Ambassadors of Asia Pacific countries met with UNWTO Secretary-General Dr. Taleb Rifai at UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid on Wednesday the 21^st of March for the Annual Ambassador´s Luncheon, and discussed the main issues currently facing the tourism industry.

The meeting, held since 2000, has become a tradition for UNWTO. This year, it was attended by Ambassadors to Spain from thirteen countries in the Asia Pacific Region. The meeting was opened by Secretary-General Dr. Taleb Rifai, who outlined the three main focus areas for UNWTO in the immediate future: consumer protection, travel facilitation (visas) and airport departure taxes. These topics, among others, are key issues facing the tourism industry today, both globally and in the Asia Pacific Region.

There was a general consensus about the importance of these issues among the visiting Ambassadors, with many commenting on their importance in the context of their own countries.

Asia and the Pacific, currently the world´s second strongest region in terms of international tourist receipts, received a record number of tourist arrivals in 2011 (216 million international tourists – a 6% increase on 2010 figures). According to UNWTO projections, these numbers are expected to increase by a further 4-6% during 2012. Regionally, as well as globally, travel is a major industry which has the potential to generate millions of jobs, bring economic growth and diversification and promote regional development. As well as this, travel can be a strong contributor to poverty reduction and development in poorer parts of the world.

In a quest to highlight all of these benefits, mainstream tourism in the political and economic agendas of countries around the world, and improve the competitiveness of the sector, UNWTO has engaged in various initiatives over the past 12 months. These include the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign, capacity building projects in the Asia and the Pacific Region (such as the UNWTO/Tianjin Training Programme on Tourism Marketing, the Tourism Statistics Capacity Building Programme in Thailand and the Philippines and the Executive Training Program in Brunei) and a number of regional studies. During 2011, special assistance was also provided to Japan following the natural disaster in March.

Something sound interesting? Read more…

• Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign: http://leadersfortourism.unwto.org/en; In Asia:  http://asiapacific.unwto.org/en/news/2012-02-17/asia-pacific-leads-world-recognising-importance-tourism-national-economies
• Past UNWTO Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific Events: http://asiapacific.unwto.org/event/archive
• UNWTO/Tianjin Training Programme on Tourism Marketing: http://asiapacific.unwto.org/en/event/unwtotianjin-training-program-tourism-marketing
• Tourism Statistics Capacity Building Programme: /archive/asia/event/scbp-asia-pacific-iii-workshop; http://asiapacific.unwto.org/en/event/scbp-asia-pacific-regional-seminar
• Special assistance to Japan: /en/content/unwto-supports-japan-tourism-recovery
• UNWTO Asia Pacific Studies and Publications:   http://asiapacific.unwto.org/en/publications
• Tourism and Mega Events: http://asiapacific.unwto.org/en/news/2012-03-20/mega-events-key-strengthening-friendship-0

Mega events were at the top of the agenda today as ´old friends´ Shanghai Institute of Tourism (SIT) and UNWTO discussed future cooperation during a meeting at UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid.

Mega events, a tourism phenomenon of growing importance worldwide, especially in the current climate of creative economies, already dot the landscape of Shanghai´s tourism offering. Following the success of the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, the Shanghai Tourism Festival in September and the China International Travel Mart in October are assuming top positions in the city´s event calendar for 2012.

Today´s meeting marked the continuation of the good relationship between UNWTO and SIT, China´s first UNWTO Affiliate Member. Cooperation between the two organizations has existed since the university institute first joined UNWTO over 17 years ago, and this year looks set to see even more SIT involvement in UNWTO activities.

¨We are always very proud to declare our affiliate membership of UNWTO, ¨ said Mr. Yang Weiwu, President of SIT. ¨We have received a lot of support from UNWTO in recent years and we would like to give something back.¨

Immediate plans discussed at today´s meeting included SIT´s active participation in the organization of an international conference on tourism and mega events, expected to be held in Shanghai this September. Further to this, UNWTO proposed a combined research project in the area of mega events and tourism in the Asia Pacific Region, with the intention of looking at mega events and their impact on both the local tourism industry and on society more broadly, using the conference in Shanghai as a starting point.

The visit of SIT follows the signing of a Letter of Intent between UNWTO and Shanghai Municipal Government just one week ago, at which the city of Shanghai committed to increased collaboration with UNWTO, including in, among other things, the field of mega events.

During today´s meeting, UNWTO also encouraged SIT to get involved in UNWTO´s Affiliate Member network, Platma, as well as the UNWTO Knowledge Network. The idea of implementing UNWTO/Shanghai scholarships in SIT for tourism ministry officials was also discussed.

