H.E. Jose Manuel Lopez Nadal

Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and gentlemen,
If we all are ready to learn from our experiences and to commit ourselves to cooperate to develop our respective tourism industries in a non-confrontational way under the principles of solidarity we should succeed in making our respective countries open to the peaceful influx of foreign visitors, that will learn from us and will also bring to our societies the beautiful diversity of their cultures, languages, lifestyles and artistic traditions. All this, needless to say, in accordance with the principles of sustainability, because the most valuable of our heritage is no other than our natural environment, that we must preserve for the future generations and for the pleasure and gratification of the visitors that we are ready to welcome from all corners of the world.
We cannot let terror influence our choices and decisions, change our habits and patterns thus impeding our own custom and tradition because of fear, and that goes for traveling as well. Bali should continue to be, even more than ever, a first-rate tourist destination. This should be our answer, with all our contempt, to the miserable murderers that perpetrated that horrid assault. As advocates of peace we need to be in the forefront to promote tourism, thereby fostering growth, equality, and development available for all people all over the world.
The terrorists, through their fanatical and murderous appeal to intolerance and violence, want to divide us and to make our world a sinister playground for blood and hatred; we must fight them with the instruments of knowledge, education and tolerance, with the idea that Mankind is our common identity and this fragile Earth our common home. If we make easier that more and more people can travel around the world —this and no other is the essence of tourism we will definitely promote peace, harmony and understanding all over our beautiful world.
Thank you for your kind attention

FOR A WORLD IN PEACE : TOURISM VERSUS TERRORISM
Juan Manuel Lopez Nadal
Ambassador of Spain to the Kingdom of Thailand
Royal Cliff Hotel and Conference Centre, Pattaya, Thailand,
4 October 2005

Mr. Louis D’Amore, Founder and President of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am deeply honored to be invited as the keynote Speaker of this 3rd Global
Summit on Peace Through Tourism here in the Royal Cliff Beach Resort and
Conference Centre, and I thank you for the kind invitation.

On Saturday, when I was finishing the text of my intervention, terrible news arrived on the last assault of terrorism in the Indonesian island of Bali, a lovely place that I have frequently visited and where I have some good friends. Let me start my intervention with a statement of strong condemnation of this murderous attack, that I am sure is fully shared by all present. Let’s also convey our feelings of sympathy to the victims and their families, to the kind and gentle people of Bali and to the whole Indonesian nation. Terrorists have attacked for a second time this emblematic outpost of international tourism in Southeast Asia; this is sadly the proof that tourism, as the best way for people to travel over the world and develop a better reciprocal knowledge of each other.

This despicable event makes even timelier this seminar, and I congratulate the organizers for their initiative.

Let me also express my gratitude and appreciation to our Thai hosts Thailand is not only a wonderful country with a wonderful people. This is also a country that thanks to the wise guidance of His Majesty the King has experienced a remarkable process in economic and social development, becoming one of the leading countries in the Asia-Pacific in the domain of tourism. And we all particularly admire the endurance and resilience shown by the Thai tourism industry, that so bravely fought and overcame the dramatic effects of last years’ Christmas tsunami, that carried away many lives of Thai citizens and visitors from all over the world, including some from my own country. The Thai authorities and the local populations gave us an outstanding example of caring concern for their guests and their families that we all very sincerely thank today. Besides, the Thai professionals in the areas of tourism have been able to rebuild the infrastructures that were so thoroughly damaged, and today’s Andaman Coast, like the rest of this Land of Smiles, is happily again a strong magnet for tourists from all corners of the world. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, let us acknowledge and express our gratitude to our Thai hosts for all that they have done in this respect.

As the International Institute for Peace through Tourism proudly proclaims, tourism is indeed a marvelous instrument that allows human beings to know and appreciate the qualities of far-away countries and people. In this sense, besides being a very important engine of economic growth, tourism is also a powerful tool for reciprocal knowledge and mutual understanding that are essential elements for a world in peace.
If, as we have just seen again in Bali, terrorism is one of the greatest threats for mankind in these early years of the new millennium, tourism should be used in all its potential as an alternative to foster these values of tolerance, respect and peaceful dialogue in order to build a real culture of peace and solidarity among different ideologies, religions and civilizations.

