The Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization and the Ministry of External Trade and Tourism of Peru will jointly organize the III International Conference on Tourism and handicrafts, in Lima, Peru, from 24 to 26 September 2008, with a special focus on the Americas.

The Conference will build up on the lessons learned and recommendations emanated from the previous conference on this subject organized by UNWTO in Iran (May, 2006) and Burkina Faso (November, 2006) in order to continue fostering synergies between and tourism development; to enhance job creation, income generation and poverty alleviation opportunities in developing handcrafts, as well as to share best practices on production technologies, quality, design, marketing and commercialization.

Besides internationally renowned experts from UNWTO, senior officials of national tourism and handcraft administrations of Member States and international organizations, the Conference will be open to the participation of NGOs and private sector representatives in handicrafts.