Phuket to host Special Meeting of WTO Executive Council

The World Tourism Organization is to hold an emergency session of the WTO Executive Council end of January on the island of Phuket, Thailand.

Areas of Phuket, have been severely affected by the recent unfortunate disaster in the Indian Ocean, but is fast recovering from the damage caused by the tsunami. Things are returning to normalcy at an unbelievable pace. It is most heartening to note that a large number of tourists have insisted on staying on in Phuket to continue with their holidays, thus contributing to the early recovery of tourism on the island.

Encouraged by the positive reaction of the tourists and at the invitation of the Government of Thailand, the World Tourism Organization decided to hold an emergency session of the WTO Executive Council from 31 January to 1 February 2005 on the very island of Phuket.

This decision of choosing Phuket as the venue for this special meeting is to demonstrate the solidarity and support of the entire international tourism community to the affected countries. It is symbolic for the WTO to meet in one of the destinations that was most affected, yet, for the most part is still operational. All the twenty-nine member countries of the Executive Council from all regions of the world as well as countries from tourism generating markets will gather in Phuket to rally support and to assess the situation in order to adopt a plan of action for the destinations concerned.

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