UN Tourism
The thrill of a world to be discovered
Crafting a new ambition for global sustainable tourism
As we all head towards the future, tourism, like many other industries, needs to be reinvented as a driver of prosperity for all. Objectives like benefiting people, preserving the environment, fostering economic prosperity, and promoting global peace need to sit at the core of this industry’s purpose. It is imperative that tourism evolves from being a peripheral economic contributor to becoming a driver of sustainable growth, meriting paramount consideration within national economies.
In this context, The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) needed to increase its awareness and relevance versus other organizations that had gained influence at a private level.
The challenge was to redefine the agency’s ambition, reinvent its role as the go-to organization, and be transformed into a relevant player for economic and social change for the decades to come. Its function had to be stretched to encompass education, consultancy, and networking in a proactive manner.
The target audience included countries, both as recipients of its assistance and as those interested in contributing to its day-to-day operations and management; individuals, specifically travelers (not merely tourists) and locals who witness their lives flourish through the empowerment of economy via tourism; and private, semi-private, and public organizations all willing to engage with the data network, events and reports published by UNWTO.
Bringing the world closer
Interbrand has spearheaded the strategic redefinition of the UN agency model by charting a fresh and coherent trajectory that encompasses strategic actions aimed at unlocking the institution’s full potential, paving the way for sustainable tourism focused on local communities (transcending mass sun & beach tourism), and fortifying engagement and collaboration among different audiences through a revitalized value proposition.
The initial step in this direction has involved renaming the institution, transitioning from UNWTO to UN Tourism. The revised nomenclature offers several advantages, including simplicity, enhanced comprehension, improved legibility, and memorability. It also serves to clarify the agency’s sphere of influence. By moving away from acronyms, UN Tourism adopts a more approachable stance and capitalizes on its most appealing attributes: the “UN”, signifying authority, and “tourism”, a simple and relatable concept for all. Furthermore, this change highlights the profound transformation undergone within the organization, reinventing the entire way of doing things.
A new brand narrative has been meticulously crafted, one that seamlessly aligns with the emotionally driven category that tourism is. This narrative pivots around three main messages: the UN as a global altruistic organization, the notion of connecting humans around the world, and the concept of proactivity and movement. These elements are the foundations of a distinct and proprietary brand territory, one that feels affordable, democratic, and relevant for diverse audiences regardless of provenance.
The new brand expression is not only limited to words and messages but also expands into a reinvented visual discourse. UN Tourism adopts a new design language starting from its symbol. “Bringing the world closer” is the new tagline that inspires the concept of a Pangea shaping a human figure in action. This drastic evolution from the former aseptic “globe” symbol signals the profound change the organization is undergoing. Beyond the symbol, the entire visual system is based on the idea of the world’s “coordinates”, unlocking a rich universe of elements like imagery, fonts, colors, and pictograms all orchestrated to deliver social media campaigns, events, posts, videos, and content in general in on and off-line touchpoints.
Driving tourism as a
The unveiling of the new brand took place during the organization’s 25th General Assembly held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. This important global event brought together the foremost representatives of the Member States, alongside prominent figures in the global tourism arena from both the public and private sectors, local authorities, academia, and the media.
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