UNWTO Roundup: APD Slated – Tourism Recovery Roadmap Unanimously Endorsed

Wednesday, 16 Oct, 2009 0

Agreement to get travel and tourism included in economic stimulus packages and move to Green Economy

See also: Top Economist predicts tourism growth www.travelmole.com/stories/1138823.php TourismT20? www.travelmole.com/stories/1138822.php Roadmap Endorsed www.travelmole.com/stories/1138797.php Global Tourism Recovery? www.travelmole.com/stories/1138759php H1N1Pandemic www.travelmole.com/stories/113774.php A Steppe in the Right Direction:www.travelmole.com/stories/1138750.php

The UNWTO General Assembly closed last week with an unanimous agreement underscoring the enormous importance of the tourism sector for job creation, trade and development.

It highlighted the dangers of increasing taxes such as the UK APD and called on governments to reconsider proposed increases and adopted a strong declaration designed to encourage governments to remove unnecessary regulatory and bureaucratic restrictions on travel which hamper its flow,

The Assembly elected a new Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai and a new management team, and approved the Roadmap for Recovery to respond to the economic crisis and its effect on the Travel and Tourism sector. The Roadmap is a manifesto that identifies the sector’s importance in global economic resilience; stimulus and transformation to a green economy.

The Assembly called for a moratorium on burdensome travel taxes – citing particularly the UK Airport Passenger Duty – which targets tourism, places a serious burden on poor countries as they face difficult economic challenges and it undermines efforts to promote fair tourism trade by distort markets.

The Assembly also passed a Declaration encouraging governments to review burdensome border control regulations and visa policies and to simplify them wherever possible to boost travel and increase its economic impacts and expressed its support for a successful outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Conference and endorsed the UN-led Seal the Deal Campaign which seeks to. galvanize widespread support for a fair and balanced Copenhagen accord.

The Assembly reviewed and endorsed action taken by UNWTO in the framework of the UN system, to increase tourism’s preparedness to respond to the H1N1 pandemic.

The Astana Declaration underscoring the relevance of the Silk Road Initiative, was adopted. The declaration highlights the exceptional value and diversity of the tourism potential of the Asian countries traversed by the ancient Silk Roads.

Vanuatu was welcomed as a new Full Member, while a total of 89 private and public Affiliate Members also joined. UNWTO now has 161 Member states and regions and a record high 409 Affiliate Members. The Assembly also called upon those UN member countries that do not yet belong to the UNWTO to join the Organization.

THe next assembly will be in the Republic of Korea for its nineteenth session in 2011 dates to be agreed.

Relevant links:

UNWTO General Assembly: www.unwto.org/ga.php

Roadmap for Recovery: www.unwto.org/conferences/ga/en/pdf/18_08.pdf

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