To promote APEC objectives as set forth in the Seoul APEC Declaration of November 14, 1991, and confirmed at Bangkok, September 11, 1992, and recognizing the important role of tourism in fostering regional economic development and cooperation,

APEC Ministers recommend that:

• the sustainable growth of tourism in the APEC region should be encouraged as a means of generating economic benefits for all member economies;

• efforts should be made to reduce barriers to the flow of visitors;

• the promotion of tourism development should be undertaken in a sensitive and sustainable manner in respect of the natural, cultural, and social environment of the region;

• each member economy should be called upon to ensure the safety of visitors and the quality of tourism;

• human resource development should be promoted to ensure high quality in the provision of tourism services;

• awareness of tourism?s contribution to the APEC region be heightened through the standardization and the expeditious exchange of tourism statistics and information, and

• infrastructure development, consistent with sustainable growth, should be encouraged.

The APEC Ministers encourage the Working Group on Tourism to undertake as priorities the following projects:

To investigate best management practices for sensitive ecosystems by:

• identifying major ecosystems of importance to tourism, such as tropical rain forest, coral reefs, and forecasting the size and nature of tourism impact on them;

• identifying and assessing successful funding and management strategies and techniques, such as industry self-regulation and user pays.

To develop training programs for public sector personnel in order to encourage the understanding of the implications of policy decisions on tourism by:

• examining possible application of distance learning techniques;

• developing and testing a pilot project.

To facilitate the exchange of information and statistics by:

• implementing a means of sharing existing information;

• identifying regional information requirements;

• investigating the application of the APEC Communications and Database System to the development of a tourism database.