Tourism Minister seeks common global tourism message with WTTC

Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, who recently assumed his duties as a member of the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), representing the entire Americas region, has met with David Scowsill President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) at ITB Berlin, to discuss the possibility of standardizing tourism messaging from a global point of view.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is the forum for business leaders in the Travel & Tourism industry. With Chief Executives of some one hundred of the world's leading travel & tourism companies as its members, the WTTC has a unique mandate and overview on all matters related to Travel & Tourism. The WTTC works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world's largest industries, supporting more than 258 million jobs and generating 9.1 per cent of world GDP.

Minister Bartlett, in commenting on the meeting said “one of the key issues facing tourism growth is that the messaging differs from one destination to the next, presenting a lack of cohesiveness and thus weakening the overwhelming argument that tourism is one of the main economic drivers in the 21st century."

“Moving forward, I intend to work with both partners in the WTTC and in the private sector to ensure that we can agree on a common set of numbers to guide the whole process forward. For example, tourism has to be seen as mainstream, as a sector that creates a high level of jobs, is an agent for social and economic change, has brought about economic wellbeing to countries and continents such as Africa and is above all a catalyst for peace, human relations, cultural exchange and general understanding of people,” Minister Bartlett outlined.

The Minister added that “if we can do this, then we will have the attention of global governments and achieve further and increased investment in our tourism products."

Issued by: The Ministry of Tourism