Tempat/Venue : PWTC, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 09-04-2001
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE 50TH
PACIFIC ASIA TRAVEL
ASSOCIATION (PATA)
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
First and foremost, allow me to bid you all a very
warm welcome and `Selamat Datang' to Kuala Lumpur for
the 50th Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual
Conference.
2. I am delighted and honoured to be given this
opportunity to share with you PATA's 50th Anniversary
celebration. Permit me to congratulate the PATA 2001
national host and Organising Committees as well as PATA
Headquarters for bringing together leaders of the
travel industry from the Asia Pacific region to
Malaysia for this important international conference on
tourism. We hope our garden city - Kuala Lumpur - with
its lush greenery and warm Malaysian hospitality, will
meet all your expectations for a memorable and
enjoyable stay.
3. Malaysia is proud and privileged to be accorded
the opportunity to host the PATA Annual Conference for
the third time, especially at this point in time when
PATA is celebrating its Golden Jubilee. The two
previous PATA conferences held here, in 1972 and 1986
respectively, were significant milestones in the
history of tourism development in Malaysia. In 1972 we
saw the setting up of Tourist Development Corporation
of Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines which helped to put
Malaysia on the world tourism map. The 1986 Conference,
held 15 years ago at this very same venue, signalled
the beginning of a major drive by the Malaysian
Government to establish tourism as one of the country's
main generators of foreign exchange. Since then, many
changes have occurred but it has certainly not affected
the warm hospitality that we extend to our guests,
something that is very much a part of our tradition.
4. Considering that this year's annual conference
coincides with PATA's 50th anniversary, and in keeping
with the conference's theme "Proud Past - Promising
Future", it would be appropriate to step back in time
and reflect on the current state of the world tourism
industry and ponder briefly on its past achievements,
current challenges and future prospects.
5. The tourism industry has established itself as one
of the three strategic national industries of the new
millennium, together with the information
communications technology or ICT and environmental
industries. Tourism is a high value-added industry,
with its added value rate estimated at more than 50
percent, thus exceeding that of the semiconductor
industry. As a source of foreign exchange earnings, the
tourism industry has done better compared to exports of
automobiles and electronic goods. Its job-creating
potential is also among the highest, compared to all
other industries. Furthermore, the tourism industry is
a clean and environmentally-friendly one.
6. In 1999, travel and tourism generated directly and
indirectly, across the global economy, 11 percent of
Gross Domestic Product (GDP); 200 million jobs and 8
percent of total employment. The World Tourism
Organisation (WTO) has projected that the number of
tourists travelling worldwide will increase to 1
billion by 2010 reaching 1.6 billion by the year 2020.
About 15 years ago, when Malaysia hosted the PATA '86
Conference, tourists worldwide numbered only about 330
million while the world tourism industry then generated
only about US $110 billion.
7. The rapid growth of the tourism industry has
contributed towards the overall economic development of
countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Since those
involved in the travel and tourism trade have clearly
benefited, it would only be proper and fitting to
expect reciprocity from them in terms of their
responsibilities and obligations vis-.-vis the host
countries, the natural environment and the consumers of
tourism services.
8. I am indeed very glad to note that many of the
issues of concern regarding the rights and
responsibilities of stakeholders in the tourism
industry, which were raised in my opening speech at
this venue 15 years ago on the occasion of the 1986
PATA Annual Conference, have been addressed in the 10
articles that make up the "Global Code of Ethics for
Tourism" recently formulated by the original WTO i.e.
the World Tourism Organisation.
9. Promoting an equitable, responsible and
sustainable world tourism in the context of an open and
liberalised global economy should be the shared
responsibility of all stakeholders in the tourism
industry. The benefits tourism brings to developing
countries far outweigh the negative aspects of tourism.
Environmental protection and the preservation of
culture can be reconciled with economic development, if
the latter is carried out on the basis of sustainable
development. The preservation of an indigenous people's
way of life for the sake of the transient tourists,
should not deny the former their right to opportunities
for a higher standard of living and modern
conveniences.
