WTTC and the International Chamber of Commerce are joining forces to strengthen millions of tourism SMEs worldwide. With ICC connecting more than 45 million businesses across 170-plus countries, the partnership could give family businesses and smaller tourism operators something they have long struggled to obtain: a meaningful voice in global policy.
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have signed a global partnership to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Travel & Tourism, combining WTTC’s tourism expertise and government relationships with ICC’s network of more than 45 million businesses in over 170 countries.
The agreement is designed to give tourism SMEs greater access to practical tools, business networks and policy discussions while addressing barriers ranging from financing and regulation to digitalization, connectivity and mobility. With SMEs accounting for roughly 85% of Travel & Tourism businesses, the partnership could be particularly significant for family-owned and smaller operators in Africa, Asia, island economies and developing markets that have traditionally had limited influence in international tourism policymaking.
ICC | International Chamber of Commerce
International Chamber of Commerce is the voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job creation and prosperity.
The real test will be whether this alliance can change that, particularly for SMEs in Africa, Asia, island economies and developing markets that rarely have a seat at the global tourism table.
More Than Another MOU?
The announcement comes only days before the WTTC Global Summit in Malta and adds another piece to a larger question I raised earlier: Is WTTC evolving beyond its traditional role as the voice of the world’s largest Travel & Tourism corporations?
I asked whether something broader might be emerging around WTTC—a global tourism architecture capable of connecting corporations, governments, destinations, associations and potentially one million small and medium-sized tourism businesses.
The WTTC-ICC agreement makes that question more relevant. On paper, this is a Memorandum of Understanding covering research and business engagement, policy development, knowledge sharing and opportunities to connect tourism businesses with wider international business networks. Its potential, however, could extend considerably further.
WTTC and ICC say they want to bring the perspectives of SMEs into global research and advocacy so that national and international policies better reflect the needs of businesses that power the tourism sector and spread its economic and social benefits throughout communities.
That is an ambitious objective. If it works, it could begin addressing a problem tourism has discussed for years: those most affected by tourism policies are not always those with access to the people making them.
ICC Changes the Scale of the SME Conversation
The International Chamber of Commerce is not a tourism association, and that is precisely why this partnership is interesting. Its network spans more than 170 countries and includes national committees, chambers of commerce and businesses ranging from multinational corporations to family enterprises and SMEs.
ICC also works in areas that directly affect tourism businesses, including international trade, digitalization, standards, regulation and cross-border commerce, while engaging governments and international institutions on business policy.
WTTC therefore isn’t simply adding another tourism association to its Together in Travel initiative. It is potentially building a bridge between the tourism economy and a much broader global business network.
Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of WTTC, puts the emphasis directly on this combination of tourism expertise and business reach.
“Travel & Tourism is powered by millions of businesses around the world, and SMEs are at the heart of our sector. They create jobs, drive innovation and ensure that the benefits of tourism reach local communities.”
Guevara said the partnership could take evidence gathered from businesses directly to governments and policymakers, helping address barriers while strengthening competitiveness, investment and employment.
That part is particularly important. The value of a network containing potentially millions of SMEs is not simply its size. Its value comes from whether experiences collected from businesses on the ground can travel upward into government and international policy discussions—and whether decisions and opportunities can flow back down to those businesses.
SMEs Are the Backbone of Tourism
Global tourism is often defined by its airlines, international hotel groups, cruise companies, airports and booking platforms. They are essential, but much of the actual visitor experience is delivered by smaller businesses: family-owned hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, local tour operators, destination management companies, guides, transportation providers, attractions and independent travel advisors.
Many are family businesses, making their economic importance much greater than what appears on a tourism balance sheet. A successful family tourism company can support a household, educate children, employ neighbors, purchase from local farmers and suppliers and keep visitor spending circulating within a community.
In many destinations, SMEs are the tourism industry.
WTTC says SMEs represent roughly 85% of the global Travel & Tourism community, while its Together in Travel initiative aims eventually to build a community of one million tourism SMEs. That is an extraordinary opportunity, but there is a significant difference between building a database of businesses and giving those businesses meaningful representation.
A Database Is Not a Voice
Small tourism businesses need customers, financing, access to markets, training, technology, connectivity and an operating environment that allows them to compete. They also need their experience reflected when governments and international organizations make decisions affecting the industry.
A multinational tourism corporation can employ lawyers, consultants and government-relations specialists. A family hotel, independent tour operator or small DMC usually cannot, even though visa rules, taxation, banking regulations, air connectivity, digital requirements, insurance costs and labor shortages may determine whether that business succeeds.
