The United Nations World Tourism Organization conference conundrum

cam_0
cam_0
Avatar of Nell Alcantara
Written by Nell Alcantara

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), under Taleb Rifai as the secretary general, has done a commendable job in making good on his promise to “include everybody” by partnering wit

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), under Taleb Rifai as the secretary general, has done a commendable job in making good on his promise to “include everybody” by partnering with as many organizations and/or countries as possible. Aside from signing up more affiliate members; UNWTO’s annual conference calendar is arguably the busiest it has ever been. No other tourism organization currently holds more meetings and conferences on a yearly basis than UNWTO.

This has made the job for Taleb Rifai certainly more arduous as it is challenging. Quite frankly, he has one of the most dizzying schedules of any travel and tourism leader currently in office. He is as ubiquitous as anyone can get when it comes to attending travel and tourism events and conferences. He has set the bar so high for the position of secretary general that it will make him one tough act to follow.

More UNWTO conferences create more opportunities no doubt. But it begs the question: Are these UNWTO conferences relevant and/or making a significant impact? In the case of UNWTO’s first ever joint conference with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called the World Conference on Tourism and Culture, held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the answer to the question is ambiguous. The conference program showed great promise in achieving meaningful results. Sadly, it didn’t quite live up to it. Sure, all the aspects of conferencing were check-marked and a bureaucratic jargon (called a “declaration”) was read at the closing ceremony. But, did it make much sense?

“The world will be talking about this declaration for years and years to come,” said Rifai. I’m not sure I agree. Delegates cannot claim that the conference made history with thought-provoking discourses. Or can it be argued that delegates learned new information about the host country, while addressing theme-related issues including host country problems (or as it is often called in conferences, the “elephant in the room”).

UNWTO’s 2007 Cartagena, Colombia, general assembly is an excellent example. Colombia embraced its beleaguered past and even used it cleverly as part of a marketing scheme – “The only danger is wanting to stay longer.” In 2007, change had come to Colombia and it used UNWTO’s summit as the platform to show it. At the Cartagena summit, then Colombian President Alvaro Uribe delivered a compelling speech about his country, even going so far as giving away his personal telephone number for delegates to call if they encountered any safety issues during their stay. President Uribe served as the best spokesperson for his country’s conviction, which obviously entailed discussing the “elephant in the room.”

China did the same when it hosted the 2003 general assembly in Beijing. Back then, Beijing or China in general was not perceived as a friendly tourist destination. There were misconceptions about China based on what was known at the time to be a tumultuous past – plagued by human rights abuses and extreme poverty in rural areas. The 2003 Beijing general assembly showcased China as a country on the verge of economic breakthrough. By hosting the general assembly when it did, China answered the big question: Is China ready for the world? But it did so in a progressive tone by showing the version of Beijing that was literally a city under construction.

In both cases, UNWTO’s conference played a major role in empowering the host countries in their pursuit for a place in the global travel and tourism marketplace. Without question, the UNWTO general assemblies in Cartagena and Beijing helped shape Colombia and China’s tourism status quo. Therein lies a significant role that UNWTO needs to be reminded of. While it is doing a commendable job in implementing its “include everybody” policy and engaging governments through these conferences, it must exercise great care in doing so. If not, UNWTO is danger of empowering the very people that keeps an entire country in a stranglehold. It takes a little research to find out who is benefiting from money generated by a destination’s top tourist attraction, for instance. It’s a simple case of following the money trail. If those in power are in control of the funds, it is UNWTO’s job to question. Exploitation is a very real scenario through travel and tourism. Does this mean we need to accept it as part of UNWTO’s “include everybody” policy?

