PATA to be Partner in
5th IIPT African Conference
Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change to Tourism in
Africa and the Developing World
Livingstone, Zambia
3-8 April, 2011
“Climate change is the pre-eminent geopolitical and economic issue of the 21st century. It rewrites the global equation for development, peace and prosperity.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
2009 Summit on Climate Change
IIPT is proud to announce that the Pacific Asia Travel Association has agreed to be a partner in the 5th IIPT African Conference, Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change to Tourism in Africa and the Developing World.
The Conference, being hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, Republic of Zambia, will be held April 3-8, 2011 in Livingstone, Zambia (home of Victoria Falls), in support of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.
 Said Greg Duffell, CEO, PATA: “PATA has always supported and encouraged environmentally responsible travel, as has IIPT. We expect that this Conference will address key areas of concern that the effects of climate change bring upon Africa and the developing world – which have historically been the least contributors of global warming to the planet.”
In making the announcement, IIPT President Louis D’Amore said, “PATA has long been a leader in promoting sustainable tourism beginning with its introduction of the GreenLeaf Program in the early 1990’s – one of the industry’s very first set of sustainable tourism guidelines - and since its beginnings some sixty years ago, advocating tourism that is socially, culturally, and environmentally responsible. We are honored to have PATA as a partner in this milestone event.”
 PATA joins with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as a Partner in the Conference. UNWTO Secretary General, Dr. Taleb Rifai will be a featured keynote speaker of the Conference. Other speakers will be announced in the days ahead.
Climate change is a major threat to sustainable growth and development in Africa and the entire Developing World. Although Africa and other developing nations are least responsible for climate change, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects. Impacts of climate change include increased incidence of both drought and flooding, sea level rise, coastal erosion, deforestation, and impacts on food security – all of which have an impact on tourism and achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Background
 In 2007, the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with the support of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Swiss Government, convened the Second International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism, in Davos, Switzerland with the aim of responding to climate change imperatives in the tourism sector. The conference set out a range of specific policies and actions to be taken by all stakeholders in the tourism sector to immediately begin to establish and implement a long range carbon-neutral roadmap.
Aim of 5th IIPT African Conference
The 5th IIPT African Conference will seek to identify actual ‘on-the-ground’ progress since the 2007 Conference with case studies of ‘Best Practice’ from each of the developing regions of the world and from governments, destinations, industry sectors, NGOs, researchers/academics, and the media.
Participants
 The 5th IIPT African Conference will bring together Ministers of Tourism and senior government officials; senior executives from the diverse sectors of the industry, senior representatives of UN Agencies, the World Bank, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s); policy makers, practitioners, researchers; and leading academics to share their knowledge, experience and research related to Climate Change response strategies, programs and actions in Africa and developing countries throughout the world.
Call for Models of Best Practice
IIPT welcomes nominations for models of best practice from Africa and other developing nations that are a response to these various challenges of climate change. Models from government, the private sector NGO’s, leading research organizations, and academics who are doing ground-breaking work in the field of tourism and climate change are invited. Please send your suggestions and/or brief summary of your proposed presentation directly to: Louis D’Amore, Email: ljd@iipt.org.
Pre-Conference Forums
Educators Forum
As with previous African Conferences, a full day Educators Forum will be held bringing together educators from Africa and other regions of the world to share their ideas, research, and curricula on the Conference theme and to reach consensus on educational initiatives for collaboration. Educators are invited to submit abstracts of their proposed presentations to Dr. Ian Kelly, Coordinator of the IIPT International Educators Network, Email: iankelly34@bigpond.com
Student/Youth Leadership Forum
Similarly, a full day Student/Youth Leadership Forum will be held bringing together future leaders of the industry to share their ideas and vision for the future of sustainable tourism in Africa, and the theme of the Conference - and to propose initiatives to be taken by students and young leaders. Students and young leaders are invited to submit brief summaries of their proposed presentations to Nishit Charadva, Coordinator, IIPT International Student/Youth Leadership Network, Email: iiptyouth@gmail.com
IIPT Scholarship Award
IIPT will provide a US$ 1,500 scholarship award to the inter-disciplinary team of 3 to 5 University students who write the best paper on the theme of the Conference. Students must be enrolled in an African university, or university in a developing country from another region of the world. Interested students are invited to contact Dr. Ian Kelly, for essay guidelines and required date of submission, Email: iankelly34@bigpond.com
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Travel Industry Support for Haiti Continues
 The situation in Haiti, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, continues to be one of desperation as the cholera epidemic becomes an increasing threat. Haitian and international health officials are focusing on preventing the spread of cholera as the number of fatalities and new cases of the disease continues to grow. Haiti's health ministry says 303 people have died in the outbreak and more than 4,700 people are now being treated for the illness.
