Tourism Matters

During the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, which was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has called for higher support for tourism in international financing for development flows to maximize the sector’s contribution to sustainable development across the globe.

Despite its wide-reaching socio-economic impacts, tourism still receives limited attention as a tool for development Tourism’s under-representation in international financing for development flows remains a critical hurdle to overcome in order to fully deploy its development potential.

Despite being a high impact economic activity, a major job generator and key export sector accounting for 6% of total world trade, tourism receives only 0.78% of the total Aid for Trade (AfT) disbursements and a mere 0.097% of the total Official Development Assistance (ODA).

UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai notes that tourism has been identified by half of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as a priority instrument for poverty reduction.

Rifai observed: “For an increasing number of developing countries tourism means jobs, poverty eradication, community development, and the protection of natural and cultural heritage. Yet, in order to maximize tourism’s contribution to the development objectives, it is critical to address the disparity between the sector’s capacity to foster development and the low priority it has been given so far in terms of financial support in the development cooperation agenda.”

For more, go to http://www.unwto.org .