communiques 5 to 8, november 2007 to february 2008

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Communiques # 5 to # 8

November 2007 to February 2008

To members of the Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. network.

www.pacificasiatourism.org

International development via sustainable tourism.

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Communique # 5 08 November 2007

1. Attached is updated Capability Statement dated 08 November 2007.

Please feel free to distribute.

2. We welcome in a new participant to the Research Community:

Dr Tracy Berno has been a tourism academic, researcher and consultant for over 15 years.

She ahs worked on projects in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, the Marshall Islands, French

Polynesia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Dr Berno has recently returned to

Lincoln University, New Zealand after heading the Department of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of the South Pacific for close to eight years. Dr Berno has authored, and co-

authored numerous reports, journal articles and book chapters. 3. Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance.

Following recent meetings in Washington DC with the leaders of Counterpart

International, Solimar International and US AID and subsequent to a meeting in Fiji last year with the Foundation of the People of the South Pacific (FSPI), Steve Noakes

and Terry de Lacy were invited to attend the annual general meeting of FSPI held on

the island if Savaii, Samoa this past week to present ideas for the establishment of a possible new Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance, modeled on the US AID sponsored Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance. The concept was well received by the

senior NGO representatives from countries throughout the Pacific and now a small working group consisting of Counterpart International, FSPI, Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd and Victoria University will lead further development.



Pictured at the Savaii, Samoa meeting this week: Lelei Lelaulu, President of Counterpart International & Chairman of the Board, FSPI, Washington DC. Steve Noakes, Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd., Gold Coast. Rex Horoi, Executive Director, Foundation of the People of the South Pacific International (FSPI), Suva. Prof Terry de Lacy, Victoria University, Melbourne.

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4. Real estate driven tourism growth pressures in Kauai, Hawaii.

Before traveling to Samoa, Steve Noakes was invited as keynote speaker at a

Greening Kauai Visitor Industry Conference arranged by the Kauai Planning & Action Alliance to offer international perspectives on sustainable tourism. The meeting focused on actions being taken by a number of hospitality businesses to “green” their operations,

provide a sense of place, benefit the community, and make a profit. He also took the

opportunity to visit colleagues at the University of Hawaii.

5. PATA Sustainable Tourism news in Pacific Asia.

Go to www.pata.org/patasite/index.php?id=867 and also note, down the bottom of

that page, a link to a range of Resources.

Also note www.PATA.org/ceochallenge if you are interested and available for this

Pacific Asia tourism & climate summit in Bangkok, April 29 & 30, 2008

6. World Committee of Tourism Ethics.

Steve Noakes has been invited for appointment by the United Nations World Tourism

Organisation as a member of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics for the period 2007 to 2011 – to be ratified at the forthcoming UNWTO General Assembly in

Colombia (November 2007)

Once a scenic view location for bus groups and independent drivers – the vista becoming obscured by new developments on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. (October 2007)

Contributing ideas for sustainable enterprise and destination practices for Kauai at the Hilton Hotel, Kauai, Hawaii. (October 2007)

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7. Tourism - Opening Doors for Woman:

World Tourism Day – Sri Lanka, 27 September, 2007

8. New Resources:

2007 Asia-Pacific MDG Progress Report UNESCAP, ADB and UNDP

http://www.unescap.org/stat/nl/nl_Oct2007.asp#Launch_MDG_Report The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007 report has

now been released. This report, which describes the region's progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is a joint publication by UNESCAP, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Rating 21 rich countries – A tool for AID effectiveness.

http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/cdi

The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) is a very precise evaluation of aid effectiveness. It rates 21 rich countries on how much they help poor countries to

build good government, prosperity and security. Rich and poor countries are linked in

various ways: by commerce, the environment, military affairs, migration and foreign aid. Each rich country gets scores in seven policy areas, which are averaged from an overall score. The overall CDI shows the countries commitment to development in

the following order (from top to lowest score): Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden,

Finland, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, France, United States, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Japan. They

all have been ranked in those seven areas: aid, trade, investment, migration,

environment, security, technology. The interactive charts (search by country names or policy components) show the particular strengths and challenges of each country

separately in the different rankings.