I acknowledge that the kind invitation conveyed to me by Mr. D’Amore to be your keynote speaker today is certainly not due to my very modest and limited personal capabilities, but to the specificity of my country, Spain, that, having been for many years one of the leading countries in tourism worldwide, has been also one of the most affected countries by the terrible effects of terrorism in the last decades. Let me talk to you about these two antagonistic circumstances.

We can say without exaggeration that Spain is one of the leading nations in tourism in the whole world. According to the World Tourism Organization - with headquarters in Madrid - , Spain is the second country in the world both by the number of foreign visitors (53.6 million tourists received in 2004) — preceded only by France; and by the amount of income obtained through tourism (45.2 billion US dollars in 2004) - preceded only by the USA.

World’s Top Tourism Destinations
International Tourist Arrivals							International Tourism Receipts
			In Million		% Change				US Billion $		% Change
	Countries	Series	2003	2004	‘03/’02	‘04/’03		Countries	2003	2004	2004/2005
1	France	TF*	75.0	75.1	-2.6	0.1	1	US	64.3	74.5	15.7
2	Spain	TF	51.8	53.6	-0.9	3.4	2	Spain	39.6	45.2	14.1
3	US	TF	41.2	46.1	-5.4	11.8	3	France	36.6	40.8	11.6
4	China	TF	33.0	41.8	-10.4	26.7	4	Italy	31.2	35.7	14.1
5	Italy	TF	39.6	37.1	-0.5	-6.4	5	Germany	23.1	27.7	19.7

TF: International tourist arrivals at frontiers (excluding same day visitors)
Source: World Tourism Organization

As a complement to the above said figures let me say that in 2004 Spain’s GDP growth rate was 2.6% -well above the Euro-zone average- and should be of around 3.2% in this year 2005. Per capita GDP was in 2004 of US dollars 23,300. The unemployment rate is still quite high (10.4%), but with a clear tendency to decrease below the two-digit figure in this year 2005.

1. Tourism is our main economic sector.

In effect, tourism accounts for 12% of Spain’s gross domestic product. The sector employs 11% of our working population, and the income from tourism helps alleviate around 70% of our trade deficit.
These magnitudes should be clear enough for our distinguished audience to evaluate the strategic importance of tourism for the Spanish economy.

Having been in the crossroads of civilizations, owing to its strategic geographical location in the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Spain has played a major role in the history of human civilizations, from the time of the Iberians, the Romans, the Wisigoths, the Arabs, the Jews and other peoples.
These are the very reasons why we have continuously maintained our position as the second most visited country in the world. We have showcased to the world eleven provinces declared by UNESCO as World Heritage sites, these are not just monuments, but these are the whole provinces in various regions being declared as World Heritage Sites, for preservation of natural environment, historical legacy, and propagation of cultures.

Historically speaking Spain started to open to the outside world through tourism at the late 50s, or early 60s of the last century. Besides bringing much-needed income in foreign currency tourism was a powerful tool to modernize our society that had remained isolated from the political, cultural and social trends of our European neighborhood due to years of dictatorship and lack of basic freedoms and essential human rights. The dictatorial regime opened the borders to a peaceful invasion of foreign visitors, which reluctantly accepted as it was in desperate need of income to foster a stagnant and backward economy. I dare to say that to a large extent the growing demand of the Spanish society for more freedom and openness was one of the essential factors that would bring about the peaceful transformation of a hardcore and old-fashioned dictatorship into the modern democratic state and the vibrant economy that is today.
In this sense I would also conclude that tourism is a strong instrument for political change towards democracy and a free market economy in a globalized world; in this sense I strongly believe that the opening to tourism of countries that nowadays suffer under the oppression of brutal dictatorships —some of them that I will not certainly name in this very region — should sooner or later bring down the tyrannical structures and give way for a free society that we all hope not only for our own countries but for all mankind.

Finally, tourism must be used by our political, economic and cultural leaders as one of the best channels to foster a better reciprocal knowledge among peoples, religions and civilizations. Only through this reciprocal knowledge we will be able to fight together against the forces of ignorance, fanaticism and intolerance that, together with injustice and widespread poverty, are the root causes of the horrible, worldwide plague that challenges our world: international terrorism and violence.