The January 12th earthquake was the region’s most devastating earthquake in 200 years reducing much of its capital to rubble and a death toll in excess of 250,000 persons. Six months after the earthquake, only 28,000 of the 1.5 million Haitians displaced had moved into new homes. Hundreds of thousands of survivors of January's massive earthquake are living in crowded squalid camps.
 Amidst this chaos, the courageous efforts of travel related organizations such as IIPT Coalition Partners Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) and ‘Just a Drop’ continue. Airline Ambassadors, through their airline partners, have flown in 600 medical personnel and 3 million pounds of vitally needed food, water, and medical supplies. They have established a school to teach English, a sponsorship program to provide education for children orphaned by the earthquake, and two safe houses to protect children in danger of being trafficked. AAI continues to call for help in building two communities to house the homeless, and have identified hospitals, clinics, schools and orphanages that require assistance. In the words of AAI President Nancy Rivard, “Airline Ambassadors offers you a way to apply your unique interest and skills to actual world need. Join us on a humanitarian mission to Haiti and see what a difference your generosity can make to a child or family.” For more information: http://www.airlineamb.org
 One of the most desperate needs in Haiti is for potable water and sanitation. ‘Just a Drop’ is shortly sending one of its engineers to meet with relief agencies and local people to decide which essential projects the charity will be able to undertake. It will then work with construction teams to help rebuild the water and sanitation infrastructure and encourage displaced communities back to their homes and villages. “It is vital that support is ongoing so that the recovery process is sustained” said Fiona Jeffery, chairman of Just a Drop. “That way people can start taking charge of their own lives again through agriculture, employment and education. In doing so, their overall pride and sense of wellbeing will be gradually restored”. For more information: http://www.justadrop.org/page.cfm/link=130
Alison Wright, Travel Journalist and Documentary Photographer, through her non profit –  ‘Faces of Hope’ has fund raised for Haiti helping to supply tents to house displaced families. Alison seeks “To help children and their communities through grass roots help – in the spirit of giving and compassion. For more information: http://vimeo.com/15454669 and http://www.facesofhope.org/
Your generous support for the courageous work of these organizations is encouraged and greatly appreciated.
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Join us on our World Peace Tours –
Where every traveler is an ‘Ambassador for Peace’
IIPT has recently launched a series of ‘World Peace Tours’ that have been crafted to reinforce IIPT’s dedication to “making Travel and Tourism the world’s first Global Peace Industry” and the belief “that every traveler is potentially an ‘Ambassador for Peace.’ The tours will introduce travelers to new cultures, new experiences, and new friendships while exemplifying IIPT’s ideals and values as expressed in the ‘IIPT Credo of the Peaceful Traveler.’ Each tour includes interactions with local persons to learn and share in their culture and traditions.
Travel Agents are welcome. All tours are commissionable. For more information please contact:
Louis D’Amore, Email: ljd@iipt.org or Don King, Email: travelking@swissmail.org
World Peace Tours:
 An Unforgettable Journey to Tanzania
For many visitors, a safari to Africa is the trip of a lifetime but as with anything truly special it hinges on the connection you make, and with the people of Tanzania; that connection will remain in your memory forever. Their hospitality is bountiful and based on the concept that to experience peace you must extend peace to others. A thought that is evident as you travel throughout the countryside and further reinforced by the children’s smile. For more information please click here.
World Peace Tours:
 Engage In the Ultimate African challenge For a Great Cause:
Mount Kilimanjaro 2011
With this grueling challenge not only are your efforts rewarded through the success of reaching the peak of the world’s tallest freestanding mountain, but your energy and dedication also helps the students of a local school situated in Tanzania’s Pare Mountains. The climb is a wonderful feat to check off the list of lifetime goals, but more importantly the aid the students receive provides them the true chance to change their entire lives. For more information please click here.
 A World Peace Tour and Festival in The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan
Bhutan, a Himalayan jewel, tucked among some of the world’s highest mountains. With a diverse, protected and astonishingly beautiful environment, where life revolves around the daily practice of kindness, compassion and peace. At the heart of The World Peace Tour is an opportunity to spend time with Bhutanese students from Thimphu’s Voluntary Artists Studio and together renovate an ancient chorten (Buddhist Stupa). Together we’ll contribute a lasting gift for Bhutanese people in the spirit of peace. For more information please click here.
WORLD PEACE TOUR IN MOROCCO
Come to feel the real taste of the perfect synthesis between art, nature, history and humanity. An authentic and enriching experience of the strong sense of culture and history of Morocco encompassing its ancient Roman civilization, Imperial towns of the Middle Ages, and ancient villages far from the tourist roads with opportunities to interact with the local population. For more information please click here.
