UNWTO, Instagram Join to Help Travel Destinations

UNWTO and Instagram have joined forces to produce a ‘Tourism Recovery Playbook’, and so help destinations and businesses harness the power of digital and visual storytelling to reach new audiences and return to growth.

This first ever partnership with Instagram forms part of UNWTO’s wider shift towards harnessing the power of digital innovation to drive the restart of tourism, especially local and sustainable tourism. It also represents Instagram’s recognition of tourism as a leading provider of livelihoods and global opportunity, welcoming UNWTO as partners in a first structured effort to use the platform as a tool to help kickstart the sector’s recovery. 

The partnership was announced against the backdrop of World Travel Market in London, the leading tourism trade fair where UNWTO brings together political and business leaders, and after UNWTO amplifying tourism’s unified response to the climate emergency at the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow.

The Recovery Playbook provides insights into making the most of the platform, from producing Reels to showcase destinations to using Guides and other tools to illustrate how the sector is ready to welcome tourists back safely and responsibly. 

It also explores the best ways to encourage renewed local travel, while raising environmental awareness. Alongside best practice and tips on effective tourism storytelling, the publication also features case studies of small businesses and destinations that have successfully used Instagram to connect with key audiences during the pandemic.

This first collaboration with Instagram builds on UNWTO’s ongoing turn towards greater use of digital tools and visual storytelling to make clear the relevance and importance of tourism to economies, societies, and the planet. 

The Organization has accelerated this shift in its efforts to scale up Member support and enable them to better seize the advantages of digital communications platforms.