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Wednesday, December 11th -
14:00 Tourism and culture : new paradigms ? Hotel President Wilson, in Geneva Chairman of the meeting
Welcome remarks Carlo Lamprecht, State Advisor, President of the Department of Economy, Employment and Exterior Affairs of the Republic and Canton of Geneva (Switzerland)
Brief introduction to the discussions Prof. Peter Keller, President of the Scientific Committee of the Summits of Tourism
First discussion : Is globalisation leading to an obliteration of cultural differences ? The world is unifying. And in unifying, it shrinks. Travel and tourism only accelerate this process. The world's progressive integration gives rise to visions, expectations and common behaviours. The intensity of tourism exchanges has resulted in a global culture of leisure. The growing integration has, however, led to a movement in the opposite direction. The more culture tends to become uniform, the more strongly the will to safeguard cultural identities is asserted. How should the persistence of cultural differences be managed for human tourism ? Huib Wursten, ITIM International, Amsterdam (Netherlands) Are cultural differences between nations going to remain the principal motivation of travellers ? Ronald Parris, Director of the Ralph Bunch Institute of International Studies, Wayne, New Jersey (United States) Did the Silk Road contribute to attracting visitors and reinforcing the cultural identity of the neighbouring regions ? Nasrollah Mostofi, First Vice President, Iran National Organisation of Tourism, Tehran
Second discussion : Civilisation of leisure, authentic or simulated ? There is a veritable fear of seeing the authentic supplanted by the artificial, in other words, of seeing traditional culture-threatened, imitated, simulated-reproduced outside its place of origin (out of its context) in amusement parks, recreation centres and theme parks. As a result of the process of cultural integration, local culture risks being supplanted by a global culture. Many tourist sites and attractions, although situated in the four corners of the world, today strongly resemble each other. Imagination, cultural and ludic desires: how did EXPO 2002 succeed in attracting a large number of visitors while influencing the cultural identity of the country ? Nelly Wenger, General Director of EXPO 2002, Lausanne (Switzerland) The Bilbao Guggenheim Museum success story : How to overcome an economic and political crisis and attract visitors so as to develop a city and its region. Juan Ignacio Vidarte, General Director of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (Spain) Production of attractions : how can one attract visitors ? Kurt Grötsch, Trillennium Group, Sevilla (Spain) What are the promotional perspectives on the cultural assets of Geneva, an international and cultured city ? François Bryand, Director of Geneva Tourism (Switzerland)
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