Regional Activities
Direct actions that strengthen and support the efforts of National Tourism Administrations are carried out by WTO’s regional representatives. Each region of the world—Africa, Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Middle East and South Asia—receives special attention from that region’s representative at the World Tourism Organization.
Based at the Madrid headquarters, regional representatives are WTO’s front line of contact with member countries. They are constantly on the go, but regional representatives are much more than travelling ambassadors.
? They meet with top tourism officials from each of the countries in their region to analyze problems and help seek solutions.
? They act as a liaison between tourism authorities and the United Nations Development Programme to create specific development projects.
? They organize national seminars on topics of particular relevance to an individual country, such as Tourism Promotion in Mexico or Ecotourism in Kyrgyzstan.
? They hold regional conferences on problems that are shared by many countries so that members can exchange experiences and work towards common goals, such as Safety and Security in Eastern Europe or Aviation and Tourism Policy in the Caribbean.
? They represent WTO at national and regional tourism events.
? They help facilitate productive contacts between tourism authorities and other branches of government—often at the presidential level.
All of these activities are designed to help increase the stature of National Tourism Administrations within their own country, while at the same time improving each nation’s tourism sector.