1. We welcome in a new participant to the Future Leaders & Research Community:
- Mariyam Zulfa has over 10 years experience in the public sector working as an urban planner and Director of Selected Islands Development and later as a Director of Education in the Maldives government. She is currently a PhD student at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. Mariyam has a BA in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of South Australia, Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Western Australia and an MBA from Waikato University, New Zealand. Her research interests in tourism have now expanded into a study into the competitiveness of small islands tourism destinations
- Mariyam is seeking experienced practioners/researchers in small island tourism to complete an on-line survey as part of her PhD research. If you can spare 15 minutes or so, please go to http://134.7.75.116/gst/ and follow the prompts. It’s also a useful insight to an on-line survey instrument.
2. World Committee of Tourism Ethics.
Following the recent UNWTO General Assembly in Colombia, Steve Noakes has been appointed a member of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics for the period 2007 to 2011.
Steve Noakes engaging in community-based tourism planning with Thai Muslim communities in southern Thailand recently.
Amazing where you can find internet access these days!
3. Joining the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.
Extract from the Weekly Newsletter of south-pacific.travel, 23 November 2007:
south-pacific.travel welcomes a new member to its private sector membership programme. Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. is a large network of research communities, consulting communities and ‘Future Leaders’ of international development via sustainable tourism. Through strong global networks, Pacific Asia Tourism offers a significant range of integrated services, bringing together other international and local tourism professionals, private companies, public- sector companies, universities and vocational & education training institutions to offer a comprehensive range of tourism & travel policy, planning and management services. Works at both the ‘big picture’ global/regional level in a number of international forums and networks, as well as at the grass-roots level in delivering product directly to travelers. For more information on Pacific Asia Tourism, visit the website: www.pacificasiatourism.org
For more information on south-pacific.travel’s private sector membership programme and its associated benefits, contact: rdrekeni@south-pacific.travel
4. Resources:
World Bank: East Asia & Pacific update
East Asian economies are likely to remain robust in 2008 despite growing concerns about the U.S. sub-prime crisis and increasing global oil prices, says the World Bank’s latest East Asia & Pacific Update – Will Resilience Overcome Risk? Highlighting this, the report finds that for the first time, the number of poor people living below $2 a day in East Asia has fallen below 500 million – down from 1 billion in 1990.
Asia-Pacific in Figures 2006
http://www.unescap.org/publications/detail.asp?id=1237 (Cost is US$14)
2007 U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide: Designed to Assist the Hotel Owner
http://www.hvs.com/bookstore/HVS2007U.S.HotelFranchiseFeeGuide.pdf
HVS, recently published the 2007 U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide – a survey of the fees charged by the major hotel franchisors in the economy, mid-rate, and first-class market segments. This guide enables hotel owners to easily compare the total cost of one hotel franchise with that of another.
UNESCAP – tourism & people with disabilities
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2007/nov/n66.asp”>ESCAP
American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of $13.6 billion a year on tourism. In cooperation with Thai authorities and Disabled People International Asia-Pacific, brings together representatives of the travel industry, policymakers and people with disabilities to examine the growing market for accessible tourism in the region.
For the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, go to: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm
Modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road.
http://www.adb.org/media/Articles/2007/12241-central-asian-roads-transports/
Eight countries have agreed to a strategy to improve Central Asia’s network of roads, airports, railway lines and seaports to make the region a vital transit route for trade between Europe and Asia – a modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road. The plan calls for $18.7 billion investment over the next decade in six new transport corridors, mainly roads and rail links. Historically, Central Asia was braided by multiple routes linking east and west, known as the Silk Road and dating back more than 2,000 years. It was an important economic artery that stretched more than 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles), from the Mediterranean to China’s Yellow River Valley.
World Monuments Fund & Sustainable Tourism
http://wmf.org/sustainabletourism.html
Part of the American Express Partners in Preservation program. The initiative rewards and encourages responsible stewardship of historic sites by supporting projects that integrate historic preservation, tourism management, and visitor education into efforts to protect and preserve cultural heritage sites around the world.
UN trade and development report 2007
http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=34000
The 2007 UNCTAD report argues that cooperation can significantly strengthen developing countries’ efforts to meet the macroeconomic challenges of globalisation.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development + IUCN
Providing practitioners, researchers and scientists with online access to scientific research on the environment. Bridging the North-South scientific gap and digital divide. More than 100 developing nations have access to an online environmental database which allows users to view material from prominent environmental science journals. The “Online Access to
Entitled Markets for Ecosystem Services – New Challenges and Opportunities for Business and the Environment ( 1.3 MB),
the report shows how at a fundamental level, all economies and businesses depend directly or indirectly on the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable supply of ecosystem services. The perspective paper is intended for both the business and conservation communities, in an effort to establish a shared vision of market-based approaches to nature conservation.
http://www.wbcsd.org/DocRoot/Qx4WB0UOE0IZ4HgOTtrh/market4eco system-services.pdf
Research in the Environment” project
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=521&ArticleI D=5694&l=en”>UNEP
After a three-month free trial period, participating countries’ institutions are asked for yearly contributions of $1,000, which is less than 0.1 per cent of the annual retail subscription value of the available resources. Microsoft and Ex Libris Software are assisting in the project.
Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) The Pacific Islands Private Sector Organization (PIPSO) has launched its website – www.pipso.org. UNDP through its Pacific Centre, played an instrumental role together with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in the opening of an office for PIPSO last April.
The vast Asia Pacific region.
