Ambassadors to Spain of thirteen Asia Pacific countries were briefed by UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai on Monday the 4th of March, during their reunion at UNWTO Headquarters for the Annual Asia Pacific Ambassadors´ Meeting and Luncheon.
The luncheon, hosted every year by UNWTO´s Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific, is an important annual event as it gives regional ambassadors an opportunity to network and learn more about UNWTO´s activities both globally and in the Asia Pacific Region.
This year´s event attracted thirteen regional representatives including ten ambassadors, among them Australia´s new Ambassador to Spain, H.E. Ms. Jane Hardy, who took office only last month.
During the pre-lunch meeting, UNWTO´s Secretary-General Mr. Taleb Rifai briefed attendees about UNWTO´s main programme of work for 2013 and the organization´s current main areas of advocacy. Following this, Mr. Xu Jing, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific of UNWTO gave a briefing on UNWTO´s activities in the region.
The year 2012 was a strong year for tourism worldwide, and especially in the dynamic Asia Pacific region, which recorded a 7% increase in tourism arrivals (the highest of any world region) as well as the fastest growth rate for the second year in a row. A recent study has shown that Asia and the Pacific is one of the most open regions in terms of visa facilitation (a boost to both interregional and intraregional travel), and the next twelve months look promising with UNWTO experts predicting a continued growth of 5-6% for Asia and the Pacific in 2013.
230 million people travelled to Asia in 2012, and the sector´s continued growth in the face of economic, environmental and climate change-related challenges has proven its resilience and ability to provide jobs and export exchange earnings as well as its potential to contribute to the development of a green economy despite uncertain and challenging times.
Secretary-General Mr. Rifai noted, however, that the sector is not immune to risks, and that continued efforts must be made to combat the challenges the industry faces – particularly those related to economic downturns, natural disasters and tourism´s contribution to climate change.
The tourism sector is inherently interconnected, as Mr. Rifai highlighted, and the actions of one region (for example, Europe) will inadvertently affect other regions (for example, the Asia Pacific).
UNWTO´s key areas of advocacy, based on the organization´s mission to promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism include travel facilitation (visas), taxation (¨intelligent taxation¨ of the travel sector), formulation of an international convention on consumer and tourist protection and connectivity (transport links including air connectivity).
The Asia Pacific Region has not only proven its ability to face and survive through economic and environmental challenges worldwide; it has also continued to upstage the importance of the tourism sector at a national level with five new countries (Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) joining the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign in 2012.
Practically, UNWTO´s Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific (RPAP) has undertaken a number of key efforts in the region to boost the sustainability and competitiveness of the sector in its 28 Asia Pacific Member States.
These activities, in 2012, included key events such as the 24th Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UNWTO Commission for South Asia in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as well as various conferences, training programmes and forums in Bhutan, the Republic of Korea and China. Alongside these, capacity building programmes were held in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar (UNWTO´s newest Member State) and the Democratic Peoples´ Republic of Korea.
Australia has been a key partner in the production of UNWTO´s most recent regional studies and publications, with topics including ecotourism, climate change (both in collaboration with the University of Queensland), key Asian outbound tourism markets (with Tourism Australia) and domestic tourism (funded by Republic of Korea). This year, RPAP will work with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as well as the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to undertake detailed research on visas and travel facilitation in the region.
Looking ahead, RPAP is also working with Macau´s Global Tourism Economy Research Centre and the Republic of Korea to develop a regional tourism competitiveness index, which instead of ranking countries unrealistically, aims to evaluate and contrast certain elements of tourism destinations while taking note of country-specific factors.
Finally, UNWTO´s RPAP is working to advocate for sustainability in the region by establishing observatories which apply the UNWTO Indicators for Sustainable Tourism Development and measure the impact of tourism in destinations. So far, five sustainable tourism observatories have been established in China and both Bhutan and the Philippines have expressed interest to also establish observatories in their countries.
