Did you know that September 27th is designated World Tourism Day by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)? Yeah, neither did we until about 20 minutes ago. But since it’s sanctioned by the UN, we figured it’s probably an important event in the travel community that warrants us spreading the word.
World Tourism Day (WTD) started back in 1980 as a commemoration of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes ten years prior. More than being just a day for the UNWTO to pat themselves on the back for their contributions to global tourism, WTD is meant to raise awareness on how tourism affects society, culture, politics and economics across the world.
Each year the event has had a theme relating to tourism’s impact on world, and World Tourism Day 2012 is all about the relationship between tourism and energetic sustainability. How can we make the world a better place with green travel initiatives? The members of the UNWTO are putting their heads together at this very moment to figure that out.
This year, the host for the official WTD celebrations is the town of Maspalomas on Spain’s Gran Canaria island. While delegates from the UNWTO and their devoted groupies party it up in the name of sustainable energy, you can look at this aerial shot of resorts in Maspalomas and wish you were there:
via El coleccionista de instantes
For a more interactive experience, be sure to follow the World Tourism Day 2012 action on Twitter with the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s official handle (@UNWTO) and the hashtag #WTD2012.
featured image via earthtimes.org
