tourism policy school 2023

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Visit the 2024 Otago Tourism Policy School website

2022 Otago Tourism Policy School: 

The 2022 Tourism Policy School & Public Lecture will be held entirely online on Thursday 24 & Friday 25th March 2022. This decision arises from the personal risks facing attendees at the TPS while under the government’s current policy framework. Happily this means we will be able to open the registrations to a wider audience. Further information on the TPS 2022 virtual programme and registration information will be posted on this website in the coming days.

The University of Otago's fourth Tourism Policy School will take place over Thursday 24 & Friday 25 March 2022 virtually. This is an annual forum that brings together a wide array of tourism academics, business leaders, policy communities, industry organisations and other interested parties to discuss and debate key challenges and opportunities confronting the tourism industry in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Tourism Policy School opening address is delivered by the Minister of Tourism, and discussion is informed by invited keynote speakers and panel discussants.

The 2022 Tourism Policy School will have as its theme ‘Structural Change for Regenerative Tourism', to reflect the view of the Minister of Tourism that structural change is required to rebuild tourism for the 21st century following the global pandemic. This theme recognises that the term ‘regenerative tourism’ has been widely used since the advent of the pandemic, but lacks rigour of definition and conceptualisation, which is required to inform structural change before the energy behind the rhetoric dissipates. The Tourism Policy School will be organised into four sessions that will address the cultural/philosophical, environmental, social and economic dimensions of regenerative tourism.

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Tourism on Track for Full Recovery as New Data Shows Strong Start to 2023

• All Regions

International tourism is well on its way to returning to pre-pandemic levels, with twice as many people travelling during the first quarter of 2023 than in the same period of 2022.

New Data from UNWTO: What We've Learned

The second UNWTO World Tourism Barometer of the year shows that the sector's swift recovery has continued into 2023. It shows that:

• Overall, international arrivals reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2023
• An estimated 235 million tourists travelled internationally in the first three months, more than double the same period of 2022.
• Tourism has continued to show its resilience. Revised data for 2022 shows over 960 million tourists travelling internationally last year, meaning two-thirds (66%) of pre-pandemic numbers were recovered.

Recovery by Region in Q1 2023:

• The Middle East saw the strongest performance as the only region exceeding 2019 arrivals (+15%) and the first to recover pre-pandemic numbers in a full quarter.
• Europe reached 90% of pre-pandemic levels, driven by strong intra-regional demand.
• Africa reached 88% and the Americas about 85% of 2019 levels
• Asia and the Pacific accelerated its recovery with  54% of pre-pandemic levels, but this upward trend is set to accelerate now that most destinations, particularly China , have re-opened.

In many places, we are close to or even above pre-pandemic levels of arrivals

The UNWTO data also analyses recovery by sub-region and by destination: Southern Mediterranean Europe and North Africa have also recovered pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2023, while Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central America and the Caribbean all came close to reaching those levels.

What it Means:

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili says: "The start of the year has shown again tourism's unique ability to bounce back. In many places, we are close to or even above pre-pandemic levels of arrivals. However, we must remain alert to challenges ranging from geopolitical insecurity, staffing shortages, and the potential impact of the cost-of-living crisis on tourism, and we must ensure tourism's return delivers on its responsibilities as a solution to the climate emergency and as a driver of inclusive development."

International tourism receipts grew back to hit the USD1 trillion mark in 2022, growing 50% in real terms compared to 2021, driven by the important rebound in international travel. International visitor spending reached 64% of pre-pandemic levels (-36% compared to 2019, measured in real terms). By regions, Europe enjoyed the best results in 2022 with nearly USD 550 billion in tourism receipts (EUR 520 billion), or 87% of pre-pandemic levels. Africa recovered 75% of its pre-pandemic receipts, the Middle East 70% and the Americas 68%. Due to prolonged border shutdowns, Asian destinations earned about 28%.

