ISLAMABAD: International tourist arrivals at the start of 2022 were double the level recorded in 2021.
In some regions, arrivals are already at, or even above, pre-pandemic levels. The lifting of the remaining travel restrictions, alongside rising consumer confidence, will be important drivers for the sector’s recovery, bringing hope and opportunity to many millions of people around the world.
World Tourism Day will be celebrated as the shift towards tourism is being recognized as a crucial pillar for development and as progress is well underway. May 2022 marked the first time the United Nations General Assembly held a special debate on tourism illustrating the historic relevance of the sector. Tourism is now on the agenda of governments and of international organizations in every global region.
At the same time, destinations and businesses are proactively adapting to meet challenges and responsibilities, as illustrated by the wave of signatories of Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, spearheaded by UNWTO.
Tourism’s International Observance Day will put people at the center of key discussions. Where is tourism going? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there?
The theme “Rethinking Tourism” will reflect this. It aims to inspire the debate around rethinking tourism for development, including through education and jobs, and tourism’s impact on the planet and opportunities to grow more sustainably.
The Glasgow Declaration is a compromise to accelerate climate action in tourism and to secure strong commitments to support the global goals to halve emissions over the next decade and reach Net Zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050. Over 450 organizations have become signatories of this declaration.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is a leading UN international agency in the field of tourism. Its mission is to promote tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. Discover how they are working to cope with this pandemic along with the tourism sector and other UN agencies.
President Dr Arif Alvi has said that on the ‘World Tourism Day’, they renewed their pledge for setting priorities to consider the potential of the tourism sector in order to advance the economic prosperity and progress of Pakistan.
“Pakistan is a country that has attractive and wonderful tourist sites in the world due to its remarkable landscape, diversity and rich history of ancient civilizations. It has also a religious tourism attraction,” the president said in a message on the occasion of “World Tourism Day” being observed across the globe on September 27.
The president said the government of Pakistan had focused on this sector during the last few years.
As the theme of this year was ‘Rethinking Tourism”, the president said, they had the opportunity to rethink about this sector that had been first hit by the pandemic of Covid-19 along with the rest of the world and now it was badly affected by the super floods in Pakistan.
“There is a dire need to come up with long-term strategic planning to boost the tourism industry on a sustainable basis and set new boundaries for securing its future,” he added.
Besides the need for increasing the number of foreign tourists travelling in Pakistan, the president said programmes should be developed with a special focus on safe and secure tourism.
“I am sure that the government will utilize all its resources to turn the challenges into opportunities by restarting the industry from grass root level and ensuring the cooperation and collaboration of allied government agencies to come out of the crisis and rebuild better,” he observed.
The president further said that tourism was an integral source of income for the people and it was certainly relevant and connected to the local economic development as well as to the improvement of civic facilities in the far-flung areas that would benefit the whole country in various aspects.
He said tourism was a source of earning foreign exchange, a tool for job creation and poverty alleviation.
Undoubtedly, he said it also created harmony among people from different parts of the country.
APP/UN
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