Tourism chair to address Washington forum

LOOP HEAD Tourism chairman Cillian Murphy will be among the speakers at the World Bank Tourism Forum, which will be held at the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington DC next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The theme of the forum is Driving Development Through Tourism and among the speakers will be Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank; Aireen Omar, CEO Air Asis and Mauricio Ventura Aragon, the Costa Rican Minister for Tourism.

“I did an assignment for my masters on tourism and local economic benefit. One of my tutors puts together part of the programme for the World Travel Market  discussions and was impressed with the Loop Head story and invited me to present it at World Bank Tourism Forum,” Mr Murphy explained.

Mr Murphy’s discussion on Wednesday will be moderated by journalist and author Elizabeth Becker and he will be joined by Gabriella Crescini, head client and partner relationships, Swiss Contact; Brian Said, executive director of Visit Philadelphia and Miguel Pena, senior sustainability analyst with Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Mr Murphy said his tutor was at his recent presentation on Loop Head at the World Travel Market in London. “She was very impressed by how we approach tourism development. Last week she asked me to take part in the conference, which will examine how tourism can contribute to the twin goals of the World Bank Group, which are eliminating poverty and boosting income for the world’s poorest people,” Mr Murphy added.

The World Bank says the event will “bring together global thought leaders and proven achievers to identify new ways to channel growth, while addressing the challenges and opportunities of developing the tourism sector in emerging economies”.