PERMANENT OBSERVER ADDRESSES WTO SESSION IN MADRID

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 2000 (VIS) - Msgr. Piero Monni, Holy See permanent observer to the World Tourism Organization, spoke today in Madrid, Spain, on the final day of the two-day extraordinary session of the WTO's executive council. He highlighted what he termed "one of the more absorbing aspects" of tourism, the "new role which the private sector could assume."

He spoke in particular of the possibilities for tourism when partnerships occur, that is, collaboration between the public and private sectors. Calling this a "positive" development, he added: "What could also be useful is an ever greater collaboration between authorities at the central and local levels."

Msgr. Monni remarked that "tourism appears increasingly within the globalization process aimed at bringing a notable contribution to various social sectors. The human aspects of this question call for greater attention by those responsible for social policies. Inattention to these expectations is a great omission in fulfilling those social obligations. It is within this prospective of 'economic and social peace' that the great values to which man is called to respond take their shape."

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