For the next leader of the UNWTO, the challenges will be great. Whoever takes the top job must navigate the organisation through dramatic changes taking place in the tourism world – travel policies, attitudes, technology. At the same time, he or she will need to demonstrate how the UNWTO will help shape a stronger tourism future for all – members, staff, partners, as well as travellers.

As staff and member states ponder over possible successors, curiosity and concern run parallel. The legacy of Taleb Rifai, outgoing Secretary General, is undeniable. In his two terms at the helm, in addition to step-changing the focus and delivery of the organization, Rifai has achieved unprecedented levels of trust, credibility, relevance and cohesion within the industry, and outside. The UN’s designation of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism For Development, across all UN bodies, is testament to his success in raising the profile of the value of tourism, beyond the sector.

For his successor, strengthening this success is a must, while at the same time addressing any weaknesses. Fresh thinking is an expectation of new leadership. Evolution. But not revolution. The vision must be clear. It must be inspiring. It must be unifying. And it must be capable of carrying the sector forward for the benefit of all members.

One candidate has this principle firmly in place – South Korea’s nominee, AMBASSADOR DHO YOUNG-SHIM, a highly respected, delivery-focused, lifelong practitioner of tourism, within and outside the global UN system. Clear on the strengths and shortcomings of the UNWTO, and appreciative of the work done by the UNWTO in recent past under Rifai, to now shake its foundations with dramatic shifts in direction will risk not just the capability of the organisation, but its credibility.

To ensure growth with both strength and stability, Ambassador Dho’s priorities for the next stage of UNWTO leadership focus on inspired evolution, not revolution. Key to delivery: positioning her candidacy as a partnership, inviting as her running mate CARLOS VOGELER, a Venezuela-born Spanish national now operating as UNWTO Regional Director of the Americas and Executive Director for Member Relations.

This unique pairing of global, outside-in and inside-out experience and expertise gives UNWTO Executive Council members tasked with determining Rifai’s successor, a leadership combination that guarantees Rifai’s legacy acts as the foundations for a new era of UNWTO impact. Vision, strength, stability and shared commitment to an even more innovative, empowering tourism future for all – members, staff, and the wider global tourism community. It’s about leadership, not leaders.

The European Parliament voted on 2nd March 2017 to require the European Commission to suspend visa exemption status for US citizens.

In ETOA’s view this is extremely unlikely to happen: the Council of the EU will object and the status quo will prevail.

The situation arises because, since 2014, citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania have needed a visa to visit the US. This means that there is not full reciprocity in treatment of EU and US citizens.

EU legislation provides for a ‘delegated act’ allowing the Commission to suspend exemption from visa requirements in the event of ‘non-reciprocity.’ This would apply to citizens of countries that impose visa requirement on EU citizens.

The Commission asked Parliament and Council to review the situation in April 2016.

Article 290 of the Treaty of Lisbon allows both the Council and Parliament to revoke such a delegated act, or object to its implementation. Given the Parliamentary vote, attention now switches to the Council.

Tom Jenkins, ETOA’s CEO commented:

“There is no imminent threat to current US-Europe visa waiver arrangements. So long as the US requires visas from some citizens of the EU, then the EU – as a whole – is obliged to reciprocate. The European Parliament is exploring the nature of that obligation.

Seldom has an inter-institutional dialogue contained such startling ideas. If the visa exemption were to be suspended it would inflict burdensome checks on the citizens of our most valuable ally, to certain retaliation and consequent economic detriment. Destination countries would have to hire thousands of staff to process millions of unnecessary visas.

At a time when absurdity and politics are bedfellows, we are being asked to contemplate folly cubed. The Council needs to block this quickly. Then the Commission can return to establishing reciprocity quietly, through the normal diplomatic channels.”

ETOA continues to work with its industry partners in Brussels to resist any reintroduction of visa requirements, and pushes for visa facilitation through reform of the Visa Code. With the prospect of ETIAS, a new pre-clearance system designed to enhance security, ETOA believes that the case for more countries to be granted visa-waiver status will strengthen.

