Istanbul Declaration

Conference documents and videos

UNWTO Press release 

Photos of the conference

Video message by Mr. Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director of the Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice, The World Bank

Conference speeches, presentations and videos

Opening Ceremony

• Video message from Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General, UNESCO (speech / video)
  

• Welcome remarks by Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, UNWTO (speech)

Keynote Speech by H.E. Ms. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta (speech)

Session 1 - Cultural tourism for sustainable and creative cities

• Ms. Denise Bax, Senior Programme Specialist, Cultural Policies and Development, Culture Sector, UNESCO (video)

• Mr. Firuz B. Bağlıkaya, President of Association of Turkish Travel Agencies and Acting Chairman of the Executive Board, İstanbul Convention Bureau (presentation / video)

• Mr. Satoshi Uemura, Vice Mayor of Kyoto, Japan (presentation)

• Ms. Gillian Wilkinson McDaniel, Principal Director Culture and Creative Industries Policy Division (Acting), Ministry of Culture Gender Entertainment & Sport, Jamaica (presentation)

• Mr. Jiao Hui, Division Chief, Chengdu Municipal Commission of Commerce, China (presentation)
  

Session 2 - Responsible tourism as an ally for safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)

• Ms. Eva Štravs Podlogar, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia (presentation)

• Mr. M. Öcal Oğuz, President of the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO and Chairman of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Expertise Committee (presentation)

• Mr. Neville Poelina, Director, Uptuyu Aboriginal Adventures, Australia (presentation / video)

• Mr. Amitava Bhattacharya, Founder Director, Banglanatak.com, India (video)

• Mr. Ahmed Eiweida, Global Coordinator for Cultural Heritage & Sustainable Tourism, The World Bank  (presentation / video)

Session 3 - Ensuring cultural tourism for all through digital transformation 

• Mr. Dominique Roland, Deputy Director-General of Innovation and Digital Development, Enghien-les-Bains, France (presentation / video)

• Ms. Claire Marie Foulquier, Policy and External Relations Manager, Google Arts &  Culture (presentation)

• Mr. Antonio J. Ingelmo Sierra, Technical Expert, Accessible Technology Department, Fundación ONCE, Spain (presentation / video 1)
  
  

Closing Session

• Mr. Manuel Butler, Executive Director, UNWTO (speech)
• Mr. Xing Qu, Deputy Director-General, UNESCO (speech)