Tourism can help many people out of poverty and makes a significant contribution to the efforts towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday.

 

"Tourism has become a plentiful and dynamic economic sector and an essential element in many people's lives," the UN secretary-general said in a message read during the 60th anniversary of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in Madrid.

 

"Tourism covers an ever growing series of themes and activities so it cannot be tackled without having in mind the United Nation's world program. This is the reason why the WTO's transformation into a specialized UN entity was so important," Annan said.

 

The WTO, then known as the International Union of Tourism Official Organizations (IUTOO), was established in 1946 in London.

 

WTO Secretary-General Franceso Frangialli said the UN General Assembly in December 1969 recognized the important and vital role the IUTOO played in the field of international tourism.

 

Since then, the organization has been closely linked to its host country, Spain, where the WTO established its secretariat in 1976.

 

Tourism can encourage economic growth, job creation, environmental and cultural heritage protection and it can also promote peace, prosperity and respect for human rights, Frangialli said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)