Natalia Bayona is head of tourism for the United Nations, the first woman under 40 to hold that role. She says China has a crucial role in growing tourism in the post- pandemic world.
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00:00Natalia Bayona knows a thing or two about tourism.
00:05So is it back and beating pre-pandemic levels as numbers suggest?
00:09You're absolutely right.
00:12Our projections say that maybe we will grow two or three points more if we compare 2019 and nowadays.
00:23Tourism is responsible for 8% of the world's carbon.
00:26What is the United Nations doing to try and, you know, bring that industry to a more, make it greener?
00:34Here in UN tourism we have a strong focus on green investments.
00:38To have hotels with renewable energies, using the community art to create all the designs inside any infrastructure,
00:51to create smart airports with new technologies that can, of course, reduce the emissions and that can be more responsible at the end of the day.
01:01How would you describe your relationship with China?
01:04I love China. I love, in a personal way, I'm a very disciplined person.
01:10I am honoured to be the first international honorary professor in the Beijing International Studies University.
01:19So I love tea. I'm a tea lover. I'm Colombian, but I have to say that I love tea more than coffee.
01:25So that's one of my passions.
01:28Which one's your favourite tea? Mine is oolong.
01:31Mine, I could say red tea, but of course, white tea as well.
01:36So that calms me a little bit when I am stressed.
01:41In October marks the 75 years of the PRC, the People's Republic of China.
01:46From a tourism point of view, I mean, it's an incredible transformation that we've seen over that period of time.
01:52How would you put that into context from the perspective of tourism?
01:56It's absolutely incredible. If you can talk about the history of China from 75 years from now,
02:03I have to say that when you go there, you always see something new.
02:09It's incredible, but it's a country that is always innovating.
02:13You have seen that mixture between modernity and, of course, tradition.
02:18How important is China to global tourism?
02:21China is really important. First of all, I already mentioned,
02:25top investor in the world when it comes to infrastructure, hotel infrastructure and business development.
02:34Second of all, when it comes to tourists, they are the ones that spend the most.
02:39So 196 billion expenditure only from tourists from China all around the globe.
02:49So it helps us as well to promote and to increase GDP among all the countries.
02:56Give us an idea of the importance of tourism in terms of understanding each other, people to people exchanges.
03:06Tourism doesn't understand about borders. Tourism doesn't understand about wars, about tensions.
03:16Tourism is about mutual understanding. Tourism is about openness.
03:20It's about bringing new cultures together. That's the magic of tourism.