ATN: Are you worried some nations will use this as an excuse to impose a green tax?
I am worried and I must bring in a specific example of the UK and the environmental departure tax that will become effective there at the end of the year.
It’s a horrible tax. First of all it is not going to any particular fund to tackle environmental issues, it’s going directly into the government budget. It’s an example of how things like this are used sometimes to deal with other problems and this must never be tolerated and we should be very vigilant.
ATN: Despite challenges, is this is an exciting time for the travel industry?
Absolutely, it’s a common fact that challenges create opportunities and we are at the brink of a wonderful opportunity summed up by the transformation into a green economy.
Travellers’ profiles are changing very quickly; they are educated, they are choosy and they are demanding more cultural stimulation. They are not going to be satisfied with what I would call empty luxury.
We need to start being smart about what we supply and what our product is about — this is our opportunity.
If people insist on working the same way as they did in the last 40 to 50 years they will find themselves out of the market very soon.
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About UNWTO
The World Tourism Organisation UNWTO is a specialised agency of the United Nations. It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how.
The organisation encourages the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, with a view to ensuring that member countries, tourist destinations and businesses maximise the positive economic, social and cultural effects of tourism and fully reap its benefits, while minimising its negative social and environmental impacts. Its membership includes 161 countries and territories and more than 390 affiliate members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.
About the Copenhagen climate conference
In 2012 the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate changes and global warming runs out.
To keep the process on the line there is an urgent need for a new climate protocol and at the conference in Copenhagen 2009 the parties of the UNFCCC meet for the last time on government level before the climate agreement needs to be renewed.
Governmental representatives from 170 countries are expected to congregate in Copenhagen for the conference.
UNWTO AT METMS
UNWTO assistant secretary general Geoffrey Lipman will be addressing the issue of climate change at this month’s inaugural Middle East Tourism Marketing Summit (METMS) in Dubai. METMS is a specialist event aimed at providing a platform for focus on travel and tourism trade and consumer marketing in the Middle East.
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