Second Meeting of Commonwealth Tourism Ministers, Abuja, Nigeria 29 April 2005 - Communiqué

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1. Commonwealth Tourism Ministers met in Abuja, Nigeria on 28-29 April 2005. The Ministerial Meeting was opened by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who underscored the importance of strong action to boost tourism in the world's poorest countries. He said that there was an emerging international understanding of the importance of this sector as a means to reduce poverty through rural tourism and ecotourism. He also said that Africa has a unique tourism product and this is fully recognised in the work programmes of the African Union and New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) as well as in the recently published report of the Commission for Africa chaired by the UK Prime Minister. He also sought support from the Commonwealth to promote tourism in Africa, in both member and non-member states.

2. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador Franklin Nchita Ogbuewu, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

3. Ministers expressed their appreciation to the Government and people of Nigeria for the excellent arrangements made for this meeting.

4. In giving due recognition to the importance of the tourism industry for the sustainable growth of all member countries, particularly small island developing states (SIDS) and African countries, the Ministers highlighted the need to give special attention to their vulnerabilities and specificities.

5. The Ministers pledged to work together to use tourism for sustainable development and the reduction of poverty for attaining the millennium development goals (MDGs). They agreed on the following:

• To place tourism on national and international agenda as a catalyst for poverty reduction, particularly at the community level.
• To ensure that tourism development is appropriately sensitive to the needs of women and other vulnerable groups in society.
• To support the creation of a Commonwealth Tourism Centre in Malaysia to boost information flows, build capacity and enhance promotion initiatives. They expressed their gratitude to the Malaysian Government for its generous offer to host the Centre and to finance it for a period of three years in the first instance.
• To seek to ensure that security upgrades for tourism are accompanied by parallel action in travel facilitation, including improved passenger handling at all entry points.
• To intensify their initiatives for fair travel advisories which ensure that information is accurate, geographically focused and frequently reviewed by governments at both ends of the markets.
• To place capacity building at the top of their priorities for development funding with a strong focus on triple bottom line sustainability, performance and quality service.
• To support investment activities commencing with a seminar in London, in November 2005, at the time of the World Travel Mart.
• To strengthen relationships with the UN World Tourism Organization and other tourism related bodies, linking and partnering projects where feasible.

6. Ministers recognised the damage caused by natural calamities such as tsunamis, hurricanes or cyclones, to the tourism industry.  They conveyed their sympathies to the Governments and people of member countries affected by the tsunami on 26 December 2004. They emphasized the importance of collective action to assist in the development of early warning systems and in building capacity in disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery for all countries.

7. Ministers also held discussions with representatives of the private sector, meeting in parallel at the Commonwealth Business Forum, and reflected these discussions in the final decisions. They resolved to maintain a continuing dialogue with the private sector. The Commonwealth Business Council pledged to work in close collaboration with the Commonwealth Tourism Centre.

8. Ministers requested that the Commonwealth Secretariat provide a progress report on the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Tourism Action Plan at their meetings.

9. Commonwealth Tourism Ministers will next meet in conjunction with the next session of the UN World Tourism Organisation General Assembly, which is scheduled to take place in 2007.

Commonwealth Secretariat
Abuja, 29 April 2005