TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Hawaii to have tiny
presence at summitMajor players in the world's travel industry will gather in Geneva beginning Wednesday for the second Global Summit for Peace Through Tourism.
Hawaii will be represented by Haleiwa businessman Thomas Steinmetz.
Gov. Linda Lingle and Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris have provided Steinmetz with greetings which he will present along with leis at the summit's opening ceremonies at the Hotel InterContinental Geneva.
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan will preside over the summit, which runs through Saturday. She may receive one of the leis along with the mayor of Geneva and other dignitaries.
"There are going to be 16 ministers of tourism from around the world attending," Steinmetz said.
Steinmetz is publisher of eTurboNews, an online travel and tourism industry publication he says has 160,000 readers. He is also chairman of the Haleiwa-based nonprofit International Council of Travel Partners and the moderator of a 6,000-member online forum for visitors and visitor industry professionals.
Steinmetz is attending the summit to participate in a panel discussion on the role of the media in promoting a culture of peace. His fellow panelists come from Time magazine, Le Monde newspaper and the Xinhua news agency.
He will also host a coffee break, apparently at his own expense of $7,500. He had virtually no luck in finding donors and sponsors to help defray the cost or provide goodies. One of his calls to a Hawaii business ended abruptly when his contact "slammed the phone down on me," he said.
The summit is presented by the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism, based in Stowe, Vt., in partnership with the World Travel & Tourism Council.
In his greeting in the summit program, council President Jean-Claude Baumgarten says the current crisis faced by the travel and tourism industry has been caused by events such as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; recent bombings in Bali; and the global recession. These and other factors, he said, have resulted in "severe job losses, huge financial problems for the airline industry and very little good news from any other sector of the industry."
Louis D'Amore, founder and president of the International Institute, said in his program message that the travel and tourism industry offers the most powerful force for the promotion of peace.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
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