3 October 2005
Third Global Summit on Peace through Tourism
2-5 October 2005
Pattaya, Thailand
Keynote Speech
by
Mr. Kim Hak-Su
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, and
Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured and pleased to address the Third Global
Summit on Peace through Tourism. It is, indeed, wonderful to know that the
Tourism is now one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the world
and has an impact far beyond its economic and business aspects. Recent
estimates by the World Travel and Tourism Council indicate that the tourism
industry contributes to around 10 per cent of global GDP and provides
employment to some 215 million people worldwide. Over 760 million people were
traveling as international tourists in 2004. Tourism is on its way to becoming
the largest industry in the world and is an increasingly important catalyst for
globalization in terms of intensified economic, social and cultural relations
across borders.
I am sure that all of us here firmly believe that international tourism will maintain
and strengthen its contribution to economic development. However, we have to
take greater responsibility to reinforce the potential for tourism to reduce
poverty, protect the environment and contribute more to peace for future
generations.
The central challenge that we face today is to ensure that countries can seize
the new opportunities created by globalization while minimizing the inevitable
costs. Globalization is shaping a new environment with profound implications
for economic and social development, business behaviour
and the overall level of economic welfare of nations.
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The process of globalization has led to phenomenal surges in international
trade and investment. Globalization, which involves accelerated interactions
and integration due to less costly, more frequent and faster transport;
improved access to information technologies; and freer movement of capital,
goods and people, has also created enormous opportunities for the expansion of
tourism.
In economic terms, international tourism has often been a principal source of
foreign exchange earnings for developing countries. Tourism is also playing a
vital role in the socio-economic development of many least developed countries,
including
Importantly, tourism can make a real contribution to spreading development to
regions that may not have benefited from other types of economic development.
Tourism offers labour intensive and small-scale
business opportunities and employs a high proportion of women and youth. The
potential of tourism to create jobs is particularly important since
unemployment is the principal social and economic challenges facing many
developing countries. Tourism’s capacity to employ women and youth as well as
other vulnerable members of society can contribute greatly to social equity.
In the
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tourism can encourage greater awareness of the environment and cultural
heritage when many stakeholders participate with the government to create
appropriate tourism programmes and policies. This
dynamic form of cooperation works, since it is based on travelers seeking to
enjoy and appreciate local culture and the natural environment in all of its
diversity. The tourism industry thus has a direct and powerful incentive to
protect the heritage and the environment as both resources and assets. It is
possible for tourism to generate financial resources to rehabilitate historic
sites and buildings; conserve the natural environment; revitalize culture and
encourage craftspeople and artists to maintain their traditional skills.
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The United Nations Millennium Declaration committed the member countries to
reducing by half the number of people living on less than a dollar a day by
2015. Tourism can be in the frontline of the fight against poverty. We know
that the tourism industry can create a number of development synergies to help
overcome poverty through job creation in various regions, including remote
rural areas. This is particularly important since the great majority of people
in extreme poverty live in rural areas. Through the creation and promotion of
new products, tourism can have a uniquely sustainable role in directly reducing
poverty.
There is no doubt that tourism can contribute to poverty reduction. However,
there is a clear need for the right strategies to enhance the role of tourism.
Efforts by the government and other stakeholders need to be combined and
coordinated. Strategies should be based on the specific needs and aspirations
of the poor in order to design practical measures that maximize benefits for
people who are poor and vulnerable. It would be critical to empower
marginalized communities through their involvement in tourism policy-making and
planning process in their locality. It would be essential to enhance awareness
of local communities about the importance of preserving the environment and
socio-cultural heritage to their own economic and social benefit and provide
them with necessary support. This is a challenge we need to address together if
we are to create viable and sustainable tourism products that will attract
tourists and thereby generate incomes.
We also need to recognize that providers of tourism services, particularly
hotels, can play a critical role in poverty reduction through the purchase of
goods and services provided by local communities that include poor people. It
is, therefore, particularly important that strategies for sustainable tourism
development include ways to make mainstream tourism businesses more aware and
active in their concern for poor people. This can include employment, supply
chain management and support for local communities. Indeed, we would see such
responsible initiatives as being an opportunity for mainstream tourism
operators that they are not exploiting but preserving the very products that
they offer.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tourism and peace should be linked not only through our ideas but actions.
Tourism can foster cross-cultural understanding among peoples of different
nationalities and thus serve as a potential vehicle for world peace. Ignorance,
misunderstanding, racism and xenophobia have a long history of leading to
conflict. It is through our common thirst for knowledge that understanding
people and their values is a basis for a peaceful world.
Tourism provides opportunities for direct contact between people with different
culture and values. The growth of international tourism thus promotes mutual
understanding and has the potential to contribute significantly to a culture of
peace worldwide.
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It goes almost without saying that peace is a prerequisite for the tourism
industry to maintain its growth and record of success. As we are aware, in
recent years, tourism has been the direct victim of numerous incidents that
have hindered the healthy growth of the industry. For instance, the tourism
industry in the Asia- Pacific region has been severely affected by the
terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the
I now would like to reflect on the issue of “non-violence for the children of
the world”. We have to understand and acknowledge that fast economic growth and
far-reaching social changes over the past two decades has made some groups more
vulnerable to many different forms of violence. Macroeconomic reforms designed
to accelerate growth in the future must incorporate measures to safeguard the
interests of the weakest sections of society, including women, youth and
children. Among this group, children are the most vulnerable and they need
special protection. In the past, the system of extended families and caring
communities protected and nurtured the growth of children in countries of
The Global Code of Ethics of the World Tourism Organization states that the
exploitation of human beings in any form particularly sexual, especially when
applied to children, goes against the fundamental aims of tourism. Exploitation
of children contradicts principles, values and respect for human rights which
should define the contribution of tourism to international peace and
understanding.
In this context, the World Congress Against Commercial
Sexual Exploitation met in 1996 and developed an Agenda for Action that
included multi-sectoral and cross-boundary responses.
The sexual abuse of children has a severe and long lasting impact on the health
and well-being of victims. Child sex tourism cannot be tolerated, because it is
one of the most brutal forms of violence against children. We cannot look the
other way, all tourism stakeholders must commit to preventing sexual
exploitation of children in tourism destinations.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
UNESCAP is firmly committed to activities aimed at sustainable tourism
development. Our tourism programme aims to help
governments maximize the socioeconomic benefits from tourism development while
minimizing adverse impacts. The Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism
Development in the Asian and Pacific Region is one initiative of the
secretariat. It was launched in 1999 to increase the contribution of tourism at
the national and regional level and to assist the long-term prosperity in
The Plan of Action will expire at the end of 2005. UNESCAP is convening a
High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on Sustainable Tourism Development that
will be hosted by the Government of Indonesia in
I am encouraged to see that this
Millennium Development Goals and the United Nations Decade of Peace and NonViolence for the Children of the World under the theme
of “One Earth One Family”.
The theme embodies fundamental values that are essential for international
relations
in a globalizing world: Freedom, Equality, Solidarity, Tolerance, Respect
for
Nature and Shared Responsibility.
I am sure that these values and principles will be the basis for discussions
during the Third Global Summit on Peace through Tourism.
I extend my most optimistic wish that this