The article is dedicated to the concept of ‘International Tourism Organizations’ (ITO), their role and influence tools on the global tourism market. We believe that ITO are different in their goals and objectives, but with their common strategic goal they can still determine the creation of global tourist destinations, a global market for tourist services and flows, a planetary model for managing the sustainable development of the tourism and hospitality industry. The article analyzes the research experience of the ITO, studies approaches to the ITO classification, considers their signs and functions. We can define ITO as a kind of intergovernmental or non-governmental international economic organizations created on the basis of voluntary membership and participation of more than three representatives of the tourism industry from different countries. Quantitative analysis shows that it is rather difficult to determine the exact number of international organizations. According to rough estimates, about 700-1000 international organizations are directly or indirectly involved in the field of tourism, hospitality and tourism services. The article outlines the problematic areas of ITO to further scientific study. The research results confirm the importance of studying the ITO for the industry management and marketing specialists. This brings us to understanding the need for the widespread introduction of the training course "International Tourism Organizations" in specialized universities and its inclusion in the curriculum for students mastering specialty ‘Tourism’. The article proposes a typical structure of this training course.

Originally published in https://stcc.rgutspubl.org/index.php/1/article/view/69