Observations on International Tourism Communications First World Conference on Tourism Communications, Madrid, Spain, 29-30 January 2004

This publication contains the conference proceedings of the first World Conference on Tourism Communications (TOURCOM), organised by the World Tourism Organization and held in Madrid, Spain in January 2004. The aim of the conference was to provide a forum for tourism industry officials from the private and public sectors to discuss the role of effective communications in promoting international tourism. Topics discussed include: the role of the media in tourism, the impact of the international terrorist attacks and crisis management communications, NTA/NTO communications budgets, successful promotional campaigns, branding of destinations, public relations and advertising, promotion and sales, new and digital media, cross-cultural communications, sustainable tourism and development.