PR No.: PR

UNWTO Secretary visits Madagascar

UNWTO expresses confidence on tourism in Madagascar

The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai has visited Madagascar to express the Organization’s full support to the tourism sector. Madagascar’s tourism is facing a challenging situation following a plague outbreak which has prompted some countries to implement travel restriction with Madagascar. Mr Rifai recalled the World Health Organization (WHO) advises that no restriction on travel or trade on Madagascar.  

“UNWTO is echoing the advice by WHO to governments not to rush to issue inaccurate travel advisories. The WHO Key Messages updates dated 26 October recalls that the risk of international spread appears unlikely. WHO advises that no restriction on travel or trade on Madagascar based on the current available information“ said Mr Rifai.

“We can not penalise a country twice – once by the country being hit and having to confront and pay the direct heavy price of a devastating crises and second by us, human community, falling into misguided perceptions and, as a result , shunning and isolating the victim country and adding to the problem rather than to the solution” he added.

WHO recalls that it is important to strike a balance between encouraging countries in the region to be ready to act in case of an outbreak, while avoiding panic that could result in unnecessary or counterproductive measures such as trade restrictions or travel bans on affected countries.

“We are facing a perception crisis. Clear and factual communication on the real situation in Madagascar is crucial to prevent damaging advisories from adding gravity to the crisis” said Rifai.

Meeting with the Minister of Tourism, members of government, the President of the National Assembly, representatives from the United Nations in Madagascar, including the WHO Resident Coordinator, the World Bank, local private sector and media, Mr Rifai recalled that  “positive news are coming out of the sector such as the new strategic partnership between Air Madagascar and Air Austral. We need to communicate the good news; build our capacity and restore confidence”.

The Minister of Tourism Roland Ratsiraka recalled “Being an island with 80% endemic biodiversity, Madagascar has a natural calling for sustainable tourism” said the Minister of Tourism. “Mr. Secretary General, your visit is rich in meaning, gives hope to a whole people and those who still doubt the economic benefits of the tourism industry” he added.

“Collaboration among all countries in crisis situations is critical and we call upon all countries in the region to cooperate in a way that reinforces prevention without creating unnecessary travel bans” said the Najib Balala, Chair of the UNWTO Commission for Africa and Minister of Tourism of Kenya.

UNWTO Secretary-General and the Minister of Tourism of Madagascar will be meeting the press next week at the World Travel Market in London to brief on the current situation in the country.

Relevant links:

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/plague/en

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org

PR No.: PR 17119

The meeting was convened and chaired by UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, in the presence of the Permanent Secretary of Kenya Mrs. Fatuma HirsiI Mohamed, representing the chair of the UNWTO Commission for Africa, Minister Najib Balala.

Ministers recalled that all countries are taking the measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and expressed their confidence that these are going on the right direction.

UNWTO Secretary-General recalled that WHO does not recommend any travel bans on Madagascar and that “based on the available information to date, the risk of international spread of plague appears very low”.

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org

PR No.: 17117

“UNWTO is echoing the advice by WHO to governments not to rush to issue inaccurate travel advisories. The WHO Key Messages updates dated 26 October recalls that the risk of international spread appears unlikely. WHO advises no restriction on travel or trade on Madagascar based on the current available information“ said Mr Rifai.

“We can not penalise a country twice – once by the country being hit and having to confront and pay the direct heavy price of a devastating crisis and second by us, human community, falling into misguided perceptions and, as a result , shunning and isolating the victim country and adding to the problem rather than to the solution” he added.

UNWTO SG visits Madagascar in show of support to the tourism sector

WHO recalls that it is important to strike a balance between encouraging countries in the region to be ready to act in case of an outbreak, while avoiding panic that could result in unnecessary or counterproductive measures such as trade restrictions or travel bans on affected countries.

“We are facing a perception crisis. Clear and factual communication on the real situation in Madagascar is crucial to prevent damaging advisories from adding gravity to the crisis” said Rifai.

Meeting with the Minister of Tourism, members of government, the President of the National Assembly, representatives from the United Nations in Madagascar, including the WHO Resident Coordinator, the World Bank, local private sector and media, Mr Rifai recalled that  “positive news are coming out of the sector such as the new strategic partnership between Air Madagascar and Air Austral. We need to communicate the good news; build our capacity and restore confidence”.

