World Tourism Organization launches LEXTOUR and INFODOCTOUR

The World Tourism Organization (WTO) has just launched LEXTOUR and INFODOCTOUR, two information services offering online access to tourism legislation and documentation centres worldwide.

Now more than ever, tourism sector information is vital for policymaking aimed at securing the sustainable development of tourism. In the course of the last decade, there has been considerable growth worldwide in the volume of information in the tourism industry, as well as a sizeable increase in computerized information systems related to tourism, and therefore greater demand from their users for easy access to this vast quantity of data.

By establishing LEXTOUR and INFODOCTOUR, the WTO Documentation Centre aims to provide high-level information services to WTO Members and other users, as well as to enhance the development of information networking with the Centre's partners.

"These systems consolidate the WTO Documentation Centre's function as an information referral service. LEXTOUR and INFODOCTOUR constitute a great step forward in the field of qualitative technical information that WTO intends to provide to the international tourism community," underlines Mr. Patrice Tedjini, Head of the WTO Documentation Section. 

The LEXTOUR Database provides direct access via links to external websites, databases and information servers that offer references to and/or the full text of national-level legislation and regulatory procedures governing the principal areas of tourism activity, such as administrative structures and spheres of competence, accommodation, professions, and investment incentives. LEXTOUR also facilitates access to international databases on tourism-related fields including environment, labour law, transport, etc.

The second database, INFODOCTOUR, is an online world directory of products and services available from libraries, documentation centres, producers and distributors of databases directly or indirectly related to the tourism sector. INFODOCTOUR should contribute to improve and reinforce the development of information linkages between the WTO Documentation Centre and its institutional partners. 

To ensure that LEXTOUR and INFODOCTOUR remain reliable sources of information, the WTO said that both databases will be regularly reviewed and updated with the cooperation of the authoritative institutions concerned.