OPENING ADDRESS

I was delighted when Ray asked me to speak at the opening of IMEX. It cements a friendship going back 20 years to day one in Geneva.

With a man whose astuteness created the Global Business Tourism Exhibition from nothing at all - he may have called it European but he was very clear about where he was heading.

A man who then moved on to do even more here with IMEX.

What is it that makes a Ray Bloom event unique?

Yes it’s a vision thing - that’s obvious. To take the long view and see where you might be when others only see where you are.

And it’s a partnership thing. Knowing you can be so much more if you engage others in your passion.

Colleagues. Buyers. Associations. Exhibitors. They are not just business associates, they are all part of Ray’s extended family.

And finally it’s a commitment thing. Attention to painstaking detail and adjusting to meet customer needs no matter what the effort required.

Vision. Partnership. Commitment.

These are the qualities to bear in mind for our industry as a whole and for the business tourism sector specifically.

The Vision is simple. To be the key component of the world’s largest most dynamic industry.

It’s not just the decent results of 2004 and prospects for 2005. It’s the long view, that despite recession, currency swings, oil price hikes, security and insurance cost spikes our industry will double every decade or so at a faster rate than GDP. And that it will create myriads of jobs and massive investment - punching way above its economic weight. Shifting its centre from Atlantic to Pacific under the force of China and India.

With a capacity for resilience to traumas like 9/11: SARS: Tsunami and the similar but less dramatic regional disasters that are our daily reality, that ensures its long term positioning as the world’s largest industry.

And political decision-makers who increasingly recognize the nature and impact of business tourism and who create the right operating environment - with smart regulation, good fiscal conditions and the right infrastructure.

Here I commend the initiatives taken by IMEX to bring policymakers together to truly understand the business tourism phenomenon and it regulatory needs.

As to Partnership. It’s becoming clear that in a globalizing world - albeit one which takes on a more caring shape under the pressures from the have-nots - consolidation and alliances are the nature of the game. It’s happening vertically within the industry as airlines, hotels and tour operators shrink and link to cut costs and expand market bases. And it’s happening horizontally as borders break down and trade liberalization cuts through historic national protectionism. It’s accelerated by the massive spread of eBusiness, which makes every phone an outlet for seeing, choosing, booking and buying a trip.

In this evolving world its co-opetition and glocalizaton that will be the order of the day. Co-opetition - working with commercial rivals on common non-competitive challenges, like climate change, infrastructure and sustainable development. And Glocalization - taking the global issues down to the local level. Linking marketing with destination management.

Again IMEX has shown its attention to these matters with its environment initiatives - which I can vouch as chairman of Green Globe 21 - are sincere, meaningful and open to all organizations operating in this field. And through its focus on local authorities and their link with Convention Centres - which are at the heart of the business tourism phenomenon.

And finally Commitment. Increasingly manifest worldwide in the need to ensure that we don’t become a polarized two speed world. And epitomized in the Millennium Development Goals of the UN. The big challenges of extreme poverty, health, education, HIV/Aids, water and the like.

Where our sector can be one of the key tools in helping the world’s poorest countries to get into a position where they can one day help themselves.

Because tourism has emerged as one of the key exports that all developing countries have - particularly the poorest in Africa, where the need is strongest for fair trade, decent Aid and debt elimination.

And where the World Tourism Organization, as the new UN Tourism Agency, can play a pivotal role in this response - through programmes like ST-EP (Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating Poverty) to bring new funds to bear on local tourism initiatives which specifically drive development issues. And Liberalization with a Human Face, which links trade, poverty and sustainability solutions in the sector with its global Code of Tourism Ethics.

I am particularly pleased that IMEX has chosen to engage in this issue with the International Council of Tourism Partners - which is working to put the fight against poverty on the global tourism agenda. We call this initiative “Tourism against Poverty”. Our goal is simply to get all caring companies in the Travel sector and ultimately tourists themselves to join the worldwide movement for leadership action today rather than tomorrow.

It is a testimony to Ray Bloom and a testimony to IMEX that it so readily and enthusiastically embraced this goal.

Ladies and gentlemen IMEX is a great exhibition and business tourism is a vital part of our sector. With its Vision, Partnership and Commitment it will grow from strength to strength as Tourism itself moves centre stage in tomorrow’s world.