On 23–24 May 2024, the second meeting of the Coalition of Partners on Health and Tourism, jointly coordinated by WHO/Europe and UN Tourism, will convene representatives from ministries of health and tourism in 20 Members States to identify shared lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic at the intersection of health and tourism and build trusted partnerships across the 2 sectors. At this 2-day hybrid event, hosted by the WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety, the WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development, and supported by the Ministry of Health of Greece, participants will co-create the Coalition’s work plan for 2024 to enhance health and safety in tourism contexts and foster resilience and preparedness for current and future emergencies.
About the Coalition
The Coalition aims to address challenges and opportunities at the intersection of health and tourism, including post-pandemic recovery, and marks the first official collaboration between the tourism and health ministries in 24 Member States in the WHO European Region. Participating countries include Albania, Armenia, Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Türkiye.
About the meeting
This second meeting of the Coalition aims at establishing trusted partnerships across the 2 sectors and robust groundwork for advancing the health and well-being of tourists, tourism workers and host communities, while at the same time strengthening preparedness for potential future emergencies. The key objectives of the meeting are:
- Set thematic priorities: identify and prioritize challenges and opportunities at the intersection of health and tourism, considering the immediate needs of countries.
- Share knowledge: share relevant data, research findings and experiences on COVID-19 and emergencies to enhance understanding, inform Coalition deliverables and identify potential collaborative initiatives.
- Develop outcome document: formulate key elements of a document on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic for health and tourism for 2024 and discuss contributions and work plans of technical working groups (TWGs).
- Discuss future topics and resource mobilization: discuss strategies for mobilizing resources to support the implementation of collaborative initiatives and explore partnerships with relevant stakeholders to enhance the Coalition’s effectiveness and sustainability.
- Discuss possible monitoring and evaluation mechanisms: develop mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the progress and impact of TWGs and Coalition activities, including performance indicators, regular progress reviews and member feedback.