Winners of 2022-2023 UNWTO Students’ League Grand Final Announced

The 2022-2023 UNWTO Students’ League concluded with a celebration of young tourism talent.

The Grand Final of the flagship event for supporting students in tourism brought together high school and undergraduate students from Switzerland and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Tourism for Rural Development Challenge

The 2022-2023 Students’ League challenged students to create support for rural development through tourism by creating Instagram accounts to promote a rural destination in their countries.

For this Grand Final, the jury panel was made up of national and international experts from UNWTO, Academia, and private sector stakeholders. The expert jury judged elements such as innovation, feasibility, and potential to contribute to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Winners Announced

The winning team in the High School category was Team Rose Brandis from Mješovita srednja škola Travnik in Bosnia & Herzegovina. In the Undergraduate category, the jury named Team VS-TIM, Visoka škola za turizam i menadžment Konjic from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Team SHL from Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern in Switzerland as joint winners.

Journey to the Final

After successfully passing through the initial phase of the National Final competitions in their countries during 2022 and 2023, three teams made it through to the Grand Final: Team Rose Brandis from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Team VS-TIM from Konjic College of Tourism and Management, and Team SHL from the Swiss Hotel Management School Lucerne in Switzerland.

For this first Grand Final, UNWTO partnered with Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Ayuntamiento de Madrid. The Universidad Complutense de Madrid, with its long and proud history, has been a true leader in developing young talent. The Ayuntamiento de Madrid also contributed by showcasing the beauty and hidden gems of Madrid.

Youth Empowerment for Tourism’s Future

The UNWTO Students League provides students with a platform that empowers and motivates them by giving them real-time knowledge on our sector. They work on creating innovative and sustainable solutions for the challenges the sector is facing. This initiative not only brings Tourism closer to younger generations, but also bridges the gap between the realities of the sector and students’ education, enabling young people to enter the labour market as highly skilled professionals.