USE YOUTH TRAVEL TO FIGHT POVERTY URGES DEVELOPMENT EXPERTS

Manchester, England, 30 September 2009 — Youth travel is one of the world’s “most potent development tools and should be mobilized to help developing countries combat poverty,” asserted development entrepreneur Lelei LeLaulu.

“We need agile, innovative young minds to help us provide access to the tools communities need to use tourism to create wealth while enhancing culture, improving education, health delivery and conserving fragile environments,” he added

Co-chairman of the Innovation for Sustainable Development Centre (ISDC) LeLaulu said tourism is the “largest voluntary transfer of resources in history from the ‘haves’ to the ‘have-nots’ of the world – and youth travel comprises 18 percent of those financial flows.”

Youth travel, asserted LeLaulu, “is the unheralded building block of sustainable tourism because backpackers and young travelers stay with families, take language courses in communities, eat the local food and build relationships which increase international understanding and peace.”

“In other words – youth travel is the most effective type of community benefit tourism because their money goes directly to host families reducing poverty, strengthening communities and democracy,” declared LeLaulu who is also chairman of FSPI, the largest non-profit development network in the Pacific.

And, he reminded hundreds of delegates to the World Youth and Student Travel Conference, meeting in this northern English city which hosts over 100,000 students, “forget the budget image — the average backpacker spends almost 2,000 Euros per trip. We’re looking at a 112 billion Euro market value a year.”

Furthermore, said LeLaulu, co-founder of the World Tourism Forum for Pace and Sustainable Development, “developing countries will see a much higher return on their investment in youth travelers than they might realize from 5-star visitors with its much more expensive infrastructural needs. But there is room for both — because backpackers turn into high-end, savvy, travelers.”

LeLaulu, who helped launch sustainable tourism programs in Africa, the Pacific, Caribbean and Latin America urged “it is time to enable youth and student travelers, with their idealism, vigor and commitment, to be a powerful force for change in the battle against poverty and inequality.”

Charles Kao, chairman of the ISDC and an owner of the TravelMole internet service for over 130 countries agreed “the private and non-profit sectors of the youth travel industry should start working together to get the most committed group of youth to use part of their travels to work on anti-poverty projects.”

About The World Youth Student & Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation

WYSETC was founded in 2006 with the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC). The Confederation’s mission is “to increase international understanding through the promotion of travel and educational opportunities for students and youth”.

Members of the Confederation work through specialist sector associations to provide a range of valuable services and products for young travellers around the globe including Student Identity Cards, Language Travel Experiences, Work Exchange and Au Pair Experiences, Student Flights, Youth Accommodation and Travel Insurance.

About Innovation for Sustainable Development Centre (ISDC)

Innovation for Sustainable Development is a non-profit US company which is focused on sustainable businesses, communities and environment. Its objective is to be a catalyst facilitating sustainability and carbon neutrality through learning, dialog, innovation, research, investment and partnership amongst cross-sector tourism stakeholder players. The focus is to find common grounds that meet the stakeholders’ interests and facilitate the implementation of their initiatives and investments that foster responsible tourism related job creation, trade, preservation of culture and environment, and enhancing the economy of disadvantaged communities. Tourism stakeholders from government, NGO, travel & tourism industries, financial sector, academia, commerce & trade, facilities & infrastructure development, IT & communications, and science & medicine have the opportunity to interact and learn through global online communities and forums, as well as in person events

For further information

Contact: Peter Simons, [email protected]