Untitled

316 International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus
the manufacturers and suppliers that serve them.
The Association is dedicated to the preservation
and prosperity of this sector. It is made up of more
than 4,500 members in eighty countries, and works
through a series of volunteer committees to create
services, educational products and opportunities.
Membership benefits and goals include improved
efficiency, marketing, safety and profitability,
together with the professional standards in the
amusement sector.
TURGUT VAR, USA
International Association of
Convention and Visitors Bureaus
The International Association of Convention and
Visitors Bureaus �IACVB) was founded in 1914
and represents over 423 bureaus in more than
thirty-two countries. Its mission is to enhance the
professionalism, effectiveness and image of its
worldwide members and the industry they
represent. To assist member bureaus, IACVB
organises several conferences per year on topics
ranging from administration to sports tourism
marketing.
RUSSELL R. CURRIE, CANADA
international aviation bilateral
For the greater part of history, transoceanic
commerce could only be carried by ship. The rules
and freedoms of the sea, although old and
sacrosanct, provided insufficient guidance for the
governance of the airline industry. The technologies
and eras of development simply were too far
removed from one another. Shortly after the
beginning of the twentieth century, however,
governments were confronted with a means of
transportation with which they were ill
equipped to deal. In its earliest stages the airline
industry was treated as a curiosity. Military
confrontation during the two world wars dramatically
shifted the debate to one of urgency. The
need to rebuild airline systems after the wars once
again shifted the governance issue, this time to
stability. More recently, airline deregulation shifted
the issue once again. Open skies are not yet the
norm, but the goal can be reached.
Before aircraft proved their military worth
during the Second World War, policy makers
regarded them passively. One issue to be considered
was clearly the extent to which nations had
sovereignty over airspace. Some contended that
airspace was international in nature and no
country could exert sovereign claim. Others
contended that nations had legitimate national
defence interests in claiming sovereignty. The
freedoms of the sea seemed to support the latter,
rhetoric the former, which carried on until the
Second World War. The wars themselves had a
great impact on aviation regulation policy. Much of
the prewar debate was settled by the start of it.
Although the war was far from conclusive on the
battlefield, by 1919 aircraft demonstrated their
ability to shift the fortunes of war.
The Paris Convention �1919) provided the first
multilateral framework for governing international
airlines. Prewar debates about freedom of the skies
was resolved in favour of nations' relatively
unquestioned control of airspace above and
immediately proximate to their geographic territories.
The Havana Convention �1929) reaffirmed
the sovereign airspace claims of nations. Beyond
ratifying the Paris Convention, the Havana Convention
further delineated the rights of nations to
specify airline services to, from, within and over
their airspace. These rules, originally applicable
only within the Americas, were later more broadly
affirmed. If any doubt remained about the
potential of aircraft to reshape national fortunes,
the Second World War dispelled it. Aircraft could
easily penetrate the sovereignty claimed by any
nation.
In 1944, the United States convened what is
known as the Chicago Conference. Its purposes
were to foster international civil aviation development
in a safe and orderly manner and to establish
international air transportation on the basis of
equality of opportunity and economical operation.
It was generally agreed that such a system should
be developed through a framework of bilateral
treaties between nations. Aspects of the Chicago
Conference agreement considered to be a reaffirmation
of previous principles, often are referred to
as a `Chicago Standard Form' treaty. Many current