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The
UN World Tourism Outlook and WTO Tourism
Code of Ethics
 With
the intention of protecting the earth's
natural environment and cultural heritage
from the non-stop growth of international
tourism, world leaders approved a Global
Code of Ethics for Tourism during a summit
meeting in Santiago. The code, developed
by the World Tourism Organization (WTO),
sets out a 10-point blueprint for
safeguarding the resources upon which
tourism depends and for ensuring that more
of the skyrocketing profits from tourism
benefit residents of tourism
destinations.
"With
international tourism forecast to nearly
triple in volume in the first 20 years of
the next century, we felt that the Code of
Ethics was needed to ensure the
sustainability of our industry," said WTO
Secretary-General Francesco
Frangialli.
 Photo:
Watch for our story featuring
Globe
and
environmental concerns for Canada's remote
areas (above) including the Arctic
tundra.
The
Global Code of Ethics for Tourism includes
nine articles outlining the 'rules of the
game` for destinations, governments, tour
operators, developers, travel agents,
workers and travellers themselves. The
tenth article involves the redress of
grievances through the creation of a World
Committee on Tourism Ethics. For example,
travellers are required to learn about the
customs, health hazards and security risks
of countries they are preparing to visit
before departure, while destinations and
tourism professionals are held responsible
for repatriating tourists in the case of
the bankruptcy of a travel service
provider.
Investors
and public authorities are required to
carry out environmental impact studies
before beginning tourism development
projects and to involve local residents.
Other articles involve the rights of
workers in the tourism industry and the
freedom of movement of people across
national boundaries. The code was
developed after extensive consultation
with governments, trade associations,
labour unions, private sector companies
and non-governmental organizations. It
marks the first time that a document of
this type will have a mechanism for
enforcement, which will be based on
conciliation through the World
Committee
on Tourism Ethics.
The five-day WTO General Assembly, held in
Santiago from September 27 to October 1,
attracted some 800 delegates from 110
nations around the world-including 60
ministers or secretaries of state for
tourism. Other items on the agenda
included a day-long session on Tourism
& Cyberspace and the release of a new
study published by the WTO Business
Council Marketing Tourism Destinations in
the Information Age.
"Internet
is the perfect medium for public-private
cooperation in tourism and it is
revolutionizing all aspects of the tourism
sector," said Business Council CEO Jose
Luis Zoreda. Delegates also endorsed a new
system for accurately measuring the
economic impact of tourism activity called
the Tourism Satellite Account and urged
member nations to begin implementing the
system as a way of raising awareness about
the vital role of tourism in their
national economies.
"The
meetings surpassed our expectations, both
in the quantity of high-level participants
and the quality of the topics debated-all
of them relevant to preparing our tourism
sector for the next millennium," said
Cesar Gomez, director of Chile's national
tourism service SERNATUR, which hosted the
General Assembly. Swaziland and Hong Kong
(China) were approved as new members of
the organization.
Tourism
for peace
In a first of its kind decision, Japan and
South Korea agreed to jointly host WTO's
next General Assembly in the cities of
Osaka and Seoul in 2001-just one year
before the two countries are to jointly
host the World Cup football championships.
"More than anything else we will try to
translate the theme of 'peace through
tourism' into practice through the joint
hosting of the General Assembly," said
South Korea's Vice Minister for Tourism
and Culture Soon-Kyu Kim, adding that he
hoped the international meeting would
focus world attention on reunification of
the divided Korean peninsula. WTO has
received bids from Croatia and Nigeria to
host the General Assembly of
2003.
In
addition, Germany was chosen to host World
Tourism Day festivities on September 27
next year in conjunction with the
Universal Expo in Hanover under the theme
of Technology and Nature: Two Challenges
for Tourism at the Dawn of the 21st
Century. Iran will host World Tourism Day
celebrations in 2001 with the theme of
Tourism: A Tool for Peace and Dialogue
among Civilizations in association with
UNESCO's declaration of 2001 as the 'Year
of Dialogue'.
For
further information contact:
Deborah
Luhrman
Tel. (34) 91-567-8100
Fax (34) 91-567-8218
Email:
dluhrman@world-tourism.org
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