Due to the late arrival of airline tickets, Steve Noakes did not

make the connection ex Brisbane/Singapore/Sri Lanka to accept

an invitation from the Government of Sri Lanka and UNWTO to participate in World Tourism Day dialogue on MGD 3. Fortunately, Prof Terry de Lacy’s travel plans went more

smoothly and on Steve’s behalf, he participated in the think-

tank meetings with global leaders on the topic in Sri Lanka, Terry then continued onto the world tourism and climate change summit in Davos, Switzerland as a representative/consultant to

the Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka. (www.unwto.org/climate/index.php)

The Toronto Star ran a story on tourism and gender, referencing Pacific Asia Tourism and our network colleagues at BCTLI, Canada (http://bctli.ca) WWW.THESTAR.COM/ARTICLE/269546

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Communique # 6 December 2007

3. Attached is updated Capability Statement dated 11 December 2007.

Please feel free to distribute.

4. We welcome in a new participant to the Future Leaders & Research

Community:

Mariyam Zulfa has over 10 years experience in the public sector working as an urban planner and Director of Selected Islands Development and later as a

Director of Education in the Maldives government. She is currently a PhD student

at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. Mariyam has a BA in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of South Australia, Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Western Australia and an MBA from Waikato University,

New Zealand. Her research interests in tourism have now expanded into a study into the competitiveness of small islands tourism destinations

Mariyam is seeking experienced practioners/researchers in small island tourism

to complete an on-line survey as part of her PhD research. If you can spare 15

minutes or so, please go to http://134.7.75.116/gst/ and follow the prompts. It’s also a

useful insight to an on-line survey instrument.

3. World Committee of Tourism Ethics.

Following the recent UNWTO General Assembly in Colombia, Steve Noakes has

been appointed a member of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics for the

period 2007 to 2011



Steve Noakes engaging in community-based tourism planning with Thai Muslim communities in southern Thailand recently.

Amazing where you can find internet access these days!

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4. Joining the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.

Extract from the Weekly Newsletter of south-pacific.travel, 23 November 2007:

south-pacific.travel welcomes a new member to its private sector membership

programme. Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. is a large network of research communities, consulting communities and ‘Future Leaders’ of international

development via sustainable tourism. Through strong global networks, Pacific Asia Tourism offers a significant range of integrated services, bringing together

other international and local tourism professionals, private companies, public-

sector companies, universities and vocational & education training institutions to offer a comprehensive range of tourism & travel policy, planning and management services. Works at both the ‘big picture’ global/regional level in a

number of international forums and networks, as well as at the grass-roots level

in delivering product directly to travelers. For more information on Pacific Asia Tourism, visit the website: www.pacificasiatourism.org

For more information on south-pacific.travel’s private sector membership programme and its associated benefits, contact: [email protected]

5. Resources:

World Bank: East Asia & Pacific update

Asia-Pacific in Figures 2006

http://www.unescap.org/publications/detail.asp?id=1237 (Cost is US$14)

2007 U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide: Designed to Assist the Hotel Owner

http://www.hvs.com/bookstore/HVS2007U.S.HotelFranchiseFeeGuide.pdf HVS, recently published the 2007 U.S. Hotel Franchise Fee Guide – a survey of the fees charged by the major hotel franchisors in the economy, mid-rate, and first-class

market segments. This guide enables hotel owners to easily compare the total cost

of one hotel franchise with that of another.

East Asian economies are likely to remain robust in 2008 despite growing concerns about the U.S. sub-prime crisis and increasing global oil prices,

says the World Bank’s latest East Asia & Pacific

Update – Will Resilience Overcome Risk? Highlighting this, the report finds that for the first time, the number of poor people living below $2 a

day in East Asia has fallen below 500 million – down from 1 billion in 1990.

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UNESCAP – tourism & people with disabilities

http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2007/nov/n66.asp">ESCAP

American adults with disabilities or reduced mobility currently spend an average of

$13.6 billion a year on tourism. In cooperation with Thai authorities and Disabled People International Asia-Pacific, brings together representatives of the travel industry, policymakers and people with disabilities to examine the growing market

for accessible tourism in the region. For the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, go to: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm

Modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road. http://www.adb.org/media/Articles/2007/12241-central-asian-roads-transports/ Eight countries have agreed to a strategy to improve Central Asia’s network of roads,

airports, railway lines and seaports to make the region a vital transit route for trade between Europe and Asia – a modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road. The plan calls for $18.7 billion investment over the next decade in six new transport

corridors, mainly roads and rail links. Historically, Central Asia was braided by

multiple routes linking east and west, known as the Silk Road and dating back more than 2,000 years. It was an important economic artery that stretched more than 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles), from the Mediterranean to China's Yellow River

Valley.

