Karl Wöber elected Director of the Expert Committee of the World Tourism Cities Federation

At the recent World Tourism Cities Federation in Penang, Malaysia, MU President Karl Wöber was elected as Director of the Expert Committee of the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), an international tourism organization voluntarily formed by well-known tourism cities and tourism-related institutions around the world.  He now leads a 19 member board of international tourism experts for a five-year term.

In recognition of city tourism’s significant role in driving job creation and economic growth, WTCF has introduced various initiatives, particularly aimed at promoting sustainability, accessibility, digitalization, and culture. It is the task of the WTCF Expert Committee to support these initiatives by providing advice in their implementation and by monitoring and analysing their success.

‘’I believe that WTCF made a smart decision by announcing a special focus on the development of monitoring and decision support tools to modernize city tourism and to improve connectivity and competitiveness, ‘’ says Dr. Wöber.

The WTCF Expert Committee analyses the growing importance of tourism in their member cities. The development of indicators and metrics systems is of paramount importance by many tourism boards and international tourism organizations around the world. By systematically collecting, analyzing and benchmarking data from its members, the Expert Committee will be able to report on how members have capitalized upon existing opportunities.

During the conference; Dr. Wöber also moderated a panel discussion on “City Hub and Tourism Economy”, with esteemed panellists Ms. Sarah Mathews, Head of Destination Marketing APAC, Tripadvisor, Mr. Ajantha Dias Gunawardhana, Acting Mayor, Anuradhapura Municipal Council, Mr. Narayan Babu Bhattarai, Director of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Office, Mr. Nicky, General Manager of U-Tour in Beijing, Mr. Shu Zhan, General Manager of Tencent Tourism and Mr. K. Gurunathan, Mayor of Kapiti Coast, New Zealand.

‘’It is an honour for me being elected as Director of the Expert Committee of WTCF for the next five years and I want to thank all members for the trust they have expressed by supporting my election,” says Dr. Wöber.