Party Secretary of Hangzhou Wang Guoping (center), China Daily Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Zhu Yinghuang (third from left) and other journalists from Asia News Network regroup on a stage after a joint interview in Hangzhou yesterday. The capital of Zhejiang Province and China Daily are jointly holding the International Forum on Quality: Cities and Tourism.Edmond Tang

Tourism is one of the world's largest and fastest growing industries. The industry may grow nationally, but its effect can be felt globally. Not only is tourism one of the world's biggest exports, it is also a catalyst for growth because it earns governments substantial revenues and facilitates investments in infrastructure, which can improve people's living conditions and reduce poverty.

Asia is represented at the International Forum on Quality: Cities and Tourism (November 5-7) by participants from

Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. European countries such as France, Finland and Greece, too, have sent their representatives.

Asia is the second most visited region in the world, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Asia recorded 167 million tourist arrivals last year, a 7.8 percent increase over 2005, and now it attracts 20 percent of the global tourists, a 5 percent growth compared to 1995.

Asia Pacific's share of international tourism last year was $139 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent over 2005, with a tourist spending $890 in the region, compared to the world average of $840.

About 200 million people are employed in the tourism industry across the globe, with Asia Pacific alone creating 40 million of them directly or indirectly last year. But despite the general contentment offered by the industry's rising graph, delegates in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, decided to deepen cooperation to meet some of the mutual challenges.

Changes in the global tourism industry require Asian countries to re-think their tourism promotion strategies in the region, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Tourism Donald Lim Siang Chai said in the keynote speech. To maintain the flow of tourists, Donald Lim suggested having a joint marketing strategy for Asian countries that would replace the competing initiatives of individual countries.

The other major challenge for the tourism industry is how to protect the environment, which the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says is essential for the industry. Infrastructure construction for tourism does pose a threat to the environment, but it helps raise environmental awareness too. Used properly, tourism can become a tool to finance protection of natural habitats and increase their economic importance, UNEP has said.

"Tourism development and environmental protection need to be connected," said Xuan Yan, manager of the Scandinavian Tourist Board in China. Emphasizing the importance of making tourists aware of the impact they have on the environment, she said she has found ways to deal with the problem in Scandinavia.

For example, the air traffic industry deals with carbon dioxide emission by making frequent flyers pay a voluntary amount as compensation for the damage they cause to the environment. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), which offers a green flight system, uses that money for environmentally friendly fuel.