International tourism receipts: Percentage of 2019 levels recovered in 2022(%) *

International tourist arrivals: percentage of 2019 levels recovered in q1 2023 (%)*, looking ahead: what's in store.

The Q1 2023 results are in line with UNWTO's forward-looking scenarios for the year which project international arrivals to recover 80% to 95% of pre-pandemic levels. UNWTO's Panel of Experts expressed their confidence in a strong peak season (May-August) in the Northern Hemisphere, reflected in the latest UNWTO Confidence Index which indicates performance for the period is on track to be even better than 2022.

However, tourism's recovery also faces some challenges .  According to the UNWTO Panel of Experts, the economic situation remains the main factor weighing on the effective recovery of international tourism in 2023, with high inflation and rising oil prices translating into higher transport and accommodations costs.  As a result, tourists are expected to increasingly seek value for money and travel closer to home. Uncertainty derived from the Russian aggression against Ukraine and other mounting geopolitical tensions, also continue to represent downside risks.

International Tourist Arrivals, World and Regions

Related links.

• Download the News Release in PDF
• UNWTO World Tourism Barometer - EXCERPT Volume 21 • Issue 2 • May 2023
• World Tourism Barometer (PPT version)
• The UNWTO Tourism Data Dashboard
• UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

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Governor’s School for Tourism

The Governor’s School for Tourism (GST) equips students with knowledge of the tourism industry in West Virginia, taking students to key locations across the state that set West Virginia apart from other travel destinations.

Travel Destinations Throughout West Virginia

June 20–29, 2024

Apply Online ›

Apply online before April 26, 2024

Download Flyer

In This Section

About This School

The GST will launch in the summer of 2024, providing selected 9th and 10th grade students with opportunities to tour West Virginia for 10 days, learning about the tourism and hospitality sectors of our economy through hands-on experiences and introducing a wide variety of career paths in one of the state’s fastest-growing industries. Students will stay at multiple state park lodges and visit historical and other significant landmarks across Almost Heaven. This exciting experience is being planned as a collaboration between the West Virginia Department of Tourism, West Virginia University, and the West Virginia Department of Education.

School & County Information

The GST requires high schools and county boards of education to actively recruit and assist 9 th and 10 th grade students during the application window. The school counselor should not be the only individual involved in recruitment. Information should be shared with CTE centers and teachers. Please use the flyer attached below to share this information in classrooms and with teachers who may be able to promote the program.

High School Responsibilities

• Inform all qualifying students of their eligibility. Speak with students about the merit of the GST.
• Inform students of the application.
• Communicate with the county contact about deadlines to ensure students from the high school have submitted their applications with sufficient time for the school counselor to scan documents and make selections to the county.
• The school counselor must scan student applications as PDF files and establish a committee to determine who will be nominated by the principal. The principal must sign the recommendation form and scan it as a PDF. All PDF student applications and the principal recommendation are sent electronically to the county contact. Each county will have its own deadline for schools. The state deadline for counties to submit their recommendations to the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is April 26, 2024 .
• The school counselor must print transcripts and first-semester student grades as required in the application.

GST Principal Recommendation Form

County Contact Responsibilities

• Review all the information about the GST on the WVDE website.
• Establish a county deadline for schools to submit PDF files of student applications and principal recommendations for consideration at the county level. The state deadline for counties to submit the superintendent nomination form is April 26, 2024 .
• Share the PDF flyers with all middle school principals and counselors to post and share with students and parents
• The county contact must convene a county selection committee to select ONE student for the GST. Alternates may be recommended within the superintendent form. Please plan accordingly.
• The county contact should complete the superintendent’s recommendation form, ask the superintendent to sign it, and scan it into a PDF file. Please submit the PDF file and the PDF student applications of the nominated students to the state file upload folder.

Please label the PDF as the county name and 2024 GST Superintendent Recommendation (i.e. Pocahontas_2024GST_SuperintendentRecommendation).

