UNWTO Praises RI For Active Role In Assisting Travel Industry

London, Nov 6 (Antara) - A United Nations official has praised the Indonesian government for its role in encouraging the promotion and assistance for the travel industry, including within the APEC region. United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General Taleb Rifai delivered his praise at a meeting with Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of G20 Tourism Ministers held in London recently, said Ni Wayan Giri Adnyani, head of the ministry`s foreign cooperation bureau, on Tuesday. Indonesia hosted a high level discussion on travel assistance as part of the APEC Summit held in Bali last October. While in London, Mari also attended a tourism exhibition being held at the Excel building until November 7. The exhibition is the world`s second largest tourism trade show, following the ITB Berlin World Tourism. The G20 tourism ministers agreed at the meeting to continue visa assistance programs, expand comprehensive approaches to travel assistance and create business and action plans to ensure well-guided and measurable developments. They also agreed to develop policies to support infrastructure investment and human resources in pursuit of sustainable tourism growth. Mari said, as a country that has a significant interest in developing tourism, Indonesia appreciated the outcome of the G20 tourism ministers meeting, which is part of its tourism development policy. Therefore, she added, there should be an action plan to implement the outcome immediately. The meeting brought together 11 ministers and several representatives of international organizations, including the UNWTO, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The topic for the meeting was "Advancing the Travel Facilitation" which is a follow up to the declaration reached at the G20 leaders meeting held in Los Cabos, Mexico last year. At the Mexico meeting, the G20 leaders agreed that tourism development in G20 countries provides an opportunity to create jobs and boost economic growth and development. Further, the result of a study conducted by UNWTO indicates that the implementation of visa assistance in G20 countries can increase tourist arrivals by 112 million people and generate 5.1 million new jobs between 2013 and 2015, as well as increase foreign exchange earnings by US$206 billion.