Lao PDR, a country which last year welcomed over 3.3 million international tourists, has recognized travel and tourism as important drivers of economic growth and acknowledged the benefits of working hand-in-hand with its neighbours by hosting the 32nd ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), in Vientiane from the 18th to the 25th of January.
ATF is the largest and most important event in the ASEAN tourism cooperation framework, and its objective is to turn the ASEAN region into one united tourism destination for the sustainability of the region´s tourism future.
This year, over 1800 delegates including tourism officials from the ten ASEAN member countries as well as its dialogue partners (China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and Russia), sellers, buyers and international media professionals were in attendance, with a unified vision: to build bridges and foster cooperation between stakeholders, enable the exchange of knowledge and culture and work together toward peace and prosperity in the region.
The theme of this year´s event was ¨ASEAN: Hand in Hand, Conquering our Future¨ and according to Lao PDR´s Prime Minister H.E. Thongsing Thammavong who addressed the event´s opening ceremony, this was the perfect theme to reflect the activities and successes of the ASEAN community over recent years.
¨Thanks to excellent cooperation, we have seen the number of tourist arrivals in ASEAN increase, ¨ he said.
In 2011, the number of international tourists visiting the ASEAN region reached 81.2 million, according to Prime Minister Thammavong, and the positive effects have been well noted:
¨This has made an enormous contribution to the socio-economic development of member countries – creating jobs, alleviating poverty and helping to close the gap in economic development between new and long-standing ASEAN member countries.¨
The Prime Minister also noted the importance of the closer cooperation between ASEAN members, China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India and other international institutions, saying that these relationships had helped ASEAN to meet challenges head-on and re-stabilize tourism growth in the region.
Lao PDR´s hosting of ATF and the Government´s strong support of the event signify the country´s recognition of the sector and commitment to upstage tourism on the national agenda.
The Secretary-General of UNWTO, Mr. Taleb Rifai, in his message to ATF 2013 which was delivered by Mr. Xu Jing, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, called on ASEAN leaders to further facilitate travel within ASEAN and to include a common visa programme similar to that of the Schengen area. He stated that such a move could drive up international tourist numbers in the region, which would go hand-in-hand with the benefits tourism brings.
Already, eight ASEAN member States have joined the UNWTO/WTTC global campaign to upstage the tourism agenda in the so-called ¨Golden Book¨ initiative. It is hoped that Lao PDR will be the next country in the region to participate in this Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign when the UNWTO Secretary-General visits the country in October.
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The Director-General of Tourism of Cambodia visited UNWTO Headquarters during his trip to Madrid last week to discuss plans to host a UNWTO Regional Conference on Tourism Development in Heritage Sites in Siem Reap later this year.
The Director-General, Mr. Tith Chantha, was in Madrid participating in FITUR, Spain´s biggest annual travel trade fair. At FITUR, Mr. Chantha participated in a specially organized Asia Pacific panel session for tourism experts and afterwards visited UNWTO headquarters to discuss upcoming collaboration activities including a regional conference on tourism and heritage sites in Siem Reap.
¨There is a lot of interest this year in developing tourism around the theme of cultural and natural heritage; ¨ said Luigi Cabrini, Director of UNWTO´s Sustainable Development of Tourism Programme.
¨Siem Reap is one of the most impressive places I have ever visited. It will be the perfect location to hold such a conference.¨
Cambodia, which attracted 2,882,000 international visitors in 2011 according to recently released UNWTO figures, is world-renowned primarily for UNESCO World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat, one of South-East Asia´s most significant archaeological sites. In 2011, 1.5 million people visited Angkor Wat and it is predicted that this number could climb to 1.8 or 1.9 million this year.
Such a high volume of visitors raises numerous issues in the protection of cultural heritage sites, and topics such as congestion, seasonality, access, authenticity and interpretation are key to ensuring the area´s sustainability for future generations.
The UNWTO Regional Conference on Tourism Management in Cultural Heritage Sites will be held in late October/ early November this year and will aim to bring together representatives of UNWTO Member States both in the Asia Pacific Region and internationally.
The Government of Cambodia has also decided to bid for the hosting of UNWTO´s 21st General Assembly Session in 2015.
