UNWTO steps up efforts in Crisis Management

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is strengthening its institutional commitment to crisis management and sending a support mission to Indonesia to assess the tourism impact of the recent earthquake disaster in Central Java.

UNWTO's Risk Assessment and Management Working Group, meeting in Madrid on Friday 2 June, expressed full solidarity with Indonesia regarding the 27 May earthquake near Yogyakarta and agreed that the best way for tourists to help is by continuing to travel to other parts of the country, which were not damaged in the quake.

"This is a major tragedy for Indonesia, since the earthquake happened in the second most important tourist destination of our country -- home to several important historical monuments," said Noviendi Makalam, Deputy Director for Planning at the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Indonesian officials report that over 6,800 people had lost their lives in the quake, 15,000 people were injured and more than 100,000 are homeless. He said tourist cancellations were running at about 66% and that many hotels remained closed for damage inspections.

The working group, chaired by French Tourism Director Frédéric Pierret, met to review the Organization's progress on Avian Flu preparedness and map out a new programme of activities for dealing with all types of tourism crises. "The tragic events in Central Java demonstrate the pressing need for UNWTO to strengthen and structure its preparedness and response support activities to address different types of crises continuously affecting tourism," Mr. Pierret underlined.

"The working group first met in March to deal with Avian Flu, but since then there have been two other unrelated crises - in Egypt and in Indonesia - so its work will need to be expanded gradually to comprise all man-made and natural disasters, which may impact tourism," asserted the Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli.

The group agreed to support a proposal for a comprehensive two-year programme, with a budget of €250,000 to finish work in Avian Flu preparedness, expand the work to cover all types of crises and offer technical assistance and training to member countries. The plan still needs endorsement by the Executive Council in Quito later in June.

In conjunction with the working group, UNWTO convenes and manages on behalf of the tourism sector a parallel initiative designed to give a basis for more widespread stakeholder involvement in Avian Flu preparedness. The Tourism Emergency Response Network (TERN) is a framework for information exchange, ideas sharing and consistent messaging in relation to Avian Flu. It provides the partners with direct links to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC) and for those bodies creates a nodal point for the sector. Its launch partners cover the full spectrum of the tourism value chain transport, accommodation and distributors and through their membership reach all countries and all sub sectors. "All tourism organizations are invited to join this initiative," stressed Special Advisor of the Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman.

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