Who will be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)?

Endorsed by the African Union  (AU) during the July 2016 summit in Kigali, Rwanda,  Dr. Walter Mzembi is continuing his worldwide outreach to garner international support for his bid to secure the top job at the Madrid-based tourism organization.

Elections for the next Secretary General will take place at UNWTO Headquarters, in Madrid, from 11 to 12 May 2017, during the course of the 105 Meeting of the Organisation’s 33-member Executive Council.

Mzembi has traveled the globe over the intervening months, engaging directly with the governments of key UNWTO Executive Council member states – detailing his vision for the future development of global tourism under the UNWTO umbrella should he be elected  Secretary General.

His most recent travels have taken him to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and India.  An additional stop was made in Istanbul, Turkey, where, along with his counterpart Ministers from Azerbaijan and Ghana, both UNWTO Executive Council members. Mzembi participated in the 2017 World Tourism Forum in Istanbul.

The Minister then traveled to Brussels where he met Ambassadors of the 79 member African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Grouping.  His final stop was the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.  Under the chairmanship of the African Union Permanent Delegate to the UN Organisations based in Geneva, he met with the 51 African Permanent Representatives to the UN.  The same representatives have administrative oversight for the African Union at the UNWTO. UNWTO is based in Madrid, Spain.

Mzembi, who is also the minister of tourism and hospitality for Zimbabwe is due to spend only a few days home in Harare before embarking on the next leg of his outreach mission.

A final round of visits is being scheduled from mid-April to early May.

As the March 11 deadline for the submission of candidatures to the UNWTO post approaches, there are 5 officially declared candidates for the Secretary General’s post.

Apart from Dr. Mzembi there is Mrs. Doh Young-shim (Korea). She entered into an unprecedented electoral alliance with Mr. Carlos Vogeler,  a serving Executive Director of the UNWTO, a  Venezuelan- Spanish national.  Mr.Marcio Favilla a Brazilian, Ambassador Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili from Georgia and Mr. Alain St Ange from the Seychelles are also competing with Dr. Mzembi for the post.

Dr. Mzembi said: “ In a very real sense, the electoral contest is between a group of candidates from Korea/Spain, Brazil, and  Georgia who constitute and who promise little more than a continuation of the status-quo and stand for UNWTO to carry on as before. My candidature is about my promise to bring significant change to the manner in which the UNWTO approaches and delivers upon its mandate.”

According to Dr Mzembi, his assessment is shared by many of those he had engaged in his outreach program. Mr. Mzembi feels that to surrender the UNWTO Secretary-General-ship to yet another bureaucratic succession will be to condemn the Organisation to further peripheralisation and irrelevance within the global system. According to Mr. Mzembi, this is an outcome which can in no way serve the best interests of the tourism industry or the millions upon millions across the globe whose livelihoods depend on legitimate, unfettered, facilitated travel.

Dr. Mzembi envisages a UNWTO more audible and more visible both within the UN system and more broadly on behalf of the international tourism industry. This vision includes promoting sustainable tourism, in all its many facets, to the very mainstream of global socio-economic development under the SDG platform. It includes securing widespread recognition of tourism as a major contributor to the quest for global understanding, harmony, and peace.

What does it take to lead the world’s largest, most comprehensive tourism community? This is the question that many are trying to answer as the race for the next head of the UNWTO heats up for the role of Secretary General.

So far, a number of very capable tourism leaders and personalities have stepped forward with their candidacy, the process requiring their nations formally submit their nominations. To date, four continents have shown interest with names: Africa with two, Asia, the Americas one, and one from Europe. With the official date for closure of nominations still two weeks off, perhaps new names will be added to the final list for panel review of qualifications.

The race for the top job will have significant standards to maintain. In just two terms of leadership of the UN body tasked with promoting “responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism”, its outgoing Secretary General, Mr Rifai, a Jordanian national, is leaving very large shoes to fill.

