Copyright © 2005 World Tourism Organization Calle Capitán Haya, 42 28020 Madrid, Spain Tsunami: One Year On - A Summary of the Implementation of the Phuket Action Plan ISBN 92-844-0925-X Published and printed by the World Tourism Organization, Madrid, Spain First printing in 2005 All rights reserved The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication does not imply the expression of any opinions whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 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Acknowledgements The World Tourism Organization wishes to express its thanks and deep appreciation to all the participants, including the Ministers of tourism, the Emergency Task Force Members, tourism decision makers, researchers, and private sector stakeholders for their valuable support and contribution to the implementation of the Phuket Action Plan. WTO would also like to thank all the departments of the WTO Secretariat for putting tsunami recovery on top of their work agenda. WTO would like to express a special thanks to its departments of Press and Communications, Affiliate Members, Market Intelligence and Promotion, the Cabinet Office, Education and Knowledge Management, Sustainable Tourism Development, Technical Cooperation and Information Technology. Last but not least, WTO is equally grateful to Mr. Germán Porras and Mr. Ralf Corsten for their valuable inputs on tsunami affairs. This report was edited and produced by the Emergency Tsunami Task Force Unit, under the supervision of the Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific of the World Tourism Organization. Foreword I thank the WTO members for the immediate response to my call for support to assist the tsunami affected countries of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives at the beginning of the year. As you are no doubt aware, an extraordinary session of the Executive Council was convened, for the first time in the history of the Organization, on the 31st January of 2005 in Phuket and a task force subsequently constituted. The ensuing action plan, appropriately called, the Phuket Action Plan outlined a series of measures for post tsunami tourism recovery of the destinations. WTO earmarked over 40 projects of which a majority has been completed and the present publication is a testimony to the work carried out and those in progress in tourism recovery. It is to the credit to the international community that it rallied in earnest to assist the affected destinations. Tourism is, in these countries, an important element in their national economies, with many dependent on the industry for employment and livelihood. A year has almost past since this tragic event but I am happy to inform you that the recovery both in terms of arrivals as well as product development in all four countries has been very satisfactory, which shows that the tourism sector is extremely resilient to stress and strain. The United Nations has been kept informed regularly of the progress of the work of the tsunami unit of WTO. There has also been close coordination between WTO and the department of the Special Envoy of tsunami recovery of the United Nations. This is not the first, and alas, may not be the last time, that tourism is affected by unforeseen events. Asia has had a fair share of natural and human disasters in the past decade, but each time, tourism has risen from the embers, stronger and richer. The countries themselves have no doubt profited from the measures undertaken through the Phuket Action Plan, in communications, training, community relief, crisis management and sustainable redevelopment, which I hope will all stand in good stead in the future. I wish Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives all the very best in their recovery efforts. Francesco Frangialli Secretary General World Tourism Organization Table of Contents Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. I Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ III Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1 Marketing and Communications............................................................................................................. 9 1.1 Objectives of Marketing and Communications ................................................................................. 10 1.2 Live Information Updates ................................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Familiarization Trips.......................................................................................................................... 11 1.3.1 WTO press trip to four countries......................................................................................... 11 1.3.2 WTO FAM trip of tour operators to Sri Lanka and Maldives .............................................. 12 1.3.3 WTO FAM trip of tour operators to Indonesia.................................................................... 13 1.3.4 WTO FAM trip of Chinese tour operators and writers to Thailand..................................... 13 1.3.5 Mega-FAM trip for South Thailand ..................................................................................... 14 1.3.6 Press trip from the Republic of Korea................................................................................... 14 1.3.7 More FAM tours of tour operators by generating countries.................................................. 14 1.4 WTO Communication Experts......................................................................................................... 14 1.5 Regional TOURCOM Conference.................................................................................................... 15 1.6 Assistance in Participating in Fairs and Exhibitions........................................................................... 15 1.7 Maldives Roadshow for the Tsunami Recovery.................................................................................. 16 1.8 Visa Market Study 1.......................................................................................................................... 16 1.9 Visa Market Study 2.......................................................................................................................... 17 1.10 Global Advertising Campaign for the Region.................................................................................... 17 1.11 WTO Market Research ..................................................................................................................... 17 1.12 Stickers and Posters ........................................................................................................................... 19 II Community Relief . ........................................................................................................................... 21 2.1 Objectives of Community Relief ....................................................................................................... 22 2.2 Evaluation of Tsunami Impact on Tourism in the Maldives .............................................................. 22 2.3 Proposal for Channelling Funds for Assistance to SMEs ................................................................... 23 2.3.1 Sri Lanka.............................................................................................................................. 23 2.3.2 Thailand .............................................................................................................................. 23 2.4 “Adopting” a Village in Sri Lanka...................................................................................................... 24 2.5 Post-tsunami Sumatra: Revitalization of the Tourist Sector................................................................ 24 III Professional Training . ........................................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Objectives of Professional Training...................................................................................................