On June 28, 1996, in recognition of the importance of Tourism in the hemisphere, in order to strengthen the tourism group of the Organization of American States, and their activities in the tourism sector, the Secretary General of the OAS created the Inter-Sectoral Unit for Tourism, responsible for matters directly related to Tourism and its development in the Hemisphere.

The functions of the Inter-Sectoral Unit for Tourism are to:

	Provide support to the Inter-American Travel Congress forum for formulating hemispheric tourism policy;
	provide support in the area of Sustainable and Integral Tourism Development;
	provide support to other sectors of the General Secretariat engaged in activities related to sustainable and integral tourism development;
	provide support to hemispheric and subregional conferences, workshops and seminars;
	to formulate, evaluate, and undertake execution of selective technical cooperation projects and promote public/private sector cooperation;
	to facilitate the exchange of information related to sustainable and integral tourism development in the region;
	conduct research and analysis of tourism issues;
	and promote cooperation with international, regional and subregional tourism organizations.