As the forum for business leaders of our industry, the World Travel & Tourism Council(WTTC) organizes a ‘Global Travel & Tourism Summit' which takes place in May each year. The Summit provides a unique platform for the world's most influential people, both public and private sector, to bring forward the agenda for Travel & Tourism as a contributor to social and economic prosperity, across the globe.

Following the success of the 3rd Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Vilamoura, Portugal, WTTC* is organizing the Global Travel & Tourism Summitbe held in Doha, Qatar from 1-3 May 2004.

The aims of this Summit are:

• To allow the industry to speak at the highest level to bring forward the agenda for Travel & Tourism as a contributor to economic regeneration, employment and investment;


• To promote real public/private dialogue and partnership;


• To enable WTTC Members to share their views with government officials and executives from across the Travel & Tourism industry;


• To afford executives, who are not Members of WTTC, the opportunity to meet other leaders from the industry.

The Summit will be a forum where WTTC will help reposition the industry and create a new platform to achieve the following goals:

• To speak with one voice about the importance of Travel & Tourism.


• To work together on a practical level to overcome the current crisis.


• To underline the need for public and private sector partnership.


• To ensure governments recognize Travel & Tourism as a top social and economic priority.


• To balance the industry's growth with society and the environment.


• To equip the industry for economic and political uncertainty.


• To engage all stakeholders in pursuit of long-term growth and prosperity.

There has been great support from WTTC Members for the Summit and Qatar Airways is playing an integral role in the promotion of the event as host sponsor. The recent Summit held in Vilamoura, Portugal was an enormous success and selected press cuttings are shown overleaf.