Natalia Bayona

Natalia Bayona is the current Executive Director of UN Tourism, the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and the first person under the age of 40 to hold this position. Her leadership is defined by a strategic vision that links economic development, innovation, education, and investments through tourism, generating impact at global, regional, and national levels.

Her professional career has been recognized with multiple international distinctions. She has been named among the 75 Most Influential Latin American Women in Spain and is listed among the 500 Most Influential Latin Americans

worldwide, according to Bloomberg. In addition, Forbes has recognized her for the third time as one of the 50 Most Influential Latin American Leaders for her leadership in shaping the modern tourism agenda and, for two consecutive years (2025 and 2026), included her among the 100 Most Powerful Women in Colombia.

In the sectoral realm, her achievements have earned her a place amongst the 50 most influential leaders in tourism in Spain (Forbes) and the 50 most inspiring figures in the global hospitality and travel industry (Global Hospitality).

In 2025, she was honoured by the Madrid City Council as one of the 10 foreign professionals having the greatest positive impact on the city, and by IE University, which presented her with the EPIC Alumni Award in the Business Impact category, the university’s highest distinction for extraordinary alumni making a real impact on their communities. She has also been recognized as one of the 100 global leaders in innovation by COTEC and is an active member of the World Economic Forum network, which selected her as a Young Global Leader for her contributions to economic development and social impact.

In March 2026, she was selected as one of the “Top 100 Women Leaders” by El Español in the thirteenth edition of the ranking, which recognized her outstanding work in Public Service, Institutional Affairs, and Social Impact.

As part of her consolidation as a global leader, she completed a fellowship awarded by the David Rubenstein Foundation to strengthen her leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. This executive programme is offered exclusively to the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

Holding an Executive MBA from IE University and a Bachelor’s degree in Government and International Relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia, Natalia has been awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in the United States for her leadership and commitment to fostering a more just and prosperous world through her work in the tourism sector. She is the first Colombian woman to receive this honour in the “Women in Leadership” programme.

After an extensive career in Colombia’s public sector, Natalia served as Vice President of Spain Startup – South Summit, working to position Spain’s innovation ecosystem in emerging markets fostered by South-South cooperation.

She joined UN Tourism in 2018 and, upon her arrival, established the Department of Innovation, Education, and Investments. Under her leadership, the Organization has launched pioneering initiatives, including 20 global entrepreneurship competitions, numerous national challenges, and over 20 innovation and technology forums designed to help startups and young entrepreneurs scale their solutions globally through the United Nations system.

These efforts have fostered UN Tourism’s first Global Innovation Network, composed of more than 10,000 startups from 100 countries, entrepreneurs, companies, public institutions, educational institutions, accelerators, and investors. This dynamic ecosystem has facilitated the acquisition of over USD 214 million (as of January 2024) in startup funding, thereby supporting the development of significant technological advancements in the tourism sector.

Education is her passion. She is the founder of the UN Tourism Online Academy, the first online education platform in tourism focused on providing quality education to individuals who previously had limited training opportunities. As of today, this programme has reached 50,000 students from over 150 countries, offering courses in collaboration with some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including Cornell University, New York University, Les Roches, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The platform has been a pioneer in using artificial intelligence to personalize tourism education, adapting learning to the unique needs of each student.

This commitment to education has also led her to create the first-ever Bachelor of Science in International Sustainable Tourism, funded by the Swiss Government and offered by UN Tourism in collaboration with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). It has also driven her to promote the inclusion of tourism as a high school subject through partnerships with the International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge University, and the U.S. education system, as well as to develop vocational training programs using WhatsApp and artificial intelligence, enabling taxi drivers in her hometown in Colombia to access quality education.

Natalia enjoys teaching in public schools and participating as a lecturer and speaker at various universities, including Harvard, Cornell, the MIT, and IE University. She was the first international scholar to receive the title of “Honorary Professor” from one of China’s top universities, the Beijing International Studies University.

She is also a leader who believes in economic development through support for the private sector. In line with her goal of generating investment opportunities in tourism, she established the first Tourism Investment Promotion Framework at UN Tourism.

To date, she has travelled the world advising and supporting tourism ministers in creating national guidelines that provide compelling reasons to invest in tourism in their countries. She has successfully overseen the production of over 30 editions, with more than 30 currently in development. Publications in Chinese, Arabic, French, Spanish, and English have helped strengthen public-private collaboration within the Organization.

Finally, she has promoted cooperation with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) to prioritize tourism as a key sector for economic development in the region. She has also led the creation of the first tourism data reports in collaboration with the Financial Times, providing valuable insights into the investment landscape of the sector.

This journey has taken Natalia to over 100 countries, deepening her passion for fashion and handicrafts. She sees her work in multilateralism as an opportunity to advance a modern, transparent, and authentic agenda, one that inspires young people to pursue careers in international relations.