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Working together with international organizations including UNWTO has been a key factor in 40 years of successful tourism in the Maldives, said Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamal during his recent visit to Madrid for the Feria Internacional de Turismo (FITUR).
The island nation, which has a population of just over 320 000, has been a UNWTO Member State since 1981. This year, as part of nation-wide events to celebrate 40 years of tourism in the Maldives, the country will host UNWTO´s World Tourism Day, an annual celebration held on the 27th September which raises awareness of the importance of tourism, its social, cultural, political and economic value and the contribution it can make to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
¨In 40 years of tourism in the Maldives we have witnessed many changes and developments, ¨ said Deputy Minister Jamal during a meeting with UNWTO officials.
¨Most recently, we have seen a shift in the market – these days about 60% of our visitors come from Europe and 24% come from China. We also have many repeat clients and new infrastructure developments as well as the recently implemented tourism law. Another phenomenon has been the attention paid to domestic tourism.¨
Domestic tourism is one sector which has attracted increased attention in the industry in recent years, with UNWTO´s Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific producing a study on the subject which is due to be released shortly. This study, bringing together contributions of fifteen countries in the Asia Pacific Region, will be a key resource in better understanding the importance of domestic tourism in the Asia-Pacific context.
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Bangladesh and UNWTO have promised to strengthen their collaboration efforts following a meeting between Minister of Tourism Muhammad Faruk Khanand and UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai in Madrid on the 31st of January, on the occasion of the Feria Internacional de Turismo (FITUR).
Bangladesh, which has recently established the Bangladesh Tourism Board as the nation´s National Tourism Organization, has identified tourism to be a promising sector of the economy and pledged to work together with UNWTO to ensure that the development of the sector brings maximum benefits to the country.
¨Bangladesh truly believes in the UN system, ¨ emphasized Minister Faruk Khanand. ¨We need to maximize our relationship with UNWTO.¨
Mr. Rifai encouraged the Minister to make the most of his country´s tourism potential: “Tourism is a sector that can make a tremendous difference. Asia’s tourism is booming, and UNWTO can help you to maximize these opportunities.¨
The Secretary-General also noted the importance of creating a unique experience for visitors, and ensuring that the benefits created by tourism flow back into the local community.
With the Bangladesh Tourism Board now in place, a good foundation has been laid for public/private partnerships within the sector. As noted by Minister Faruk Khanand, it is now time for the country to prioritize next steps in developing its tourism.
In this regard, Mr. Rifai offered UNWTO´s readiness to work together more closely, signifying a renewal of UNWTO´s relationship with the country.
Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) met with UNWTO representatives in Madrid recently to discuss the upcoming UNWTO Regional Conference on Tourism Industry Partnership (Seoul, 1 June) and the 7th Executive Training Programme on National Branding and Communications (Seoul, 3 – 6 June).
Director of KTO´s Convention Team Mr. Ahn Duk-Soo, who was in Madrid in late January to participate in FITUR, Spain´s international tourism trade fair, met with both Directors of the Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific (RPAP) and the UNWTO Programme for Affiliate Members during the event and held discussions about the two UNWTO events to be held in Korea.
The first event, the UNWTO Regional Conference on Industry Partnership, will run back-to-back with Korea World Travel Fair (KOFTA, 30 May – 2 June, Seoul), and will be the first ever exclusive regional gathering for Affiliate Members. Supported by the government of Korea through KTO, this event will be an opportunity to showcase and focus on future tourism trends in the Asia Pacific Region and will serve a networking forum for public and private tourism sectors including destination representatives, NGOs and educational bodies which form part of UNWTO´s over 400 Affiliate Members.
RPAP is very pleased to return to the Republic of Korea with this year´s edition of the UNWTO Asia-Pacific Executive Training Programme, which is a fully sponsored programme by the Republic of Korea launched in Seoul in 2007. The 7th Executive Training Programme will be dedicated to National Branding and Communications and will be held in Seoul from the 3rd to the 6th of June. The specific area of focus this year will be on equipping National Tourism Administrations (NTAs) with the latest marketing tools and techniques in tourism branding and communications through both conventional media and alternate distribution channels including social media.
