The three-day Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Conference will be attended by representatives from several countries, who will discuss new ideas of how to maximise and sustain the economic benefits of tourism.
“The sheer size, lack of economies of scale and heavy reliance on a narrow range of price-sensitive commodities to generate foreign exchange are among some of the features which explain the economic vulnerability of SIDS,” said the organisers in a statement.
“While international tourism offers most of these countries a suitable alternative to generating foreign exchange and aiding in development, these states continue to face critical issues that contribute to the vulnerability of their tourism sector.
“Building tourism vulnerability in SIDS is particularly significant to us, is most cases; tourism is or is set to become the sector or greatest economic potential,” they said.
The theme of this year’s conference is therefore: “Maximising economic benefits and sustaining tourism in development.”
Representatives of the nations involved will attempt to come up with innovative ideas to solve critical issues that threaten the tourism Industry. The conference is designed to be of interest and benefit to both public and private sector persons from small island nations who are involved directly and indirectly with tourism.
These include tourism professionals and hospitality practitioners, academia and tourism researchers, NGOs and students.
On Monday, Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, Fransceco Frangialli arrived in New Providence for the conference.
He was greeted by representatives of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Tourism at the Nassau International Airport.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the objectives of the conference are to:
ﾕ Create a forum to identify and discuss economic, environmental, social and other relevant factors that support economic resilience building in the tourism sector in Small Island Developing States.
ﾕ Recommend best practices and measures to strengthen tourism’s economic resilience and assist small island states in mitigating their vulnerabilities.
ﾕ Provide a strategic way forward in tourism resilience building and guidelines for regional and international agencies to assist states in managing vulnerabilities in the development of their tourism sector.
By Tribune Staff Reporter
