Skål International Newsletter April 2007
  68TH SKÅL WORLD CONGRESS
The 68th Skål World Congress will be held in Belek, Antalya from 4-9 November 2007. The final inspection has just been carried out and the stage is set for what promises to be a very exciting congress. There will be a slight change to the format of the General Assembly this year. The General Assembly will commence on Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 09.00 hours and will run until lunchtime on Wednesday 7 November 2007. Apart from the usual business of the meeting it will include a lecture and workshop on sustainable development in Tourism and the Business to Business (B2B) workshop. A special Talent Night will be held on Monday 5 November 2007 and Skål members and their accompanying persons are invited to take part. If you or your partner are involved in painting or other form of art, such as photography, ceramics etc., as a hobby you are invited to bring an example of your work to the Congress to be exhibited and later sold, the proceeds going to the Florimond Volckaert Fund. For more information on the details of the Congress, the pre and post tours, programme, registration form etc. please click here
 PRESIDENTIAL THEME
A reminder that Litsa Papathanassi has taken “Sustainable Development in Tourism” as her Presidential Theme. She has written about it extensively.
Click here to read more
 ECOTOURISM AWARDS
The 6 th Skål International Ecotourism Awards will be presented in Antalya during the 68 th Skål World Congress. Click here to read the latest Press Release on the Awards.
FORM 2 & FORM 3
These are the forms which are required by the General Secretariat each year to update the officers of the Clubs, National and Area Committees. These forms can be found on the website and may be sent electronically. For Form 2 – click here. Form 3 – click here. Form 2 should be used by Clubs and Form 3 by National and Area Committees. The deadline for receipt of both forms is 13 April 2007. Members should check the Club details on the website to ensure that they are up to date.
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN PATTAYA
The Minutes of the General Assembly which was held at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, Pattaya, Thailand in October 2006 can be downloaded from the Skål International website www.skal.org go to “members only area” and Minutes. Any Club wishing to receive a hard copy should send an e-mail request to the General Secretariat skal@skal.org
GRAND PRIZE DRAW
Tickets for the Grand Prize Draw have been sent to all Clubs, National and Area Committees. The proceeds from the Grand Prize draw go to offset some of the fixed expenses of the Congress and act as one of the promotions for the Congress. For only €10.00 three lucky winners could find themselves in Antalya for this prestigious event. The draw will take place on 19 May 2007 during the International Skål Council meeting in Cordoba Argentina, therefore all payments and ticket counterfoils must be returned to the General Secretariat by 11 May 2007. Please remember that your Club can make a profit of €20.00 on every book sold.
 SKÅL NEWS
There has been much debate regarding the printed version of Skål News. The Skål News is one of the many benefits of Skål membership and contains articles of interest to the membership and also some messages from the Executive Committee, such as full information on the congress and a letter regarding a direct marketing campaign in the next issue. Those members who have internet facilities can, of course, download the magazine from the website but evidence clearly shows that a very small percentage of the membership is actually using the internet which means that the Skål News will not reach all of the members. The Executive Committee has decided that the decision to receive the printed version of Skål News or not should be the sole prerogative of the member and they can do that by sending an e-mail to the General Secretariat with “Skål News – unsubscribe” in the subject line. If the Clubs are to make this decision it should be done only after a general meeting and on receipt of a minute to that effect by the General Secretariat. Area or National Committees should not have the power to automatically make decisions affecting individual members, particularly those who do not have e-mail addresses. For the information of the membership the cost of four editions of Skål News per annum is approximately €4.75 per person. On 22 March 2007 there were 2,953 members who did not have an e-mail address registered with the General Secretariat. The Executive Committee also believes that Skål News is a very good development tool and could easily be used in the “member get member” campaign in an effort to increase the membership in Clubs. To read the latest Skål News on line click here.
 IMEX
Skål International will once again have a stand at IMEX which will be held in Frankfurt from 17-19 April 2007. Skål members can register as visitors, free of charge on the IMEX website www.imex-frankfurt.com. Skål International, in cooperation with Skål International Frankfurt and the Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau, will host a “Happy Hour” from 12.00-14.00 hours on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 April 2007. Skål International Frankfurt has organised a special buffet luncheon on Tuesday 17 April 2007 in Room 9, Level 9.2 at the Messe Frankfurt from 12.00-14.00 hours. Cost €30.00. Please send your reservation to the Secretary of Skål International Frankfurt, Ursula Mühlens on e-mail ursula@muehlens-media.de or directly via the internet www.skal.de or just come by on the day.
WORLD SKÅL DAY 2007
 28 April each year is World Skål Day. This marks the foundation of Skål as an International Association. It is recommended that every Clubs celebrates this day by holding a function or suitable event on or around this date. President Litsa Papathanassi would like you to do something connected with sustainable development in tourism or quality awards in tourism this year in line with her Presidential theme. Please do not forget to send a photograph of the event to the General Secretariat for publication on the Skål International Photo gallery.
WORLD TOURISM DAY 2007
 27 September each year is the date set by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) as “World Tourism Day” This year the theme is “Tourism Opens Doors for Women” It is hoped that the celebration would not only be held on 27 September 2007 but last throughout the next year. President Litsa has been invited to participate in the preparation of the initiative. Geoffrey Lipman, Assistant Secretary General, UNWTO said “it was noted that the promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women and the elimination of gender disparity in education is the third United Nations Millennium Development Goal to which the UNWTO subscribes. More information will be sent to you as soon as it is available.
 75th ANNIVERSARY OF SKÅL
Skål is 75 years old this year with Club No. 1 created in Paris in 1932. Skål as an international association will celebrate its 75 th Anniversary in 2009. Special celebrations to mark the 75 th Anniversary of Skål in Paris will be held in July of this year. Click here for more information. All Skål members and their accompanying persons will be very welcome to attend the party in this magical city.
THE PRE-EURO BILL COLLECTION
One of our members in Minneapolis St. Paul, Tom Pokonosky has been working on a project since his retirement to create a piece of foreign currency artwork which would preserve the unique individuality of former European currencies in a historical presentation called “Basis of the Euro” The presentation depicts the national flag of each country, authentic unit of currency from each country and the Euro value of that bill on an attractive background of the European Continent. A brass plate personalises the work of art for each purchaser. The edition is limited to 500 pieces. Skålleague Tom is willing to make a contribution of US$25.00 to the Florimond Volckaert Fund for each unit purchased by a Skålleague or associate. More information at www.pro5.com/euro
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