Tourism key to overcoming financial crisis – UNWTO
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Over 100 experts from 25 countries gathered in Guilin last week for the 2nd UNWTO Conference on Tourism Trends and Outlook. Despite the currently unfavourable economic outlook, the event concluded that tourism can be one of the key sectors contributing to overcome the current economic difficulties.
In the short term, the UNWTO said that overall prospects look quite gloomy. But it added that tourism is increasingly emerging as a strong potential contributor to economic recovery. An excellent example is China’s current plan to stimulate its 1.6 billion domestic travel market as one of the government’s measures to boost economic growth.
“Tourism can deliver more than most sectors for the economy as a whole. Mobility is hardwired into the human gene. Tourism - for business and leisure underpins trade, communication and modern lifestyles. It is one of the biggest export sectors and a vital increasingly important part of the development agenda.” said Geoffrey Lipman, UNWTO Assistant Secretary General.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that global leaders are looking to a green new deal to help respond to the challenges of the macroeconomic crisis and the climate and development agenda. New jobs, new technology, new finance to stimulate our economies and at the same time to reduce our carbon footprint”, said Lipman. “There is no better sector for this green economy approach than tourism.”
The conference was organised by the UNWTO in collaboration with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the Boao Forum for Asia and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and hosted by Guilin city with the support of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
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