G-8 Summit in Scotland Shrugged Off Tourism, Travel Altogether

The leaders of the eight richest countries in the world, who met last week in Scotland, may be missing an opportunity to help poor countries help themselves.

The G-8 summit omitted tourism from its agenda, despite global evidence that the hospitality industry provides an avenue to sustained prosperity in poor countries that have few other resources or access to world markets.

"It may be just plain ignorance," said Paul Freud, chairman of the Institute of Travel and Tourism. "Ignorance of politicians about the value of tourism in any country´s economy, and ignorance on the part of the travel trade about how to lobby effectively and make politicians better informed. Tourism is the world´s biggest industry and it is growing. Look at Egypt and notice how government investment on tourism promotion has paid dividends in recent years."

In an open letter to the G8 summit, the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) appealed for greater recognition of the value of tourism for poor African countries. ICTP president Geoffrey Lipman called on the G-8 leaders to work with international finance institutions, such as the World Bank, to give increased support for tourism and transport.

Mr. Lipman urged them to promote Africa as a place to visit. “More importantly, fund a multi-year, multi-market advertising campaign to encourage tourists from industrialized nations to visit Africa because there is no aid as effective as the income from tourists –business and leisure travelers- that finds its way straight to local communities. A derisory amount for multimedia promotion by industrialized countries´ standards would be a massive boost for Africa.”

The lack of any consideration of tourism in the G-8 summit agenda was criticized by Justin Francis, founder of Responsible Travel, a London-based specialist travel agent. In a statement he said the G-8 leaders, the Commission for Africa and even the Make Poverty History campaign were ignoring tourism as a factor in relieving poverty in the long run.