September 27 is the day dedicated to tourism and it has been observed as the World Tourism Day, since the year 1980. The day was announced by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is the international apex body involved in tourism based policy formulation. The day was chosen on September 27 in 1980, the Statutes of UNWTO was adopted and it was considered a major milestone in the global tourism segment.

Importance of World Tourism Day

The purpose of World Tourism Day is to spread awareness of the importance of tourism within international communities and to showcase its effects on social, cultural, political, and economic values worldwide. The UNWTO General Assembly, during its Twelfth Session in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 1997, decided to nominate a host country to act as a collaborative partner with the organisation for the celebration of World Tourism Day each year.

During its Fifteenth Session in Beijing, China, in 2003, the Assembly announced the following geographic order for the World Tourism Day celebrations: 2006 in Europe; 2007 in South Asia; 2008 in the Americas; 2009 in Africa and 2011 in the Middle East.

In 2019, the late Nigerian national, Ignatius Amaduwa Atigbi, was recognized for his contribution as the one who proposed the idea of marking September 27 of every year as World Tourism Day. The color of World Tourism Day is Blue.

Observations made by UNWTO

Recently, it has been observed by the UNWTO that international tourist movement at the start of 2022 was double the level recorded in 2021.

While in some regions, tourism is already above the pre-pandemic levels, the lifting of the remaining travel restrictions will turn out to be an important step for the recovery of the tourism sector. As the pandemic is considered to be almost over, the new scenario will bring hopes and opportunities for millions of people around the world who are employed in the travel and tourism industry, directly or indirectly.

World Tourism Day is a lot more important in the post-pandemic world as the shift towards tourism is being recognized as a crucial pillar for the development and progress of the world economy.

In May 2022, the United Nations General Assembly held a special debate on tourism for the first time, illustrating the historic relevance of the sector. Tourism is now being recognised as an important agenda for governments and international organizations in every global region.

Consequently, destinations and businesses are actively changing and adapting to the advanced measures to meet the challenges and responsibilities imposed by the post-pandemic world.

‘Rethinking Tourism’, UNWTO’s theme for 2022

Under the theme “Rethinking Tourism”, World Tourism Day will put people at the centre of key discussions. The theme aims to inspire the debate around the world, regarding the rethinking of tourism for development, through education and jobs, and tourism’s impact on the planet and opportunities to grow more sustainably, instigating the questions such as, ‘Where is tourism going? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there?’