Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), has been confirmed as a speaker at the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation (WYSETC).

The event will take place from September 20th in Barcelona.

Rifai will open the conference, now in its 20th year. The event seeks to understand and explore the ever-changing characteristics, motivations, and needs of young travellers and the industry that supports them.

“Mr Rifai’s attendance at our conference is extremely welcome and re-affirms the importance of our cooperation and belief that the youth travel industry plays an increasingly vital role in the development of global tourism,” said Robin Wicks, director-general of WYSE Travel Confederation.

It is the shared intention of UNWTO and WYSE Travel Confederation to spotlight the significant social and economic value of the youth travel sector to governments, official tourism organisations, and destinations worldwide.

“We believe there is potential for governments and tourism organizations to increase their engagement with this valuable market segment to significant mutual benefit, and we will launch our initiative at WYSTC 2011,” Wicks added.

The youth and student travel market accounted for 20 per cent of international arrivals in 2010, generating receipts of US$165 billion.

Much of this money remains with locally-owned businesses and communities contributing to poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development.

City.Mobi

Also in Europe today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Barcelona.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Barcelona.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.