Taleb Rifai: "Tourism Need Innovative Ideas"

The Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation talks about his trip to Cameroon.

After meeting with government officials and visiting some tourist sites in Cameroon, could you say it was worth visiting Cameroon as a tourist?

We do not visit places just by accident. When we go to places, we send messages to the people and to the world. To the people of Cameroon, it was important for my team to come and make sure that they understand that the world is with them. I came not in sympathy, but in solidarity and in support of the people of Cameroon to face some of the most important challenges that we should all face together. We can never allow Cameroon to face Boko Haram or any tragedy alone.

The message to the people of Cameroon is that we are with you. We are here to support them. But the message to the world is even more important. Cameroon is an important and wonderful tourist destination. This is a message to investors to come to Cameroon. I had excellent meetings with government officials and from them, it was clear that we are all speaking the same language.

What support can be expected from the UNWTO for the promotion of tourism?

We are ready to offer technical and political support. We are a reservoir of know-how and can share best practices. We agreed to support Cameroon in statistics. What you cannot measure you cannot manage. Gathering information is very important. We know how to do this. We also promised other State functionaries support in liberalising and making the visa regime to Cameroon more flexible. We also agreed to help Cameroon in capacity building.

Our support is technical and political when it comes to security. We have developed a Tool Gate for Crisis Management and Communication. This is to prepare people before, during and after crises. We also have training during and after crisis. Communication is crucial in crisis management. We at times get emotional and the message we pass across is damaging than more we can bear. The second line of support is political. We can and want to be Cameroon’s voice to the world.

The messages, the ideas, the reality of Cameroon can be transmitted by us as a UN body to the world. We take positions vis-à-vis the world on the country’s behalf. We are already working on the two lines of support. 

Are you satisfied with the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty project in Cameroon?

This project started 10 years ago and is still alive. This is something not easy to do. I did not expect the...