Online resources of the World Tourism Organization: fostering knowledge and raising awareness in society during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to explore and describe the resources made available by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) during the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss their role in fostering knowledge and promoting awareness in society. The resources are examined using a conceptual model of website evaluation proposed by Li and Wang (2010), which has been adapted to be applicable to the organizational context of UNWTO. The findings show that the UNWTO website resources can be divided into two categories: resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic, e.g. information about existing special groups, and resources connected with the core mission of the UNWTO, e.g. important events from before the pandemic or the organization’s main goals. There are new interactive tools, developed specifically in relation to the pandemic, with relevant data for those involved or interested in the tourism sector. The resources are freely available, easily accessible, abundant, varied and highly informative. The UNWTO website is a gateway to knowledge, providing information about, reasons for and effects of relevant actions of the organization, e.g. raising awareness of the importance of both the pandemic problem but also tourism itself, securing considerable funding for the tourism sector by making world leaders aware of the facts and the importance of tourism, or promoting safe travel measures and encouraging actions aimed at accelerating the recovery of the tourism sector.