Historic WTO meeting to be held

THE Joint Meeting of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) Executive Council and the WTO Education Council will, for the first time, bring together government officials and academics from all regions of the world. At the initiative of the secretary-general of the WTO, Francesco Frangialli, this historic meeting will take place on June 3 and 4, at the Madrid Congress Hall in Spain. The technical sessions of this Joint Meeting will comprise of two panels made up of members from the Executive Council and the Education Council. The first panel on tourism analysis will concentrate on information systems (including the tourism satellite account, market intelligence, the tourism labour market observatory, etc.). The second panel will cover priority issues in current tourism policy, such as security, health, the management of crises and emergency situations, sustainability, etc. The meeting will conclude with decisions on procedures for the permanent participation of the Education Council in the bodies and structure of the WTO, especially in the Executive Council, the programme and the budget committees. (Adéle Mackenzie)