Jean-Claude Baumgarten is president of The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Jean-Claude is a true airline man having held senior Air France posts around the world, joining the airline in 1970. In February 1996 he became executive vice president of corporate, international and industrial affairs. From December 1997 until July 1998, prior to leaving Air France, Jean-Claude held the position of advisor to the chairman. After his departure he established a company with American investors under the name of CREWE Associates. This involved consultancy work and start-up advice for new businesses. In October 1999 he was appointed president of the World Travel & Tourism Council.
"Travel and tourism is one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries in the world today. According to WTTC's latest Tourism Satellite Accounting Research, in 2005 travel and tourism will account for 10.6% of global GDP and over 221m jobs worldwide.
Travel and tourism is of great strategic importance to virtually every country in the world not only for the economic opportunities it presents but also for the political. It is unique in its ability to transfer wealth from society's most affluent to its least affluent and the cultural exchange generated by travel and tourism is a potent force for peace.
However, with demand projected to grow at 5.6% per annum, there is an urgent need for the industry and for governments to think about the infrastructure of the future, both on the ground and in the air but specifically air traffic control systems. If this issue is not addressed urgently, I foresee serious congestion ahead, failure to achieve the great economic potential of travel and tourism and a missed opportunity to transfer wealth from the haves to the have-nots.
The theme for the forthcoming Global Summit is 'Realising the Potential'. For all stakeholders to get the most from travel and tourism, there are three general trends I am particularly keen to encourage.
- First, governments need to take a greater interest in the travel and tourism sector and elevate it to the top level of policy making.
- Second, there needs to be more collaboration between public and private sectors, particularly with regard to infrastructure development and the management of crises.
- Third, government and industry leaders need access to increasingly better data to inform their planning and decision-making.
With the third point in mind, we will present a wealth of new economic information at the Summit. On the first day, Richard Miller, WTTC executive vice president, will present a detailed analysis of the economic impact of the Boxing Day tsunami and he will also release WTTC's 2005 forecasts projecting the economic performance of the travel and tourism sector on a global basis and also in India, host country of the Summit.
On the second day, during a special breakfast session sponsored by Marriott, WTTC will release details of a new economic model that will be able to forecast the impact of crises on the travel and tourism industry. After answering a series of quantitative and qualitative questions, the model uses information from eight previous crises (including 9/11, SARS, and the Gulf War) to forecast the impact of a new event on any one of 174 countries.
Other highlights of our agenda include:
Summit inauguration by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, The Honourable President of India.
Bill Marriott, chairman and CEO of Marriott describing how the travel and tourism industry can create genuine prosperity for everyone involved.
An investigation, involving tourism ministers from four different continents, into the strategies necessary to make a destination successful.
A premonition of the industry's future with Roger Bootle, an economist with a reputation for making controversial predictions that have turned out to be correct.
A media briefing on the development of travel and tourism in China.
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chairman and CEO, Carlson describing how companies can make the most of their people.
Barry Sternlicht, chairman of Starwood, giving his personal views on branding success
The Summit will be attended by the chairmen and CEOs of the world”s top travel and tourism companies, over a hundred of the world”s leading travel and business journalists and numerous government officials. The quality of the speakers I am able to introduce speaks volumes for the importance of the whole industry.”
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