Published on : Monday, May 6, 2019
ADB President Takehiko Nakao, on Friday, said this in his opening address at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB's Board of Governors which is being held in Nadi, the third largest city of Fiji.
"We can make tourism more human and inclusive by investing in the right skill sets of people," he said. "We must also pursue sustainable tourism by protecting nature, the environment, cultural heritage and local communities.
Otherwise, cities, beaches, and forests lose their attraction. Appropriate policies and regulations are essential." The ADB president pledged that his bank would promote regional cooperation for tourism and help Asian countries take advantage of their
beautiful landscapes, rich cultures and histories, and warm hospitality.
According to the ADB chief, in 2018, about 350 million international tourists arrived in Asia and the Pacific countries. This number has more than doubled since 2005.
Income from tourism is an important source of gross domestic product (GDP) for many countries. Tourism is also important for job creation due to the labour-intensive nature of its services. As robotics and artificial intelligence become more common, there will be a natural desire for more human interactions and seeing real things, the ADB chief said.
In the South Pacific island nation of Fiji, which has a population of about 900,000, the tourism industry employs about 119,000 people both directly and indirectly and contributes close to 40 percent to its GDP.
Visitor arrivals in Fiji have steadily increased and in 2018, the island nation recorded a total of 870,309 visitors which was a 3.3 percent increase from 2017.
The Fijian government aims to make local tourism a 2.2-billion-Fijian-dollar (about US$1.01 billion) industry by 2021.