• State Submission Folder
• GST Superintendent Recommendation Form

If you have questions, please contact Dustin Lambert, WVDE State Coordinator of West Virginia Governor’s Schools – [email protected] or (304) 558-5325.

Parent Information

Drop off and pickup.

Please be advised, parents are required to drop off students in Wheeling, WV on June 20th and pick up students in Berkeley Springs, WV or Morgantown, WV on June 29th.

Handbook and Itinerary

The student handbook and daily itinerary are currently being drafted for 2024. We will share this information soon to inform students and parents of expectations and what the experience may look like for the duration of the school.

Information and events within the documents are subject to change as the hosting college/universities/organizations prepare for the summer. Please only use the information as a guide to what might be expected during GST.

2023 GST Student Handbook – Coming Soon 2023 GST Itinerary – Coming Soon

The West Virginia Department of Education maintains a Facebook page to showcase students during each school. Please visit the page to view all the exciting activities going on throughout the summer. 

Apply Online

Thank you for your interest in the GST. Please review the qualifications listed below before completing this part of the application.

Required Qualifications:

• Must be a current high school student in West Virginia with plans to attend next year.
• Must be a West Virginia resident.
• Must be a freshman or sophomore at the time of application.
• Must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0.
• Must satisfy all immunization requirements according to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR). Non-public school and homeschooled students must provide proof of immunizations.

The school counselor must be involved in the application process for the GST. Please provide sufficient time for school personnel to secure the required documents for the application.

Within the application, students will be required to secure TWO teacher recommendations. Please provide sufficient notice to teachers prior to submitting the application.

Application Part I

Application

A PDF version of Part I is provided here . We recommend collecting all required documents within the application before starting the online form. We do not accept PDF versions of Part I. Please submit this part online only.

Part I goes directly to the WVDE. Students must complete this part of the application below starting Part II.

Application Part II

Part II of the application requires students to type information within the PDF and print pages to be completed by the school counselor and principal.

• Non-fillable PDF
• Fillable PDF

Important: Once you have all the required signatures and supporting documents, please scan all documents into one PDF file and electronically submit it to the school counselor for review by the school selection committee. Once the PDF has been submitted to the school counselor, the application process is complete for the student.

The state deadline for applications from the county superintendent is Friday, April 26, 2024 .

Employment Opportunities    

The GST employs both faculty and a nurse to accomplish the mission and goals of the program. These positions are considered part-time and require specific qualifications.

GST Faculty

• Reside full time in WV and be able to demonstrate knowledge of the state
• Have a 4-year degree, or equivalent work experience
• Hold a teaching certificate, or experience working with youth in teaching or youth leadership roles
• Be fully available for the 10-day duration of GST tour
• Be available for approximately 16 hours of virtual onboarding, training, and curriculum development meetings that will occur between hire date and GST
• Be capable of working long days in physical and outdoor environments
• Pass a background check and complete youth protection trainings

Preferred Qualifications

• Hospitality, tourism, or WV history teachers

Faculty Application

• Hold a RN, BSN, NP, or MD degree
• Be available for up to 16 hours of virtual onboarding, training, and curriculum development meetings that will occur between hire date and GST

Preferred Qualifications:

• Reside full time in WV and/or be able to demonstrate knowledge of the state
• Experience teaching or in youth leadership roles

Application link coming soon

Otago Tourism Policy School back in person for its fifth year

03 March 2023

Industry leaders, policy makers and prominent researchers will discuss whether Aotearoa's tourism industry is “fit for purpose” in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic at this year's Otago Tourism Policy School.

The policy school, hosted by the University of Otago's Department of Tourism, will be held at the Heritage Queenstown, on 23 and 24 March. It is sponsored by Destination Queenstown, Tourism Central Otago and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment ( MBIE ).