Following the success of its predecessor (the 6th UNWTO Executive Training Programme on Tourism Policy and Strategy held in Paro, Bhutan in 2012), this year´s event promises to again bring together tourism professionals from around the region to learn from industry experts and each other.
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Kerala, the south-west Indian State famous for its historical spice trade and more recently for its award-winning model of responsible tourism development, is now looking to learn from UNWTO´s experiences along the Silk Road by developing tourism along the ancient ¨Spice Route.¨
Kerala´s Secretary of Tourism, Mr. Suman Billa IAS, visited UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid recently to present the Kumarakom model of responsible tourism, a project that was launched in 2008 and which has since not only spread the benefits of tourism to the native people of Kumarakom (a popular tourism destination in Kerala) but also won the Indian National Tourism Award for Best Responsible Tourism Project of the Year (2008-2009).
The Kumarakom model focuses on small-scale production and selling of traditional crafts and ethnic products, the participation of local people (especially women) and economic generation through local business ownership and the use of local produce in hotels and resorts.
Mr. Xu Jing, UNWTO Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, highly praised this initiative, noting its alignment with UNWTO´s mission to promote sustainable tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability.
In view of the successes of UNWTO´s work along the historical Silk Road, the State of Kerala is now looking to develop a theme-based tourism initiative centered around the ancient port of Muziris, in central Kerala.
This site contains excavation sites and monuments which tell the 3000 year old history of the area, and a proposal to develop a multi-national, jointly promoted, spice-themed route modeled on the Silk Road was discussed with UNWTO during Mr. Billa´s visit.
As is the case with UNWTO´s work along the Silk Road, a strong focus on sustainability and the involvement of local communities will be central elements of the spice route project, with Mr. Billa noting that the master plan will follow international guidelines such as the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Nara Document on Authenticity and recommendations set by the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
Tourism, when developed in line with the Global Code of Ethics and managed responsibly, has the potential to be a key driver of economic development, a strong force for cultural and ecological preservation and a contributor to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Australia’s overseas arrivals have continued to grow strongly through the end of the year,
recording seven per cent growth in December 2012 to reach 6.1 million visitors in 2012.
In 2012, the number of international visitors increased by 270,500 – an increase of almost five per
cent on 2011 arrivals.
The latest Overseas Arrivals and Departures figures, released today by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics, showed significant growth of inbound arrivals from almost all the major source markets
with many Asian markets leading the way.
The Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP, said the figures highlighted the importance of
the government’s allocation of $48.5 million to the Asia Marketing Fund and showed the fruits of
Tourism Australia’s long term marketing campaign, There’s Nothing Like Australia.
“The significant growth of overseas visitor arrivals in December gives the Australian tourism
industry cause for optimism with strong growth continuing from Asian markets,” Minister
Ferguson said.
Visitors from India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore all recorded strong growth, up 39 per
cent, 14 per cent, 13 per cent, and 12 per cent respectively during December 2012.
In 2012, the number of Chinese visitors increased almost 16 per cent, 9 per cent from Malaysia, 8
per cent from Singapore and over 7 per cent from India and compared to 2011. Visitors from
China and Japan grew by 13 per cent and seven per cent respectively in December 2012.
“Importantly, there are signs of improvement from large traditional markets such as the
United States, up 5 per cent in 2012, and Japan up 6.4 per cent in 2012, which have been facing
serious economic challenges,” said Minister Ferguson.
Visitors from India, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore all recorded strong growth, up 39 per
cent, 14 per cent, 13 per cent, and 12 per cent respectively during December 2012.
Arrivals from key European markets improved, with those from the United Kingdom up
two per cent, Italy up 12 per cent and Germany up eight per cent during December 2012.
The Overseas Arrivals and Departures data is available at www.abs.gov.au.
Media Contact Cathryn Tilmouth – 0061 401 222 941
