BANGKOK (ILO News) – Government, employer and worker representatives from 18 countries¹ in Asia and the Pacific are to gather at an International Labour Office (ILO) meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on 15-17 September to discuss the ongoing jobs crisis in the region's vital tourism sector and consider employment and social policies for the future.

Participants are to discuss the current employment situation in the Asian and Pacific tourism sector and consider future prospects designed to mitigate the lasting impact of the global economic slowdown, the onset of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and continuing security concerns on a stagnating jobs market. An analysis of the current and future state of employment in the sector is to be discussed at the meeting.

In a recent ILO study² "New Threats to Employment in the Travel and Tourism Industry - 2003", released in May, the ILO reported that SARS, together with economic and security concerns, threatened to wipe out some 5 million tourism jobs worldwide in 2003, on top of some 6.5 million jobs lost in the sector during the 2001-02 economic crisis.

Participants in the ILO Tripartite Meeting will discuss ways of enhancing the potential of the tourism and travel industry to create and secure employment, provide working conditions in accordance with the ILO's Decent Work agenda and improve policies and practices regarding human resources development in the Hotel, Catering and Tourism Sector, especially in view of possible new crises.

The meeting will be held at the main meeting room (Ballroom A), the Amari Watergate, Pratunam, Bangkok (draft programme attached) during 15-17 September.

Media representatives are cordially invited to attend selected sessions, while interview slots can be pre-arranged with Mr Dirk Belau, Hotels, Catering and Tourism Specialist, Sectoral Activities Department, International Labour Office, Geneva, who prepared the attached paper. Additional interview opportunities with tripartite participants from government, employers' and workers' groups may also be arranged. For further details, please contact: