REPORT – BERLIN – ITB 2007: UNWTO welcomed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) focus on Travel & Tourism competitiveness (*) as a valuable new research process. It is a timely reference for states participating in the final stages of the…
REPORT – BERLIN – ITB 2007: UNWTO welcomed the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) focus on Travel & Tourism competitiveness (*) as a valuable new research process. It is a timely reference for states participating in the final stages of the Doha Development Round to provide proactive support for developing countries to help increase their tourism competitiveness to reduce poverty and advance sustainability.
UNWTO notes particularly
- Its useful, initial research on tourism competitiveness strengths and weaknesses, complementing actual performance in the marketplace.
- Its contribution to the global understanding of the socio-economic importance of the sector.
- The strong recognition that Tourism Services are especially important for the world’s poorest countries.
- Its clear identification of the market advantage of states with evolved economies due in many respects to the flow through competitive benefits of industrialization and the converse drag effect of poverty and development. In other words, the competitiveness playing field is not level.
UNWTO believes this Report
Underscores UNWTO`s longstanding call for pro development strategies and agreements which enhance tourism competitiveness of the world`s poorest countries to advance economic well being, social development and mutual understanding.
Is a powerful support for all States acting within the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization, to increase tourism commitments and provide specific tools to help poor countries use tourism services to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.
International tourism represents more than a third of all trade in services and it is the services sector which will provide the economic growth and jobs in the decades ahead. It is here that the real returns and potential can be seen for the poorer countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where there is significant potential to create wealth and employment in rural areas, which concentrate the highest poverty rates.
Emerging destinations in developing countries have registered significant advances over the last years. In 2005, foreign exchange earnings generated by international tourism in developing countries exceeded 200 billion US$, four times the amount earned in 1990.
According to UNWTO estimates:
- Between 1990 and 2005 developing states market share of international arrivals grew from 28.6% to 40.3%
- Tourism can generate up to 40% of the GDP and jobs of small island states
- For LDCs, (the 50 poorest countries – mostly in Africa) the rate of growth in arrivals from 2000 to 2005 was 48% which almost tripled the global growth rate
- During the same period LDC international tourism receipts grew by 76% compared to worldwide growth of 41%
“The index provides a useful strategic tool for measuring those aspects that promote the development of the Travel & Tourism sector in different countries. The specific rankings reflect the overall competitiveness activity of the WEF itself over three decades. UNWTO is concerned about all states improving competitiveness, which is a means to an end rather than an end in itself and must ultimately contribute to the kind of socioeconomic goals sought in the Millennium Declaration and defined in our Global Code of Ethics As the Doha Round moves into its final stages, there may be an important opportunity to increase tourism benefits from this process, turning the attention to the contribution of Tourism Services to reduce poverty and increase sustainability, even ahead of other sectors”, UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman said.
(*) UNWTO participated as a partner in the World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report. UNWTO contribution – apart from its statistics on arrivals and revenues – focused on competitiveness and the development agenda arguing that proactive measures to increase the competitiveness of the worlds poorest countries would benefit two way trade in tourism services and the Millennium Development Goals.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
