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 UGANDA
PRESIDENT H.E. YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI TO BE PATRON
OF 4th IIPT AFRICAN CONFERENCE
Kampala, Uganda,
May 20-25, 2007
(Stowe, VT., March 7, 2007) -
H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President, Republic of
Uganda, will formally open the 4th IIPT African
Conference on Peace through Tourism being held at
the newly opened Kampala Serena Hotel and
Conference Center, Kampala, Uganda, May 20,
2007. Theme of the Conference is "Building
Strategic Alliances for Sustainable Tourism
Development, Peace and Reconciliation on the
African Continent."
IIPT Founder and President,
Louis D'Amore stated: "We are most honored
to have President Museveni as Patron of the 4th
IIPT African Conference, which promises to be our
most exciting and successful African Conference to
date. More than 400 delegates from some 50
countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, North, South,
and Central America and the Caribbean are
anticipated to take part in the
Conference."
Hosts of the Conference are
the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, The
Honorable Janat B. Mukwaya, MP, Minister,
and The Honorable Serapio Rukundo, Minister
of State. The Conference is being organized by the
International Institute for Peace through Tourism
(IIPT) in partnership with the Africa Travel
Association (ATA) and the World Bank in support of
the U.N. Decade of Peace and Non-Violence for the
Children of World and the U.N. Millennium
Development Goals.
Conference goals are to
broaden awareness of the social, cultural,
environmental and economic benefits of tourism,
identify new markets, facilitate product
development and investment opportunities, and
contribute to reconciliation, peace, wealth
creation and poverty reduction throughout the
African Continent.
 With
the participation of Bermuda Premier The
Honorable Dr. Ewart F. Brown as a keynote
speaker, an additional focus of the conference will
be in support of the Africa Diaspora Heritage Trail
- a visionary initiative of the Bermuda Government
- and the building of long term relationships of
tourism, friendship and collaboration among African
nations and nations of the Africa Diaspora in
regions throughout the world.
Susan Muhwezi, Special
Assistant to the President and Director of
SPA-ELGSU, AGOA & Trade Related Matters will
also play a leading role in the conference. Ms.
Muhwezi is also President of the Africa Travel
Association (ATA) Uganda Chapter. First Lady Janet
Museveni is Patron of the chapter.
The conference will bring
together Ministers of Tourism and senior executives
from both the public and private sectors of
tourism, donor agencies, and NGO's; as well as
Traditional Leaders, educators, policy analysts,
entrepreneurs, leading practitioners, future
leaders of the industry, and senior representatives
of related sectors including environment, culture,
and economic development.
In addition to plenary
sessions with keynote speakers, the Conference
program will include concurrent sessions and
workshops with presentations of outstanding
"Success Stories" and "Models of Best
Practice." Pre-Conference events will include
three full day forums: Educators Forum,
Student/Youth Leadership Forum, and for the first
time &endash; a Traditional Leaders Forum. Training
Workshops in selected topics are also
planned.
This year's conference will
include the first ever Africa Media Exchange
(A-MEx) being organized in partnership with
Counterpart International. The Exchange will
feature prominent media personalities from Africa,
Europe, North America and the Caribbean.
The goal of the Africa Media
Exchange is to develop communication strategies
&endash; actions - and commitments leading to a
more balanced and positive international image of
Africa &endash; its lands, its cultures, and its
peoples in regions throughout the world.
The 4th IIPT African
Conference builds on the foundation of three
previous IIPT African conferences, Lusaka, Zambia
(2005), Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania
(2003), and Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province, South
Africa (2002), as well as three Global Summits on
Peace Through Tourism : Amman, Jordan (2000),
Geneva, Switzerland (2003), and Pattaya, Thailand
(2005.
About International Institute
for Peace through Tourism (IIPT)
IIPT is dedicated to
fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives
which contribute to international understanding and
cooperation, an improved quality of environment,
the preservation of heritage and poverty reduction,
and through these initiatives, help bring about a
more peaceful and sustainable world.
IIPT's mission is to
mobilize travel and tourism, the world's largest
industry, as the world's first 'Global Peace
Industry,' an industry that promotes and supports
the belief that 'Every traveler is potentially an
Ambassador for Peace.'
For more information on IIPT
please visit: www.iipt.org; Tel: 802
253.2658;
Fax: 802 253.2645; Email:
Africa@iipt.org
For more information on
Counterpart International please visit:
www.counterpart.org
Media Contact: Karen Hoffman,
The Bradford Group. Tel: 212 447 0027; Email:
iiptmedia@aol.com
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