The series of meetings started very logically in Paris with a visit to Mr Sergio Arzeni, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs & Local Development and Mr Alain Dupeyras, Head of the Tourism Programme. The timing was particularly opportune as OECD has just approved a new 5-year programme for the Tourism Committee running from 2007 to 2011.

Although OECD’s 30 Member countries alone account for a massive 80% of world tourism the Organisation is keen to improve links with non-Member countries by acting as the “hub of globalization”. So developing partnerships with these countries and with the private sector is one of the key priorities of the new Tourism programme.

In 2007 OECD will convene a major conference on Safety & Security in Tourism, with a focus on the economic and business impacts of security measures. While necessary, these measures have recently become a source of consumer discontent, so it is urgent to find the right balance between the facilitating travel and providing appropriate security for travellers. IH&RA informed OECD of its work with UNEP to develop a tool kit for crisis management & prevention in tourism destinations – and of the work on Security Guidelines for Hospitality Operators initiated by the IH&RA Global Council on Security. On the question of migration, OECD expressed interest in being associated with the joint IH&RA-ILO-IOM-IOE pilot project to promote temporary labour mobility, specifically in emergency situations.

Finally, IH&RA will also give more visibility to OECD Tourism Statistics and Tourism Policy Reviews as well as to the results of national Tourism Satellite Accounts.