25 January 2005
MEDIA RELEASE
ISRAEL TO BE REPRESENED AT WORLD TOURISM ORGANISATION CONFERENCE
DEDICATED TO RESTORING TOURISM TO TSUNAMI AFFECTED INDIAN OCEAN NATIONS
The Israel Ministry of Tourism will be one of 29 tourism ministries
represented at an emergency meeting of the World Tourism Organisation's
Executive Council to discuss assistance and recovery strategies for the
tourism industries of countries affected by the India Ocean Tsunami.
The
WTO is the peak body of world tourism.
The meeting will take place at Phuket in Thailand January 31 and Feb
1st.
Delegations from nations affected will be present as well as nations
and non- government organisations which have contributed to relief
efforts.
The location of the meeting is highly appropriate from a global
tourism perspective. Phuket, one of Thailand's most popular tourism
regions was heavily publicised because many of the Tsunami victims in
Phuket and surrounding islands were foreign tourists.
The Tsunami have
impacted negatively on the tourism dependent economy of the region
Israel will be represented by the Director of the Israel Tourism Office
(Australia)
Dr David Beirman.
Although Beirman is Australian he has headed up the
Israel Government Tourism Office in Australia since 1994. Beirman is a
tourism crisis
management and marketing recovery specialist and the author of"Restoring Tourism Destinations in Crisis".
The WTO meeting is intended to develop and implement a series of
strategies designed to facilitate the rapid and sustainable recovery of
tourism in the Tsunami affected regions.
Beirman stated, the strategic
tourism solutions will depend to a large extent on the requirements as
defined by the affected countries.
Israel is committed to making a
positive contribution to this process. While Israel's interests are
overwhelmingly altruistic, the region is a very popular destination for
Israeli tourists. At least four Israeli died as a result of the Tsunami
and several are still missing.
Measures which will benefit the overall
safety of locals and tourists alike will be high on the WTO's agenda.
