Ministerial Meeting on Tourism

11/11/2024

The G7 Tourism Ministers’ meeting, the first in history to be devoted to this sector, will be held in Firenze from November 13th to November 15th.

The meeting will be chaired by Italian Minister Daniela Santanchè. Ministers and Heads of Delegation from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Union will come together for the first time in the history of the G7 at a meeting devoted to Tourism, to affirm the right political recognition in view of its economic, social and cultural importance. The work will be aimed at elaborating a solid shared position to steer the future of the tourism industry and to make the sector more sustainable at economic, social and environmental point of view in a context of rapidly evolving technologies.

The Agenda, divided into several sessions, will be enriched by the participation of International Organisations such as OECD, UN Tourism, some invited countries and representatives of the private sector.

The working priorities identified by the Italian Presidency are:

• Tourism and socio-economic development opportunities;
• Human capital – work, inclusion and skills;
• Digitalisation and artificial intelligence.

The meeting will provide an opportunity to explore these issues, sharing good practices already adopted and reflecting on new growth opportunities for the entire tourism ecosystem. The aim is to generate awareness about tourism as an engine of economic growth and social development. The leitmotif of the approach to the work is tourism that puts the human being at the centre, in fact, the human factor is the essential component of the tourism experience and industry. This will require reflection on the evolution of artificial intelligence-based technologies in tourism and the adoption of digital tools.

The G7 will be preceded on 13 November at 14:00 at Palazzo Spini Feroni by a Side event, a meeting between international players and the private sector which, by turning the spotlight on the impact of AI and on the investments of the major Italian brands – fashion, music, cruises, catering, food and wine, design, industry – in the tourism sector, will focus on the present and future challenges of a sector that is increasingly crucial in the panorama of social and economic strategies.