The Minister of Tourism, Hon Peeni Henare will speak on the morning of Friday 24 March, followed by others including National Party Tourism Spokesman Todd McClay, Tourism Industry Aotearoa Chief Executive Rebecca Ingram, and Regional Tourism New Zealand Director Kiri Goulter.

Co-director Professor James Higham is excited to welcome people back to the event in-person, after it was held online last year.

Since the inaugural policy school in 2019, tourism globally and nationally has been crippled by border closures and much has been said about rebuilding tourism to meet the local, national, and global challenges of our time, Professor Higham says.

This year's theme is Tourism Policy: Are we fit for purpose?

“Five years on, and as borders reopen, how have we responded to the challenges and opportunities?” Professor Higham asks.

“Are we fit for purpose as we seek to renew tourism in New Zealand to meet the challenges, confront the risks and maximise the opportunities in front of us?”

Tourism academics, business leaders and policy makers will discuss and debate key issues, stimulated by the contributions of invited speakers and panellists, and the engagement of attendees.

The programme is organised into four sessions that will focus on tourism policy settings, central government and regional tourism organisations, innovation and integration, and leadership and policy development.

“In recent years an unprecedented consensus has emerged that new directions for the future of tourism in New Zealand are urgently needed,” Professor Higham says.

He hopes the debate and discussion at the policy school will further the development of tourism policy that is integrated and aligned with new aspirations of tourism.

About 100 people are expected at the policy school, which starts with a free public lecture on Thursday 23 March at 4pm by Te Araroa Executive Director Matt Claridge.

Mr Claridge has a background in sport, recreation and public safety roles and has previously worked at Water Safety New Zealand, The Tomorrow Project and Nuku Ora (formerly Sport Wellington).

To register for the free public lecture, visit: https://events.otago.ac.nz/otps2023/public-registration/Site/Register

For more information please contact:

Jessica Wilson Adviser Media Engagement University of Otago Mob +64 21 279 5016 Email [email protected]

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Moscow extends a warm welcome to Indian travellers with enhanced infrastructure and hidden gems

Russia actively promoting moscow as a tourist destination for indian travellers, improving infrastructure and visa process..

Russia is making an active bid to attract Indian travellers to visit Moscow -- a huge megalopolis and the historical, political and spiritual heart of the Russian Federation. The Moscow City Tourism Committee is promoting the city not only as a cultural capital but also as a business hub as it plans to onboard trade partners, tourists and vacationers. Moscow has also strengthened cooperation with the tourism sectors of allied nations, hosting familiarization tours for delegates and arranging business trips to showcase the city's tourism potential.

To accommodate visitors, Moscow is improving its infrastructure: signs are now available in English and Chinese, all announcements on public transport are repeated in English, and hotels are also adapting to cater to the needs of guests from various countries and ensure a comfortable stay. "We are still on our way to restore the flow of Indian tourists in Moscow like it used to be before the pandemic," said Bulat Nurmukhanov, Head of International Cooperation Division of Moscow City Tourism Committee.

Bulat further said that before the pandemic, there was a steady growth of 12-15 per cent on a year-on-year basis. In the first half of the year, Moscow received about 20,000 Indians, compared to the same period a year ago, it is about 56 per cent higher. In a bid to make Moscow a must-visit destination, the committee is actively working on improving the infrastructure for international travellers. Moscow is spearheading the development of innovative standards in catering to the needs of foreign travellers.

Tourists arriving in the capital can stay in hotels of various price segments. They can savour traditional Russian cuisine, and can also indulge in a diverse culinary experience, with options ranging from authentic Indian delicacies to continental dishes prepared to the highest standards. In 2022, the number of foreign tourists who visited Moscow increased by 6.3 per cent compared to 2021, reaching a total of 1.7 million.

Travelling to Moscow has now become easier as tourists from India and 54 other countries can apply for an electronic visa to enter Russia from August 1, 2023. The impact of e-visa rollout would be available by October this year after the quarterly data from the Russian border control agencies is analysed, Bulat said.

