THE COUNCIL,

HAVING REGARD to Article 5 b) of the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of 14 December 1960;

HAVING REGARD to the Final Report of the United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism convened in Rome from 21 August to 5 September 1963;

HAVING REGARD to the Report of the Tourism Committee of 13 April 1965 [C(65)40];

CONSIDERING the important role played by tourism in national economies, in particular, through the diversification of economic activities and the creation of new sources of employment, and by providing foreign currency earnings;

CONSIDERING that the development of tourism can contribute to the strengthening of the economies of the developing countries;

CONSIDERING the social, educational and cultural impact of tourism and its significant contribution to the better understanding among nations;

RECOMMENDS to the Governments of Member countries, within the framework of their economic policy and programmes:

1.         To stimulate and co-ordinate national tourist activities through national tourist organisations having the authority and resources necessary to take effective action;

2.         To endeavour, through their national tourist organisations, to make the people of the Member countries conscious of the importance of tourism and to obtain wide support for tourism on the part of the general public and in government circles;

3.         To adopt all adequate measures to ensure the preservation and protection of those features of their natural, historical and cultural heritage which are of substantial value for tourism;

4.         To encourage travel, in particular for educational, scientific, cultural or sporting purposes;

5.         To prevent, in the field of tourism, any discriminatory action based on economic, political, religious or racial grounds;

6.         To grant facilities and incentives for projects concerning the construction, extension or modernisation of hotels and other means of tourist accommodation;

7.         To encourage the introduction of lower transport fares for tourists, to the extent compatible with the requirements of sound economic operation of public and private transport undertakings;

8.         To study, as and when appropriate, the question of exercising proper control over the establishment and operations of travel agencies either by legislation or by self-regulation;

9.         To examine carefully the question of the staggering of holidays in close co-operation with educational authorities, employers' and workers' organisations and the various branches of the tourist industry, and wherever practicable, to co-ordinate their action in this field with that of neighbouring countries;

10.        To make available increased technical assistance to developing countries in the field of tourism, on a bilateral or multilateral basis, in order to develop the potential touristic resources of those countries and their touristic equipment;

11.        To impose no special taxes on foreign tourists or on their own nationals going abroad.