MAN MUST BE THE FOCUS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

VATICAN CITY, JUN 16, 1999 (VIS) - At noon today in Nice, France, Msgr. Piero Monni, Holy See permanent observer to the World Tourism Organization, addressed the June 15-18 WTO conference on "Evaluating the Economic Impact of Tourism," focussing on the need to put the human person at the center of the tourism industry.

"In the tourism industry," he said, "applying criteria of market forces and profit has, without doubt, positive effects, such as efficiency and professionalism of services offered. However, in this way, one risks seeing tourist activity as just any commercial product, ruled and governed only by the laws of the marketplace."

"All of this can determine not only a lack of attention towards the cultural, spiritual and human needs of the tourist, but can also slow down the development of a tourism which has true quality, and is lasting and compatible with the environment. ... We must reflect ... not only on the economic impact of the phenomenon of tourism, but also on those problems linked to it, such as the cultural, social and environmental impacts. Why? Because at the center of the world of tourism we find man, and because it is to man that tourism offers itself."

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