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!

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations Specialized Agency for Tourism, expresses its deep concern and strong condemnation over the recently announced travel ban by the United States of America (USA) to nationals of seven countries (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen).

The travel ban, based on nationality, is contrary to the principles of freedom of travel and travel facilitation promoted by the international tourism community and will hinder the immense benefits of the tourism sector brings in terms of economic growth and job creation to many countries, including the USA.

“Global challenges demand global solutions and the security challenges that we face today should not prompt us to build new walls; on the contrary, isolationism and blind discriminatory actions will not lead to increased security but rather to growing tensions and threats”, said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai.

“Besides the direct  impact, the image of a country which imposes travel bans in such a hostile way will surely be affected among visitors from all over the world and risk dumping travel demand to the USA” added Mr Rifai.