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G20 Tourism Ministerial Meetings

Declaration

Paris, October 25, 2011
[pdf]

The Ministers for Tourism and Heads of Delegation of the G20 member countries present and international organizations[i] met in Paris on 25 October 2011,

Recalling that:

1 - The first two T20 meetings highlighted the impact of tourism on the economy. This sector accounts directly for 5% of GDP, 3 % to 4% of jobs, corresponding to direct employment of 100 million people throughout the world. Furthermore, international tourism accounts directly for 6% of worldwide exports and 30% of service exports.

2 - Tourism also plays a major role in lessening worldwide balance of payments disequilibrium. By stimulating internal consumption, the development of domestic tourism can make a country's growth less dependent on exports.

3 - Tourism represents one of the driving forces for global economic development by ensuring the dissemination of wealth in all countries. In 2010, international tourists spent 339 billions US dollars in emerging countries and developing economies, representing several times the amount of official development assistance which is provided to these countries. Through its resilience, it has proven that it is a sector which contributes to reducing the impact of recessions and which acts as a catalyst for recovery.

4 - By fostering better mutual awareness of people and cultures, tourist encounters and travel have a significant stabilizing effect as regards international relations and solidarity.

5 - Tourism can provide an important contribution to the sustainable development of the advanced, emerging countries and developing economies, if it is managed in a responsible and quality driven way by all the public and private stakeholders, following ethical principles.

6 - Tourism is one of the first economic activities which took back the road of the growth at the world level. In 2010, the number of international tourists increased by 7 % to reach 940 millions tourists. This recovery has been confirmed at the beginning of 2011 with a 5 % progress during the first eight months of the year, with the prospect to reach one billion of cross border tourists by 2012.

Considering that

7 - the third T20 meeting, held in Paris on 25 October 2011, devoted to analyzing the indirect impact of tourism on economies, showed it can be estimated at comparable levels with the sectors which depend directly on the tourist activities.

8 - the forecasts drawn up by the World Tourism Organization suggest that tourism will experience sustained development in coming years reaching 1,8 billion international tourists by 2030. Strong growth in domestic tourism is also expected.

Underlining

9 - the importance for the prosperity of the global economy of continuing to encourage the sustainable development and decent work in tourism, by guaranteeing an institutional, fiscal and economicaly favourable framework to this sector.

Encourage

10 - Considering the significant economic and social potential of tourism for the global economy, employment and sustainable development, the G20 members to register the importance and impact of tourism as a topic of discussion in the coming years summits.

Express

11 - their appreciation to the host, the Minister of Tourism of France and the French Government for hosting the third T20 Ministers meeting and to Mexico for its gracious invitation to host the fourth T20 Ministers meeting in May 2012.

Note

[i] Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, European Union, International Labour Organization (ILO), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).↩

Source: United Nations World Tourism Organization

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