10. Since tourism represents an important force for
peace, by fostering friendship between peoples and
communities, tourism should be conducted in harmony
with the attributes and traditions of the host
communities, with due respect for their laws and
customs. On their part, Governments in the host
countries should ensure the safety of tourists,
maintain political stability and ease tourist movements
through the minimum of regulations for visitors. The
press and other media should provide honest and
balanced coverage of events and developments in host
countries so as to give consumers of tourism services,
accurate and reliable information. Indeed they should
help promote tourism for if the countries prosper
through tourism, the media will also prosper.
Countries are entitled to issue advisories to their
people but there should be based on facts.
11. In the context of a rapidly globalising world, and
an increasingly integrated international economy, the
tourism industry has reached a high level of
sophistication with high technology having found its
way into the industry. Advances in telecommunications
and information technology, especially the Internet
have been of great benefit to the traveller. He no
longer has to deal with a human voice at the end of the
line but hook his telephone line to the computer, dial
up his service provider and undertake transactions, be
it airline seats or accommodation in the country he
will be visiting for business or leisure.
12. But there is still the need for the human element
or personal touch. Even in a knowledge-based economy of
the future, human resource or people remain as one of
the most important or key factors. Interacting with
people is an art that needs to be nurtured for the
betterment of society and enrichment of the nation.
13. In Malaysia, the tourism sector is a major foreign
exchange earner, ranking second after manufacturing. In
1999, we registered a total of 7.93 million arrivals
and earned US $3.24 billion in receipts, the highest
ever in the history of the industry. The encouraging
growth for 1999 continued to be experienced in the year
2000, with Malaysia achieving a new record of 10.22
million tourist arrivals, ranking third after China and
Hong Kong. This influx of visitors has enabled Malaysia
to earn US$ 4.95 billion in terms of tourism receipts.
14. Malaysia has invested a lot of resources in
building the necessary infrastructure for the tourism
industry. Incentives to encourage the development of
tourism have been incorporated into the 7th and 8th
Malaysia Plans. While the Government strongly supports
the tourist trade and aims to accelerate the growth of
the tourism industry, at the same time it will continue
to ensure that the industry is managed on the concept
of "sustainable development." The growing popularity
and demand for nature tourism or eco-tourism has made
sustainable development an imperative for the tourism
industry. This has motivated the United Nations to
designate the year 2002 as the "International Year of
Eco-Tourism."
15. Many believe that eco-tourism may represent the
world's best hope for saving our fragile eco-systems.
By establishing a lucrative business that provides an
opportunity for tourists to visit and see some of the
truly pristine places on earth, including the tropical
rainforests, the environmentally sensitive travel and
tourism companies, with assistance from the Government,
are helping to preserve part of mankind's natural
environment.
16. In Malaysia, the Government has advised those
intending to develop all tourism projects to adopt a
responsible attitude and be sensitive towards
environment conservation. Efforts to market nature as a
tourist attraction should take into account water
cleanliness, river pollution, landslides and the
preservation of endangered species of flora and fauna
when planning the development of a particular tourist
destination.
17. Just as cooperation and coordination is crucial
for tourism development at the national level,
collaboration is also a key prerequisite for tourism
promotion at the regional or sub-regional level. Since
Malaysia is not parochial in its approach to tourism
promotion, opting instead for a "prosper thy neighbour
policy", it has participated actively and positively in
various regional and sub-regional initiatives on
tourism, with a view to drawing a greater flow of
international tourist traffic to the region, and of
course to Malaysia. The region around Malaysia is
growing rapidly and offers many new and exciting
opportunities for tourism development. Since the
majority of visitors to many countries in the region
comes from the region itself, cross-border investment
in the tourism industry is an added opportunity for
Malaysia as well as for other countries in the region.
18. Malaysia aims to be an exciting, value-for-money
travel destination for both local and international
travellers. Since the country is already on its way
towards achieving the status of a tourism cosmopolis,
visitors would require a really long stay to find out
why Malaysia has become a "must visit", "must shop",
"must see", and "must invest" destination.
19. Finally, I would like to wish you all a successful
conference and an enjoyable stay in Malaysia. The wide
choices offered in the post-conference tours will make
the selection of a tour package difficult. However,
you can always come back to Malaysia in future to find
out what you have missed.
20. On that note, it is now my pleasure to officially
declare open the 50th PATA Annual Conference.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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