HC Deb 23 October 1946 vol 427 cc1641-2
18. Mr. Janner

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will arrange for the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, or what- ever is the appropriate body for that purpose, to discuss at an early date the possibility of making arrangements to increase tourist traffic between the United Nations.

Mr. Bevin

Action which I hope will in due course facilitate the increase of tourist traffic has already been taken by the Economic and Social Council, and the United Kingdom delegation have played their full part in its promotion. As the details are rather long, I will, with permission, circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Following are the details:

The Economic and Social Council at its second session in June last asked the Secretary-General of the United Nations to convene a meeting of experts to prepare for a world conference on passport and frontier formalities. At its third session ending early in the present month, the Council passed a further resolution, presented by the United Kingdom delegation, requesting the Secretary-General to prepare and circulate a draft agenda for this meeting. The draft agenda is to take into account recommendations made by the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organisation, by the Conference of Official Travel Agencies (recently held in London under the auspices of the Tourist Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), and by any other competent international groups such as the Council of the International Chamber of Commerce who have made, or wish to make, recommendations on the subject of passport and frontier formalities. The Economic and Social Council in the same resolution also requested its Transport and Communications Commission to report to the Council without delay on the method by which the Council can best be advised on travel questions.