Tourism plan agreed after tsunami

Phuket has seen a dramatic drop in tourist numbers since the tsunami

The nations hit by December's tsunami have agreed a proposal to lure tourists back to their deserted beaches.

The UN's World Tourism Organisation (WTO) endorsed the plan, saying tourism was the best form of aid people could give to affected areas.

The UN has also said it will go ahead with a temporary warning system to protect vulnerable coastlines.

The tsunami death toll continues to rise, with more than 200,000 people now thought to have died, the UN says.

Indonesia announced on Tuesday that it had found the bodies of 1,000 additional victims in the worst hit areas of Aceh and northern Sumatra.

At the end of talks organised by the WTO in the badly-damaged Thai resort of Phuket, delegates agreed on a draft action plan to encourage tourists back to four of the nations affected by the tsunami - Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia.

The organisation's chief, Francesco Frangialli, told delegates that the disaster "was the greatest catastrophe ever recorded in the history of world tourism".

Delegates have been seeing effects of the disaster at first hand

"We must rapidly restore jobs and hope," he said. "I wish to call upon the tourists themselves, those who are unsure about whether to go ahead and visit Phuket or the seaside hotels of Sri Lanka or the Maldives."

"Their rapid return to the tsunami-affected countries is imperative for the recovery of [these] countries."

The agreement, named the Phuket Action Plan, focuses on saving jobs in the tourism industry, re-launching tourism-related businesses, and increasing visitor numbers, said Mr Frangialli.

The plan endorses a global advertising initiative, ticket giveaways and a campaign for more considered foreign travel advisories.

Interim warning system

The United Nations announced on Tuesday that it was developing an interim early warning system in the Indian Ocean, which could go into operation almost immediately.

The scheme, worked out by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), is designed for use until a fully-fledged system is in place.

Under the interim plan, the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii will provide authorities around the Indian Ocean region with information about possible sea surges.

The temporary system will be "a first step to prevent a repeat of the horrendous toll" of December's disaster, a UN spokesman told the Associated Press news agency.

Countries around the region are currently trying to come up with a more permanent solution, but during a meeting last week the nations concerned disagreed over where to host a regional disaster warning centre.