Climate change a “growing danger” to tourist industry

CLIMATE change is a “growing danger” for the tourism sector, according to the secretary general of the World Tourism Organisation (OMT), Francesco Frangialli, who highlighted the importance of the effectiveness of the recuperation of areas affected by meteorological disasters. Referring to hurricane “Wilma” which lashed the Mexican coast at Cancun, Frangialli said “that these places have recovered very quickly after such a destructive hurricane says a lot about the public and private sectors in Mexico which know how to join forces” and added that the rapid recovery plan put into action by the Mexican Government is “a model to imitate”. With regard to this Frangialli, who is visiting the areas around Cancun which were most affected by hurricane Wilma, said that the most recent tourist figures for the region showed that there was an 83 percent occupation of the 53'000 hotel beds available and the number of tourists was approaching 22 million, spending some 12'000 million dollars (9'924 million euros).