MONROVIA – Liberia has strengthened its push to reposition itself on the global tourism map following a high-level bilateral engagement between the Director General of the Liberia National Tourism Authority (LNTA), Princess Eva Cooper, and H.E. Shaikha Al Nuwais, Secretary-General of UN Tourism.
By Anthony Gray
The meeting brought together top executives and technical leaders of UN Tourism, signaling renewed international confidence in Liberia’s tourism direction.
The engagement is widely viewed as a turning point for Liberia’s revitalization campaign, with the Secretary-General pledging substantial institutional backing to accelerate the country’s transformation into a competitive, data-driven and sustainable tourism destination.
During the discussions, Madam Cooper outlined an ambitious reform agenda aimed at strengthening the foundations of Liberia’s tourism sector.
Key requests included capacity-building programs for tourism professionals, specialized technical assistance, regulatory and policy reforms, enhanced destination marketing strategies and improved access to global investment networks.
These priorities, she noted, are critical to ensuring that Liberia can fully harness its natural and cultural assets.
The Secretary-General expressed readiness to forge new pathways of cooperation, including linking Liberia to international best-practice models and facilitating peer-to-peer learning with countries that have successfully undergone tourism transformation.
One such opportunity highlighted was potential collaboration with Rwanda, renowned for its tourism governance reforms and community-centered development strategies.
A defining moment in the meeting came when Secretary-General Al Nuwais commended Liberia’s recent adoption of the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) as the national system for tourism data reporting. Calling the TSA “a cornerstone of modern tourism management,” she emphasized that robust data is essential to planning, investment attraction and measuring tourism’s true contribution to national development.
She lauded Madam Cooper for the LNTA’s visible structural improvements—strengthening institutional coordination, introducing governance reforms and elevating tourism as a strategic pillar for inclusive economic growth.
According to the Secretary-General, these efforts signal a country on the rise, determined to rewrite its tourism narrative.
The discussions also explored additional areas of technical cooperation, including updating Liberia’s Tourism Development Strategy, strengthening tourism statistics systems, expanding digital transformation efforts, and increasing global market visibility for Liberia’s emerging attractions—from pristine beaches to eco-tourism sites and cultural heritage corridors.
A strong emphasis was placed on youth and women empowerment, recognizing their central role in community tourism, creative industries and small-scale enterprise development.
Infrastructure challenges, especially in road access, hospitality standards, surfing sites, and eco-lodges, were also discussed as critical factors requiring coordinated support.
The meeting concluded with a landmark decision to establish a joint technical working group comprising experts from UN Tourism and the LNTA. This team will define timelines, areas of engagement, and specific deliverables to support Liberia’s tourism advancement over the coming years.
