Tourism ministers from the world’s largest economies agreed to chart a new policy road map aimed at embedding sustainability, resilience and inclusion in the sector, in a declaration adopted at their Group of Twenty (G20) meeting on Friday.
The ministers’ declaration may serve as policy input into the broader decisions and pledges that heads of state will be asked to endorse during the summit in November in Johannesburg.
SA, which holds the G20 presidency for 2025, is likely to use the declaration to build momentum and to show deliverables to anchor tourism in the 2025 summit’s narrative and to push for implementation of its goals.
The declaration called for development banks and international institutions to expand concessional and blended finance schemes to support sustainable tourism infrastructure. Ministers also stressed the need for “transparent governance, anticorruption measures, and respect for the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” to attract private investment.
“We emphasise the importance of integrating tourism into national development strategies and the need to unlock financing for sustainable tourism. To complement scarce resources, we call for the mobilisation of public-private capital through transparent, predictable and sustainability aligned investment environments,” the declaration reads.
“We underscore the importance of project preparation, blended and impact finance, advocating the creation of equity funding schemes and risk-sharing facilities to lower barriers for private participation, with emphasis on transparency and accountability.”
Public-private collaboration highlighted
On investment, tourism minister Patricia Lille pressed for closer collaboration between public financiers and private investors to expand sustainable infrastructure.
- Global spotlight: SA can showcase tourism as a strategic sector under its G20 presidency.
- Investment boost: G20 support can attract development and private financing.
- Economic engine: Tourism exports hit $2-trillion globally; SA can grow GDP and jobs.
- Legacy projects: Summits strengthen infrastructure, governance, and inclusive growth.
- Sustainability focus: Embedding resilience and inclusion aligns SA with global standards.
Earlier last week the minister hosted the Tourism Investment Summit, which she described as a legacy project of SA’s G20 presidency. “We must reduce barriers, strengthen institutional frameworks, and provide the targeted enabling conditions for inclusive and sustainable growth,” she said.
UN tourism secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili told the ministers’ meeting the sector had “weathered the worst storm in its history” and was now on track for continued growth.
International tourist arrivals reached 1.5-billion in 2024, matching 2019 levels, while tourism exports hit a record $2-trillion, ranking fourth among G20 economies’ total exports. Direct tourism GDP stood at $3.4-trillion. In the first half of 2025 tourism grew 4% compared with a year earlier.
“Tourism continues to be underrepresented in international financing for development. Indeed, the total official development assistance (ODA) disbursements reported by official donors as allocated for tourism remain below 0.11% of the total ODA. The sector is also overlooked as a tool for development, despite being widely recognised as a major driver of economic growth and development,” Pololikashvili said.
Business Day covered the 2025 G20 Tourism Ministerial Meetings with the assistance of SA Tourism.
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