As stated by its website, through a membership of  “157 countries, 6 Associate Members and 500 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities”, the UNWTO’s Secretary General has raised the bar on cooperative leadership across the global tourism community, both government and business. Rifai has brought a heightened level of profile, credibility and impact to the sector, shifting the image of tourism from a non-essential, indulgent leisure activity to an essential economic driver. And he has done this without raising the profile of himself.

This is why the highly competitive, and often extremely personal, nature of the competition for the top job has many raising eyebrows. Rifai’s tireless servant-leader style of leadership has become a hallmark of the organisation.

Amid all of the Which is why the approach of one candidate, South Korea’s AMBASSADOR DHO YOUNG-SHIM, is being looked to with interest both in terms of strength of qualification, and importantly, in appreciation of approach.

A tourism practitioner who has dedicated her life’s work to the sector, she understands from her own experience and exposure how nations around the world can use Tourism to elevate not just their economies, but their social fabric, their environmental protection, their national identity, and their ability to compete globally with other countries in getting tourists to visit as a prelude to strengthening their economies. Theory is one thing – reality is another. Her over 40 years in tourism, including 20 in the UN, gives her the strongest global perspective on the ability of tourism to effect meaningful change for the better of countries economically, specially, environmentally. Not to mention how to make the UN work harder to deliver results. She represents strength through her insider and outsider knowledge, credibility and critique. That’s the bottom line when it comes to recognizing and delivering on the opportunity of tourism, for one and all.

Ambassador Dho does not just talk ‘leadership first, not leaders’, she is walking her talk.

Unlike any other candidate in the race, Ambassador Dho is openly positioning her running mate – CARLOS VOGELER, a Spanish national born in Venezuela, educated in Spain and Canada, with a broad experience both in the private and public tourism sector, and currently in the role of Executive Director for Member Relations at the UNWTO, as well as Regional Director for the Americas.

The global/local; Asia/Europe/Americas; female/male; government/business combinations, together with the combined experience and expertise is an interesting and powerful one, and specially one quite focused on delivering results.

Alain St. Ange, the former minister of Tourism for the Seychelles is trying hard to be heard in Africa to compete against the Hon. Walter Mzembi from Zimbabwe for the job as the next UNWTO Secretary General position. The two African candidates have one argument in common. No African has ever served as the UNWTO Secretary General.

Alain St.Ange told a recent audience of supporters,  he wanted tourism for all and regional UNWTO offices.
Giving interviews on CNN, BBC and SKY TV last week the minister summarized his ideas at a recently concluded Uganda tourism events, where he was invited by the Ugandan Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu to speak.

He said in Kampala:” In Seychelles, we respect the people with a disability, we have moved to realize that their strength is their difference, and we prefer to refer to them as the handi-abled as we open doors for everyone. Today is some part of the world the state of tolerance is at its lowest with rhetoric based on discrimination of color, race, religion, politics and sexual preference seen as being terrible. There is hate, there is poison. Together we can work with the press for a new departure to sideline those who need help accept that tourism and the world of tourism is for all.”

He then went on to speak about the electoral procedure when he added: ‘I appreciate that it is the Minister of Tourism of the countries with a seat on the Executive Council of the UNWTO who will be casting a vote in the May elections, but believing in Democracy it is important to let those who have worked with me for tourism to also echo their feelings as they speak to their own Governments about their ideal choice. I am thankful for this democratic approach of endorsements for the coming election for the seat of Secretary General for the UNWTO by the frontline team of tourism. They have worked with me for tourism and they know me well. They all remain the motor behind tourism and what makes tourism tick.

St. Ange then concluded by adding: “If elected as Secretary-GeneralI will raise the cause of tourism for all as a must for a UN body. My strategies to help not only the disabled travelers but also to help the person with a disability to find work in the tourism industry is clear. We all know that travel produces long-term health benefits with leisure opportunities relieving stress. We also know finding employment for people with disabilities is a must as we grow up and respect people…simple.

