27 September - World Tourism Day 2020

Official Message by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres In the 40 years since the very first World Tourism Day, much has changed. Demand for travel has soared. The world has opened up, allowing more people than ever to explore the globe and its different cultures. Today, tourism is firmly established in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as an engine for advancing prosperity, protecting our planet and laying the foundations for peace and understanding among peoples. Many millions of people around the world rely on tourism for income, especially women and young people.  People who might otherwise have been left behind have found decent work and the chance of a better life thanks to tourism’s unique potential. Tourism has suffered enormously during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Some 120 million jobs are at risk.  The impacts could...
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World Tourism Day 2020: Global Community Unites to Celebrate “Tourism and Rural Development”

Madrid, Spain, 8 September 2020 – The 2020 edition of World Tourism Day will celebrate the unique role that tourism plays in providing opportunities outside of big cities and preserving cultural and natural heritage all around the world.Celebrated on 27 September with the theme of “Tourism and Rural Development”, this year’s international day of observation comes at a critical moment, as countries around the world look to tourism to drive recovery, including in rural communities where the sector is a leading employer and economic pillar.The 2020 edition also comes as governments look to the sector to drive recovery from the effects of the pandemic and with the enhanced recognition of tourism at the highest United Nations level. This was most notably illustrated with the recent release of a landmark Policy Brief on tourism from UN Secretary-General Antonio...
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UNWTO Recognizes Safe and Responsible Restart of Tourism on the Canary Islands

Madrid, Spain, 13 July 2020 - The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has paid an official visit to the Canary Islands to recognize the reopening of the destination and the steps the local authorities have taken to keep both visitors and tourism workers safe as the sector restarts.UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili was accompanied by the Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, for a series of high-level meetings with both public and private sector leaders. The delegation met with the President of the Canary Islands Ángel Víctor Torres and the Secretary of Tourism for the Canary Islands Yaiza Castilla, as well as with the Spanish government’s representative on the islands, Anselmo Pestana and the President of Town Hall of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales. FIJET members took part at the Canary Islands’ visit.
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Restrictions on Travel Easing as Europe Leads Cautious Restart of Tourism

Madrid, Spain, 23 June 2020 – Restrictions on travel, introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are slowly being eased, allowing tourism to restart in a growing number of destinations. The latest research by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that 22% of all destinations worldwide (48 destinations) have started to ease restrictions, with Europe leading the way. At the same time, however, 65% of all destinations worldwide (141 destinations) continue to have their borders completely closed to international tourism.As the United Nations specialized agency for tourism, UNWTO has been monitoring responses to the pandemic since the start of the current crisis. This latest update, the fifth edition of COVID-19 Related Travel Restrictions: A Global Review for Tourism, shows that the sector is slowly restarting, though this restart is significantly more pronounced in...
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