The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced on Thursday that it will move its headquarters from London, UK, to Madrid, following a selection process that included Geneva, Milan, Paris and Dubai, among other cities.
The decision was unanimously approved by the 17 members of the international organisation’s operating committee, who evaluated candidates across six criteria, including rental costs, tax environment and incentives, government support and proximity to international organisations.
In a statement, the WTTC said the Madrid office provides “immediate access” to a “significantly larger and more diverse” talent pool, encompassing nearly 350 million skilled professionals in the region.
Spain was also chosen for its “solid” international connectivity via Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, its “competitive” business environment, government support, synergies with international organisations such as UN Tourism and its alignment with the WTTC’s global mission.
Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, said the decision reinforces Spain’s status as “a tourism powerhouse” and makes Madrid “the world capital of tourism governance, integrating public and private voices.”
During a visit to the Pepsico factory in Etxabarri-Ibiña (Álava), he added: “If the WTTC wants to be physically present where the future of tourism is decided and where tourism is truly an economic engine, Spain is the ideal place.”
Madrid has also been home to the UN Tourism headquarters (formerly the World Tourism Organization) since 1975, which plans to open new offices next to the Congress Palace on Paseo de la Castellana in 2026.
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