World Tourism Day

Since 1980, September 27 is celebrated by the World Tourism Organization as World Tourism Day. It was established at the Third Session of the UNWTO General Assembly in Torremolinos, 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.

At its Twelfth Session in Istanbul, Turkey, in October of 1997, the UNWTO General Assembly decided to designate a host country each year as the Organization's partner for celebrating World Tourism Day.

At its Fifteenth Session in Beijing, China, in October of 2003, the Assembly decided the following geographic order to be followed for the World Tourism Day celebrations: 2006 in Europe; 2007 in South Asia; 2008 in the Americas, and 2009 in Africa.

Themes

Themes of World Tourism Day over the years:

• 1980: Tourism's contribution to the preservation of cultural heritage and to peace and mutual understanding
• 1981: Tourism and the quality of life
• 1982: Pride in travel: good guests and good hosts
• 1983: Travel and holidays are a right but also a responsibility for all
• 1984: Tourism for international understanding, peace and cooperation
• 1985: Youth Tourism: cultural and historical heritage for peace and friendship
• 1986: Tourism: a vital force for world peace
• 1987: Tourism for development
• 1988: Tourism: education for all
• 1989: The free movement of tourists creates one world
• 1990: Tourism: an unrecognized industry, a service to be released ("The Hague Declaration on Tourism")
• 1991: Communication, information and education: powerlines of tourism development
• 1992: Tourism: a factor of growing social and economic solidarity and of encounter between people
• 1993: Tourism development and environmental protection: towards a lasting harmony
• 1994: Quality staff, quality tourism
• 1995: WTO: serving world tourism for twenty years
• 1996: Tourism: a factor of tolerance and peace
• 1997: Tourism: a leading activity of the twenty-first century for job creation and environmental protection
• 1998: Public-private sector partnership: the key to tourism development and promotion
• 1999: Tourism: preserving world heritage for the new millennium (Host: Chile)
• 2000: Technology and nature: two challenges for tourism at the dawn of the twenty-first century (Host: Germany)
• 2001: Tourism: a toll for peace and dialogue among civilizations (Host: Iran)
• 2002: Ecotourism, the key to sustainable development (Host: Costa Rica)
• 2003: Tourism: a driving force for poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony (Host: Algeria)
• 2004: Sport and tourism: two living forces for mutual understanding, culture and the development of societies (Host: Malaysia)
• 2005: Travel and transport: from the imaginary of Jules Verne to the reality of the 21st century (Host: Qatar)
• 2006: Tourism Enriches (Host: Portugal)
• 2007: Tourism opens doors for women (Host: Sri Lanka)