My vision also includes the setting up of regional UNWTO offices to directly benefit member states and allow an immediate response should any type of event make this necessary. Imagine how the wider East Africa could benefit from such a presence in terms of support.”

Dr Darlington Muzeza,  Zimbabwe, questioned Mr. St.Ange for not working with “your brother Minister of Zimbabwe” and he then trivialized SADC and AU resolutions regarding the candidature of Dr Mzembi.

St.Anges address did not get well with the government of Uganda who indicated the African Union Decision to endorse the Minister of Tourism for Zimbabwe Dr. Walter Mzembi for the UNWTO Post.

Hon. Walter Mzembi while in Turkey attending the World TourismForum sent his deputy ,the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality for Zimbabwe Hon Anastancia Ndhlovu to address the audience in Uganda.

This is what Zimbabwe’s deputy minister  had to say about St.Ange’s address:

Regardless, Uganda’s voice is not so important. This East African country is not a member of the UNWTO Executive Council. Executive Council members will be meeting in May to recommend their candidate to the UNWTO General Assembly.

Here are the countries every candidate needs to convince:

Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, Zambia.

“The United States (US) is in danger of taking the same path it took after the 9/11 terror attacks, which led to a decade of economic stagnation in the Travel & Tourism sector”, said David Scowsill, President & CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), while speaking in Las Vegas today, 14 February 2017.

“Strict visa policies and inward-looking sentiment led to a $600 billion loss in tourism revenues in the decade post 9/11, as previously reported by the US Travel Association, with a noted 9% drop in international arrivals in the period of 2001 – 2009.

The Trump Administration is in danger of steering the country in the same direction, which could have a huge impact on the country’s Travel & Tourism sector, which generates over 8% of the country’s GDP and supports nearly 10% of total employment in the US”, warned Scowsill.

Airlines, hotels and travel agencies are all reporting drops in international bookings to the US, following the Executive Order banning visitors from seven countries to enter the country. This is the unintended consequence of the ban announcement, with business and leisure customers from around the world holding back on their travel plans.

Scowsill spoke directly at the Administration during his speech, offering five pieces of advice to the President’s advisors:

• Recognise that travel is a key generator of American jobs and economic growth.
• Keep tourism out of politics. Blanket bans on citizens from specific countries will not make the American people safer.
• Remember the decade of lost economic growth. Travellers have a choice and they will go elsewhere.
• Use the technology available to share information. That will ensure that only the right people arrive at borders in the first place.
• Consult with the industry in advance of change. This will make the implementation of policies more orderly, fairer and less damaging.

“For the President who has promised to create jobs and to make America great again, Travel & Tourism seems the most obvious answer. After all, the livelihood of millions of Americans depends on people being able to use planes, trains and automobiles to spend their tourist dollars.

Travel & Tourism thrives by breaking down barriers, not building them; by making it easier for people to travel, not applying blanket bans. Our sector bridges divides between cultures, fosters understanding across religious and geographic boundaries. It is a massive generator of jobs and economic growth.” Scowsill concluded.

The author, Professor Geoffrey Lipman, is President of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) and co-founder of SUNx.

The International Coalition is a global alliance of tourism destinations and stakeholders in 153 countries promoting Green Growth + Quality= Businesss  (link ICTP to  http://www.ictp.travel )

Whatever combination of forces led to Donald Trump becoming President of the United States – and for at least the next 4 years, control of nearly a quarter of the global economy, with his finger on the nuclear button – remains a frightening mystery to most of us. Now that he has that control and is showing his disruptive leadership style, he would do well to remember Newton’s third law: “To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Already many of his Executive Order initiatives have begun to demonstrate this reality – starting with his initial quasi ban on Muslims from 7 countries and the instant outrage, demonstrations, and court challenges. This also includes his “Day One – Repeal Obamacare” followed by the realization that you can’t without a replacement and that needs Congress to build as well as knock down, and his “Great Wall of Mexico” and Fix Sanctuary Cities mantra – both producing predictable defiance and deepening opposition, and on and on.