At the Siem Reap tourism and culture conference, it is entirely plausible that UNWTO was faced with perhaps the ultimate conundrum when it agreed to granted Cambodia the hosting privilege. I attended the conference with the knowledge that UNWTO is aware of Cambodia’s track record on the exploitation of children in tourism based on information from its own “Task Force for the Protection of Children in Tourism,” which coincidentally is meeting this week for its yearly meeting at ITB Berlin. The children’s rights issue was very much the “elephant in room” during the two-day conference in Siem Reap. I attended all the sessions and recorded most of them anticipating how the great UNWTO conundrum was going to play out. Will UNWTO dare bring up the “elephant in the room” or play nice with its host country?

By virtue of allusion, it did the former, but UNWTO mostly sang praises for the Cambodian government. During the two-day tourism and culture conference in Siem Reap, Rifai was heard saying that tourism growth also brings responsibilities; that children are the future, and we must protect our children – a statement most would agree with. “Human trafficking” was also uttered, but the conference was never framed to discuss or even debate about the exploitation of children through tourism, let alone bring about a solution to the problem that is not unique to Cambodia. Orphanage tourism is on the rise in many developing countries, so to not speak of it during a conference on tourism and culture is akin to turning a blind eye to the problem.

No offense to the secretary general, as I have the utmost respect for him, but had he walked the raggedy streets of Siem Reap’s Main Road #6 in addition to the private guided tour that Deputy Prime Minister Sok An gave him, then he may have a different and perhaps significantly more important point of view of Cambodia and its children. The real Siem Reap was not at the conference, but its essence is very much on Main Road #6 which is not recommended to be taken on by foot (no walking tours) because certain areas are unsanitary and the smell reeked of mud stench.

Outside five-star hotel Borei Angkor are Siem Reap’s realities – a mixture of modern buildings with dimly-lit markets – some corroded rooftops and hallways that see a constant flow of local people on mopeds. At the time of my visit, tourists at Borei Angkor didn’t seem particularly interested in what was beyond the hotel, as many kept busy by lounging in the pool and enjoying spa services. This is a sad commentary for tourists who go to Siem Reap because after visiting Angkor Wat and its surrounding environs, there’s nothing else but idle time. I walked for hours and I saw three foreigners – one was on the street and two at the restaurant I ate lunch at. As a tourist, the idea of having a good time doesn’t bode well with the realities of Siem Reap that one can be exposed to. Therefore, it is much easier to turn a blind eye to them.

In much the same way some Siem Reap tourists are forced to think myopically in order to have a good holiday, UNWTO and UNESCO acted similarly with their presence at the conference. As a consequence, the opportunity for the two UN specialized agencies to discuss real issues in Cambodia was ultimately missed by them not having the foresight to include their sister organization, the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child. The UN watchdog still found a way to cleverly partake in the conversation when it released a damning report on the Cambodian government on February 5, 2015, the final day of the joint UNWTO and UNESCO conference. The question, “What is Cambodia doing to protect its children?” would have made for an engaging discourse, if not evoke change. Because, according to the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child, the “Cambodian government hasn’t done enough” to address “the sexual exploitation of children at entertainment venues and reports of child abuse by foreign tourists at orphanages.”

For organizing the well-attended conference, Cambodia deserves the praises it got. UNWTO might want to rethink its execution of the tourism and culture conference, if there is ever a next “World Conference on Tourism and Culture.” Perhaps a small meeting within the UN circle is necessary to explore relevant and timely issues, as well as best practices and success stories before holding a “historic” conference to share their findings. And, it would probably help if UNWTO and UNESCO leaders actually met prior the conference. It was shocking to hear that the head of delegation from UNWTO and UNESCO met for the first time in during the conference in Siem Reap.

“What are we doing here?” an invited European journalist asked me during lunch on day one of the conference. He estimated that “we are burning millions by being here.” So, when my response had the word “historic” in it, he wasn’t convinced. To call a meeting between two UN organizations “historic” is akin to calling “a brother and sister having a meeting historic. Would you consider that historic?” In that respect, I’m not certain I can justify calling UNWTO’s Siem Reap conference a historic event.

About the author

Avatar of Nell Alcantara

Nell Alcantara

Share to...