Global tourism news

The World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO)’s Commission for Africa site alerts us to the Regional Seminar-workshop on Ecotourism in National Parks and Protected Areas in Africa to be held in Libreville, Gabon, from the 15^th to 18^th of January 2007. And the UNWTO’s most recent newsletter has a story about a new public-private partnership between the organization and Microsoft. With NEPAD, Microsoft plans to develop a portal, Windows on Africa, which will link tourism products with visitor centres, museums and libraries via Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and other mobile devices with destination specific data. Another joint project will be a portal to support the UNWTO Emergency Response System, allowing collection of information on crises that may affect tourism.