WORLD TOURISM DAY

(September 27, 2008) Since 1980, September 27 is celebrated by the World Tourism Organization as World Tourism Day. It was established at the Third Session of the UN WTO General Assembly, in Spain, in September of 1979. The purpose of this day is to display awareness that tourism is vital to the international community and to show how it affects the social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. September 27 is important since on that day in 1970, the Statutes of the WTO were adopted. The adoption of the statutes is considered to be a milestone in global tourism. Selecting annually each continent, it is celebrated this year in Peru, South America, with the theme, Tourism Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change and global warming. Giving his message, Francesco Frangialli, WTO Secretary General said that tourism is one of the few sectors that cut across a whole range of economic and social activities. It is furthermore a key economic and job driver in the developing world. Hence the Organisation must play an active role to tackle the double challenge of climate response and poverty alleviation, he said. As the leading UN agency for tourism, WTO’s input from Davos to Bali 2007 has shown great determination to carry out rigorous action to implement a carbon-neutral roadmap in tourism. The policies which promote sustainable tourism that reflects environmental, socio-economic and climate responsiveness, invite all to respond to the challenge of climate change, consisting of a year long campaign during 2008, with World Tourism Day on 27 September in Peru as one of its highlights, said the Secretary General.