WTO Launches New Awareness Campaign in Seaquake-Stricken Countries

The World Travel Organization (WTO) is calling on news organizations from around the world to screen out negative information about those South Asian countries that were hit by the December 26 tsunamis, in an effort not to paint an awful picture among would-be tourists that could eventually put a damper on the recovery of their travel industries.

In the same breath, the WTO plans to unveil an awareness campaign at the Berlin International Travel Fair with a view to help seaquake-stricken nations and other neighboring territories that got off scot-free.

WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli explained the best way to help Sri Lanka, the Maldives Islands, Thailand and Indonesia is by urging tourists to come back to their shores.

Negative information overload on the tragic events could trigger misunderstandings among end users and consumers that might be interested in traveling to a region where 80 percent of hotels and resorts remain fully operational right now.

The WTO has begged news media, mainly tourism-oriented outlets, to report true and balanced information on the aftermath and about those situations that could eventually throw a wrench into tourist inflows.

Indonesia´s major travel destinations, Bali, Lombok, Jogjakarta and Jakarta, for instance, walked out of the tragedy unscathed, yet their image is now going through some hard times.

With that view in mind, the WTO has invited a group of journalists specialized in the leisure industry to tour the four countries and report objectively on what´s going on there and what´s being done. A regional conference of tourism communities is scheduled to take place in May in Bali.