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Something sound interesting? Read more:

• UNWTO Affiliate Membership: http://affiliatemembers.unwto.org/
• Signing of Letter of Intent with Shanghai Municipal Government: /archive/asia/news/2012-03-16/shanghai-and-unwto-align-future-priorities
• UNWTO Knowledge Network: http://know.unwto.org/

 

Shanghai City signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNWTO this week during a visit to UNWTO Headquarters, committing to increased future collaboration, especially in the areas of tourism development, event organization and human resource development.

The Shanghai delegation, led by Shanghai Municipal Government´s Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Xue Chao and the Vice Chairperson of Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, Ms. Cheng Meihong, discussed the future of Shanghai´s tourism industry with UNWTO Executive Director Mr. Zoltan Somogyi and a team of UNWTO Heads of Departments including the Director of the Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Xu Jing.

A main discussion point on the agenda was the growth of creative tourism in Shanghai, and the proliferation of mega events such as the World Travel Fair, which will be held in Shanghai for the ninth time this May.

Shanghai, which in 2011 welcomed 250 million domestic visitors, is already setting itself up as a major event hub in Asia and the Pacific, playing host to a variety of international sporting championships, festivals and conferences annually. In 2011 alone, 745 conferences were held in Shanghai, China´s largest city.

¨We want Shanghai to be an example to the rest of the world on how to hold and manage large scale events, ¨ said Ms. Meihong, adding that there is still a lot of room for development. ¨ We hope that UNWTO can support and guide us in this.¨

UNWTO, which has in past years collaborated with Shanghai in different tourism-related activities including  the international conference on metropolitan tourism,  a study on urban tourism development in China and a discussion forum on cruise tourism, is happy to strengthen its cooperation with Shanghai, a city which recognizes  the potential of mega events to bring long lasting benefits to hosts.

¨Excellent mega events not only generate tourist arrivals, but also make a city more visible, ¨ said Mr. Somogyi. Mega events can also help to build national unity and pride, attract foreign investment, encourage workforce development and aid in brand positioning. The relevance and importance of events continue to increase as more and more countries in the Asia and the Pacific region discover the distinct role of events in the future tourism landscape.

Indonesia for example is another country which is taking the growing importance of sports and events in tourism seriously, having recently created its new Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy specifically for this reason.

 

 

A seven-member delegation of law professors from Indonesia´s Udayana University in Bali visited UNWTO Headquarters this week to discuss the development of a new postgraduate tourism law curriculum and ascension into UNWTO´s Affiliate Members Program.

The delegation, which comprised of lecturers from the Balinese university´s constitutional, criminal, administrative and international law departments, met with Mr. Xu Jing, Director of UNWTO´s Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific, as well as staff members from UNWTO´s Knowledge Network and UNWTO.Themis Foundation, the department responsible for the implementation of UNWTO Education and Training.

As part of a round-trip to various other organizations and educational institutions in Europe, the delegation´s visit to UNWTO Headquarters was a chance to learn about existing tourism legislation and the latest developments in tourism and law-related issues from the world´s peak tourism body.

¨Tourism laws are about deciding what are the ethical ways of managing tourism at all levels; ¨ said Mr. Xu Jing, reflecting on existing legislature. ¨Tourism is linked to national governments just as much as it is linked to medium sized businesses and small communities. Therefore, tourism laws are about the individual rights of travellers and hosts, and are quite distinct from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also from consumer rights.¨

The delegation, which plans to unveil Udayana University´s new Law and Tourism Master Degree programme in September this year, was enthusiastic about joining UNWTO´s Affiliate Member Programme, a group of over 400 public and private companies, destinations, NGOs and educational institutions whose work relates to tourism and who contribute their knowledge and expertise of responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism to UNWTO.

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Something sound interesting? Read more:

• UNWTO Affiliate Members Programme: http://affiliatemembers.unwto.org/
• UNWTO.Themis Foundation :http://themis.unwto.org/
• UNWTO Knowledge Network: http://know.unwto.org/
• Udayana University:http://www.unud.ac.id/eng/

PR No.: PR 12011

“Tourism is very important to the Philippines,” said President Aquino, signalling in particular the attention given to road and air infrastructure in the country and the implementation of the Pocket Open Skies Policy. The policy eases restrictions on foreign airlines, allowing them to land in international airports around the Philippines and opening up the country to more foreign visitors.

