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The World Travel & Tourism Council and the International Chamber of Commerce have signed an agreement to strengthen the growth, competitiveness and political voice of small and medium-sized businesses across global travel and tourism.
What the agreement covers
The memorandum of understanding, announced on 2 October, combines WTTC’s tourism-sector research and industry expertise with ICC’s business network, which reaches more than 45 million companies in over 170 countries.
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The organisations said they will share research and business intelligence, engage companies through ICC’s international network, and bring public- and private-sector leaders together around barriers facing smaller tourism enterprises.
Planned support includes practical tools, guidance, business connections and insights intended to help firms grow and compete. WTTC and ICC also aim to use evidence from businesses to shape policy recommendations at national and international level.
Barriers facing smaller operators
WTTC says SMEs account for more than 85% of travel and tourism businesses worldwide. These include independent hotels, guesthouses, tour operators, transport providers, restaurants, guides and cultural-experience businesses.
The partners identified fragmented regulation, limited finance, skills gaps, digital barriers, poor connectivity and visa-related obstacles as pressures that can hit smaller firms hardest. Their agreement is designed to elevate these concerns in policy discussions where small operators are often less able to participate directly.
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WTTC president and chief executive Gloria Guevara said smaller businesses create jobs, encourage innovation and help tourism income reach local communities. The council said the partnership would help turn business evidence into engagement with governments and policymakers.
Why it matters for Black tourism economies
For tourism-dependent economies across Africa and the Caribbean, the focus on SMEs is significant. Much of the sector’s local value is generated by community-based operators, independent accommodation providers, cultural businesses and informal-to-formal entrepreneurs rather than large international brands.
Better access to networks, business knowledge and policy advocacy could help these enterprises pursue regional and international customers, while making a stronger case for reforms that lower the cost and complexity of operating across borders.
The effectiveness of the pact will depend on delivery. The announcement does not set out a dedicated financing facility or country-by-country implementation timetable. However, ICC’s global reach and WTTC’s sector platform could give tourism SMEs a larger channel into debates on investment, digitalisation, travel rules and workforce development.
Building on existing SME work
The new collaboration follows WTTC’s 2024 launch of its Together in Travel initiative, which was created to offer SMEs resources, education and networking opportunities. WTTC later expanded the initiative with founding partners from across hospitality, technology, travel services and destination development.
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The ICC partnership potentially broadens that work beyond the tourism industry itself, linking travel businesses to chambers, trade expertise and wider business networks in markets around the world.