Marking the occasion of global tourism, the United Nations (UN) on Thursday celebrates World Tourism Day (WTD) with the theme of Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future. On this occasion, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked global tourism players to cut down the consumption of water so that its availability for long time can be ensured.
"In this International Year of Water Cooperation, I urge tourism establishments to cut consumption and improve waste management, and I call on individuals to play their part by making environmentally conscious choices when they travel," said UN Secretary-General.
In line with the 2013 UN International Year of Water Cooperation, the theme for World Tourism Day is Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future. This year's theme highlights unsustainable consumption and climate change threatening global water resources and tourism's role in water access.
"I urge all those involved in the tourism to join our global World Tourism Day campaign and continue to devise innovate solutions to ensuring tourism contributes to sustainable access to water resources worldwide," said Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
Despite global financial crisis, world tourism is growing. Last year, 1.03 billion people traveled to foreign countries, a significant increase from 980 million tourists in 2011. In the first half of 2013, based on UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, global tourist arrivals reached 494 million, a 5 percent increase from the figure of during the same period in 2012.
World tourism generated $1.07 trillion in revenue last year.
--With IANS Inputs--
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