World Tourism Day 2021

World Tourism Day is observed every year on September 27 to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Statutes of the Organization in 1970, paving the way for the establishment of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The day is observed to raise awareness about the importance of tourism and its effect on social, cultural, political and economic values globally. The UNWTO is an United Nations’ agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, had a massive social and economic impact and as a result of it both the developed and the developing economies faced a huge hit, as per the UN website. It is believed that the restart of tourism will help in the recovery and growth of the economies. UNWTO has therefore designated World Tourism Day 2021 as a day to focus on ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’. It aims to help people associated with the tourism sector in every possible way. According to the official website of United Nations Organisations (UNO), tourism is one of the most important economic sectors and it employs one in every tenth person on Earth and provides livelihoods to hundreds and millions more. In some countries, tourism represent more than 20 per cent of their GDP. The various contributions of tourism encouraged UNWTO to institute World Tourism Day in a meeting that took place in Spain, commencing the first celebration of the observance in the year 1980. This date was chosen to coincide with an important milestone in world tourism, the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27 September 1970.

UNWTO has urged businesses, tourists, UN agencies, member states and non-members to “celebrate tourism’s unique ability to ensure that nobody is left behind as the world begins to open up again and look to the future”.