2. Spain’s resistance against the attacks of terrorism

Yes, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: Spain has a long experience in the potentialities of tourism; we have also suffered for many years the criminal challenge of terrorism.

In spite of having developed into a fully democratic State that preserves and protects national, regional and local identities Spain ha suffered for decades the violent attacks of ethnically-motivated, secessionist terrorism that has brought death unto thousands of families during all the present democratic period until today. Fortunately, due to the wise combination of security, political and social measures, terrorists are today almost completely isolated from the local Basque community and have become a residual force. The only hope for the terrorist organization ETA is to dissolve itself, to give up violence and lay down their weapons. The Spanish Government under Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has committed itself to work for peace and reconciliation once that the terrorists clearly renounce violence, a violence that will only bring defeat for them. Over our political and regional differences the overwhelming majority of Spaniards are strongly resolved to oppose terrorism with all democratic means.

Besides, Spain has also been attacked by international terrorists belonging to the Al Qaida network. On March 11 2004 192 people were killed and thousands more injured in a series of simultaneous attacks against commuter railways in Madrid and its neighborhood. We face therefore, together with many other countries, the brutal and criminal challenge of a worldwide organization of murderers that try to justify their bloody activities in the name of Islam.

For your information, I would like to remark the fact that, besides the terrible shock of the first impact of the terrorist attacks, tourism in Spain was not substantially affected as the authorities found the ways to fight the terrorist in the most efficient way without alarming the general population and with no need whatsoever of encroaching on the basic rights and freedoms of our population and of our foreign visitors. It may seem a paradox that tourism grew in the Madrid region well above the national average in 2004(10% vs. 3.5%).

Last year, exactly 11 months after the Madrid train bombings Spain played host to the very first ever event organized by UNESCO called FORUM Barcelona 2004.

The Forum had three main core themes:
• Cultural Diversity
• Sustainable Development
• Conditions for Peace

The Barcelona Forum drew a total of 6, 3916, 001 participants and exhibitors design artists, guest speakers, conference participants, and performers to name a few. It welcomed a total of 3,072.0881 spectators, in which an estimated 70% were foreign visitors and tourists.

The seemingly contradictory events in 2004 — terrorist attacks versus cultural and tourist international events — are the proof of Spain’s commitment to the principles and values of the United Nations.

There is certainly an alternative to terrorism: justice and development versus poverty, education versus ignorance, tolerance versus hatred, and mutual knowledge versus fanaticism. And tourism is called to play a critical role in this strategy.

The first thing that we all should do is to deny the terrorists the right to speak on behalf of Islam, a religion of peace and tolerance in their murderous behavior. We should not accept the reasoning of the terrorists that want to divide us under the pretext of our belonging to different cultural and religious traditions. Starting with our Muslim friends, we should all denounce their criminal activities as contrary to any religious belief and resolutely fight together for their eradication.

These criminal gangs invoke Islam —as they could invoke Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism or any other religious belief. We must face them with the utmost determination, as violence and murder can never be condoned and should never prevail.

The best means of fighting international terrorism, whether the so-called Islamist-oriented or any other, whichever its religious, ethnic or ideological pretext, is to fight the roots that feed it. We must join our efforts in fighting poverty, ignorance and fanaticism, following the principles settled by the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goals, to which the International Institute for Peace through Tourism is committed.

As you may know the Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, proposed to the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2004 the establishment of an Alliance of Civilizations as the means to foster tolerance and mutual understanding as the best antidotes against hatred, fanaticism and ignorance under which the evils of violence and terrorism grow. This initiative, co-sponsored by the Prime Minister of Turkey Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was recently endorsed by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, who will arrange for the appropriate activities to enhance and foster its noble aims. The exchange of reciprocal knowledge among peoples and civilizations through the marvelous instrument of tourism will certainly be considered.

I am therefore pleased to convey to this Global Summit on Peace through Tourism the strong support of the Spanish Government to the most commendable task of promoting peace through the development of tourism.