And you can’t play reality TV games by threatening to unilaterally impose tariffs or border taxes in a fit of pique and overturn delicate trade arrangements crafted to bring balanced benefits to all parties. You do so at the peril of retaliation and adding hidden costs to US consumers. Yes, it would be putting America first for Apple to build iPhones entirely in the USA – it would just make them prohibitively expensive, reduce sales massively, and put Chinese factories out of work. So, what then if China, already stung by currency accusations, and threats to its one China policy, decides to encourage its travelers to shun the USA? Chinese tourists are an important US export – the negative impact would pretty soon hit the US economy “bigly.”

Donald Trump is a man who is inclined to toss out an outrageous idea, and “double-down” on his positions while offering a glimmer of hope that he’ll change his mind, based on his “Art of the Deal” tactics. What he doesn’t seem to get is that you can’t bully or play legal games with sovereign state partners for long, the way you did as a businessman with small companies, a pseudo university, and loopholes in the tax code. The President of the United States cannot unravel decades of partnership obligations with a smart one-liner, the stroke of a pen, and a barrage of 140-character tweets.

Most importantly, Donald Trump would also do well to remember there is a real elephant in the room – climate change – that is existential and it doesn’t have a twitter account. He has already signaled his disdain for the Paris Treaty and placed shackles on the Environment Protection Agency in his first week in office, in addition to nominating a climate change sceptic as Administrator. And at the same time, he is trying to open dormant pipelines and pledging to give big oil a new state-supported lease of drilling life.

All this is happening while the science and the experts make it clear that Sandy-type storms, Louisiana-type floods, Kansas-type tornados, and California-style droughts will only get more intense, more frequent, and more costly. And it will hit everyone, everywhere – inside the US and with similar patterns around the world.

These realities won’t change because Donald Trump threatens to tear up the one deal that every country on Earth supports as the best chance for a survivable future. It’s time to “walk-back” the thoughtless anti-Paris rhetoric and get on board with the rest of humanity.

SUNX (Strong Universal Network) supports community climate resilience through Impact – Travel (pros/cons measured and managed, green growth at the core and 2050 future proofed). It’s X brand shows both the eXistential reality of climate change and the eXchange of innovation and learning through the SUN “Centres, Connections and Community” system.

As countries across the globe voice their backing of individuals as possible leader of the global tourism community come the end of term in office of Taleb Rifai, current Secretary General of the UNWTO, Asia is boldly stepping forward with its proposal for a new era of global tourism leadership.

Not one leader seeking to charter a new path for tourism according to their perspective. Instead, a partnership of two representing a formidable team uniquely qualified to champion a tourism future for the benefit of greater global development and unity.

With great pride and confidence, the Republic of KOREA has presented for candidacy of the role of Secretary General of the UNWTO one of South Korea’s finest daughters and leaders: AMBASSADOR DHO YOUNG-SHIM.

With over 3 decades of her life dedicated to global advancement, through Tourism, Ambassador Dho understands firsthand how nations around the world can use Tourism to elevate not just their economies, but their social fabric, their environmental protection, their identity, their competitiveness….and their feeling of pride as a meaningful player in the global community.

Having been playing a front line role in tourism at a global level for the past 4 decades, and operating within the UN and UNWTO for over twenty years, Ambassador Dho was most recently in the capacity of Chairperson of the ST-EP Foundation, the UNWTO’s dedicated operating unit focused on the elimination of poverty through tourism. The ST-EP Foundation is now in its final days of UNWTO custodianship in accordance with a decision taken in 2013 by the UNWTO Executive Council and its membership at the UNWTO General Assembly.

Knowing from first-hand experience the challenges and opportunities for tourism across all regions of the world, especially tourism’s ability to elevate nations for the benefit of all citizens, Ambassador Dho is firm in her belief that with the right leadership, tourism can finally get the attention, support and resources needed to operate as a key part of the global growth agenda.

