Mexico City - The Ministry of Tourism reports that the work of the 4th Tourism Ministerial Meeting (T20) and the 1st Regional Summit of the Americas of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) yielded positive results that will boost tourism.

"For Mexico, both meetings were particularly important as they served to strengthen the international presence of our country. The results achieved made it clear that tourism will be a key issue on the agenda at the G20 Leaders’ Summit," said Mexico's Minister of Tourism, Gloria Guevara Manzo.

Minister Guevara explained that the T20 meeting, held on May 15 and 16 in Yucatan, resulted in the adoption of the Merida Declaration, which sets out proposals for the world's largest economies to promote measures to facilitate tourism through the elimination of visas, the creation of regional visas and simplified immigration procedures, in accordance with the needs of each country, without ignoring security issues.

These proposals will be reviewed by the G20 Heads of State and Government, who will meet in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, on June 18 and 19.

The central theme of the T20 meeting, as well as the WTTC Summit, which was held in the Riviera Maya on May 16-18, was the question of tourism and how it creates jobs.

The President of the WTTC, David Scowsill, thanked Mexico for hosting the event: "the WTTC acknowledges the leadership of President Felipe Calderón and Minister Guevara; furthermore, we are pleased with the participation of the continent’s important business leaders." Scowsill added that "Mexico has an important place in the international tourism industry."

In addition, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), said that Mexico provides leadership within the tourism industry and has become an example of the actions needed to promote the industry. "We must congratulate the Mexican Government for supporting tourism. It is an example of a government that believes in the power and capacity of the travel and tourism industry," he said.

A study by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council reported that in 2011, more than 656 million international tourists visited the G20 countries. Of this number, 109 million tourists visited nations that require visas, which represents 17 percent of international tourism to the G20 countries.

The Merida Declaration emphasizes the need to make it easier to obtain visas, which will result in significant growth and job opportunities.

Preliminary results indicate that making it easier to obtain visas for visiting G20 countries would lead to as many as 112 million additional international tourists by 2015, increasing foreign spending by 206 billion dollars and creating 5.1 million additional jobs during the next three years.

The study notes that tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors. In 2011, amid growing economic uncertainty, tourism increased by 4.6 percent to reach 982 million tourists worldwide. The UNWTO suggests that tourism will steadily grow, reaching one billion international travelers in 2012 and 1.8 billion by 2030.

Worldwide, the industry generates eight percent of jobs, and it is estimated that each job in the tourism industry creates two additional jobs in other sectors. Tourism employs six times as many people as the international automotive sector, four times as many as the mining sector, and a third more than the global financial sector.