Tourism a central factor in the lives of millions - Fréchette

Tourism has become one of the most powerful forces for change in the world, as travel for recreation has risen exponentially and is now one of the few ways in which the poorest countries have been able to take part in the global economy, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette told a meeting of the leading international organization for travel and tourism.

"Over the past half century, international tourist arrivals have risen dramatically - from 25 million tourist arrivals a year in 1950 to 715 million in 2002, " she said in an address to the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in Beijing.

"This makes tourism the world's largest economic sector. And it makes tourism a central factor in the life of millions of people. Indeed, as it brings together people of different cultures on a scale previously unimagined, tourism is now one of the most powerful forces of change in the world."

Among the least developed countries, the travel trade is now the primary source of foreign exchange in all but a few, as it offers opportunities for job creation and infrastructure development, even in remote areas, Ms. Fréchette said.

In this context, tourism must be managed carefully to prevent such harmful effects as damaging the environment through overbuilding and irresponsible development; threatening indigenous cultures and organizing sex tourism.

Child sex tourism was adversely affecting millions of children a year, Ms. Fréchette said, calling on governments to adopt and enforce measures to combat all forms of sexual exploitation of children in tourism.

"Let us be clear: when it comes to exploiting children, there can be no excuses for tolerance," she said.

She said the United Nations looked forward to the WTO's approval of a draft agreement changing the WTO into a specialized UN agency, "which the UN General Assembly, in turn, is expected to approve on 7 November."