The receipts generated by the development of tourism as compared to other forms of international transactions represent a significant potential growing source of foreign currency earnings for all countries of Eastern and Central Europe. To these countries, international tourism offers yet unexplored opportunities and challenges. The opportunity consists in making the best use of their natural and cultural heritage to secure the needed foreign currencies. The challenge resides in channeling the receipts obtained from tourism into productive investments providing the infrastructure for accelerating their economic development. This Seminar is the first technical meeting at the regional level organized by WTO as part of its plan for implementing the Resolutions of the 1991 Ottawa Conference on Travel and Tourism Statistics. It was also the first Seminar on tourism statistics held for Central and Eastern Europe since WTO’s inception. Its main objective was to assist these countries in taking up this challenge. The effective design and planning of the amount and type of resources to be devoted to the development and promotion of tourism requires the accurate knowledge of tourism supply and demand and of the economic impact of tourism.
Foreign banks and foreign currency lending in emerging Europe
