Why we need a Tourism Body to Monitor Travel Advisories

At a press conference held during the recent PATA Travel Mart in Singapore Mr Gordon, Secretary of Tourism for the Philippines, suggested that some governments may actually enjoy the added exposure they get from issuing travel advisories.

While this may, or may not be true, it is high time a governing body such as the World Tourism Organisation stood up and developed a way of monitoring travel advisories from different countries. 

Of course with such a sensitive topic, which is based on different forms of intelligence, this will be a difficult task to accomplish, but these difficulties must be overcome.

Travel advisories are now issued quite readily by certain countries, and they not only confuse travellers, as there can be conflicting advice issued, but also affect the livelihoods of millions of people. People who work and rely on the tourism industry as their daily means of survival. We as an industry need a senior body of officials to monitor each country's advisory and then to issue their own penultimate warning without any political prejudice.

Similar to the World Health Organisation which issues travel advisories in certain conditions, such as the recent SARS crisis, we need an official moderator of advisories, one that is listened to by the media and governments around the world.

It has to be said that advisories are still very much needed. There are some definite hot spots around the world and travellers need to be forewarned, but somebody somewhere needs to completely analyse each and every travel advisory issued, to verify that it is accurate and not simply over precautionary or for self benefiting means.

With today's advanced technology it is far too easy for one government to issue an advisory to its people and for that same advisory to be read by millions around the globe.

As the travel and tourism industry around the globe grows in importance, it will be interesting to see who stands up to this much needed and difficult task.