Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Amadeus IT Group sign Framework Agreement for Cooperation in the Sustainable Development of Tourism

The two parties will carry out activities to promote social development and the sustainable development of tourism in developing countries, particularly in Latin America and Africa.

Bangkok, Thailand (Asia Pacific), 05 October 2009: Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation and David V. Jones, CEO of Amadeus IT Group, a global company which develops travel distribution technology, have today signed a framework agreement for cooperation in the sustainable development of tourism.

The agreement will lead to the implementation of activity promoting social development and the sustainable development of tourism in developing countries, through Corporate Social Responsibility actions. The joint activity will be carried out particularly in Latin America and Africa, and in specific areas such as: the training of professionals in the tourism sector, technology transfer, promotion and development of local tourism, strengthening and improvement of management systems in micro, small and medium sized travel companies, support for travel distribution businesses and the fostering of a strong tourist culture, amongst others.

Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, stated: "We are very pleased to be able to work with a leading technology company and expert in the travel sector".

David V. Jones, CEO of Amadeus IT Group, said: "Through this agreement,Spain will lead the process of transferring technology to sectors in need, in various countries." The alliance gives a strong impetus to Amadeus' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. The company’s CSR strategy focuses on contributing to the development of the most disadvantaged regions, through its natural activitiy in the sector: providing technology and applying this technology to the development of the travel and tourism sector.

David Jones also pointed out that Amadeus’ CSR strategy was established on a basis of cooperation: “This alliance is a good example of how the private sector and the public sector can efficiently contribute to development of international cooperation projects."

One of the objectives of the III Director Plan for Spanish Cooperation is to establish “public-private partnerships” to help meet the challenges in development and to overcome the social and environmental obstacles in meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development aims – among other things - to incorporate the business sector into the development plan by encouraging the adoption of responsible practices in countries in the South, through the inclusion of pro-development business models.

Soraya Rodríguez Ramos added "Amadeus is a technology leader with a broad range of cutting-edge technology. It is exactly this experience that we want to use and which has become available through the agreement signed today, which will allow us to work in the 50 countries where the Spanish International Cooperation is active. We are grateful to Amadeus for its offer, to the Office of the Secretary of State for Cooperation, to begin work in this strategic association, and to allow us to benefit from the support of a leading company in its field”.