ABOUT TOURISM

Poverty alleviation has become an essential condition for peace, environmental conservation and sustainable development, besides being an ethical obligation in an affluent world, where the divide between poor and rich nations seems to have increased in recent years. There is a stronger evidence that tourism if developed and managed in a sustainable manner, can make a significant contribution to alleviate poverty, especially in rural areas, where most of the poor live and where there are very few other development options.

Travel & Tourism is the world’s largest industry and creator of jobs across national and regional economies. World Travel and Tourism Council research shows that in 2000, Travel & Tourism will generate, directly and indirectly, 11.7% of Gross Domestic Product and nearly 200 million jobs in the world-wide economy. International tourism arrivals in 2002 exceeded 700 million, generating $US 474.2 billion in worldwide receipts. These figures are forecasted to have an upward trend in 2010.

Jobs generated by Travel & Tourism are spread across the economy - in retail, construction, manufacturing and telecommunications, as well as directly in Travel & Tourism companies. These jobs employ a large proportion of women, minorities and young people; are predominantly in small and medium sized companies; and offer good training and transferability. Tourism can also be one of the most effective drivers for the development of regional economies. These patterns apply to both developed and emerging economies.

The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, Francesco Frangialli, rightly observed that “tourism is a major factor in the war on poverty. For most Developing Countries, LDC’s and Small Island Developing States it is their largest single export and major driver of jobs, investment and economic transformation. It is growing in these countries at significantly higher rates than in OECD states. Also in general these poor countries are most vulnerable to climate change and at the same time are the ones who create the least green house gas emissions. Tourism must be allowed to grow responsibly to these states and actions to curb emissions must take this into account”.

The geographical expansion and labour intensive nature of the Tourism sector provide ?a spread of employment which is particularly relevant in remote and rural areas where ?many of the poor live.

?UNWTO statistics show the growing strength of the tourism industry for developing ?countries:?

• International tourism receipts for developing countries (low income, lower and ?upper middle income countries) will soon pass more than US$ 250 billion.?


• Tourism is one of the major export sectors of poor countries and a leading ?source of foreign exchange in 46 of the 49 Least Developed Countries.?

Through its ST-EP programme (Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty), UNWTO ?has put in place a framework for poverty alleviation, linking its longstanding pursuit of ?sustainable tourism with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and its own ?Global Code of Ethics.

Funding has been approved for 13 ST-EP projects so far, amounting to around US$1 ?million, benefiting 18 countries (Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Honduras, Kenya, Lao, ?Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia, and a regional ?project in West Africa). In parallel, 25 ST-EP projects are being implemented by ?UNWTO with funding from the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) for a total ?of around € 1.2 million (Albania, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Montenegro, Nepal, ?Niger, Rwanda, SADC countries, Uganda). Italy, is funding 8 ST-EP projects ??(Colombia, Ghana, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mail), and funding has been approved for ?additional projects during 2007.