January 9-10, 2008

We held the Responsible Tourism Days at the World Bank on January 9-10, 2008. The opening session offered a balanced view of responsible tourism, through the participation of creative thinkers, role models, and leading academic figures from Aga Khan Development Network, Conservation International, George Washington University, Inter-American Development Bank, National Geographic Society, Rainforest Alliance, UNEP, UNESCO, and World Wildlife Fund.

The first ever RTDs at the Bank consisted of a Knowledge Fair sponsored by regional units, bilateral organizations, private sector and other partners. The Fair showcased projects that demonstrate the work being done within the World Bank Group to minimize the negative effects of tourism development while generating greater economic benefits for local communities.

This was a follow up event to the Dialogue on Cultural Heritage in Sustainable Development which took place in April 2007. The Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Thematic Group (CHST) has taken the lessons from the Technical Briefing to the Executive Board of the World Bank and the results of the Dialogue to further explore the linkages between cultural heritage and local economic development.

Through the implementation of community based cultural tourism and pro-poor tourism in Bank financed projects, cultural heritage has become a centerpiece for linking local economic development and poverty reduction. Our interest has led us to Responsible Tourism which seeks to make the benefits of tourism available at the local level, improving both the social as well as economic well being of a community.

For more information, please contact Berenice Sanchez - bsanchez@worldbank.org

January 9

Welcome
Laszlo Lovei, Director, Finance, Economics and Urban Development, World Bank Group  

Opening Remarks
Katherine Sierra, Vice President, Sustainable Development Network, World Bank Group

Panelists
Otaviano Canuto, Vice President, Inter-American Development Bank
Dhanendra Kumar, Executive Director, World Bank Group
Neel Inamdar, Senior Advisor, Conservation International
Don Hawkins, Eisenhower Professor, George Washington University

Chair
Iain T. Christie

Stephanos Fotiou, UNEP
Financing Sustainable Tourism

Mainstreaming Poverty Reduction through Pro-Poor Tourism:
Advising community based and industry development initiatives presented by International Finance Corporation

Kate Lloyd-Williams, Consultant
Increasing the Local Impact of Tourism for Poverty Reduction

John Perrottet, Operations Officer, CEAPP
Successful Tourism Projects - What Works

Jennifer Bartlett, Associate Operations Officer, CEAPP
Sustainable Tourism Development Diagnostic Tool

Thy Hourn, Operations Officer
Stay Another Day.org Program

Chair
Giovanni Majnoni

Conserving our Cultural and Natural Heritage Resources

Art Pedersen, UNESCO
World Heritage and Tourism - Preserving our Heritage Resources 

Ana Paula Tavares, Rainforest Alliance
Implementing Sustainable Tourism

Chris Seek on behalf of James Dion, National Geographic Society
The Geoturism Approach

Jurjen van der Tas, Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Cultural and Natural Heritage Tourism: the AKDN experience

Gina De Ferrari, World Wildlife Fund
Seleni Matus, Conservation International
Nature Conservation and Tourism a Win-Win Approach

January 10

Project Team Presentations

Ahmed Eiweida, Middle East and North Africa
Opportunities for Tourism and Cultural Heritage Development in Alexandria Local Economic Development

Mara Warwick, East Asia and Pacific

Tova Solo, Latin America and the Caribbean
Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean:Building on a Broad Legacy

Janis Bernstein, Europe and Central Asia
Cultural Tourism and Heritage Protection in ECA

Shaun Mann, Sub-Saharan Africa
Making Tourism Work in Africa: A Strategy for Africa from the FPD Team 

Knowledge Fair Sponsors

Aga Khan Development Network: Cultural and Natural Heritage Tourism

Conservation International

Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism in MENA: Promoting Growth and Identity

Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Thematic Group

Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance

IFC Advisory (Mekong)

Rainforest Alliance

Stay Another Day!

Tourism and Private Sector Development in the Africa Region

Tourism Sector Diagnostic Tool - IFC PEP - Pacific

United Nations Environment Programme

World Bank's Responsible Tourism Program in Latin America and the Caribbean