Moreover, the Russian government is planning to come out with a virtual 'Foreign Tourist Card' that will enable cashless payments for various services. "The idea behind this card is, a person back home in India can remotely apply for this card and then he/she can transfer money from the personal bank account to this bank account," Bulat added.

Meanwhile, sources in the Indian Embassy in Moscow told reporters that the Indian tourism ministry as well as the governments of Goa and Kerala are slated to participate in roundtable discussions this month. There are also plans to engage social media influencers to improve the inward traffic to India. Before the pandemic, around 3 lakh Russian tourists visited India annually. The numbers are down to around 80,000-90,000 of late.

To facilitate easy visitor movement across the city, there is "Discover Moscow" -- a navigation and travel web portal about Moscow and "RUSSPASS travel service" -- a digital platform designed for planning trips across Russia. The Discover Moscow portal features descriptions of over 1,200 architectural landmarks in Moscow. The site provides news, digests with festival and event information and curated lists of exhibition venues.

By availing the RUSSPASS travel service, tourists can access all essential information for a trip to Moscow on the site, including visa and currency matters, accommodation and transportation options in the capital. The site also offers a trip builder feature, allowing tourists to select pre-designed city routes or create their own itinerary from their favourite locations. There are versions of the site in Russian, English, Spanish and Arabic.

On the cultural scene, Moscow boasts 10,000 cultural venues including theaters, museums, libraries, parks, cinemas, concert halls, and more. In the last decade, around 900 parks and green spaces have been renovated.

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Tourism Web Portal

About the portal.

A technological tool for effective communication between the leading players in the Moscow tourism market and representatives of the foreign/regional tourism industry through online events. OBJECTIVES: • Building long-term cooperation with foreign/regional representatives • Raising awareness among foreign/regional representatives of the tourism industry of the tourism opportunities, measures and attractiveness of the city of Moscow in the field of tourist infrastructure development

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The Tourism Committee, or Mostourism, is the executive body of the Moscow City Government that oversees tourist activities in the capital. The Committee is responsible for legislative initiatives, congress and exhibition activities, and event and image projects. As the brand manager for an attractive tourism image for Moscow, Mostourism constantly analyses global trends, offers Russian and foreign tourists what they want, and also uncovers new opportunities for the capital in terms of interesting and rewarding leisure activities.

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Tourism Policy School returning to Heritage

23rd January 2024 By Staff Reporter | [email protected] | @tourismticker

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School districts on their own to communicate Utah's new bathroom bill to students

by Paul Nelson, KUTV

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — As schools across Utah are getting ready to enforce the new bathroom laws based on sex at birth , parents are wondering how educators will explain the new rules to their students.

The new law will go into effect May 1 and will require students go to the bathroom that matches their biological sex at birth.

The Utah State Board of Education issued a statement that said they were never asked to provide any guidance on how to instruct communities about the new law. However, one educator said it may be for the best that the state hasn't given any instruction about it.

RELATED: School district plans presentations to teach K-12 students about new bathroom bill

Jesse Sirivanchai has a transgender daughter in elementary school. For the 2023-24 school year, she was allowed to use the girls’ bathroom instead of being required to use the boys’. Sirivanchai said that has made this school year a lot easier for his daughter.

“Because of this one fix, it has made our lives so much better. I can’t even tell you how much better this year is than last year,” he said.

All of that changes for them in May.

Sirivanchai believed school districts should have invited members of the trans community to weigh in on what the most effective way would be to explain the bathroom rules.

MORE: Gov. Spencer Cox signs bill in regulating bathroom access for transgender people

Even if the children are allowed to use a faculty bathroom, he believed that would further isolate those students, leading to more bullying.

“The district really needs to assess their responsibility to keep children safe when they’re forcing them to be isolated and held to different standards from all the other children," he said.

The Utah State Board of Education issued a statement that said they were not asked to give LEAs any guidance on how to present these bathroom rules to their communities.

