Arabian
Travel Market, the leading travel and tourism exhibition in the
Middle East, has announced the names of the three global destinations
nominated for this year’s New Frontiers Award.
The
three destinations shortlisted for 2013 are New York State, the
Philippines and Pakistan, each of which suffered from the aftermath
of the devastation wreaked by natural catastrophes in the last 12
months.
“This
year’s awards coincide with our 20th anniversary celebrations and
it is a poignant moment for the industry as a whole, to reflect on
the devastation that natural disasters can wreak on human life,
habitat and infrastructure, irrespective of their international
status,” said Mark Walsh, Portfolio Director, Reed Travel
Exhibitions.
Launched
in 2005 by Arabian Travel Market, The New Frontiers Award was created
to recognise outstanding contributions to tourism development in the
face of overwhelming adversity, supporting the chosen destination by
donating exhibition space at the event to the value of US$10,000.
Now
in its eighth year, the one-of-a-kind roundtable session will include
previous award recipients, including Phuket, Thailand, which was
devastated by the 2006 tsunami, and last year’s recipient, Japan.
The
2013 nominees have all had to repair, rebuild and recover, with
efforts ongoing in some destinations.
New
York State, USA - Hurricane Sandy. In late October 2012, Hurricane
Sandy spread a trail of destruction across the Eastern Seaboard of
the US, leaving businesses and homes in New York State – and its
tourism heart, Manhattan – without vital resources and inflicting
billions of dollars of cumulative damage on the local economy.
Philippines
– typhoon. At the end of 2012, Typhoon Bopha caused substantial
loss of life and hit the tourism economy hard when it ripped across
the country, devastating large tracts of land and communities on the
southern island of Mindanao, and sweeping across the popular tourist
island of Palawan.
Pakistan
– floods. September floods, prompted by heavy monsoon rains,
affected over five million people and the economy, with damage
extending across the country from Southern Punjab and Northern Sindh
to North-Eastern Balochistan. Over half a million acres of crops were
lost as well as lifestock, critically affecting food supplies.
