China applauded as pillar of global travel

Frequent visitor

As Bayona has visited China many times, she finds that Hong Kong has been growing quickly over the years, and in fashion, it is "full of new brands" created there.

Seeing how some other Chinese cities have grown to become major cities of technology also impressed her. For instance, Shenzhen in Guangdong province has many top-tech companies, including Tencent, the company behind the instant messaging app WeChat. She recalled being in its headquarters during a visit to China around 2017 when she saw people working on data programming and decided to promote tourism through the application.

Bayona also highlighted how digital payments were launched through the WeChat and Alipay digital platforms, with companies promoting their brands and enabling bill payments. "That's unique … (and) was really impressive."

Chinese people are conscious about their time and do things efficiently because of the huge population in the country, she said. "That's great because that makes a strong workforce to achieve good results," she said.

"And you can see it in the ways technology has been booming in the country, tourism has been booming in the country, (and) investments and infrastructure have been booming in the country."

Bayona also said that her home country, Colombia, is a good friend of China.

"I think there's a lot of Chinese elements in Colombia and a lot of Chinese investment coming to it," she said.

Natalia Bayona

Executive director of UN Tourism

Career:

2018: Joins the United Nations World Tourism Organization, renamed UN Tourism, and helps launch the Innovation, Education, and Investment Department.

2021: Recognized by the annual Women Leading Travel& Hospitality report as one of the Leading Women in Innovation in the sector.

2022-24: Develops seven startup competitions and six innovation challenges for UN Tourism resulting in more than $74 million in support for entrepreneurs and pilot programs for safe travel.