Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. Toronto. July 30, 2003: One of the biggest, if not THE biggest rock concerts in world history.
The spectacle focused the world on Toronto. Many wanted to be there (like me). Others shrugged and wondered what was the big deal. I’ll tell you why it was a big deal.
Toronto, in the wake of the SARS crisis, had quite literally seen its tourism industry almost grind to a halt – to say nothing of the emotional suffering of a city that found itself under siege. And now, here were almost half a million people enjoying music in a friendly (very Canadian) way, with pictures beamed live around the globe.
And no one was wearing a mask. They were hugging and dancing, and eating beef (remember Mad Cow?), and just generally having a totally Canadian good time. SARS was over.
Toronto was safe.
The concert was unprecedented in terms of tourism marketing and I am sure will be studied, analysed and reflected upon in tourism research for years to come. But it worked. And the tide turned for tourism in Toronto and in Canada.
Tourism is a gigantic industry – the world’s largest by most measures. And recently, the United Nations embraced the power of tourism by designating the World Tourism Organization (WTO) as a full, specialized agency of the United Nations, now on equal footing with education, agriculture and health on their agenda. WTO will have a full role in the operations of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council and we will now see tourism at the top of the UN agenda in terms of economic development in impoverished countries.
“No sector of the economy is better positioned to help build peace and development,” said WTO special advisor Geoffrey Lipman. “Every peace agreement includes tourism exchange as one of its first components.”
Tourism is the best option for the world’s poorest countries.
“It’s a universal export in the services sector, where the global economy is expanding and where they have so few alternatives. It’s already the primary source of foreign exchange in most poor countries, particularly in Africa where the need is so great,” he said.
And with that, on Dec. 23, 2003, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution formalizing the status of tourism as a global force. It was a great day for my industry – and I hope a step toward increasing global prosperity.
Jan Petrar has more than 20 years experience in the travel industry. As a certified travel manager, she owns and operates Jungle Travel and can be reached at 374-4487 or at jpetrar@jungle travel.net.