John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary General of ICC, described strengthening the operating environment for small tourism businesses as both an economic and strategic issue.
“Travel and Tourism is one of the world’s most connected industries, linking people, businesses and markets across borders every day.”
At a time of economic uncertainty, Denton said the partnership would bring together the wider global business community to support entrepreneurship and expand opportunity, with the objective of ensuring that tourism growth produces benefits across economies and communities.
This is one of tourism’s longstanding representation gaps, and it is where the WTTC-ICC partnership could become particularly relevant. ICC already has infrastructure connecting businesses with wider economic and policy discussions, as well as experience in international trade, standards, capacity building and engagement with governments and international institutions.
For WTTC, that offers a potential mechanism for reaching businesses well beyond the established international tourism conference circuit.
Africa and Asia Cannot Be an Afterthought
The opportunity will mean little if the businesses gaining access are primarily those already connected to international organizations.
A tourism entrepreneur in Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia or the Philippines may employ local people and deliver exactly the authentic experiences travelers increasingly seek, while having little opportunity to participate in global industry discussions. The same applies to businesses across small island economies and emerging destinations where tourism can be central to family income and community development.
If WTTC can combine ICC’s international business infrastructure with its own tourism research, corporate relationships and government access, the partnership could help connect these entrepreneurs with a system that has traditionally been difficult for them to enter.
For that to work, representation needs to move in both directions. International organizations should not simply speak for SMEs; they need mechanisms allowing SMEs to speak for themselves.
Regional tourism SME councils could be one approach, with African entrepreneurs representing African business realities and businesses in Asia, the Caribbean, the Pacific and other regions bringing their own priorities into the discussion. Family businesses, women entrepreneurs, younger business owners and operators from smaller tourism economies should also be part of that process.
The objective should be to reach beyond the familiar conference circuit and bring entrepreneurs who normally lack the re
From Perth to Malta
WTTC launched Together in Travel at its 2024 Global Summit in Perth to provide SMEs with reng their collective voice
Now WTTC is talking about eventually connecting one million SMEs, and just before the 2026 Global Summit in Malta it has announced cooperation with an organization whose network reaches more than 45 million businesses.
That progression deserves attention because it reinforces the question raised in my earlier eTurboNews article: Is WTTC simply expanding its programs, or are we watching pieces of a broader global tourism network gradually being assembled?
Malta may provide more clues.
Don’t Merge Them. Connect Them.
In my earlier article, I argued that tourism doesn’t necessarily need another organization trying to absorb everybody else. What the industry may need are stronger connections between organizations that already possess expertise, communities, networks and credibility.
The WTTC-ICC agreement fits that concept particularly well. ICC doesn’t need to become a tourism organization, and WTTC doesn’t need to become a chamber of commerce. The World Tourism Network doesn’t need to become WTTC, and specialist tourism organizations don’t need to surrender their independence.
ICC brings its cross-sector business network, international trade expertise and connections with chambers and policymakers. WTTC brings tourism research, major global companies, destination relationships, government access and an international platform. SME-focused organizations bring direct relationships with entrepreneurs on the ground.
Connecting those pieces could ultimately be more valuable than having any single organization attempt to represent every part of this enormous and fragmented industry.
The Test Is What Changes on the Ground
The WTTC-ICC agreement represents an enormous opportunity and an important achievement for both organizations, but its success should not be measured by the signing of an MOU, the number of press releases generated or even the number of SMEs entered into a database.
The meaningful measurement will be whether a tourism entrepreneur in Tanzania gains access to a new market, a family hotel can make its regulatory concerns heard, or a tour operator in Nepal gains access to knowledge, financing or international connections that were previously out of reach. It will be whether an entrepreneur in Ghana can contribute to a global tourism discussion without needing the budget to attend every international summit.
This is ultimately where the ambitions expressed by both Guevara and Denton will be tested. Taking evidence from businesses to governments and expanding opportunity across economies and communities sounds promising; turning those objectives into something a small business owner can actually experience would make this partnership consequential.
If that begins to happen, WTTC and ICC will have achieved something more important than another institutional partnership. They will have helped narrow the distance between those making decisions and the millions of small and family-owned businesses delivering tourism on the ground.
Perhaps what global tourism has been missing isn’t another organization, but a table large enough to assemble the different pieces without destroying their individual identities.
The WTTC-ICC partnership may have just made that table considerably larger. The next challenge is ensuring that the family business owner has a chair at it.
