World Tourism Day to be held at Omuthiya

THE World Tourism Organisation of the United Nations (UNWTO) has been celebrating World Tourism Day on September 27 since 1980 and Namibia is marking the occasion at the tiny settlement of Omuthiya, north of Oshivelo, tomorrow.

It is not clear why the authorities chose Omuthiya, since there are no tourism activities there, but it is only a short distance from the Namutoni entrance gate to the Etosha National Park, where the park’s centenary celebration will take place on Friday. More than 2 500 guests are invited to the event.Announcing the special day, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, said this year’s theme is ‘Tourism opens doors for women’.”The theme emphasises the growing profile of women in tourism and its impact on their livelihoods and national development,” Shangula told a media conference last week.Shangula added that tourist arrivals in Namibia were increasing steadily, with over 833 000 tourists having chosen Namibia as their holiday destination in 2006.The main purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.Shangula did not provide details about the celebrations at Omuthiya.In a special message for tomorrow, UNWTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said that the strong growth in tourism experienced worldwide shows that responsible and sustainable growth of the tourism sector will provide jobs for the world economy generally and the poorest countries specifically.”Tourism can contribute to poverty reduction.The geographical expansion and labour-intensive nature of the tourism sector provide a spread of employment which is particularly relevant in remote and rural areas where many of the poor live,” Frangialli said.He also stressed the increasingly important relation between tourism, climate change and poverty alleviation, as the UN climate conference in New York on Monday emphasised.”World leaders have identified a range of challenges of truly global impact with extreme poverty and climate change as the most trenchant issues.They require innovative and changed behaviour to effectively respond over time.”The UNWTO will hold a global summit in Davos, Switzerland, from October 1 to 3, where experts from tourism and environment ministries, academic institutions and researchers will discuss possible courses of action for the tourism sector with regard to climate change.The UNWTO is a specialised agency of the United Nations and it claims to be the leading international organisation in the field of tourism.It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how.About 157 countries are UNWTO members.Namibia joined in 1997.Africa’s continued strong growth in tourism between January and April this year came to eight per cent, according to UNWTO.For the whole of last year, the growth totalled 10 per cent.The Asia and Pacific region stands out as the best performing region in the world in the first four months of 2007, with a nine per cent increase in tourism.More than 2 500 guests are invited to the event.Announcing the special day, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, said this year’s theme is ‘Tourism opens doors for women’.”The theme emphasises the growing profile of women in tourism and its impact on their livelihoods and national development,” Shangula told a media conference last week.Shangula added that tourist arrivals in Namibia were increasing steadily, with over 833 000 tourists having chosen Namibia as their holiday destination in 2006.The main purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.Shangula did not provide details about the celebrations at Omuthiya.In a special message for tomorrow, UNWTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said that the strong growth in tourism experienced worldwide shows that responsible and sustainable growth of the tourism sector will provide jobs for the world economy generally and the poorest countries specifically.”Tourism can contribute to poverty reduction.The geographical expansion and labour-intensive nature of the tourism sector provide a spread of employment which is particularly relevant in remote and rural areas where many of the poor live,” Frangialli said.He also stressed the increasingly important relation between tourism, climate change and poverty alleviation, as the UN climate conference in New York on Monday emphasised.”World leaders have identified a range of challenges of truly global impact with extreme poverty and climate change as the most trenchant issues.They require innovative and changed behaviour to effectively respond over time.”The UNWTO will hold a global summit in Davos, Switzerland, from October 1 to 3, where experts from tourism and environment ministries, academic institutions and researchers will discuss possible courses of action for the tourism sector with regard to climate change.The UNWTO is a specialised agency of the United Nations and it claims to be the leading international organisation in the field of tourism.It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how.About 157 countries are UNWTO members.Namibia joined in 1997.Africa’s continued strong growth in tourism between January and April this year came to eight per cent, according to UNWTO.For the whole of last year, the growth totalled 10 per cent.The Asia and Pacific region stands out as the best performing region in the world in the first four months of 2007, with a nine per cent increase in tourism.