Speech by WTO President Francesco Frangialli at the inauguration of the ITB
It is a singular paradox that the ITB -- this great fair dedicated to tourism, an activity that is the synonym of peace - is opening at a time when the world is preparing to go to war! Do we really have the heart to think about travel, relaxation, leisure and holidays, while weapons are at the ready and people are bracing for suffering? This antinomy, however, is only illusory: it is when times are getting harder, when images of destruction and hate swirl all around us that the need to get away and escape is most keenly felt. For the past two years, we have been wrestling with this contradiction.