Written evidence submitted by Dr. Murray
Simpson, Senior Research Associate of Oxford University Centre
for the Environment
The following information is in answer to the
queries from the Parliamentary Select Committee on International
Development concerning the United Kingdom's membership of the
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and its relevance.
The UK is member of a range of tourism related international
and regional organizations, including the European Travel Commission
(ETC), the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the Pacific
Asia Travel Association (PATA), and the EU and OECD Tourism Committees."
— None of these has as wide a membership
as the UNWTO.
Is UNWTO more expensive than other similar organizations?
NO.
— Of all UN agencies, UNWTO at Euro
320,000 a year, is by far the least expensive for the UK.
— For example, UK's UNESCO contribution
at Euro 14,000,000 is 45 times as high: to WHO at Euro 20,800,000
is 60 times as high: to FAO at 22 million Euro is 70 times as
high.
— Annual membership fee is calculated
based on UK's GDP, population and tourism receipts.
What does the Government gain from being a member
of the UNWTO?
— Specifically UNWTO is engaged in
a range of activities inside and outside the UN system that are
helpful to UK in its management of foreign visitors engaging in
domestic tourism (although key aspects of this area are devolved
to the regions.) in its responsibilities at a European level and
in its actions in relation to UK travelers going abroad.— These
include statistics and market analysis, response to the economic
downturn, pandemic / disease control, response to other emergencies
(eg natural disaster, terrorism etc), the UNWTO are developing
a consumer oriented portal for emergencies www.sos.travel that
will complement UK government actions to help UK citizens caught
in these situations.
— It is the leading organization dealing
with tourism and climate change and it plays a similar role in
relation to sustainable development and environmental improvement.
— UNWTO is the leading organization
promoting both Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics and
is heading a global campaign on protection of children in the
sector.
— It has an integrated private sector
participation & an emerging special sectoral initiative with
the Global Compact, which is important for UK companies—particularly
the consultant sector which received more than the membership
dues in contracts in 2008.
— UNWTO is very active in supporting
tourism activities in poor and emerging markets in keeping with
UK's international development agenda generally and its support
for Africa specifically—including response to the digital
divide and tourism & sustainable development.
Could there be some political reason for withdrawing?
NO.
— Not at all—in fact there is
every political reason for remaining in Membership given UK belongs
to all UN agencies so this would be an anomaly in the UK's general
efforts to advance its interest across the UN system.
— UNWTO has a strong relationship with
the Commonwealth countries and the last Ministerial Conference
in London in November 2008 called on the UK to withdraw its resignation
from UNWTO, believing that all countries need to support the standards
and systems of UNWTO.
— UNWTO works closely with many multilateral
and regional organizations of political interest to UK—including
for example OECD and EU.
Does it matter which Department pays for the membership?
YES.
— Very much so—in fact DCMS is
not the main beneficiary of UNWTO services—other departments
where there is a strong linkage include DFID, DFRA, FCO, DBERR
etc.
— DCMS has slashed its international tourism
support staff so would have difficulty in managing the full portfolio—even
if it were inclined to do so, which it is not.
— DCMS contribution was allocated from
Visit Britain funds—which have also been slashed—and
UNWTO activities do not generally relate to Visit Britain targets.
NB none of the organizations listed in the question
have the scale, scope or specialization to meet UK's broad international
interests in areas impacted by the sector. The decision to withdraw
was taken for reasons that do not stand up to holistic analysis.
The above information has been prepared by Dr.
Murray Simpson, Senior Research Associate of Oxford University
Centre for the Environment in liaison with senior colleagues in
the tourism sector, the international development sector and Professor
Geoffrey Lipman, Assistant Secretary General UNWTO.
|
