World Tourism Organization and Its Key Responsibilities - Essay Example

World Tourism Organization and Its Key Responsibilities The World Tourism organization is an agency under the United Nations, which deals with issues arising in the tourism industry. This industry carries a lot of significance in the economies of most countries in the world thus the need to create the body to harmonize the operations so as to ensure that operations are standardized throughout the region. The organization was founded in 1975 due to the desire to transform the International Union of Official Travel Organizations (IOUTO) to enhance its role as an international body (World Tourism Organization, 2002). According to statistics, the organization has a membership of 150 countries alongside other affiliate membership comprising of private sector. The organizational structure of WTO comprises of five levels i.e. the General Assembly, Regional commissions, executive council, committees and the Secretariat. The general assembly is the highest organ, which has the responsibility of strategizing on tourism issues during its sessions which are held every two years and which are attended by delegates and representatives from member countries from all over the world. The regional commissions are sub divisions of the general assembly which act as subsidiaries that help to maintain communication between member countries in between the sessions held by the general assembly. They have the responsibility of tracking and identifying tourism concerns, which they forward to the assembly in form of proposals for deliberation. The commissions elect their own leaders i.e. the chairman and his deputy, who hold office for a term of two years. The executive council plays the role of implementing the decisions made by the general assembly to which it reports directly. The major objective of the organization is to ensure ethics in the tourism industry are sustained while at the same time ensuring that negative effects of tourism for example on environmental and social issues are minimized so as to make it possible for member countries to reap maximum benefits from tourism. The organization has had several secretaries general since its creation such as Robert Lonati, who served from 1975-1985, Willibald Pahr from 1985-1989, Antonio Enriquez Savignac from 1989-1996, Francesco Frangialli , 1996-2008 and lastly Taleb Rifai (World Tourism Organization, 2002). All these came from different countries i.e. France, Austria, Mexico, France and Jordan respectively. Roles of WTO The WTO recognizes the fact that tourism is one of the major sources of economic growth around the world. From its reports, tourism accounts for 40% of world’s trade in services and approximately 6% of total world trade (World Tourism Organization, 2002). In addition, it states that the industry is a potential source of employment considering the fact that it has already provided close to 192 million opportunities, which according to statistics translates to 3% of global employment. It is therefore in the best interest of the global economy that the organization participates fully in sustaining the industry through activities such as promoting the spread of tourism around the world through carrying out intensified campaigns, donating funds to support tourism development projects, as well as carrying out research and evaluations through statistical analysis of world tourism. Various tourism projects have been made successful through the intervention of this organization. Of great importance is the infamous declaration on Silk Road tourism in 1994. Silk Road is a major highway that connected major countries in Asia i.e. the East and the West but had been neglected until some of the countries through which it intersects gained their independence after which they gained interest to revive its glory and to achieve this, they requested for the intervention of the WTO (Sairam Tourism, n.d). Without failure, the organization started a massive campaign and organizing meetings with the interested parties such that in 1994, together with UNESCO, there was a unified declaration which went by the name “Samarkand Declaration on Silk Road Tourism,” which received massive support from countries and major international organizations and in fact, this made it a major historical achievement since even currently, the project has continued to record a lot of economic benefits from the tourism activities taking place. The WTO was determined to make the project a success and to achieve this, several forums were held whereby major players in the industry such as hotel owners and representatives of travel agencies were involved in making deliberations and this gave them the chance to meet and discuss issues such as the opening up of borders to allow free movement of tourists or else simplify the process of obtaining visas within the member countries (Sairam Tourism, n.d). This is an important issue that the organization takes seriously due to the fact that tourists may be discouraged to travel outside their countries as a result of stiff restrictions and stress that one undergoes before he or she is provided with a travel visa. This has been made worse by cases of security breach especially by terrorist groups who travel as tourists only to cause danger to the host countries. America and Britain for example have in the past taken the step of denying and withdrawing visas from people it considers as a security threat. This is a major challenge to the tourism industry especially due to the fact that not only do these countries deny visas but also goes ahead to restrict its citizens from travelling to areas that are considered unsafe. For example, the two countries have on different occasions barred its citizens from travelling to certain countries neighboring the war torn Somalia for fear of attack by insurgents who have allegedly expanded their criminal activities to the neighboring countries. The organization is keen on helping poor countries, especially in Africa, to reap maximum benefits from tourism. The world’s economy has been experiencing major draw backs, due to recessions and economic depressions in the developed countries. This has affected greatly the economy of the poor countries due to the fact that they depend on the rich countries to provide market for their good and services and in this context, tourism. However, it has been noted that most of the potential providers to this market are restrained from travelling due to the rising fuel costs, which in turn has resulted to hikes in air ticket charges and as such, they are bending more towards local tourism and less to participating in international tourism (Theobald, 2004). As a result, poor countries