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World Tourism Day 2023 – Theme, Significance, and More

PWOnlyIAS November 25, 2023 04:20 1513 0

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Context: September 27 is celebrated as the World Tourism Day every year across the world.

World Tourism Day 2023 – Theme, Significance, and More

 World Tourism Day 2023 – Key Highlights

  • Origin: World Tourism Day was announced in 1979 by the World Tourism Organization. The official celebration began in 1980.
    • The day is celebrated on September 27 to mark the anniversary of the adoption of statutes by the World Tourism Organisation.
  • Theme: The theme for World Tourism Day 2023 was “Tourism and Green Investments”. 
  • Significance of Tourism Day
    • Expand Knowledge: Broadening our experiences helps us better understand different cultures, heritages, traditions, and people of various countries. 
    • Obtain Investments in Tourism: The World Tourism Day will seek to promote investments as one of the key priorities for tourism’s recovery and future growth and development.
    • Innovative Solutions in Tourism: The day also looks to bring in new innovative solutions that will promote and underpin economic growth and productivity. 
    • Unity for Tourism Strategy: World Tourism Day will bring together the international community, governments, multilateral financial institutions, development partners, and private sector investors for a unified tourism strategy.
    • Role of Tourism in Human Development: The World Tourism Day will underline the importance of tourism in various aspects of human development.
    • Sustainable Tourism: The World Tourism Day creates awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism for the protection of Earth’s resources.

Tourism across the World

  • Definition: Tourism can be defined as when people leave their homes and live outside for less than a year for the purpose of leisure, business, health, or other reasons.
  • Contribution to Global Economy: According to available data, tourism’s contribution to global GDP was 7.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022.  This is about 7.6 per cent of global GDP value.
  • Leading Tourist Destinations: France has emerged as the country with the highest number of inbound tourists worldwide.
    • On the market front, the United States and China are the leading travel markets worldwide.
  • Significance of Tourism Industry
    • Revenue Boost: Tourism has the potential to generate revenue for the economy, create lakhs of jobs, and develop the infrastructure of the country.
    • Cultural Exchange: Tourism provides an opportunity for cultural exchange between inhabitants of a region and incoming tourists.
    • Foreign Exchange: Foreigners visiting a country bring in foreign exchange, helping the country tide over the import burden.
    • Trickle-Down Effect: The revenues generated from tourism will directly benefit local communities. Benefits from tourism will reach lower sections of society faster than government support.
    • Preserving Local Culture and Heritage: Tourism acts as a reason for local communities to preserve and protect the local culture and heritage.
    • Local Infrastructure Creation: Infrastructure created by the government to serve the purpose of tourism will also be available for locals, ensuring access to quality of life.
  • Criticism of Tourism Industry
    • Environmental Burden: Tourism puts an additional burden on the pristine environment, especially involving coastlines and marine environments. Pollution is the most visible effect of tourism.
    • Population Burden: Tourism brings outsiders into the area. This increases population density and affects the quality of life of locals.
    • Illegal Activities: Tourist spots have become a hub for illegal activities such as narcotics business, human trafficking as well and artifact smuggling.
    • Carbon Footprint Rise: The tourism industry is a major contributor to carbon emissions due to frequent air and ground travel as well as the destruction of forest habitats to facilitate tourists.
    • Spread of Diseases: Tourism has been the main reason for the spread of diseases such as AIDS, COVID-19, SARS, and Sexually Transmitted Diseases etc.

Tourism in India

  • Economic Contribution: According to available numbers, tourism contributes to 4.6% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). 
  • Future Prediction: The tourism sector is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 7.8% to Rs 33.8 lakh crore by 2031 (7.2% of GDP).
  • Medical Tourism: India is a popular destination for medical tourism. It is the 5th largest global travel healthcare destination with an estimated market size of around $9 billion.
  • Foreign Tourists: According to the numbers of the Ministry of Tourism, about 6.19 Million tourists arrived in India in 2022.
  • Measures to Promote Tourism in India
    • e-Visa Policy: The Government of India has launched a tourist e-Visa for citizens of 44 countries, facilitating easy visits for foreign tourists.
    • Advertisement Campaign: The Incredible India portal has been launched to promote India as a popular tourist destination.
      • The Indian government has also participated in tourism fairs across the world to promote India’s tourism potential.
    • Swadesh Darshan Scheme: The scheme looks to develop theme-based tourist circuits across the country on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness, and sustainability in an integrated manner.
    • PRASHAD Scheme: The scheme focuses on identifying and developing pilgrim sites across India to enhance the religious tourism experience.
      • Apart from that, the scheme also seeks to promote local art, culture, handicraft, cuisine, etc.
    • Indian Railway Tourist Circuit: Indian Railways has launched various theme-based tourist circuit trains to promote tourism potential in the country.
      • Some of these tourist circuit trains include the Ramayan Express, Buddhist Circuit Train, Ambedkar Circuit tourist train, etc.
    • Adopt a Heritage Project: It is a collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism in close collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).
      • Under the project, heritage sites/monuments and other tourist sites are entrusted to private sector companies, public sector companies, and individuals for the development of tourist amenities.
      • Successful bidders for adopting heritage sites/monuments by the Oversight and Vision Committee shall be termed Monument Mitras.
  • Issues Affecting Tourism in India
    • Safety Issues: Safety concerns, especially for female travelers, are said to be a significant issue in India. In addition, the mugging and cheating of tourists continue to thrive.
    • Lack of Quality Facilities: Many potential tourism spots in India do not have quality facilities to host foreign tourists visiting the area.
    • Lengthy Visa Process: Despite the recent measures to simplify, the visa process in India continues to discourage potential visitors to the country.
    • Connectivity: Adequate connectivity hampers the tourism potential of new upcoming tourist destinations in the country.
    • Sanitation: Many tourist places popular with foreigners do not have proper sanitation facilities, which affects their popularity among the tourist community. 
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World Tourism Day FAQs

September 27 is celebrated as the World Tourism Day every year across the world.

The theme for World Tourism Day 2023 was “Tourism and Green Investments”.

World Tourism Day is celebrated on September 27 to mark the anniversary of the adoption of statutes by the World Tourism Organisation and also to promote tourism as a viable economic option.

France has emerged as the country with the highest number of inbound tourists worldwide.

India is the 5th largest global travel healthcare destination with an estimated market size of around $9 billion.

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