13th WTO General Assembly Closed

　　The World Tourism Organization (WTO) 13th General Assembly ended on October 1 in Santiago with the approval of a resolution and a world ethics code for tourism.

　　The General Assembly approved Hong Kong, China's Special Administrative Region, as a WTO associate member, while China was elected a member of the Executive Council.

　　The 13th WTO General Assembly started on September 27 with the participation of more than 120 countries and regions.

　　The assembly decided that the 14th meeting will be held jointly in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, and Osaka, Japan, scheduled in principle for September 23 to October 1 of the year 2001.

　　It also agreed that the 21st World Tourism Day will have as a theme in the year 2000 "Technology and nature: two challenges for tourism at the start of the 21st century," and in the year 2001, "Tourism: instrument at the service of peace and dialogue between civilizations."

　　The assembly chose Germany as the host country for the year 2000 World Tourism Day.

　　The attending delegations nominated the Islamic Republic of Iran as the host country for the World Tourism Day in the year 2001.

　　The world ethics code for tourism says that tourism development has as its goal contributing to the economic growth, to international understanding, to the peace and prosperity of the countries, and to the universal respect and the observance of human rights and the fundamental freedoms without differences of race, gender, language, or region.

　　The document asks the tourism development agents and the tourists themselves to give attention to the traditions and social and cultural practices of all the peoples, even those of the national minorities and the autochthonous populations, and to recognize their richness.

　　The tourist activities will be organized in harmony with the peculiarities and traditions of the regions and countries of destinations, and with respect to their laws and customs, according to the document.

　　It also says that the public authorities have the mission of assuring the protection of the tourists and their properties.

　　They will give special attention to the security of foreign tourists because of their particular vulnerability.

　　For this purpose, they will facilitate the establishment of means of information, prevention, protection, insurance, and specific assistance corresponding to their needs.

　　The attacks, aggressions, kidnappings or threats against tourists or tourism sector workers as well as the malicious destruction of tourism installations must be condemned and repressed with severity. (Xinhua)