It said, in part, “LEAs will determine how best to communicate the requirements listed in the bill to the students and families in their respective communities.”

MORE: Protestors rally at Utah State Capitol to oppose 'transgender bathroom bill'

Some educators said this may be the best strategy.

“Local control over local schools has always been very important to Utahns," Canyons School District Spokesman Jeff Haney said. "Our elected school board, they are the people who set the policies and the direction of the Canyons School District.”

Haney said districts know their communities better than the state does, and they know the best ways to create messages that connect better.

“Perhaps, it’s not best that there is a boilerplate plan given to districts by the state on how to provide guidance to the community on how the law will be followed,” he said.

Haney said school district officials are putting the finishing touches on their plans to present these bathroom rules, and they hope to have that finalized in the coming weeks.

The rules will have to be enforced statewide starting May 1.

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What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers

One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Simply put, every worker’s time has value. A cornerstone of that promise is the  Fair Labor Standards Act ’s (FLSA) requirement that when most workers work more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid more. The  Department of Labor ’s new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.

Overtime protections have been a critical part of the FLSA since 1938 and were established to protect workers from exploitation and to benefit workers, their families and our communities. Strong overtime protections help build America’s middle class and ensure that workers are not overworked and underpaid.

Some workers are specifically exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections, including bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees. This exemption, typically referred to as the “EAP” exemption, applies when: 

1. An employee is paid a salary,  

2. The salary is not less than a minimum salary threshold amount, and 

3. The employee primarily performs executive, administrative or professional duties.

While the department increased the minimum salary required for the EAP exemption from overtime pay every 5 to 9 years between 1938 and 1975, long periods between increases to the salary requirement after 1975 have caused an erosion of the real value of the salary threshold, lessening its effectiveness in helping to identify exempt EAP employees.

The department’s new overtime rule was developed based on almost 30 listening sessions across the country and the final rule was issued after reviewing over 33,000 written comments. We heard from a wide variety of members of the public who shared valuable insights to help us develop this Administration’s overtime rule, including from workers who told us: “I would love the opportunity to...be compensated for time worked beyond 40 hours, or alternately be given a raise,” and “I make around $40,000 a year and most week[s] work well over 40 hours (likely in the 45-50 range). This rule change would benefit me greatly and ensure that my time is paid for!” and “Please, I would love to be paid for the extra hours I work!”

The department’s final rule, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, will increase the standard salary level that helps define and delimit which salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay protections under the FLSA. 

Starting July 1, most salaried workers who earn less than $844 per week will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule. And on Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers who make less than $1,128 per week will become eligible for overtime pay. As these changes occur, job duties will continue to determine overtime exemption status for most salaried employees.

The rule will also increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (who are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA if certain requirements are met) from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and then set it equal to $151,164 per year on Jan. 1, 2025.

Starting July 1, 2027, these earnings thresholds will be updated every three years so they keep pace with changes in worker salaries, ensuring that employers can adapt more easily because they’ll know when salary updates will happen and how they’ll be calculated.

The final rule will restore and extend the right to overtime pay to many salaried workers, including workers who historically were entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA because of their lower pay or the type of work they performed. 

We urge workers and employers to visit  our website to learn more about the final rule.

Jessica Looman is the administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Follow the Wage and Hour Division on Twitter at  @WHD_DOL  and  LinkedIn .  Editor's note: This blog was edited to correct a typo (changing "administrator" to "administrative.")

• Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
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NOW AVAILABLE! NSBA Legal Desk Reference on School Law

Written in easy-to-understand Q&A format, this new desk resource is written in plain language, with legal citations to assist school lawyers. The  Guidebook  benefited from thoughtful editing by COSA members and Derek Black, professor of law at the University of South Carolina School of Law. It complements state-level texts produced by NSBA member state associations, such as  School Law,  produced by the New York State School Boards Association, now in its 39 th  edition. 

