are taking action on a number of fronts central to the success of the tourism industry.

Enhanced co-operation and further development of the sector could lead to an increased demand for tourism which will require a sustainable response from the partners involved. Much can be learned from an international exchange on the tourism sector around themes such as the rationale behind the development of comprehensive policy frameworks, innovative mechanisms for skills development, tourism quality and sustainability, how the pitfalls and barriers encountered have been addressed, and how communities can contribute to attracting and sustaining tourism.

 

The Seminar

The 4-day programme was structured around a mix of presentations by invited experts and OECD staff followed by discussion and group work utilising case studies and concrete experiences developed by participants prior to the seminar.

The seminar aimed to build and share the knowledge and know-how of participants on:

	How to develop integrated strategies based on sustainable tourism.
	How to build new and innovative tourism policies, which reflect local characteristics and which address local needs.
	How to build on local strengths to valorise a locality and how to engage local communities in this process.
	Which mechanisms could be developed in order to ensure vertical and horizontal co-operation among all stakeholders.
	How to build entrepreneurial, including social entrepreneurship, tourism capacities and develop specific tourism skills.

 

Participants' Profile

The OECD/TCIC capacity building was addressed to participants committed to the topic and willing to contribute to build a highly interactive environment, by sharing their experiences and learning from each other. Participants were: national, regional, and local policy-makers and practitioners, tourism agencies, representatives of the private sector, representatives from social economy organisations actively involved in tourism-related activities, business associations, and higher education institutions in the Mediterranean region. The selection was made by invitation.

Working language: English.

 

Material

Download the draft agenda

Presentations and background material

 

Contact Details

For further information, please contact Alessandra Proto at the OECD Secretariat.