World Committee on Tourism Ethics proposes International Convention on Tourism Ethics

The transformation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism into an international convention was the main focus of the 15th meeting of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics (Rovinj, Croatia, 26-27 May 2015).

The transformation of the Global Code of Ethics into a full international convention as a means to boost the responsibility of governments in this field and advance the impact of the Code was the main topic discussed at the 15th meeting of the WTCE.

Alongside this issue, the WCTE looked into the level of implementation of the Code by public and private sectors as well as at the advances on its priority areas: the fight against child exploitation, accessibility, all inclusive holidays and its impact on local communities, and the issue of unfunded ratings in web portals.

Pascal Lamy, WCTE Chairman and former Director General of the World Trade Organization, highlighted “the importance of the implementation of the principles of the Code of Ethics by both UNWTO Member States and the Private Sector in order to promote an ethical and responsible tourism development.”

“The World Committee on Tourism Ethics has done invaluable work in raising awareness and promoting responsible policies and practices in the tourism sector for over ten years”, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, opening the meeting. “Tourism has immense potential to be a force for good, but it requires concrete action from all stakeholders. I therefore fully support the Committee’s proposal to bring the Code further into an international convention”, he added.

In the area of children’s rights, Carol Bellamy, chair of the UNWTO World Tourism Network on Child Protection and former Director of UNICEF, presented a report on child protection in tourism and supported the transformation of the Code of Ethics into a convention in order to help enforce the principles of child protection worldwide.

The Committee approved a set of specific recommendations on accessible tourist information which will be presented to the 21st session of the UNWTO General Assembly (Medellin, Colombia, 12-17 September 2015) for adoption. It addition, it noted the wide interest of Governments and national tourism administrations in the Code and the growing number of companies and associations that have adhered to the Private Sector Commitment to the Code.

The World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE) is the independent body responsible for promoting and overseeing the implementation of the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET), a set of principles designed to guide tourism development in a way that maximizes the socio-economic benefits of the sector, while minimizing any negative impacts.

The 16th meeting of the Committee will take place in November 2015. 

Ghana & Seychelles set to cooperate in Tourism and in Culture

Seychelles and Ghana are on the right footing to open up new avenues of cooperation between the two countries, especially in tourism and culture.  Ghana’s historical link to Seychelles dated back in 1900 when King Asantehene Prempeh 1 and his entourage were exiled to Seychelles. This part of Ghana’s history which is well planted and protected in Seychelles history was one of the issues of discussions raised between  Hanna Serwaah Tetteh, Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture during a courtesy call held at the Offices of Minister St.Ange at the National Cultural Center in Victoria.

During the meeting Minister St.Ange brought Minister Hanna Serwaah Tetteh way back in history when the Prempeh family was in Seychelles and said the Island through its archives and museums have kept alive this part of our culture. Minster St.Ange touched base on the Venne’s town dark historical link to Africa, where slave children’s education was taken under the wings of missionaries. Impressed with Seychelles history of Ashanti people and slavery, the Ghanaian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said the Ashanti is very well reputed people in Ghana. She said there’s a lot Seychelles and Ghana can do together to protect this rich historical link.  The participation of Ghana at the 2015 FetAfrik in Seychelles is now being discussed, Minister St.Ange also spoke about how Ghana can work together with the Seychelles Tourism Academy to enroll students in language courses.

Seychelles Tourism Academy and Ministry of Tourism is studying the possibility of enticing Ghana students to study in the new Academy currently under construction. Both countries expressed their many commonalities and how they need to work together to consolidate their respective tourism industry.

World Committee on Tourism Ethics to focus on the exploitation of children

The protection of children from all forms of exploitation, the fight against trafficking, anti-poaching and accessible tourism for all are among the work priorities defined by the newly formed World Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE). The Committee met at UNWTO headquarters to identify the major challenges facing responsible tourism and define its Action Plan for the coming four years (Madrid, Spain, 26 February 2014).

Under the chairmanship of Pascal Lamy (former Director-General of World Trade Organization - WTO), the World Committee on Tourism Ethics met for the first time in its new constitution as appointed by the UNWTO General Assembly in August 2013.

“The World Committee on Tourism Ethics is not destined to solve major political and economic issues at the global level; it will be a useful instrument in interpreting a frontier area, which is tourism ethics, by binding people together in an operational way”, said Pascal Lamy.

“One billion tourists crossing international borders every year can mean one billion opportunities but also one billion catastrophes; it is up to us to decide. Governments, companies and tourists themselves need to ensure tourism works as a force of good and I am convinced that the new Committee on Tourism Ethics will assist greatly in this endeavor”, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

The Action Plan of the Committee for the coming four years will focus on:

• the exploitation of children in all its forms;
• trafficking;
• poaching and the illegal trading of wildlife;
• accessible tourism for all;
• promotion of fair models of all inclusive holidays; and
• unfounded ratings on travel portals which may impact the reputation of companies  and destinations.

The World Committee on Tourism Ethics is an impartial body responsible for interpreting, applying and evaluating the provisions of the the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.