World Monuments Fund & Sustainable Tourism

http://wmf.org/sustainabletourism.html

Part of the American Express Partners in Preservation program. The initiative rewards and encourages responsible stewardship of historic sites by supporting

projects that integrate historic preservation, tourism management, and visitor education into efforts to protect and preserve cultural heritage sites around the

world.

UN trade and development report 2007

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=34000 The 2007 UNCTAD report argues that cooperation can significantly strengthen

developing countries' efforts to meet the macroeconomic challenges of globalisation.

World Business Council for Sustainable Development + IUCN

Providing practitioners, researchers and scientists with online access to

scientific research on the environment.

Bridging the North-South scientific gap and digital divide. More than 100 developing

nations have access to an online environmental database which allows users to view material from prominent environmental science journals. The “Online Access to

Entitled Markets for Ecosystem Services – New Challenges and

Opportunities for Business and the Environment ( 1.3 MB),

the report shows how at a fundamental level, all economies and businesses depend directly or indirectly on the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable supply of ecosystem services.

The perspective paper is intended for both the business and

conservation communities, in an effort to establish a shared vision of market-based approaches to nature conservation. http://www.wbcsd.org/DocRoot/Qx4WB0UOE0IZ4HgOTtrh/market4ecosystem-services.pdf

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Research in the Environment” project http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=521&ArticleI

D=5694&l=en">UNEP After a three-month free trial period, participating countries’ institutions are asked for yearly contributions of $1,000, which is less than 0.1 per cent of the annual retail subscription value of the available resources. Microsoft and Ex Libris Software are assisting in the project.

Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) The Pacific Islands Private Sector Organization (PIPSO) has launched its website -

www.pipso.org. UNDP through its Pacific Centre, played an instrumental role together with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in the opening of an office for

PIPSO last April.

The vast Asia Pacific region.

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Communique # 7 19 December 2007 To members of the Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. network.

1. The Centre for Global Development

2. Tourism ROI

www.tourismROI.com

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. has increased its geographic Master Representative

contract with Tourism ROI by adding: Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, South Korea and Brunei, now giving a total of 30 international destinations as follows:

South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as well as the South Pacific islands of Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cook Islands, French

Polynesia, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon

Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna South East Asia: Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, Lao PDR,

Philippines, East Timor South Asia: Bhutan, Pakistan

North Asia: South Korea, Mongolia



Steve Noakes has become a charter member of the Global Development Society ( http://www.cgdev.org ) - people who share a commitment to a better future for people in

the developing world. The member contribution receives a "matching gift" from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation equal to the amount paid. ( www.gatesfoundation.org )

The Centre for Global Development is an independent, not-for-profit think tank that

works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community. Amongst its activities, it publishes The Commitment to

Development Index (CDI) which rates 21 rich countries on how much they help poor countries build prosperity, good government, and security. ( http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/cdi/ )

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Tourism ROI will be “Officially Launched” at the world’s largest travel & tourism trade event, ITB Berlin, March 2008. Currently beta testing is underway to open

TourismROI for Destination subscriptions (quietly) in January 2008. They are

working with a handful of destinations (Colorado, Pocono Mountains, Montenegro, Kansas City, Barbados and maybe one or two others) to start adding content and act as demonstration models. This occurs in January. The technology team is working

on the Investment Opportunities and Business Opportunities portion of the website in January/February so it we will commence Asia Pacific sales/marketing opportunities after they are complete in March. If you know anyone who might be interested in a local market sales representation deal in any of the above listed countries, please

ask them to contact [email protected] Richard Miller, Tourism ROI interview from World Travel Mart, London.

http://www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php?id=822

3. Tourism & Climate Change:

(a) Australian inputs

Prof. Terry de Lacy, Victoria University, has recently been at the UN Climate Change meetings in Bali, spoke at a Conference with Al Gore in the Caribbean and

participated in the UNWTO, Davos, Switzerland meetings on tourism & climate

change. He was subject on a Travel Mole interview: http://www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php?sid=50&id=548

(b) India’s India's Tourism Minister states position http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1124952.php?mpnlog=1&m_id=_r~Avs~T__r

‘Important issues such as carbon footprints, taxes on aviation fuel, energy efficiency

methods, water conservation that are being widely discussed and debated in the context of climate change should not end up being another form of non-tariff barriers

for tourism against the developing countries. We need to discuss new technologies

which will be good for tourism. Global action on tourism should be well informed, educated, comprehensive and balanced.’