The Minister of Tourism Roland Ratsiraka recalled “Being an island with 80% endemic biodiversity, Madagascar has a natural calling for sustainable tourism” said the Minister of Tourism. “Mr. Secretary General, your visit is rich in meaning, gives hope to a whole people and those who still doubt the economic benefits of the tourism industry” he added.

“Collaboration among all countries in crisis situations is critical and we call upon all countries in the region to cooperate in a way that reinforces prevention without creating unnecessary travel bans” said the Najib Balala, Chair of the UNWTO Commission for Africa and Minister of Tourism of Kenya.

UNWTO Secretary-General and the Minister of Tourism of Madagascar will be meeting the press next week at the World Travel Market in London to brief on the current situation in the country. 

Relevant links:

Photos of the visit

Madagascar plague: mitigating the risk of regional spread

Contacts:

UNWTO Media Officer Rut Gomez Sobrino

Tel: (+34) 91 567 81 60 / rgomez@unwto.org

UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme

Tel: (+34) 91 567 8100 / Fax: +34 91 567 8218 / comm@UNWTO.org

Over the years, tourism has grown to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Today it is recognized as a powerful vehicle for economic growth. Africa has been one of the world’s fastest growing tourism regions, growing from a small base of 14.7 million visitors in 1990, to 58 million in 2016. On the other hand, investments in travel and tourism in Africa amounted to USD28.5bn, or 6.2% of total investment in 2016. These promising statistics highlight the immense potential that Africa has; Furthermore, surveys have shown that the region is increasingly becoming more attractive to international investors.

Recognizing the ability of the tourism sector to stimulate growth, attract investment and foster entrepreneurship, UNWTO, FITUR and Casa África are joining hands to host the 9th edition of INVESTOUR on 18 January 2018, in Madrid, Spain. The forum offers a fertile ground for exploring and grooming well established policies that foster sustainable tourism development, maximize benefits of investment and enhance public private partnership.

INVESTOUR also serves as an all-inclusive platform that brings together policymakers, international investors looking for business opportunities within the African market and project initiators in direct contact with one another to explore innovative approaches to increase investments in the tourism sector as well as in different fields of the tourism value chain. The forum also includes round table sessions bringing together African Ministers of Tourism, high level representatives from the public sector, regional organizations alongside other tourism stakeholders. For its 9th edition, the roundtables sessions will be structured around two main themes; (i) Brand Africa: Fostering Tourism development and investment opportunities and (ii) Biodiversity as a driver for sustainable tourism: the importance of effective community involvement.

The B2B session, on the other hand, aims at connecting initiators of quality projects from the region with investors from the international arena, thus delivering development initiatives and concrete deliverables that will contribute to the growth of the tourism sector in Africa.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Tourism Trade Fair of Madrid (IFEMA/FITUR) and Casa África (in representation for the Government of Spain), with the support of the Canary Islands Authority (CABILDO), held the First INVESTOUR workshop on financing in the tourism sector in las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, on 16-17 October 2017.

The workshop trained UNWTO Member States in the development of effective proposals for tourism-related projects seeking investments. The proposal will be presented during the INVESTOUR B2B sessions to take place next January in Madrid at the FITUR fair.

Participating were Hamat Bah, Minister for Tourism and Culture of Gambia, Siandou Fofana, Minister of Tourism of Côte d’Ivoire and Franck Mwe di Malila Apenela, Minister of Tourism of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Overall, ten African countries were represented: Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinee Bissau, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, and South Africa.

Participants had the opportunity to visit the Institución Ferial de Canarias (INFECAR) and their Training Center on Tourism Innovation. Several bilateral meetings were held on the sidelines of the workshop between the African Tourism Ministers and key stakeholders from Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, which offered an ideal platform to discuss prospects and opportunities of attracting Spanish investors to Africa. The workshop was held within the framework of the 10 year Anniversary of Casa África

Based on the success of the event, UNWTO will organize the workshop on an annual basis. An Investment Handbook on better access to financing for tourism projects will be produced to be used as a key project development tool for public and private tourism stakeholders.

INVESTOUR is an annual forum, organized jointly by UNWTO, FITUR and Casa África, on the occasion of the International Tourism Fair of Madrid (FITUR). The objective of the event is to promote sustainable tourism as an economic and social development tool for Africa, by putting in direct contact African project leaders with potential international partners and investors.

The 8^th edition of INVESTOUR (2017) witnessed a total of 404 participants and 86 meetings  between 45 African and international organizations from 23 countries.

INVESTOUR: /event/investour-2018-ix-tourism-investment-and-business-forum-africa-18-january-2018-madrid-spain