The  Federal Public School Law Guidebook  is now available from Lexis-Nexis in hard copy (softbound) and electronic form. Order yours online at the  Lexis-Nexis store .  NSBA/COSA members can save 20%!  Please email us at  [email protected] , or check your latest member newsletter for the code!

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Biden Administration Releases Revised Title IX Rules

The new regulations extended legal protections to L.G.B.T.Q. students and rolled back several policies set under the Trump administration.

By Zach Montague and Erica L. Green

Reporting from Washington

The Biden administration issued new rules on Friday cementing protections for L.G.B.T.Q. students under federal law and reversing a number of Trump-era policies that dictated how schools should respond to cases of alleged sexual misconduct in K-12 schools and college campuses.

The new rules, which take effect on Aug. 1, effectively broadened the scope of Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. They extend the law’s reach to prohibit discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and widen the range of sexual harassment complaints that schools will be responsible for investigating.

“These regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights,” Miguel A. Cardona, the education secretary, said in a call with reporters.

The rules deliver on a key campaign promise for Mr. Biden, who declared he would put a “quick end” to the Trump-era Title IX rules and faced mounting pressure from Democrats and civil rights leaders to do so.

The release of the updated rules, after two delays, came as Mr. Biden is in the thick of his re-election bid and is trying to galvanize key electoral constituencies.

Through the new regulations, the administration moved to include students in its interpretation of Bostock v. Clayton County, the landmark 2020 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. The Trump administration held that transgender students were not protected under federal laws, including after the Bostock ruling .

In a statement, Betsy DeVos, who served as Mr. Trump’s education secretary, criticized what she called a “radical rewrite” of the law, asserting that it was an “endeavor born entirely of progressive politics, not sound policy.”

Ms. DeVos said the inclusion of transgender students in the law gutted decades of protections and opportunities for women. She added that the Biden administration also “seeks to U-turn to the bad old days where sexual misconduct was sent to campus kangaroo courts, not resolved in a way that actually sought justice.”

While the regulations released on Friday contained considerably stronger protections for L.G.B.T.Q. students, the administration steered clear of the lightning-rod issue of whether transgender students should be able to play on school sports teams corresponding to their gender identity.

The administration stressed that while, writ large, exclusion based on gender identity violated Title IX, the new regulations did not extend to single-sex living facilities or sports teams. The Education Department is pursuing a second rule dealing with sex-related eligibility for male and female sports teams. The rule-making process has drawn more than 150,000 comments.

Under the revisions announced on Friday, instances where transgender students are subjected to a “hostile environment” through bullying or harassment, or face unequal treatment and exclusion in programs or facilities based on their gender identity, could trigger an investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights.

Instances where students are repeatedly referred to by a name or pronoun other than one they have chosen could also be considered harassment on a case-by-case basis.

“This is a bold and important statement that transgender and nonbinary students belong, in their schools and in their communities,” said Olivia Hunt, the policy director for the National Center for Transgender Equality.

The regulations appeared certain to draw to legal challenges from conservative groups.

May Mailman, the director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, said in a statement that the group planned to sue the administration. She said it was clear that the statute barring discrimination on the basis of “sex” means “binary and biological.”

“The unlawful omnibus regulation reimagines Title IX to permit the invasion of women’s spaces and the reduction of women’s rights in the name of elevating protections for ‘gender identity,’ which is contrary to the text and purpose of Title IX,” she said.

The existing rules, which took effect under Mr. Trump in 2020, were the first time that sexual assault provisions were codified under Title IX. They bolstered due process rights of accused students, relieved schools of some legal liabilities and laid out rigid parameters for how schools should conduct impartial investigations.

They were a sharp departure from the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law, which came in the form of unenforceable guidance documents directing schools to ramp up investigations into sexual assault complaints under the threat of losing federal funding. Scores of students who had been accused of sexual assault went on to win court cases against their colleges for violating their due process rights under the guidelines.

