Tourism has big role in cutting poverty but must be carefully managed – Annan

Noting that tourism is the primary source of foreign exchange in all but a few of the least developed countries (LDCs), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today stressed the significant role the sector can play in helping people lift themselves out of poverty, but also warned against its pitfalls.

“Indeed, international tourism is one of the few ways in which the least developed countries have managed to increase their participation in the global economy,” he declared in a message to the 16th session of the UN World Tourism Organization, delivered in Dakar, Senegal, by the UN Resident Coordinator there, Alberic Kacou.

At the same time, he stressed that tourism must be managed carefully to prevent a wide range of harmful effects that are becoming all too visible in many popular destinations.

“These include destruction of natural heritage through overbuilding; ever higher demands on scarce water and energy resources; damage to ecologically fragile areas caused by irresponsible development; threats to indigenous cultures; exploitation of workers; organized sex tourism, and – most tragic of all – child sex tourism, which affects millions of children each year,” he said.