UN Tourism and the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of Lithuania have agreed on a shared vision for tourism development in the country for the period 2025–2027. In addition to accelerating digital transformation, innovation and investments in the sector, the strengthened partnership will also focus on governance and destination management to ensure the continued growth of Lithuanian tourism.
The collaborative plans were set out during an official visit to Vilnius by UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, as he met with Minister of the Economy and Innovation Lukas Savickas, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julius Pranevičius, members of parliament, and key tourism stakeholders.
Lithuania has demonstrated remarkable resilience and vision. The country’s leadership in innovation and inclusivity sets a strong example for the region and beyond. Our cooperation reflects the shared commitment to building a smarter, more sustainable, and more competitive tourism sector. Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili
Driving Smart Tourism Development
In Vilnius, UN Tourism and Lithuania agreed to deepen cooperation in several priority areas:
Tourism promotion & destination marketing, including an influencer-driven event and masterclasses on digital tools
Education and workforce development, including through the Tourism Online Academy
Startup Challenge – Lithuania to encourage tech solutions in tourism
Support new governance models for destination management and enhancing rural tourism
Investment Guidelines to position Lithuania as a prime destination for sustainable tourism investment
Reinforcing Lithuania’s Global Tourism Role
The Secretary-General’s visit included a high-level address to the Committee on Economics at the Lithuanian Parliament, where he commended Lithuania’s post-pandemic recovery, leadership in digital innovation, and efforts to ensure inclusive rural development. He also acknowledged Lithuania’s proactive participation in international dialogues, including its role in the UN Tourism Executive Council.
Opening the Future Hospitality and Tourism Forum in the capital city, the Secretary-General also emphasized the importance of country’s enhanced visibility on the global stage and identified opportunities to further integrate Lithuania into global tourism strategies, including UN Tourism’s own work.
About UN Tourism
The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.
Our Priorities
Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.
Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.
Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.
Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members’ competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.
Advancing tourism’s contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.
Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.
Our Structure
Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.
Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.
Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism’s 500 plus Affiliate members.