© As China Goes, So Goes Global Warming. New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/weekinreview/16revkin.html?ref=world

‘As always, the fingers of many experts on energy and the environment point both west and east — to the United States and China. The established superpower arose

riding a wave of fossil-fueled prosperity. The emerging one, sitting on a wealth of

coal, sees few reasons not to follow suit; after all, it has only just caught its wave (with India and others in hot pursuit). Yet the tide can only be turned, a host of

scientists and economists with varied perspectives agree, if China and other rising powers like India speed through the familiar path in nation building — resource

extraction, industrial and economic growth, accompanying despoliation, and then environmental restoration and protection. If they don’t, their emissions will

eventually swamp all other sources, according to many analyses.’

(d) and a couple of items from Bali …

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Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Launched At Bali Climate Meeting http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21582088~pag

ePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Scientists Say Carbon Crisis Lethal For Coral Reefs http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21587301~pag

ePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

4. World Business Council for Sustainable Development &

SNV Pacific Asia Tourism has been contracted by SNV to undertake an assignment on

‘Inclusive Business.’ Inclusive Business is a new concept developed by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation (www.snvworld.org ) and the World Business

Council for Sustainable Development ( www.wbcsd.org ) – an association of 200 of the

world’s biggest corporations. It focuses on innovative business models that benefit

low-income families by building secure livelihoods and creating new markets and company profits. The assignment examined the concept and approach of Inclusive Business strategies developed by SNV and the WBCSD in Latin America, and set out

recommendations for SNV to work with WBCSD, UNWTO and other public and private

sector agencies to adapt and apply this approach in the tourism sector in Asia. Contact Dr Paul Rogers, [email protected] if you’d like further information

5. Resources:

Asian Development Bank: Climate Change - Strengthening Mitigation and Adaptation

in Asia and the Pacific

http://www.adb.org/Documents/Brochures/Climate-Change/default.asp

International Comparison Program (ICP) in Asia and the Pacific: Purchasing Power Parity and Real Expenditure http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/ICP-Purchasing-Power-Expenditures/default.asp According to the International Comparison Program (ICP) in Asia and the Pacific: Purchasing Power Parity and Real Expenditure, there is a huge disparity in real per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the region. The study, which was coordinated globally by the World Bank, allows comparison of major economic indicators for 146 countries globally. Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is an idea popularized by The Economist’s Big Mac Index, which prices hamburgers in global cities for a quick and crude comparison

of inter-country price levels.

Global Corruption Barometer 2007:

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/businessenvironment/rc/ItemDetail.do~1123

080?intcmp=700 Political parties and parliaments seen as institutions most compromised by corruption worldwide.

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Communique # 8 February 04, 2008

1. Welcome to new network members:

Dr Giuseppe Marzano has over 10 years international experience in marketing and in the facilitation and management of multi-stakeholder decision making processes in the

context of tourism. Giuseppe has published in the field of tourism marketing with a specific focus on the understanding of the benefit of collaboration amongst tourism stakeholders and destination branding processes. He graduated with a PhD in Tourism

from The University of Queensland and a Master in Natural Resources Management

from INCAE (Costa Rica). Giuseppe speaks fluently Italian, Spanish and English. And currently lives in Quito, Ecuador.

Dr Ren Zhuge earned his PhD in Protected Area Management from The University of Queensland, Australia. He was engaged in the promotion of Green Globe’s sustainable tourism benchmarking and certification program in China for five years. He has

organised environmental performance standard training workshops to business, community and government enhancing the environmental, economic and social sustainability of tourism in China. Dr Zhuge has also developed a broad range of relationships with governments at various levels, academics from universities and

research institutes, businesses in travel and tourism industry and NGOs such as World Wide Fund for Nature, Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy.

