Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-08-Speech-4-039"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050908.5.4-039"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, tourism is a major source of income for many developing countries and it has a significant impact on the transformation of their economies. Clearly, aid in this area should be one of the priorities of the support provided by the European Union. At the same time, however, we need to be aware of certain threats to which tourists are exposed and of threats related to the flow of tourists affecting the 25 Member States of the Union. Issues concerning the way in which the tourist sector might support totalitarian regimes must feature prominently in any debate on tourism and development.
I note with concern that there is no reference to the drugs trade in the text. Nonetheless, it is the case that pleasure-seeking travellers to developing countries frequently resort to drugs. This leads to a boom in trade in all types of drugs on the territory of the country concerned.
It is important not to overlook the threats posed to tourists by terrorists, whose activities are often directed against the former. Events in Egypt, where Islamic terrorists tend to target tourists, are a case in point.
Potential epidemics represent another negative influence on the development of tourism, because travellers are deterred from visiting the country in question. We should therefore assure financial support to children’s immunisation programmes providing antigens to diphtheria, tetanus and other infectious diseases. A new disease representing a direct threat to European countries has recently emerged. I refer to avian influenza, which is also acting as a strong deterrent against travel to areas affected by this disease. Failure to react to this threat will be to nobody’s advantage.
Sex tourism must not be overlooked either. It claims numerous child victims, and a determined and unequivocal attack on this practice and all the types of criminality associated with it is needed. I therefore propose providing logistical support to countries facing problems of this kind. Victims of sex tourism need to be rehabilitated, but it is important not to deal only with the consequences, but also to ensure tourists are fully aware of the treatment that will be meted out to them if they commit offences of this kind. Offenders must be dealt with with the utmost severity.
Tourism serves as a source of income to totalitarian regimes. This is an important issue, but it is rarely mentioned. For the governments of several Member States of the European Union, the issue of maintaining diplomatic relations with the Cuban regime is a sensitive one, because it is so often linked to the tourist sector. On the one hand we realise how much such a poor country can be helped by supporting the tourist sector, but on the other we are aware that all the proceeds end up in the hands of a small exclusive group closely linked to Fidel Castro’s regime. I regret the lack of a clear and convincing approach to such situations in the document under discussion."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples