Cambodia, the Maldives, and Indonesia have become the newest signatories to UNWTO’s International Code for the Protection of Tourists. The Code is the first ever legal instrument designed to create internationally recognized standards for the protection of tourists at the international level.

At the same time, the UNWTO’s Member States across the Asia and Pacific region have adopted the Phnom Penh Declaration on the Code as a fundamental tool to ensure clear, transparent, and efficient frameworks to protect tourists as consumers to foster confidence in travel.

The Code, considered a landmark for tourists’ protection, was created by UNWTO with the active participation of more than 100 countries, international organizations, tourism experts and private sector stakeholders, and adopted in 2021. Previous signatories include Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Moldova, Myanmar, Paraguay, Portugal and Uruguay.

The Code provides greater legal clarity to States through a common and harmonized framework on how to assist tourists in emergency situations and help them develop laws, regulations, and policies for the protection of tourists as consumers.

Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh Declaration on the International Code for the Protection of Tourists has been officially launched and adopted by the Member States of the Asia and the Pacific region. The declaration reaffirms the commitment of the Asia and the Pacific region to strengthen cooperation to improve the assistance available to international tourists in emergency situations and underlines the need to promote closer linkages between governments, tourism service providers and other tourism stakeholders for a better protection of tourists as consumers.

The Declaration reflects Cambodia’s commitment to assist tourists in emergency situations, as shown in February 2020 when rescuing more than 1,000 passengers stranded at sea on the MS Westerdam cruise ship.

“People want to feel safe and protected when they travel and UNWTO has led the way in creating the first legal tool that will help restore trust in travel,” said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. “The number of countries joining this initiative to incorporate it into national legislations keeps growing and we are proud to welcome Cambodia, the Maldives and Indonesia as the newest signatories.”