2. New Thailand Partnerships.



During January, Dr Johannes Bauer (3 rd from right) and Steve Noakes continued to build good links with the southern Thailand based Prince of Songkhla

University – particularly the Department of Management (Tourism) and the Department of Biology. Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. is looking at the implementation of the SAVE Travel Alliance

concept in the south Andaman coast region of Thailand – near the Thai/Malaysia border region. (Scientific, Academic, Volunteer, Educational)

At the Trang campus of Prince of Songkla

University, Thailand

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3. Maldives added.

The Maldives now becomes the 31 st country where Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd. has

been appointed as Master Representative for www.tourismROI.com

The full list of representative countries:

South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as well as the South

Pacific islands of Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna

South Asia: Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives

South East Asia: Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, East Timor, Lao PDR, Philippines,

Brunei, Cambodia North Asia: South Korea, Mongolia

Richard Miller, Tourism ROI, interview from World Travel Mart, London. www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php?id=822

4. Vietnam exploration

Following a recent meeting in Bangkok with two senior officials of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, next week, Steve Noakes will assess the new Long Tan Trek

operations in the Baria/Vung Tau Province of South Vietnam. The Trek takes its name

from the now famous and epic battle that took place at the site of the Long Tan Memorial Cross on the 18th of August 1966. Maybe the Long Tan Cross is poised to be acknowledged in traveller’s diaries as the new destination to visit in recognition of

Australia’s Iconic military memorial sites, such as Gallipoli, The Western Front and Kokoda. www.longtantrek.com.au

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5. Resources:

National Geographic’s ‘Green Guide’ www.thegreenguide.com The GREEN GUIDE makes living in an environmentally-aware way easy, understandable, and practical. Intended for general consumers, GREEN GUIDE shows

people how to make small changes that add up to big benefits for their wallets, for their health, and for the health of the planet. Not political or activist, the GREEN GUIDE is chock-full of simple, useful, ideas, broken down into achievable steps, that

make going green a gradual and affordable process rather than an all-or-nothing

plunge. The Globalization Index 2007

Singapore tops the list as the most globalized country in the world. The inevitable push and pull of globalization plays out in the index’s rankings, which incorporate indicators such as trade, foreign direct investment, participation in international organizations,

travel, and Internet usage to determine rankings of countries around the world.

Despite the turmoil in many parts of the world, nations did prove they could play nice with each other.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3995

Communicating Disasters: An Asia Pacific Resource Book Edited by Gunawardene & Noronhan 2007. TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP)& United Nations development Program, Bangkok (UNDP)

Download the entire book for free.http://www.tveap.org/disastercomm/0801dis.html

Discusses how information, education and communication can help create disaster resilient communities across the Asia Pacific region, home to half of humanity. It also

takes a critical look at the communication lessons of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, and explores the role of good communications before, during and

after disasters. +

You can read the final Report of the meeting- Report (2 MB)

http://www.tveap.org/disastercomm/Communicating%20Disasters%20-%20Bkk%20Meeting%20Dec%202006%20-%20Report.pdf

Click here for more information http://www.tveap.org/disastercomm/

Nonprofit Launches New Online Daily Climate Newsletter

"The Daily Climate," an online electronic newsletter, delivers a daily digest of climate

news with links to original news articles. It is free - published by the Charlottesville,

VA, nonprofit Environmental Health Sciences, who also publish Environmental Health News. www.dailyclimate.org/newsletter

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MDGs & Climate Change - World Economic Forum, Davos.

From right: Bono, Bill Gates, Queen Rania of Jordan, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Nigerian President Yar' Adua, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the World Economic Forum 2008. (Photo by Andy Mettler courtesy World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch)

"The Millennium Development

Goals can only be met if the climate crisis is taken into the fold of that effort. If the world warms

up by two degrees all of the good work done in development will be undone," Al Gore, former U.S.

Vice President and 2007 Nobel

Peace Prize laureate. www.ens-

newswire.com/ens/jan2008/2008-01-

25-02.asp

Climate Change & Tourism www.unwto.org/climate/index.php For tourism, climate change is not a remote event, but a phenomenon that already affects the sector and certain destinations in particular, mountain

regions and coastal destinations among others.

Communications to: [email protected]

A very happy German/Australian senior Scientist member of the

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd international network !