UNWTO/Malaysia World Tourism Conference Calls for a Greener and More Profitable Tourism Sector.
The World Tourism Conference, held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia last week, called for a greener global tourism sector. Main focus was given to ecotourism and environmental protection in all the opening speeches and throughout the course of the two-day event during which many of the Tourism Ministers present emphasized their country’s green credentials.
“We are grateful by the take up of sustainable tourism throughout our membership. It has been a major focus for UNWTO for some years and holds significant benefits for tourism destinations and tourists alike”, said Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary General.
"While we want to put tourism at the forefront in terms of generating income for the country, we also want to ensure there no harm is done to the environment. That is why there is a need to establish specific guidelines on how green tourism is to be managed by the government and the various stakeholders "said Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin, opening the conference.
The tourism industry is again on a growth path following a challenging 2009, due to the global economic crisis. However, attendees heard high how unemployment continues to be a major cause of concern and the austerity measures and the rise in taxation implemented in several advanced economies to fight public deficits represent a clear challenge to many leading outbound tourism markets.
Asia and the Pacific has, however, bucked the negative trend and has been seeing regular consistent growth. The region, currently the second most visited in the world, with 181 million annual international tourist arrivals (21% of world total) saw international tourism receipts of US$ 204 billion (24% of world total) in 2009.
On the opportunities for renewed tourism growth, Mr. Rifai commented: “It is extremely troubling that certain governments appear to be looking at taxing outbound tourism as a source of revenue”. ”For tourism to deliver its enormous advantages – economic, social, cultural and environmental development - to the full, it needs to benefit from enabling environments. Both tourism facilitation policies and enabling legislative environments have been major factors in tourism’s success” he added.
The second World Tourism Conference, was held at the Magellan Sutera, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia on 4-6 October 2010. The event was attended by nearly 500 participants from over 30 countries, who deliberated the best ways to manage their national tourism industries.
