The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) have joined forces in a new initiative to promote tourism as a tool to eliminate poverty.
The two United Nations organs will set up Sustainable Tourism-Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) to raise funds and sponsor research into identifying the links between tourism and poverty reduction.
ST-EP will offer grants to small and micro companies or communities in developing countries to help create jobs and wealth through tourism.
Geoffrey Lipman, special advisor to the tourism organisation’s secretary-general Francesco Frangialli, told Sapa on Friday the project, using grants of about $10 000 or $20 000, could make a
enormous contribution in poorer regions.
”50 000 projects all over Africa will make a vast difference,” he said.
It is hoped the initiative will stimulate interest in the market and encourage established tourism companies to get involved in those areas.
Frangialli said at a media briefing at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Sandton, Johannesburg the organisation was looking at ways to harness the strong growth in global tourism for poverty alleviation.
”I strongly believe that it is possible to strongly increase growth in tourism and increase the market share of that growth for LDCs (least developed countries).”
In many LDCs tourism was the primary source of income, and across all those countries receipts from tourism had doubled between 1992 and 1998.
He said globally, annual international arrivals — a person spending at least one night in a foreign country — had increased from 25-million in 1950 to 693-million in 2001. This growth was expected to continue over the next two decades, reaching 1,6-billion in 2020.
Receipts from tourism had increased by an average of 11% a year over the past 50 years, and last year generated about $462-billion — more than the exports from petroleum and vehicles, Frangialli said.
The WTO is an intergovernmental organisation tasked by the UN to promote and develop tourism worldwide.
It consists of some 140 member states, and about 350 affiliate members, including local governments, tourism associations, airlines and hotel chains. – Sapa