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The overall theme of the congress, “The Spirit of Ubuntu, Connecting Continents, Places and People” offers wide scope to cover many topics of mutual interest and concern. “The Spirit of Ubuntu” acknowledges that we are connected by the oceans of the world like an umbilical cord and in a spirit of caring for our future we share our knowledge and experiences to become better custodians of the marine environment. There will be opportunities to offer capacity building workshops every afternoon. Founded by Dr. Jan Auyong (Oregon State University and Sea Grant Oregon) and Professor Marc L. Miller (School of Marine Affairs, University of Washington) and first held in 1990 in Hawaii, the Coastal & Marine Tourism Congress became a great success. Subsequent CMTs were held in Hawaii (1996), Vancouver (1999), Cesme/Turkey (2005), and Auckland (2007). The CMT is widely considered the world’s foremost tourism and hospitality gathering related to tourism and recreation in the marine environment, and is attended by academics and practitioners from around the world. The conference offers opportunities for the presentation and publication of refereed and working papers, as well as posters. After the successful 5th CMT in Auckland last year we are challenged to offer participants a real African experience. We will be inviting all the SADC countries from southern Africa that share the Indian and Atlantic oceans with South Africa. Nelson Mandela Bay is a vibrant metropolitan city incorporating the cities of Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch. Port Elizabeth has an industrial deep water harbor and a commercial harbor with future plans for a waterfront development. With over 80 km of coastline including five beaches that have been awarded Blue Flag status, Nelson Mandela Bay is a world-class coastal and marine tourism destination surrounded by over one million hectares of diversified protected areas. Algoa Bay is where incredible terrestrial biodiversity converges and shakes hands with amazing marine biodiversity. International divers report viewing more marine species per dive in Algoa Bay than a week’s diving in some of the world’s most popular dive spots. It was the legend of Prester John that brought Bartholomeu Dias to Algoa Bay more than 500 years ago. Prester John, so the legend said, founded a prosperous kingdom of great beauty and wealth in an unknown location where peace reigned and man lived in harmony with strange creatures alongside the fountain of youth. We believe that this great beauty and wealth is not gold bullion or sunken treasure but rather a marine environment second to none just waiting to be discovered by every visitor with a desire to explore our silent world. I look forward to maintaining contact via our interactive website and welcoming you to Nelson Mandela Bay in June 2009 next year. Peter Myles
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
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