The UNWTO Secretary-General said he was “deeply saddened” by the heavy loss of life, injuries and destruction caused by Saturday’s powerful earthquake. In his letter to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia, the…
The UNWTO Secretary-General said he was “deeply saddened” by the heavy loss of life, injuries and destruction caused by Saturday’s powerful earthquake. In his letter to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia, the Secretary-General also extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and to the Government of Indonesia.
He pledged UNWTO assistance to the country to assess and identify the priority areas of relief in helping to recover from this natural disaster. “Support to Indonesia is part of our mission for international solidarity in times of crises,” was the message Mr. Frangialli took to President H. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when they met last January in conjunction with the UNWTO International Conference on Cultural Tourism and Local Communities, part of the Organization`s recovery support programme for the country, staged in Yogyakarta from 8-10 February this year.
Indonesia was not able to enjoy the success of other Asian destinations which achieved an average of seven per cent growth in 2005, and the first half of 2006 continues to be a difficult period for the tourism industry.
Since last year UNWTO has carried out a number of support activities, including the Regional Conference on Tourism Communications; an international tour operators fam trip aimed at promoting the region; a Seminar on Positioning, Re-Positioning and Image Recovery; a Post Tsunami Recovery DVD documentary. UNWTO is planning to distribute the documentary during the Ministerial roundtable meeting in Macau on 13-14 June with the message that “tourism helps recovery”.
UNWTO is considering a new package of projects to assist the affected country in restoring tourism and helping local communities.
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