World Tourism Day 2022 : Rethinking Tourism
UNWTO highlights the opportunity to rethink how we do tourism, by putting people and the planet first and bringing everyone from governments and businesses to local communities together around a shared vision for a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient sector.
International tourist arrivals at the start of this year was double the level recorded in 2021. 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. (UNWTO,2022)
The theme “Rethinking Tourism” aim is to inspire the debate, as how we can develop tourism which is beyond the business as usual approach. Tourism’s aim should be to create an impact in the destinations where there are opportunities for the growth of the planet and people.
India too has formulated the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism in April 2022. The strategy aims for sustainable tourism as its mainstream sector ,ensuring a more resilient, inclusive and carbon neutral. India also sees huge potential in achieving UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 through implementing the criteria for Sustainable Tourism.
TOFT India has been working for laying the foundation of sustainable Tourism for close to 18 years now. This effort has resulted in the launch of PUG and Footprint Certification and has also been instrumental in many workshops with the guides, lodges DMC community and knowledge series. We are proud to showcase the good work done by many of the lodges through our Best Practice Toolkit.
On World Tourism Day ,2022, we pledge to work harder with all our stakeholders to build a more sustainable and resilient world.