The Biden administration’s rules struck a balance between the Obama and Trump administration’s goals. Taken together, the regulation largely provides more flexibility for how schools conduct investigations, which advocates and schools have long lobbied for.

Catherine E. Lhamon, the head of the department’s Office for Civil Rights who also held the job under President Barack Obama, called the new rules the “most comprehensive coverage under Title IX since the regulations were first promulgated in 1975.”

They replaced a narrower definition of sex-based harassment adopted under the Trump administration with one that would include a wider range of conduct. And they reversed a requirement that schools investigate only incidents alleged to have occurred on their campuses or in their programs.

Still, some key provisions in the Trump-era rules were preserved, including one allowing informal resolutions and another prohibiting penalties against students until after an investigation.

Among the most anticipated changes was the undoing of a provision that required in-person, or so-called live hearings, in which students accused of sexual misconduct, or their lawyers, could confront and question accusers in a courtroom-like setting.

The new rules allow in-person hearings, but do not mandate them. They also require a process through which a decision maker could assess a party or witness’s credibility, including posing questions from the opposing party.

“The new regulations put an end to unfair and traumatic grievance procedures that favor harassers,” Kel O’Hara, a senior attorney at Equal Rights Advocates. “No longer will student survivors be subjected to processes that prioritize the interests of their perpetrators over their own well being and safety.”

The new rules also allow room for schools to use a “preponderance of evidence” standard, a lower burden of proof than the DeVos-era rules encouraged, through which administrators need only to determine whether it was more likely than not that sexual misconduct had occurred.

The renewed push for that standard drew criticism from legal groups who said the rule stripped away hard-won protections against flawed findings.

“When you are dealing with accusations of really one of the most heinous crimes that a person can commit — sexual assault — it’s not enough to say, ‘50 percent and a feather,’ before you brand someone guilty of this repulsive crime,” said Will Creeley, the legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

The changes concluded a three-year process in which the department received 240,000 public comments. The rules also strengthen protections for pregnant students, requiring accommodations such as a bigger desk or ensuring access to elevators and prohibiting exclusion from activities based on additional needs.

Title IX was designed to end discrimination based on sex in educational programs or activities at all institutions receiving federal financial assistance, beginning with sports programs and other spaces previously dominated by male students.

The effects of the original law have been pronounced. Far beyond the impact on school programs like sports teams, many educators credit Title IX with setting the stage for academic parity today. Female college students routinely outnumber male students on campus and have become more likely than men of the same age to graduate with a four-year degree.

But since its inception, Title IX has also become a powerful vehicle through which past administrations have sought to steer schools to respond to the dynamic and diverse nature of schools and universities.

While civil rights groups were disappointed that some ambiguity remains for the L.G.B.T.Q. students and their families, the new rules were widely praised for taking a stand at a time when education debates are reminiscent to the backlash after the Supreme Court ordered schools to integrate.

More than 20 states have passed laws that broadly prohibit anyone assigned male at birth from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams or participating in scholastic athletic programs, while 10 states have laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms based on their gender identity.

“Some adults are showing up and saying, ‘I’m going to make school harder for children,” said Liz King, senior program director of the education equity program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “It’s an incredibly important rule, at an incredibly important moment.”

Schools will have to cram over the summer to implement the rules, which will require a retraining staff and overhauling procedures they implemented only four years ago.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 colleges and universities, said in a statement that while the group welcomed the changes in the new rule, the timeline “disregards the difficulties inherent in making these changes on our nation’s campuses in such a short period of time.”

“After years of constant churn in Title IX guidance and regulations,” Mr. Mitchell said, “we hope for the sake of students and institutions that there will be more stability and consistency in the requirements going forward.”

Zach Montague is based in Washington. He covers breaking news and developments around the district. More about Zach Montague

Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent, covering President Biden and his administration. More about Erica L. Green