Presenting the President with an Open Letter on the importance of tourism to global growth and development, UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, congratulated the country on its impressive tourism development, its active support of the open skies policies and the launch of its latest tourism promotion campaign “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”.

The Secretary of the Department of Tourism of the Philippines (DOT), Mr. Ramon Jimenez Jr. said: ¨It’s More Fun in the Philippines focuses on the Filipino as your host. The Filipino, your host, takes it as his absolute personal responsibility and almost as a matter of honour that the tourist’s stay is in fact fun.”

“This exciting new campaign, the recent decision to liberalize aviation and joining the Leaders for Tourism Campaign are all steps in the right direction and proof that the Philippines is fully committed to maximizing its potential as an extremely attractive tourism destination,” said Mr. Rifai.    

David Scowsill, President & CEO of WTTC, said:  “The Philippines’ robust tourism plan has been held up as a model within South East Asia for other governments to follow. In 2011, Travel & Tourism accounted for about 9% of GDP and is forecast to rise by 5.2% per annum by 2022. Within this set of islands, the industry also accounts for over 3.5 million jobs. With the President receiving the Open Letter, and joining this movement of world leaders to recognise Travel & Tourism’s global role, it is a further reflection of the importance of Travel & Tourism to the job growth and economic viability of the Philippines.”

UNWTO’s on-going work with the Philippines was the subject of further discussions between the Secretary-General and national tourism officials. In collaboration with the Tourism Congress, the private sector consultative body of the DOT, UNWTO will conduct a study on tourism opportunities in the country. In support of the Philippines National Tourism Development Plan (2011-2016), the study will illustrate the direct economic benefits of actions taken in areas such as visa facilitation and air connectivity.   

The Philippines received four million international tourists in 2011, a record breaking increase of 11% compared with the previous year. The Government has set the target of 10 million inbound tourists by 2016, the final year of its National Tourism Development Plan. International tourism receipts rose to over US$ 3 billion in 2011, representing more than 25% of the country’s exports of services.

 

Note to Editors:

Through the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign, UNWTO and WTTC are jointly presenting heads of state and government around the world an Open Letter which calls on them to acknowledge tourism’s key role in delivering more sustained and balanced growth and to prioritize the sector higher in national policies in order to maximize its potential. The Open Letter outlines Travel & Tourism’s value as one of the world’s largest generators of jobs, a powerful driver of socio-economic growth and development and a key player in the transformation to the Green Economy.

To date, over 20 heads of state and government have received the Open Letter from UNWTO and WTTC: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Burkina Faso, China, Colombia, Croatia, Gambia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia and South Africa.   

 

Useful links:

Open Letter to Heads of State and Government

Further Information on the Joint Campaign

Photos

 

Contacts:

Principal Media Officer: Marcelo Risi

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60

 

WTTC Media Relations Manager: Anja Eckervogt

Tel: (+44) 20 7481 6484

 www.WTTC.org

 

 

The Philippines, though proclaiming ´fun´ as the tagline of its newest tourism slogan, is serious about its tourism industry, and its record-breaking growth in visitor arrivals, new tourism master plan and enthusiasm to get on board with UNWTO´s Global Leaders for Tourism campaign at next week´s APEC conference in Manila are proof.

The country, which will host Destination APEC 2020:  A Conference on Enhancing Tourism and Air Transport Connectivity in the Asia-Pacific Region from 26 February to 1 March, welcomed 3.92million visitors in 2011, a record-breaking increase of 11.28% compared with the previous year and 4.6% more than the Department of Tourism had predicted.

President Benigno Aquino III will be the twenty-first Head of State/Government to publically declare his understanding of and dedication to the importance of tourism as a key driver of economic, social and sustainable growth, by taking part in UNWTO´s Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign and accepting an Open Letter from UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai following next week´s APEC event.

The Open Letter, presented previously to the Heads of State of Asia Pacific counterparts Indonesia, China, Korea, Malaysia and Brunei, has also been received by Mexico, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Armenia, Romania, Croatia, Ireland, Colombia, Azerbaijan and Serbia. The letter highlights the importance of prioritizing travel and tourism in national policies to maximize the sector´s potential, and once signed will become part of a ¨Golden Book¨ showcasing those countries which are making tourism a priority sector in challenging global economic times.

http://leadersfortourism.unwto.org/

For more information about the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign in Asia:

http://asiapacific.unwto.org/en/news/2012-02-17/asia-pacific-leads-world-recognising-importance-tourism-national-economies

For more information about the Philippines´ new tourism slogan:

http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/