World Tourism Day, 27 September, History, Significance, Celebrations, Most Important Facts

World Tourism Day: World Tourism Day is celebrated yearly on 27^th September around the world. This is an annual observation. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide.

World Tourism Day

27^th September has been celebrated as World Tourism Day each year since 1980. The date marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Statutes of the Organization in 1970, paving the way for the establishment of UNWTO five years later. The UNWTO is the United Nations specialised agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

The purpose of this day is to increase awareness and motivate people to travel. Since it believes that tourism helps people all across the world become even more unified and connected.

• The World Tourism Day highlights the unique role of the tourism sector in preserving cultural and natural heritage all around the world. It acts as an auxiliary in safeguarding habitat and endangered species.
• It addresses the importance of the tourism sector in providing jobs and opportunities, mostly for women and youth, in rural as well as big cities.

• India’s tourism sector ranked 6^th in its contribution to World Gross Domestic Production (GDP) contributing USD 178.0 billion in World Travel and Tourism Council’s report in 2021.
• In terms of foreign exchange, India’s tourism sector earned USD 6.96 billion in 2020. This is expected to increase further after the pandemic.
• In FY20, the tourism sector in India accounted for 39 million jobs, which was 8.0% of the total employment in the country. By 2029, it is expected to account for about 53 million jobs.
• India has 40 sites listed under ‘World Heritage List’, 6^th highest (32 cultural, 7 natural, and 1 mixed site) in the world.

The late Ignatius Amaduwa Atigbi, a Nigerian national, was the one who proposed the idea of marking September 27 of every year as World Tourism Day. He was finally recognized for his contribution in 2009. The colour of World Tourism Day is Blue.

World Tourism Day Themes and Host Countries

Every year this day is celebrated with a specific theme and host by a different country.

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