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Media Center
MEDIA ADVISORY United Nations and Travel Industry Experts to Discuss Collaboration to Promote Sustainable Tourism
WASHINGTON, D.C., (April 30, 2007) —
Travel industry leaders and World Heritage conservation experts will discuss how collaborative partnerships are rapidly growing as a strategy to ensure the conservation of some of the world’s most treasured travel destinations at a media roundtable prior to the 2007 Global Travel & Tourism Summit on Thursday, May 10, 2007 at the Tivoli Hotel and Conference Center in Lisbon, Portugal.
Tourism is common issue among many of the 830 World Heritage sites around the globe that are protected by the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. If managed improperly, tourism can jeopardize the long-term conservation of these sites. However, sustainable tourism can also be an innovative solution to aid in the conservation of World Heritage sites and bring economic opportunity to local communities. The key to successful sustainable tourism strategies around World Heritage sites is effective and mutually-beneficial collaboration between the private sector tourism industry, governments, civil society groups, and local communities.
The World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, a public-private initiative to promote sustainable tourism to World Heritage sites, represents a very promising and emerging model for how the travel industry can lead efforts to conserve World Heritage sites and foster local community development. Launched in late 2005 by Expedia, Inc. and the United Nations Foundation, the World Heritage Alliance for Sustainable Tourism now includes 15 members and partners, including hotels, tour operators, conservation organizations, and governments. Since beginning work in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, home to five World Heritage sites, World Heritage Alliance members and partners have begun to implement a series of initiatives designed to educate travelers about World Heritage sites and responsible tourism; transform business practices to be more sustainable; partner with local communities to share the benefits of tourism; and more. Among the leaders in these efforts is Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, winner of the 2006 WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Award, which is partnering as a member of the World Heritage Alliance at its flagship resort in the Yucatan Peninsula, the Fairmont Mayakoba.
WHAT: A roundtable discussion outlining the key challenges and recent advances in public-private collaboration to conserve World Heritage sites through sustainable tourism. Topics to be addressed include: effective interpretation and communication to travelers on responsible tourism; partnering with local community sustainable tourism providers; and how to respond to climate change and its effects on World Heritage sites.
WHO:
- Kiaran MacDonald, General Manager, The Savoy, A Fairmont Hotel
- Michelle White, Director, Environmental Affairs
UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE CENTRE
- Kishore Rao, Deputy Director
- Art Pedersen, Sustainable Tourism Specialist
WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURISM COUNCIL
- Costas Christ, Chairman, Tourism for Tomorrow Awards
UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION
- Erika Harms, Executive Director of Sustainable Development (Moderator)
WHEN: Thursday, May 10, 2007
4:15-5:00 p.m. – Media Roundtable
5:00-7:00 p.m. – Cocktail Reception
WHERE: Tivoli Hotel and Conference Center
Av. da Liberdade, 185
Lisbon, Portugal
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