especially in Africa are experiencing low bed occupancy in their hotels, a case which has attracted the intervention of the WTO. To save the situation, the organization has been conducting a series of meetings with air travel companies in order to come up with a strategy aimed at inventing new tourist routes to poor countries which will be cheaper than the already existing ones. In a forum held in Madrid between the organization and air travel owners, a memorandum of understanding was signed to initiate talks within the next one year, which will have the name African Routes Meeting (Klancnik, 2010). This proves that this organization has the capacity to influence the management of various entities involved in the tourism industry as a way of ensuring that the major concerns, which can lead to a reduction in tourism activities are taken care of so as to sustain its members in times of crisis. This is an achievement that cannot be accomplished by an individual state but since the organization has the support of several nations and private companies, which have a common interest i.e. tourism, it is easy to convince and create mutual understanding through a simple process, which is not political especially due to the fact that going into such discussions as a single country would be made worse by the political and ideological differences that exist among some of the member states. Since its creation, the WTO has been in the front to support tourism through the famous World Tourism Day, which is celebrated in one of the member countries on every 23rd day of September. This day carries several themes, which are related to tourism and other matters of regional and local importance. Such themes for example include and not limited to; Tourism and the quality of life, pride in travel, good guests and good hosts, tourism: a vital force for world peace, tourism, education for all, Tourism - Celebrating Diversity, Tourism Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change and global warming, Tourism Enriches, etc (Theobald, 2004). This is a method that has proved to be essential in creating awareness and reminding people that tourism is important in their lives and as such, they should provide support by participating in these events. People, especially youths, benefit from this day due to the fact that they are given the opportunity to showcase their talents through organized sporting activities such as football whereby the winners are awarded with trophies and cash awards thus making them appreciate tourism (Theobald, 2004). Those who are not able to attend the celebrations are availed with live transmission of events through their television sets thus ensuring that everyone receives the message carrying the importance of tourism. Some of the themes brought forward on this day are meant to promote regional as well as internal peace among the member countries for as it may not be known to many, peace is important for the success of tourism. No person would feel so philanthropic to the extent of risking his or her life by visiting an area which is full of conflicts whether political or otherwise. Furthermore, this would only frustrate the efforts of the organization to improve the economic growth of its member countries. In order to achieve its objectives, the organization formulated a global code of ethics, which was accepted and endorsed by the general assembly in the year 2001. The resolutions in this code of ethics work towards ensuring that there is sanity in the industry as well as respect for natural resources that act as a foundation for tourism activities. Some of the ethical issues highlighted include sexual harassment on children by tourists and exploitation of natural resources. This is important considering the fact that there are people participate in sex tourism and young children have fallen victims of this trade thereby raising the need to protect them World Tourism (Organization, 2002). Even though the organization may not be in a position to indict culprits caught performing such crimes, it urges its member states to be vigilant in protecting the code of ethics for them to be successful in the trade. Natural resources also lie within the jurisdiction of the member states but since it has already been agreed in the code of ethics, the WTO expects each and every member state to adhere to the requirements which compel them to protect resources such as forests, reduce environmental degradation which occurs due to poor waste disposal as well as regulate pricing and ensure quality assurance on the food and hygiene in tourist destinations (World Tourism Organization, 2002). Although this may seem as if the organization wants to take full control of the tourism industry, the member states stands to benefit based on the fact that tourists would be attracted to their regions without necessarily having to undergo opportunity cost while deciding on the best place to visit. Obviously, no one would be interested in visiting a place where there are no tourist attractions but if there is conservation, cases of animals migrating from one place to another due to human activities in their natural habitats thereby giving tourists a reason to visit. Conclusion The World Tourism organization has a key responsibility of ensuring sustainable tourism management within its member states. This is a function that it has carried out diligently and effectively especially by supporting new projects such as that of Silk Road. It has gone further to protect the poor countries especially in Africa from effects of economic depressions by deciding to open up new air travel routes, which will cater for the needs of the poor people, who may not be able to travel through the usual airways due to high costs emanating from rises in fuel costs. In addition, it has come up with restrictive measures to protect the future of tourism through a code of ethics, which aims at ensuring sanity in the business. In addition, it is important to note that the organization also conducts annual celebration on the 23rd day of every September so as to promote and create awareness of the importance of participating in tourism activities. This is accomplished through the use of eye catching themes and slogans which may be difficult to pass the eyes of the targeted audience. References Klancnik, R. 2010. ‘WTO and "Routes" Agree to Work for New Air Routes.’ Available at: (Accessed: 20 April 2010). Sairam Tourism (n.d) ‘WTO and the Silk Road’ Available at: (Accessed: 20 April 2010). Theobald, W. 2004. Global Tourism, Third Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann World Tourism Organization 2002. Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainable Tourism, World Tourism Organization Read More