In her own words, Ambassador Dho is clear in her convictions:

“We live in challenging times. I see it, you see it. All around. People are struggling to find hope. No country is able to get away from the troubles that the world is experiencing, whether in their economy, or amongst their people. This generation has never been so challenged in how to create a future for all to come together, peacefully, and with a feeling of personal value. At the same time, I see, I know, that tourism offers a way for people, whoever they are and wherever they live, to have hope. Tourism creates jobs. It creates stability. And it naturally creates identity. I know the difference that makes to creating opportunities for countries to build a future for the better of all. Tourism must be seen and used a part of the solution to global growth and development. Now is a time for action. No more words. Action”

For this reason, Ambassador Dho views the position of UNWTO leadership holistically. Dho emphasizes,:

“It’s not about me. It’s about the UNWTO global tourism community. We – we all together, are working to bring the world to a better place, one where people can recognize and celebrate their value, and the value of others. As Secretary General it will be my job to empower others so that tourism can be applied to lift up people and places across the world, making economies stronger, societies stronger. As Secretary General, it will be my job to unlock the power of tourism as a force for good for all. But I cannot do this alone. No one can. It must be a team effort.”

Uniquely, Ambassador Dho is openly positioning her team, asking one of the global tourism community’s most trusted leaders to join her candidacy ticket as her running mate – CARLOS VOGELER. A Spanish national born in Venezuela, from a well-known Spanish-German family, has dedicated more than 30 years of his professional life to the tourism private sector, simultaneously with the Academia, as a University Professor, and is well known to the UNWTO membership and global tourism sector. He is currently Executive Director for Member Relations at the UNWTO and also Regional Director for the Americas .

Creating a powerful combination of leadership offering unprecedented balance of global representation, experience and expertise across business and government, access and gender, the partnership of Dho and Vogeler reflects a well thought through, structured, mature and visionary approach to the competition for the UNWTO’s top job.

Leadership over leaders. Tourism as a central part of the solution to global stability, unity, and opportunity.

As stated by the Ambassador of Foreign Affairs of Korea in Spain on formal presentation of his nation’s chosen candidate:

“Together, Madame Dho, with her chosen Deputy, Carlos Vogeler, a well known and respected leader of and friend to global Tourism, offer a unique combination of global expertise, experience, insight and exposure. My country is confident in their exceptional ability to lead the UNWTO, and its membership, to a position of even greater importance and impact within the Tourism sector, and wider global community.”

 

Recent Executive Decisions by the U. S Administration effective 27^th January 2017 have generated global debate, anxiety, reciprocal action and consequently engendered unprecedented apprehension in the global tourism industry. For a period of 120 days, the temporary order suspends entry of any refugees into the U.S. It also prohibits all Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. until further notice. Additionally, it bans the citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries—Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen—from entering the U.S. on any visa category, which include those travelling on tourism purposes. While it is too soon to determine if the Executive Order impacts tourism, it has certainly generated a crisis of confidence in the travel-market attendant with negative reputational implications on the ‘American Dream.’ America was founded on the basis of its openness to immigration-all of ‘us’ searching for this now increasingly elusive dream.

Tourism is one of the largest sectors in the U.S.A. making a total contribution of 1.47 trillion U. S dollars to its GDP in 2014, and it is forecast to reach 2.25 trillion U. S. dollars in 2025, based on a policy thrust by the last administration, on visa facilitation and travel liberalisation. That policy thrust gave hope to a world gravitating towards more openness in travel business with many regions advocating strongly for seamless travel in order to boost tourism performance and benefit local economies in a world beset by economic meltdown and commodity price downturn. It is pertinent to note that the travel GDP of the U.S. is equivalent to direct exports of the entire global tourism sector of US1, 5 trillion as at 2015!

