T20 Update with Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO

Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO:

Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO:

We have presented the first edition of “The Golden Book” to Mexican President Calderon. We are met with a curious look when we present the case of travel and tourism to global leaders, but within ten minutes of they become interested when talks of jobs begin.

We are making progress on issues such as visas. The coalition between UNWTO and WTCC is making great progress and we are moving forward with it.

Yesterday, we had a meeting with all the 20 tourism ministers from the G20 countries. It was hectic day starting at 6am but it was groundbreaking by the time we went to sleep.

We have challenges–visas, open skies and taxes.

On visas, we need to make people move. On reciprocity, you give me visa, I give you visa. But, an eye for an eye [approach], the world will go blind. Small steps towards visa facilitation can result in big economic benefits. By facilitating visas, the G20 countries stand to gain five million jobs at a time of rampant unemployment across the world. These are in addition to the hundreds of millions of direct and indirect jobs already being supported every day by the sector.

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Nell Alcantara

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