The forthcoming 2nd World Ecotourism Conference 2010's (WEC2010) theme is "Urban Ecotourism & Responsible Travel in Developing Countries: Shifting Paradigms and Strategic Adaptations".

The Conference supported by UNWTO.

For more information, please contact LeeChoonLoong@WorldEcotourismConference.com for invitations or visit www.WorldEcotourismConference.com to register online.

The 2nd World Ecotourism Conference 2010 – Urban Ecotourism & Responsible Travel in Developing Countries: Shifting Paradigms and Strategic Adaptations will be held in at the Green Globe certified Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia from 8th to 10th July 2010 (3 days). The Conference supported by UNWTO, TIES, APES and many other international agencies will field over 50 invited keynote and plenary speakers, academic speakers, workshop leaders, moderators and panelists and an expected 300 top delegates from the public sector, private sector, academicians, civil societies and media will gather for this important conference. This Conference calls for their participation and contribution, in one way or another to provide their success stories and input to policies, development, planning and implementation of ecotourism in developing countries.

The proceedings of the Conference will be supervised by Professor Dr Trevor Sofield, a renowned expert having worked for UNESCO on World Heritage Sites and UNWTO on Sustainable Tourism as a tool for Eliminating Poverty (STeP). He has a wide first-hand experience of tourism issues in the Asia/Pacific having undertaken more than 70 consultancies and research projects in Australia , China , Nepal , Indonesia , Malaysia , Vietnam and 12 Pacific Island countries. Prior to joining the ranks of academia in 1990, Dr Sofield was a senior diplomat in the Australian Foreign Service (with postings in Tanzania , Sri Lanka , Singapore , New Zealand , Solomon Islands and Fiji , amongst others, the final six years at ambassadorial rank).

Besides the Conference, there is a mini ecotourism travel mart which will showcase new and exciting ecotourism initiatives, products and services available in the market today. There will also be post-conference technical tours to urban ecotourism sites in and around Kuala Lumpur.

For more information, please contact LeeChoonLoong@WorldEcotourismConference.com for invitations or visit www.WorldEcotourismConference.com to register online.

The World Ecotourism Conference is an ambitious initiative to bring global ecotourism players together to network, collaborate and share their experiences, best practices and technologies for the betterment of nature conservation, environment protection, preservation of communities and consequently the advancement of ecotourism around the world.

A key objective of WEC is to support host countries that are in need of a global platform and leverage to champion, position or support ecotourism policies and initiatives that will bring transformational changes for the betterment of their economies, people or environment.

In July 2009, the 1st World Ecotourism Conference concluded in Vientiane, Lao PDR with the Vientiane Declaration on Ecotourism for Developing Countries endorsed by the leading members of the ecotourism fraternity in the public sector, private sector, academia and NGOs. Secretary-General of UNWTO, H.E. Dr Taleb Rifai officially stated that the Declaration reaffirms the principles and guidelines developed by UNWTO during the International Year of Ecotourism in 2002 and providing fresh recommendations to stakeholders to not just advocate the principles of sustainable development of tourism, but also to deliver on the vision and goals of the World Ecotourism Conference in an effective manner.

1^st World Ecotourism Conference

Message from H.E. Dr Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO

 "The Vientiane Declaration on Ecotourism in Developing Countries reaffirms the principles and guidelines developed by UNWTO during the International Year of Ecotourism 2002, providing fresh recommendations to enable stakeholders to not just advocate the principles of sustainable development of tourism, but to also deliver on the vision and goals of the World Ecotourism Conference in an effective manner.

In  light of its importance to the international tourism community, I am pleased to inform you that the World Tourism Organisation fully endorses the Vientiane Declaration on Ecotourism in Developing Countries; we will certainly disseminate the Declaration among our Members and through our website and we sincerely hope that the implementation of the positive action plan that it contains will reflect on the future performance of ecotourism in Lao PDR and other countries in the region."

H.E. Dr Taleb Rifai

Secretary-General a.i.

World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)

3rd August 2009