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 First
Africa Media Exchange at 4th IIPT African
Conference on Peace Through Tourism,
Kampala, Uganda, 20-25
May
2007
Message From H.E.
Yoweri Museveni, The President
Uganda, 'The Pearl
of Africa', as aptly described by Winston
Churchill, is a beauty to behold. With her
warm climate, an altitude of 650 meters to
5,200 meters above sea level, we have
permanent snow on the Equator. The people
of Uganda are very friendly and
hospitable. We have a diversity of flora
and fauna and a host of other attractive
features.
Stowe,
Vermont, USA: Counterpart International
has agreed to partner with the
International Institute for Peace through
Tourism (IIPT) to organize the first ever
Africa Media Exchange (A-MEx) as part of
the 4th IIPT African Conference on Peace
through Tourism. The Media Exchange will
bring together notable journalists from
Africa, Europe and North America with the
aim of creating increased media coverage
and international awareness of Africa's
rich mosaic of sustainable tourism
initiatives and products.
The 4th
IIPT African Conference, under the
patronage of His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta
Museveni, President, Republic of Uganda,
is being organized in partnership with the
Africa Travel Association, and hosted by
the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Trade and
Industry.
"Tourism,
which represents the greatest voluntary
transfer of wealth in the history of
humankind, benefits communities which host
tourists," says Lelei LeLaulu, President
of Counterpart International. "Travelers
to Africa can make a huge difference in
the quality of life of the people and
communities they visit. We look forward to
collaborating with IIPT in the
organization of the First Africa Media
Exchange."
The
first Africa Media Exchange builds on the
success of the Caribbean Media Exchange
(CMEx) which began with the inspiration of
Counterpart International to improve the
quality of media coverage of sustainable
tourism in the Caribbean. Newspaper
articles, radio shows, television
features, coral reef restoration
initiatives, public-private sector
collaboration and other international
partnerships are some of the outcomes
resulting from CMEx since it was launched
in Jamaica in October 2001.
IIPT
Founder and President, Louis D'Amore said,
"We are proud to have Counterpart
International partner with us in this
first ever Africa Media Exchange. We will
benefit not only from their experiences
with Media Exchanges in the Caribbean, but
as well their experience on five
continents in providing options and access
to tools for sustained social, economic
and environmental
development."
Conference Theme
Theme
of the Conference is "Building Strategic
Alliances for Sustainable Tourism
Development, Peace and Reconciliation on
the African Continent." Its goals are to
broaden awareness of the social, cultural,
environmental, and economic benefits of
tourism; identify new markets; facilitate
product development and investment
opportunities; and contribute to
reconciliation peace, wealth creation and
poverty reduction on the African
continent.
The
Conference will bring together Ministers
of Tourism and senior executives from both
the public and private sectors of tourism,
NGOs, and donor agencies, as well as
educators, policy analysts, leading
practitioners, entrepreneurs, future
leaders of the industry, and senior
representatives of related sectors
including environment, culture and
economic development.
Journalists
are invited to go to www.iipt.org
to apply for media credentials for the 4th
IIPT African Conference &endash; and
participation in the First African Media
Exchange or contact Ms. Karen Hoffman,
Director, IIPT Public Relations at
email
iiptmedia@aol.com.
About
International Institute for Peace through
Tourism (IIPT)
IIPT is
dedicated to fostering and facilitating
tourism initiatives which contribute to
international understanding and
cooperation, an improved quality of
environment, the preservation of heritage
and poverty reduction, and through these
initiatives, help bring about a more
peaceful and sustainable
world.
IIPT's
mission is to mobilize travel and tourism,
the world's largest industry, as the
world's first 'Global Peace Industry,' an
industry that promotes and supports the
belief that 'Every traveler is potentially
an Ambassador for Peace.'
For
more information on IIPT please visit:
www.iipt.org; Tel: 802 253.2658; Fax: 802
253.2645; Email: Africa@iipt.org
For
more information on Counterpart
International please visit:
www.counterpart.org.
Media
Contact: Karen Hoffman, The Bradford
Group. Tel: 212 447.0027; Email:
iiptmedia@aol.com.
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