It was at its third session (Torremolinos, Spain, September 1979), that the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNUNWTO) decided to institute, commencing in the year 1980.
WORLD TOURISM DAY is 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.
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Tourism is one of the few sectors that cuts across a whole range of economic and social activities. It is furthermore a key economic and job driver in the developing world. We therefore can and must play an active role to tackle the double challenge of climate response and poverty alleviation.
Our call to action is hence to change habits and position renewable energy at the forefront of international response by promoting the action oriented Davos Declaration Process, encouraging tourism stakeholders to adapt, to mitigate and use new technology and
- Francesco Frangialli, Secretary-General, UNWTO
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 | "Tourism - Celebrating Diversity"
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.
2009
Host country: Ghana
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World Tourism Day themes since 2000:
- 2000 - Technology and nature: two challenges for tourism at the dawn of the twenty-first century
- 2001 - Tourism: a toll for peace and dialogue among civilizations
- 2002 - Ecotourism, the key to sustainable development
- 2003 - Tourism: a driving force for poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony
- 2004 - Sport and tourism: two living forces for mutual understanding, culture and the development of societies
- 2005 - Travel and transport: from the imaginary of Jules Verne to the reality of the 21st century
- 2006 - Tourism Enriches
- 2007 - Tourism opens doors for women
Additional Resources:
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GDRC has been working on themes related to sustainable tourism, in its programme on Urban Environmental Management.
GDRC therefore reaffirms its committment to uphold the objectives of the World Tourism Day, and work towards better understanding of, and action on, highliting the criticality of tourism management for better gender equality and poverty alleviation. |
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