Between November 29 and December 2, roughly 5,000 people, including entrepreneurs, professionals, scholars, students, representatives of governmental and non-governmental agencies and professionals from the Third Sector will take part in Brazil in Destinations2006, the 3rd Annual Summit of the World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development.
This year’s summit will be held in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul state, and will bring together representatives from 43 countries who will present nearly 120 international cases on sustainable tourism in panel and poster sessions.
The program for the event includes 19 thematic panels, 22 integrated events, an exhibition of nearly 50 posters, 4 plenary sessions and a conclusion session, in addition to the cultural program.
National and international authorities active in the field of tourism will also meet during Destinations2006, taking part in events and meetings included in the program.
Attending are 15 Tourism Ministers, members of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and representatives of several other international organizations associated with the promotion of tourism and sustainable development.
As in the first two summits, young people will have a special place in Destinations2006. A panel on youth and social inclusion through tourism and a plenary session on opportunities for the next generations are part of the technical agenda. The schedule also includes seminars and debates about the combat of sexual exploitation and abuse of children and adolescents in tourism.
On December 2, the event’s final day, the program will be focused on the ceremony marking the end of the three-year period when the Forum’s Annual Summits were held in Brazil, and the passage rite to the next Destinations host country from 2007 and beyond.
The World Tourism Forum is a joint initiative of three groups of partners: civil society, represented by the Tourism for Peace and Sustainable Development Foundation; the Forum’s host country (Brazil until 2006) – represented by the Ministry of Tourism; and the United Nations, represented by four of its specialized agencies: the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UNESCO, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Those interested in registering or seeing the complete schedule, may visit: www.desti-nations.net