Culture is an essential vector for tourism and cinema can serve as a mirror of the culture of a given community. It is against this backdrop that the Conference on Tourism and the Audiovisual Industry will be held (May 01-02, Riviera Maya, Mexico).

The event is will be carried out by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in collaboration with UNWTO Affiliate Members Entidad de Gestión de Derechos de los Productores Audiovisuales (EGEDA), the Tourism Promotion Council of Quintana Roo and the XCaret Group, and with the support of the Barceló Hotel & Resorts Group.

The Conference will be integrated into the extensive programme of events in the context of the 2020 Platino Awards Gala, which will be held under the theme ‘17 Awards - 17 Sustainable Development Goals’ and will bring together prominent representatives from the entire Ibero-American audiovisual industry: producers, directors, actors, and professionals, among others.

The conference will focus on the different aspects of the relationship between tourism, the film/audiovisual industry and the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will feature presentations and debates on cultural tourism, the beneficial impact of cinema on tourism promotion, strengthening the competitiveness of a destination and how to promote and incorporate the SDGs in movies.

Given the nature of this approach, which literally gives visibility to the SDGs through creative narratives, the conference is very much in line with the recently initiated decade of action for the SDGs, which marks the countdown towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 global goals that derive from it.