The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Commission's conference on Sustainable Tourism Development and 25th joint meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia, Pacific and South Asia will be held here from tomorrow.
Delegates from the member countries of the UNWTO Commissions for South Asia and East Asia and Pacific, UNWTO, various state governments of India and tourism industry will participate in the three-day event, according to an official release issued here.
Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi said the need of the hour is not the tourism growth alone but its development in a sustainable manner. During the conference, exchange of ideas will take place on the way forward to develop tourism in a sustainable manner, he said.
"India has been working with UNWTO closely for the cause of developing nations. Our initiative at the international level to host the two events, no doubt, will go a long way in highlighting India's role in promoting global and regional tourism in sustainable manner for the economic growth, employment generation and social integration," the minister said.
In spite of rich heritage, the market share of South Asia in World Tourist Arrivals is only 1.3 per cent - which is a cause of concern, he said.
On a positive note, the average annual growth in international tourist arrivals to the region during the period 2005 to 2011 has been 7.2 per cent as compared to the world annual average growth of 3.5 per cent during the same period, he added.
Chiranjeevi said the 25th meeting of the UNWTO Joint Commission will bring together tourism authorities from 27 member countries and two associate members and give them an opportunity to review the performance of the two regions and deliberate upon measures and policies to be adopted in future.
AP Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will be the chief guest during inauguration of the event.
