Bush set for WTTC summit

US president George Bush and other senior American politicians are expected to attend the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Washington DC.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and the head of homeland security are hoped to be involved in the event which takes place on April 10-12.

The Summit theme is Open Mind – Open World and speakers so far confirmed include EasyGroup founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Silversea Cruises chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio and Greek tourism minister Dimitris Avramopoulos.  

WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten (pictured), unveiling plans for the summit and giving an outlook for travel and tourism in 2006, told TravelMole that the organisation felt there was a “new attitude” to the industry from the US administration, particularly in the wake of the devastation caused in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina.

He described the timing as being perfect for the summit to be held in the US.

“The US government has not traditionally had travel and tourism on top of the agenda,” said Baumgarten. “There is now a very strong interest in the summit.”

Referring to the impact of Katrina, he added: “Natural disasters can hit irrespective of whether a country is rich or poor. The experience of what happened in New Orleans has opened a lot of people’s eyes. Never has something of that magnitude been experienced before.”

The economic importance of travel and tourism – estimated by the WTTC to be worth $1.6 trillion – will be top of the agenda at the Washington summit which is expected to attract 500 industry leaders and government representatives.

In global economic terms the industry is forecast by the WTTC to grow by 4.5% a year over the next 10 years, with double-digit growth expected from emerging regions such as China, India and Russia.

But such increases raise issues such as how infrastructure on the ground and in the air will be able to cope, the recruitment and training of new staff as emerging nations become major forces in travel and tourism, the impact on the environment and security.  

“We see very healthy growth over the next 10 years which in turn will create a number of problems,” said Baumgarten. “For example, we will need 900,000 more hotel rooms in Europe alone.”

Discussing the aftermath of terrorist attacks, Baumgarten said: “We are in an industry which has shown itself to be very resilient, how can governments make security better yet more seamless?”

He revealed renewed interest in the annual Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, to be presented at the summit on April 11. Last year there were 35 applicants, while the number of nominations for the 2006 awards reached 150 by the deadline of December 12. Awards will be presented for Destination, Conversation, Investment in People and Global Tourism Business.

Report by Phil Davies