22 April 2009: Addressing the Boao Forum for Asia on “Tourism and the Financial Crisis,” which convened from 17-19 April 2009, on Hainan Island, China, Geoffrey Lipman, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Assistant Secretary-General, highlighted the role that business and leisure travel can play in the G20-led economic recovery.

UNWTO is calling for recognition of the potential for the tourism sector to contribute to the long-term transformation to a Green Economy, based on reduced carbon outputs, clean energy and new technologies. Lipman explained that the tourism sector accounts for 5% of global carbon emissions, which should be adjusted to the new norms to be developed at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. He concluded by stressing the need for “smart tourism that links wise growth with clear carbon reduction.” [UNWTO press release]