APCO Global Alliance

Policy Statement - Travel Safety and Security

Global tourism and business travel continue to increase and are vital to the economic success of all countries. In 2005, international arrivals worldwide, i.e. an individual from one country arriving in another country, exceeded 800 million. Terrorism, natural disasters, health emergencies, and political uncertainties are just some of the issues facing the travel industry, which can cause dramatic fluctuations in the amount of revenue brought into a country.

Today, many travelers carry their wireless phones or voice over IP (VoIP) enabled lap top computers abroad, and may, because they do not know the emergency access number of the country that they are visiting, use the emergency access number of their homeland to call for help. To ensure the safety and security of the traveling public the members of the APCO Global Alliance deem it necessary for a visitor to any country to have access to the host country's emergency services by dialing their homeland emergency access number. The members of the APCO Global Alliance also believe that there should always be accurate location information provided with the call that adheres to a global standard regardless of the type of telephony service used by the traveling public.

Resolution — Travel Safety and Security

WHEREAS:

Global tourism and business travel continue to increase and are vital to the economic success of all countries

WHEREAS:

Terrorism, natural disasters, health emergencies, and political uncertainties are just some of the issues facing the travel industry, which can cause dramatic fluctuations in the amount of travel and business related revenue brought into a country;

WHEREAS:

Today, many tourists and business travelers travel with their wireless phones and/or VoIP enabled lap top computers and may use the emergency access number from their homeland to call for help; and

WHEREAS:

The safety and security of the traveling public is of vital importance to governments and businesses alike;

BE IT RESOLVED:

That the APCO Global Alliance strongly supports the position that a visitor to any country should be able to use the emergency access number from their homeland on any public telephone system throughout the world, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the members of the APCO Global Alliance recommend that telephony carriers utilize technology already available, as well as explore burgeoning technologies, to ensure that accurate location information is provided with all calls, and that they adhere to this global standard regardless of the type service used by the traveling public.

Support from the following organizations should be sought in order to promote this position. Note that there are likely many other, but these are the prominent organizations that support the above statistics.

  • The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO/OMT), a specialized agency of the United Nations, is the leading international organization in the field of tourism. It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and practical source of tourism know-how. http://www.unwto.org/aboutwto/eng/menu.html
  • he European Travel Commission (ETC) is a non-profit making organisation with its headquarters in Brussels. Its members are the 37 National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) of Europe, whose role is to market and promote tourism to Europe in general, and to their individual countries in particular. http://www.etc-corporate.org
  • Travel Industry Association (TIA) is the only national organization that serves more than 2,100 members from every segment of the travel industry in the USA. It provides information, representation and leadership to grow the powerful tourism industry. http://www.tia.org/index.html