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The First International Conference on Climate
Change and Tourism was held successfully in Djerba, Tunisia, from 9 to 11 April 2003. More than 150
participants from 42 countries and six international organizations gathered
at this event that was convened by the World Tourism Organization (WTO),
upon the kind invitation of the Government of Tunisia.
The 26 presentations delivered by experts of UN, public and private
sector, NGO and academic institutions presented a wealth of knowledge
on the specific interrelations of climate change and tourism. The
conference especially focused on climate change related impacts on water resources,
at coastal and island destinations, as well as mountain areas. A specific
session was also dedicated to policy and mitigation issues.
As a
major result of the Conference, the Djerba Declaration on
Climate Change and Tourism was prepared through consultation with the
participants. The Declaration recognizes that climate change impacts are
already occurring at some tourism destinations and the effects are expected to spread in the future and, consequently, there is a need
for adaptation and mitigation measures, among others. It includes a
series of recommendations for international organizations, government and private
sector agencies for collaborative actions at the international, national and
local destination levels.
"The Djerba Conference fulfilled perfectly its main purposes:
bringing together officials, researchers, experts and operators involved in the two
mayor fields of climate change and tourism, raising awareness on the specific interrelations, and proposing some
areas of cooperation for further actions. "- said Mr. Francesco
Frangialli, WTO Secretary-General.
"WTO will follow up activities at
various levels; among the first steps, we plan to create a clearinghouse mechanism to disseminate research results
and know-how on this subject internationally"-he added.
The Djerba Declaration on Climate Change and Tourism, as well as the
final conference programme are available in the Internet, while the
complete final report with the conclusions and the documents presented
are expected to be posted in a couple of weeks: http://www.world-tourism.org/sustainable/climate/brochure.htm |
