UN world tourism meet in Hyd from April 12

• Chiru's short film on Hyd to be icing on the cakeA
• Delegates to have glimpses and taste of Andhras's rich heritage & cuisine

New Delhi: Hyderabad will host the prestigious United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development from April 12 to14. India will chair the meeting, with Malaysia as the co-chair. The event will provide a great opportunity for Andhra Pradesh, and particularly the city of Hyderabad, to showcase the varied attractions and facilities to the international tourism fraternity and would help in promoting tourism to the state.

Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi said focus of the UNWTO Conference is not on growth of tourism alone but on growth of tourism in a sustainable manner. A The conference will discuss ways and means of achieving it. The UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organisation in the field of tourism, UNWTO promotes tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development and advocates its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies.The UNWTO Conference will be held at the Hotel Park Hyatt on April 12 and the UNWTO Joint Commission meeting at Taj Falaknuma Palace on April 13.

he global and regional levels in a sustainable manner will help boost economic growth, employment generation and social integration. Chiranjeevi, at his personal expense, produced a short welcome film for the overseas visitors, introducing them to Hyderabad's monuments, markets and eating jaunts, besides the venue of the conference.

The short film helps the spouses of the delegates to plan their free time for visits to the monuments and markets for purchases. To give a glimpse to the delegates about the rich culture and cuisine of Hyderabad, dinners and cultural programmes at the Taramati Baradari, Golkonda Fort, Shilparamam and Ramoji Film City.

The delegates will also be taken on a tour of Buddhist Heritage sites at Nagarjuna Sagar and Nagarjuna Konda. Confirmed participants in the conference include the Minister of Tourism from Cambodia, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) David Scowsill, besides the delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, LAO PDR, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, The Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

The South Asian region has rich and varied tourism products to attract visitors from the world over � with heritage and culture dating back to thousands of years. A There are architectural and natural marvels, an unmatched bio-diversity and the region is home to all the religions of the world.

In spite of that, the market share of South Asia in the World Tourist Arrivals is only 1.3 per cent, which is a cause for concern. A The average annual growth in international tourist arrivals to the region during 2005-2011 has been 7.2 per cent, as compared to the world annual average growth of 3.5 per cent, during the same period.