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It was at its third session (Torremolinos, Spain, September 1979), that
the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) decided
to institute, commencing in the year 1980.
World Tourism Day is to be commemorated on 27
September each year by appropriate events on themes selected by the
General Assembly, on recommendation of UNWTO's Executive Council. This
date was chosen to coincide with an important milestone in world
tourism: the anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27
September 1970.
The main purpose of World Tourism Day is
to
foster awareness among the international community of the importance of
tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic values.
The timing of World Tourism Day is indeed particularly appropriate in
that it comes at the end of the high season in the northern hemisphere
and the beginning of the season in the southern hemisphere, when
tourism is of topical interest to hundreds of thousands of people
worldwide from all walks of life and to tourists and the operational
sector in particular.
The
Organization invites all interested parties to take part on 27
September each year in the special celebrations taking place in their
respective country or holiday destination.
The UNWTO Secretary-General issues a message each year to mark the occasion.
Other than adding perspective to the role of globalization in
balancing tourism influx and environmental and cultural sustainability,
this year’s theme also aims to shed light on the most human side of the
industry – its capacity to build understanding, foster social inclusion
and promote higher standards of living.
UNWTO Secretary-General a.i., Taleb Rifai, underscores tourism’s
potential as a reliable job creator and contributor to economic wealth.
“There is increasing awareness of tourism’s role as a productive
activity and its undisputed potential to generate employment,
government income and other benefits whether directly or through
induced effects in the economy. Tourism is a global industry and as
such has a responsibility to make positive contributions world wide.”
This year’s host is Ghana, one of the Organization’s first member
states and a key player in UNWTO’s Sustainable Tourism for Elimination
of Poverty (ST-EP) programme.
The Ghanaian government has scheduled a series of forums and cultural events that will stretch through the week of the 21st of September and climax with UNWTO’s Think Tank and press conference on the 27 September.
UNWTO is expecting high involvement of international tourism
stakeholders from the public and private sector to participate in this
event.
Like every year promotional material and communication tools to commemorate Tourism Celebrating Diversity are available on our website.
World Tourism Day is celebrated every year on 27 September.
Its purpose is to foster awareness among the international community of
the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and
economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined
in the UN Millennium Development Goals and to highlight the
contributions the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals.
www.UNWTO.org