The Gulf Experience - Emirates and Oman
A World Peace Tour 
This is the essential Arabian Gulf experience…combining two of the most spectacular cities of the modern world—Dubai and Abu Dhabi—along with the mystical timelessness of Oman. Experience the courtesy and hospitality that has been a tradition for centuries in a perfect winter climate as you visit the world’s tallest building and tallest hotel, ancient castles and forts, and one of the world’s largest Mosques. For more information please click here.
Cruise 4 Haiti
Join us on this exciting cruise 7 night cruise docking in Philipsburg, St Maarten, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Labadee, Haiti. In Labadee, Haiti participants will join For Haiti with Love, in bringing food and medical goods for those in need as well as Christmas gifts for orphaned children affected by the earthquake and enjoy a festive barbecue on the beach. For more information please click here
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Peace Caravan Partnership with IIPT Continues
Its an exciting time as Marla Mossman and her Peace Caravan project embarks on a forty day journey along the ancient Silk Road in China. Following the land routes taken by monks,  merchants and missionaries from the 2nd century when Buddhism and later Islam were first introduced to China. This continues her multi-year project to travel from Jerusalem, Israel to X’ian, China by car, foot, horse, mule and camel to document places of historical and religious significance along the early caravan trails. Marla’s solo journey explores the Silk Road connections to Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.
Lamayuru Monastery, Western Ladakh , India
Marla’s itinerary begins in Beijing photographing the historical hutongs – Mongolian word meaning passageway. From there she travels to the ancient capital X’ian; through the Hexi Corridor to Jiayuguan to photograph the sun setting behind the western edge of the Great Wall. A one day drive further west she reaches the Mogao Caves, also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas begun in 366 AD near Dunhuang, at the edge of the Gobi Desert. Then its on to the ancient town of Jiaohe, near Turphan which is believed to be one of the oldest, preserved earth-structured city in the world. From there Marla crosses the torrid Taklamakan Desert on camel before continuing to the carpet weaving centers of Hotan and Kashgar where the best silks have been woven into carpets for 2,000 years.
Along the way, Marla plans to meet with Community Officials with a view to dedicating IIPT Peace Parks at significant junctures along the ancient trade route. Thus, continuing an initiative that began in 2007 when Marla similarly partnered with IIPT, as an emissary for the IIPT International Peace Parks program, on her journey through the Middle East countries of Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Israel.
This is the fifth leg of the Peace Caravan. Previous journeys were to India, Turkey, Afghanistan and the Middle East countries of Syria, Jordan and Israel.
Today’s precarious political situations exist in many of the Silk Road nations. There is an urgent need and awareness from people around the world for openness and cultural exchange to help gain the mutual respect and cooperation necessary for world peace. Marla is optimistic that by sharing photographs and stories from her travels that readers will find a new appreciation for the religious and cultural heritage of these nations and that a new way to peace will reveal itself.
Marla’s photos capture the people going about their daily lives to remind us that even though we have differences, we share similar loves, fears, hopes and dreams. Her writings and photos capture the intimate moments she experiences with people along the way as she strives to inform and inspire others to achieve understanding and acceptance of the people living along the Silk Road.
In 2005, Marla was the first foreigner, and woman, to visit Waras; a remote part of Central Afghanistan. In an earlier trip to Northern India, Mossman hiked and backpacked to an altitude of 18,000 ft in the Himalayas, to obtain her photos.
To learn more about Marla Mossman and the Peace Caravan visit the website at www.peacecaravan.com. The Peace Caravan project is a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).
  
Father at the Caravanseri Harran, Southern Turkey, Donkey, Jark, Waras District, Afghanistan, Bedouin woman, desert near Palmyra, Syria
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The Vision of the MCTC Inc. as articulated by Mrs. Annie Edwards founder and co-ordinator of the committee, is to promote sustainable community tourism as a strategy to develop the natural resources, culture and heritage of the community and thereby protect them for the enjoyment of present and future generations; while fostering the social and economic development of residents. 
Featured speaker at the event was Mr. Samuel Raphael, 
proprietor of Jungle Bay Resort, Island’s Magazine top Green Resort in the World and a leader in community tourism in Dominica. Other solidarity messages were given by representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, other local partners and the IIPT Caribbean chapter and the Countrystyle Community Tourism Network Jamaica, which was represented by their Executive member, Mr. William McLawrence of Dominica.
The IIPT Caribbean/Countrystyle Community Tourism Village programme is being implemented in Jamaica and the Caribbean Region to promote entrepreneurship projects within communities, which will enable them to realize a sustainable livelihood through tourism. The MCTC Inc. is the first community tourism committee in Dominica to partner with this organization, which will offer training, development and marketing support.