UNASUR FAVORS REGIONAL TOURIST VISION

Buenos Aires, August 16 (PL)- The ministers of Tourism from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) agreed here to take a regional approach to the development of that industry to get more benefits for their peoples.

In order to achieve that goal, they proposed to create the South American Tourism Conference, an institution for permanent coordination and cooperation, at a meeting presided over by Argentine Tourism Minister Enrique Meyer, in the framework of the 10th ExpoEventos.

The International Exhibition on Organization of Events and Congress Tourism will conclude on Thursday at the exhibition hall La Rural, in the downtown area of Palermo, in Buenos Aires.

At the meeting, Meyer called on his UNASUR peers to establish a South American tourism policy to consolidate tourism as the vector of territorial and regional development, with a high potential to contribute to the peoples' welfare.

Also present at the meeting were the director of National Tourism of Peru, Amora Carbajal; Ecuadorian Tourism Minister Vinicio Espinel, Bolivian Deputy Tourism Minister Marko Machicao Bankovic; the Uruguayan minister of Tourism and Sports, Liliam Kechichian, and the Colombian minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Sergio Diaz Granados Guiada, in addition to representatives from other UNASUR member countries.

Participants agreed to submit the proposal to create the South American Tourism Conference to the 8th Ordinary Summit of the Council of Heads of State and Government of UNASUR, scheduled for August 30 in Paramaribo, Suriname.

They also agreed that tourism is a major contribution to South American economies, as it generates business opportunities, reduces poverty, fosters economic growth and favors sustainable development, education, culture and relations among peoples.

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