Tourism is one of the most affected economic sectors globally due to COVID-19, with declining numbers of visitors severely impacting local economies. There have been business closures, job losses, a rise in unsustainable alternative income sources, and the loss of government revenue from tourism. However, the dire situation has also led many tourism-dependent countries to explore new opportunities as part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy. These include new products such as eco-tourism, technology-based/ digital tourism, innovative marketing, and domestic tourism. Amidst this challenging situation and potential opportunities, there is a need to look for a strategy and projects to support the tourism industry.

We are pleased to invite you to the first workshop of the virtual series on COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery: Strengthening the partnership between Local Cities and Tourism Industry on 15^th September 2021 at 16:00 – 18:00 CEST.

The event is aimed at international municipal actors from local administrations, civil society, business and academia who are working on the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and looking for innovative strategies for a post-pandemic future.

Connective Cities’ COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery will support participating urban practitioners in devising ways to help the tourism industry survive. It will provide a broad knowledge sharing and peer learning platform with like-minded municipal actors and local government policymakers who work on tourism recovery planning. Additionally, the Connective Cities Community provides access to relevant global expertise on tourism to support the planning and recovery process.

The kick-off event on September 15 offers the opportunity for several urban practitioners and the tourism industry to work on COVID-19 tourism recovery through peer learning and preparing potential proposals for soliciting funding. As a starting point, various scenarios from municipalities from five countries - Nepal, Botswana, Cape Verde, Romania, Uganda, and Cambodia – will be introduced.

Further workshops of the series are planned for the 20th of October and 16^th of November 2021 (to be confirmed).

To register for the workshop and stay updated on the agenda, the announcement of speakers and further details, please visit our Connective Cities Community.

COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery Kick-Off Event:

Date: 15^th of September 2021

Time: 16:00 – 18:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Venue: Connective Cities Community (online)

Event Language: English, simultaneous translation: Arabic, Portuguese, (Romanian tbc.)

Contact: Paulina Koschmieder     paulina.koschmieder(at)giz.de