DOHA, Qatar — The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee recently included the World Tourism Organization in its list of official development assistance-eligible international organizations.
OECD DAC members have committed to dedicate 0.7 percent of their gross national income to ODA. With this new change, financial contributions to the UNWTO can be now considered and reported by donors as ODA. Eighty nine percent of annual membership fees to the UNWTO can be counted as multilateral ODA, in reporting to the OECD.
This can be used as a tool to incentivize membership to the UNWTO, Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the UNWTO, told Devex during the World Tourism Day 2017 Official Celebration in Doha, Qatar. The UNWTO is the U.N.’s agency for promoting tourism as a tool for economic growth, inclusive development, and environmental sustainability.