World Tourism Day (WTD) will commemorate its 30th anniversary this year. The celebration will be hosted by one of our first Member States, Ghana, under the theme Tourism: Celebrating Diversity.

Diversity is one of the driving forces behind tourism and can allow all nations to share the numerous benefits brought about by building stronger ties with other countries. As such, tourism is an undisputed catalyst for building understanding, fostering social inclusion and promoting higher standards of living.

This type of unity and collaboration is increasingly important as the world comes together to face climate change and ensure sustainable development, particularly in the context of the current economic crisis. These worldwide partnerships allow for a more effective and global response to issues which concern us all.

Globalization must be understood as a means to improve economic collaboration and international understanding, but not at the cost of diluting the rich cultural diversity present in our world; in this respect, travel and tourism can and must play a key role. Tourism shares the social responsibility of promoting the positive aspects of globalization and as such must direct these global networks towards balanced and sustainable development.

It is against this background that over the years WTD has become a renowned event that has successfully addressed key, tourism related global socio-economic, cultural and political issues.

I am very pleased to be celebrating this year’s World Tourism Day in a continent as diverse as Africa, which has known how to valorize this diversity through tourism and which looks forward to achieving much in the way of sustainable tourism development.

UNWTO would like to thank Ghana for hosting this important event.

We all look forward to celebrating World Tourism Day with you!

Taleb Rifai
Secretary-General a.i.
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)