1st T.20 Ministers Meeting - South Africa, 23 February 2010

Opening Remarks by Mr Taleb Rifai

Secretary General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Dear Ministers,

Dear Heads of Delegation,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is immensely grateful to the Government of the Republic of South Africa, and in particular to our friend Minister Van Schalkwyk, as the inspiration of this inaugural T20 Ministerial meeting.

It is however not surprising,given thatSouth Africa is taking a leadership role in many areas relating to therapidly evolving global agenda and representing an important view from the South along with other nations like Brazil, China and India,which are committed to balanced multilateral solutions and global positions.

We are also fortunate to have our own leader in Minister Van Schalkwyk, who has worked tirelessly with his dedicated staff to organize this meeting and the important Summiton Tourism, Sports and Mega events that will follow. I want to formally thank you on behalf of all of us here.

This is not only a first meeting of its kind, but the first time that so many important players have met to consider the importance of the tourism sector in the global agenda.

We at UNWTO are very happy to support this initiative as it is totally consonant with theRoadmap for Recoveryapproved by our membershipin the last UNWTO General Assembly in Kazakhstan as the strategic framework for our global response to today’s multifaceted challenges. I say consonant but different in the sense that thisone is a Members driven initiative and that it is for you to decide how far to advance it and where to go from here.

UNWTO is here to help support any discussion and outcomes – and above all to ensure that these are effectively woven into our ongoing programs, policies and strategic plans.

We have worked closely with the Minister,and his team,to ensure the agenda and the discussion framework is conducive to objective analysis and fast action, where needed.

We believe that it is important that this initiative remains a transparent and inclusive process with a consolidated global outreach that can be easily embraced by other countries and the full membership of UNWTO.To ensure that, we will have a meeting of the TourismResilience Committee in Berlin next month,where we would be very pleased to count on the participation of Minister Van Schalkwyk and of other participants present here today, so that we have the opportunity to share with the wider global tourism community the outcomes of this meeting.

Ladies and gentleman,

We meet today as we start to leave behind one of the most difficult periods of recent history.

An unprecedented global economic crisis, coupled with the mounting environmental challenges,and aggravated by the uncertainty arising from the A(H1N1) pandemic, turned 2009 into one of toughest years for the tourism industry.

Results of recent months however suggest recuperation is underway, and even somewhat earlier and at a slightly stronger pace than initially expected. Growth has returned to international tourism in the last quarter of 2009 contributing to a full-year result that was not as depressed as initially expected, but of course always compared to the negative results of the last quarter of 2008.

International tourist arrivals fell by 4% in 2009 while earnings from international tourism have been somewhat more impacted as it has happened historically in moments of crisis. No doubt a disappointing result for an industry like ours accustomed to continuous growth.

The outlook is slightly brighter now than some months ago given the trends of recent months and the fact that the global economy is recovering ‘significantly’ faster than expectedaccording to the IMF.

In this framework, UNWTO forecasts a growth of 3% to 4% in international tourist arrivals in 2010.Asia is expected to continue showing the strongest rebound, while Europe and the Americas are likely to recover at a more moderate pace. Growth is expected to return to the Middle East and I am very happy to say that Africa, which was actually the only region in the world to grow in 2009, is expected to continue with this positive trend benefiting from the extra boost provided by the forthcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup here in South Africa.

Ladies and gentleman,

I would like at this point to share with you a few thoughts on the lessons learned from this crisis and the global challenges that lay ahead to help put your deliberations into a general perspective and provide a setting for discussion.

  • First;Though there are positive signs emerging from the global economy,we all recognize that recovery is still weakand uneven and that many downside risks remain− unemployment in particular is our major challenge; public debt and large budget deficits are also alarming. We must therefore assume that the world will continue to need to strengthen both its resilience and stimulus. How can we device creative ways for our sector to be positioned in any new cycle?
  • Second;It as become clear that global challenges such as the recent economic crisis and the climate imperatives can only be addressed in a global cooperative manner and in fora such as the UN or the G-20. But we have also learned that countries which have been quick in reacting and implementing measuresto mitigate the crisis have seen that their action has made a difference. We know that some governments have specifically reduced taxes on hotels or provided funds to help small tourism enterprises and taken specific action to encourage demand. Are there any lessons we can incorporate in our outputs here?
  • Third; Tourism is clearly influencedbya series of external factors that are not of the making of the tourism industry but that seriously impact our capacity to grow and to contribute to the global economy – security, armed conflicts, health scares, natural disasters, energy costs, higher appetitive fortax increases in view of growing public deficits and the like. How can we work together to ensure that global policies designed to address some of these challenges are supportive of sustainable tourism development and growth?
  • Fourth;If there is a single common issue of concern at this point this is unemployment. The OECD, the World Bank and the IMF see little positive prospects in terms of global jobs before 2011. We know that tourism can rapidly create jobs, particularly for young people, seasonal workers and women. We also know that labour markets are changing and that it is not just any jobs that will matter. Beyond the immediate term, it is skilled jobs, decent work and green economy jobs that we must strive for. Howcan webuck the general soft employment trend with a collective initiative that stimulates thepreservation and creation of decent jobs and qualifiesour human resources to bepart of the transformation to the green economy?
  • Fifth; The results of the Copenhagen Climate Summit can be interpreted in many ways but two realities emerged – the commitments by key countries to set reduction targets, and the agreement to provide significant adaptation funds for developing countries. How can we ensure that our commitment to the green economy puts tourism adaptation in the front line and highlights the needs of the poorest countries which can often best be served by our sector of the economy?
  • Sixth; Despite the relatively positive tourism growth trends from both the emerging and the developing countries,the poverty gap is still massive and we are still far from fair globalization. The need for transparency and global outreach is therefore essential in all our action. We already know that in the G-20 economic discussions,as well as in the global trade and climate negotiations, equitable inclusion of the non G-20 countries in any solution has been a priority. How can travel and tourism contribute to global equity and shared benefits?
  • And this leads me to my final and most important point. We are not here to try to alter the set agenda of the G-20, or to try to reset its priorities. It is our hope however that such an initiative can underscorethe contribution that the tourism sector can make to the main areas of action agreed by the G-20Leaders at their most recentSummit in Pittsburgh last September, among which I would like to highlight : a) a framework for Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth; b) Energy Security and Climate Change; c) Strengthening Support for the Most Vulnerable; d) Putting Quality Jobs at the Heart of the Recovery and e) An Open Global Economy. In all of these areas, tourism can make a significant contribution. This is why we are here today. And that is also why UNWTO has asked Professor Ian Goldin, Dean of the JamesMartin21stCenturySchool at Oxford, and former Vice-President of the World Bank, to undertake some new thinking with us on the contribution of tourism to economic growth and development. In particular, considering the actual and potential role of the sector to the economic recovery and the future path towards sustainable development and the transformation to the Green Economy. He will be with us tomorrow to share his initial ideas and a final report is expected to be available by May this year to help us craft further our joint efforts of positioning tourism in the global agenda and build a stronger, more sustainable and more responsible tourism sector.

The FMI has stressed that 2010 must be a “year of transformation“. A year in which, and I quote, “we must complete the global project to address the failings in regulation, economic policy and governance that lay behind the crisis.”How can tourism contribute to this transformation?

I shall not seek to pre-empt your discussions– rather to place theseissues into your thinking and deliberations.

They are already identified in the UNWTORoadmap for Recovery and I am sure the conclusions here will be a guiding light for that process.

1