19/12/2002
London/Madrid - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and EXCELTUR, the Spanish Alliance for Tourism Excellence, have agreed to sign a strategic alliance to be formally launched in January 2003.
Under the terms of the agreement, one Board Member from each association will sit on the other association's Board, and the CEOs of the two bodies will also participate in each other's board meetings.
The main lines of cooperation between WTTC and EXCELTUR in 2003 will be:
- To undertake and develop new research programmes to enhance the recognition of Travel & Tourism's socio-economic importance - ie its role as a major provider of jobs and economic growth.
- To promote and encourage the implementation of Tourism Satellite Accounts to measure the economic impact of Travel & Tourism in the different autonomous regions of Spain.
- To develop a new system of indicators that will allow for regular measurement and benchmarking of tourism performance in the different autonomous Spanish regions.
- To disseminate throughout Spain the findings of the relevant global Travel & Tourism studies undertaken by WTTC in the areas of New Technologies & E-business, Taxation, Human Resources, Corporate Social Responsibility and Security.
- To combine both associations' efforts in Latin America in order to promote optimum conditions for the development of Travel & Tourism in the region, particularly in those countries where the Spanish tourism industry has a significant presence.
"This agreement is extremely important for the Spanish tourism industry," said Jose Luis Zoreda, CEO of EXCELTUR in announcing the forthcoming agreement, "as it reflects WTTC's endorsement of the efforts of Spain's leading tourism companies over the first 12 months of EXCELTUR's existence.
"This is only the second such agreement to be signed by WTTC with a national travel industry body," added Zoreda. "WTTC has a similar agreement with the Travel Business Roundtable (TBR), a consortium of 60 leading US Travel & Tourism companies.
"At the same time it offers the Spanish Travel & Tourism industry a great opportunity to participate in the leading global forums where major tourism issues are debated," said Zoreda, "providing us with a relevant voice and enhancing our credibility on the world stage."
Jean Claude Baumgarten, WTTC President, noted that recent events have highlighted the economic importance of Travel & Tourism and drawn attention to the need for public-private sector partnership.
"We hope that this new alliance between WTTC, a global organization, and EXCELTUR will add weight to other ongoing initiatives of the private sector in Spain," said Baumgarten. "These are all aimed at encouraging the national and local governments to accord the highest priority to Travel & Tourism and to work closely with the private sector."
The World Travel & Tourism Council is the forum for global business leaders in Travel & Tourism comprising the presidents, chairs and CEOs of 100 of the world's foremost companies. It is the only body representing the private sector in all parts of the Travel & Tourism industry worldwide.
Sharing a similar vision and mission statement to WTTC, EXCELTUR is an association formed by the chairmen and CEOs of 26 of the leading companies in Spain representing all sectors of the Travel & Tourism industry - airlines, cruise lines, railways, hotels, travel agencies and tour operators, car rental firms, credit card companies, etc. Members of EXCELTUR generate a combined turnover of more than EUR18 billion from their operations in over 64 countries worldwide.
