World Tourism Day 2021: Tourism for inclusive growth

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has chosen the importance of tourism for inclusive growth for the theme of World Tourism Day 2021. This is an opportunity to look beyond tourism statistics and acknowledge that there is a person behind every number, UNWTO wrote. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major social and economic impact, affecting both developed and developing economies. Marginalized groups and the most vulnerable were the most affected. Therefore, recovery, relaunching tourism and shaping the tourism of the future, which is also based on more intensive involvement of all groups, is crucial. UNWTO emphasized that the benefits of tourism recovery should reach a wide range of target groups.

On this occasion, the Minister of Economic Development and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia, Zdravko Počivalšek, has shared his view. You can read his message and watch the video address on the following link.

MSc. Maja Pak, the director of the Slovenian Tourist Board, emphasized the importance of building tourism on sustainable values ​​and involving all key stakeholders: "This year's World Tourism Day highlights inclusive transformation of the tourism industry. The Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a major impact on the tourism industry, has posed many challenges to tourism and also brought new opportunities. Today, tourism should be committed to a green, digital and inclusive transformation. The key to restarting tourism and relaunch business in the future is to include providers, tourists, employees and the local population. All key stakeholders must benefit from the recovery of tourism. In Slovenia, we asked ourselves the question of creating green and inclusive tourism years ago, and we found the answer in the sustainable development of tourism, which we are implementing through the Green Scheme of Slovenian tourism."

This year's Tourism Panel within the Bled Strategic Forum also highlighted numerous challenges and new opportunities of the pandemic, which need to focus on designing more sustainable, resilient and inclusive tourism. The panel pointed out that tourism requires even closer cooperation of all stakeholders: the government, tourism organizations and companies, local communities and employees. Tourism will only be truly successful if it is built on collective and shared responsibility. For the successful transformation of tourism, it is necessary to redefine performance indicators.

The involvement of the local population and employees in the development of tourism has become even more crucial than ever before. It is also important to intensify the involvement of tourism destination management organizations, which are gaining an increasingly important development role in addition to promotion.

On this occasion, also the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili, recorded a video message. 

You are also invited to read official messages here.

World Tourism Day, celebrated annually on 27 September, promotes awareness of the social, cultural, political and economic value of tourism and the contribution that the tourism sector can make to achieving the goals of sustainable development.

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