Tourism boasted virtually uninterrupted growth over time, despite occasional shocks, demonstrating the sector’s strength and resilience. International tourist arrivals have over time increased from 25 million globally in 1950 to 1, 24 billion in 2016. Likewise, international tourism receipts earned by destinations worldwide have surged from US$ 2 billion in 1950 to US$1.7 trillion in 2016. Employing 1 in every 11 people equivalent to 288 million jobs directly and indirectly with the U.S.A. alone accounting for 6 million jobs.  In addition to receipts earned in destinations, international tourism also generated US$ 211 billion in exports through international passenger transport services rendered to non-residents in 2016, bringing the total value of tourism exports up to US$ 1.5 trillion, or US$ 4 billion a day on average. International tourism now represents 7% of total world’s exports and 30% of services exports (World Tourism Barometer, 2016), up from 6% in 2014 as tourism has grown faster than world trade over the past four years.

As a worldwide export category, tourism ranks third after fuels and chemicals and ahead of food and automotive products. In many developing countries, tourism ranks as the first export sector.

Clearly, tourism’s importance cannot be under-estimated, and that also behoves us to ensure travel is facilitated optimally, and we all have a stake to enable legitimate tourism in the midst of this crisis. The Executive Order seem to be at odds with the pledge to stimulate the US economy by reducing its trade deficit and increasing exports. Travel expenditure by foreigners in the USA and any destination for that matter is captured as export proceeds, so actions that stymie tourism are direct impediments to exports and will exacerbate the trade deficit, by definition. Over and above its positive economic impacts, tourism is one of the sectors contributing to U. S socio-economic development since it increasingly allows citizens to become aware of other people’s cultures, thereby symbolically inculcating cultural tolerance, social harmony and co-existence. Even when nation states are in a state of fall-out, the tourism bridge should never be collapsed as it allows for an effective people to people diplomacy – the most effective diplomacy, and more so in this IT age.

A wholesale ban on travel which does not differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate tourism will have far-reaching consequences on the global tourism economy – hence my concern as current Chair of the UNWTO Regional Commission for Africa, and three time past President of the U. S based Corporate Council for Africa’s Travel Association, in which capacities, for the past nine years, I have lobbied, advocated and promoted travel between Africa and the U.S.A.

The social and cultural traditions and practices of all peoples, including those of minorities and indigenous peoples should be celebrated and recognized in terms of their worth, and barring other nationalities arising out of insecurity fears may not be the best option to guarantee peace in destinations. Seamless travel through safe, secure and seamless borders, must be our common objective imploring us in the process to exercise restraint where this is threatened by avoiding reciprocal action. An ‘eye for an eye’ approach will leave the world blind. In fact travel should be used to secure peace, tolerance and understanding through greater interaction of humanity.

Equally the perennially nagging question of migration in the Americas, and within Europe itself, cannot find answers in restricting movement of other nationalities nor the building of walls, literal or figurative, or in reversing the gains of openness that we have achieved in the last decade. Part of the solution as a key component of my candidature proposition, certainly, lies in recognizing and proactively promoting tourism as an effective vehicle for job-creation and economic empowerment, building common understanding and ultimately the promotion of peace. The 1, 24 billion people who traversed the world in 2016 reached their destinations as peace ambassadors with their capital spent in destinations of their choice.

It is on the basis of the peace-building characteristics of this sector that I have a value proposition that seeks to bring into the fold of the UNWTO, principally the United States of America, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and others, to induce a sense of universality and inclusivity: for it can only be on this basis that lasting solutions to the challenges can be found.

It is my sincere hope that this temporary measure is temporary for real, and that the prescribed120 days will afford all concerned parties ample time for deeper reflection and more widespread  consultations  –   including with institutions such as the UNWTO which maybe in a position to  offer  wise, practical and impartial counsel.

For further details about my value proposition, I refer you to my website www.waltermzembi.org with the full outline of my vision for global tourism and how we can use it to secure peace for the globe as an extension of the use of soft power, a philosophy I have advocated time and again as an indispensable adjunct to the use of hard-power.

Diplomacy works!