Tag Archives: travel4good

World Tourism Day 2017

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September 27 is World Tourism Day, as designated by the United Nations. In fact, 2017 is the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. World Tourism Day is meant to foster awareness of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The celebration also seeks to highlight tourism’s potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The theme of World Tourism Day this year, 2017, is Sustainable Tourism – a Tool for Development. And for my friends in the USA who may not understand: by “development”, they mean community development, economic development, preservation of historical sites while opening them up to tourism, etc.

I’m joining the celebration online by writing this blog that you are reading now, by taking the pledge to #TravelEnjoyRespect and by using the various images and other tools available for free from the United Nations World Tourism Organization in my social media messages today. The images are provided in multiple languages.

I love to travel. I have been privileged enough to travel internationally a great deal, both through my work and for entirely personal reasons. Travel gives me hope in humanity, because of the incredible kindness I experience. Travel gives me a sense of wonder, because of the incredible natural beauty and human-made marvels I see. Travel gives me a sense of brotherhood with all humans, because of the various representations of history I encounter. I want all people to get to experience this, particularly women. And the economic benefits to local communities regarding tourism are real and something I very much want to support.

I created a web page called transire benefaciendo: “to travel along while doing good.” I believe that every traveler has the power to do good on their journey. Here are 14 easy ideas for transire benefaciendo: eating in local restaurants, buying locally-produced products as much as possible (local beer and wine can be AWESOME), being as polite as possible, being quiet in sacred spaces, learning to say “thank you” in the local language as soon as possible, talking with local people about their lives and their work, taking the tour of something truly local (like a local history or local art museum), never paying for something that is endangered or leads to endangered animals (like ivory), never paying to touch a wild animal, refusing to ride elephants, never taking photos of children no matter how cute they are without their parents’ permission, paying appropriate prices for things and not trying to bargain in inappropriate situations/areas with extreme poverty, insisting on throwing away my trash possibly no matter how much a guide says it’s okay to throw it down on the ground, and never defacing anything with graffiti.

Showing respect and interest is appreciated worldwide. It creates a positive image of others from your country and ALL travelers from abroad. Talking with local people can lead to beautiful moments. One of my favorite travel memories is returning to my hotel room in Afghanistan after being away for a week and having the cleaning lady take my hand in the hallway and lead me to my room, so she could show me it had been painted, and have her rub my hands over and over saying, “Welcome! Welcome!”, the only English phrase she knew besides “Good morning.” Refusing to pay to touch wild animals, including riding elephants, encourages people making their living from forcing these animals into such horrible lives to seek other ways of employment. Buying locally-produced items, including food, helps the local economy. It doesn’t seem like much, but it DOES make a difference!

I have some resources for people in developing countries that want to expand their tourism offerings:

Adventure tourism as a tool for economic & community development by me! This is a resource for those that like to explore developing countries / low infrastructure environments, as well as offering more about why I make travel a priority in my life.

Hosting International Volunteers. I’m not crazy about voluntourism, but if you want to host volunteers from other countries, here are things you need to do.

Advice for Budget Hotels, Hostels & Campgrounds in Transitional & Developing Countries: The Qualities of Great, Cheap Accommodations. I love small hotels when I travel. I wish more locals knew how to create a great site.

You can also help promote the day by using these tags in your tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram posts, and other social media posts using these tags:

#WTD2017

#IY2017

#TravelEnjoyRespect

#SDGs

Related blogs:

travel is a human right

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globe…Tourism and travel together has proven to be such a resilient industry that nothing is going to stop it. This has become a fact. It may be halted in certain destinations for a short period of time. But if these destinations are well established in the tradition of receiving people and have the right infrastructure and the right expertise then in the immediate and long term it comes back even stronger than it was. This has been our experience in many, many destinations all over the world. There is no stopping to this movement of people. I believe travel has become a human right. People are not going to stop traveling. They may alter their plans, they may postpone them a bit here and there, but the phenomena of traveling at the international level is going to continue to grow… No destination under the sun is immune from being affected or attacked. If not by a man-made terrorist or security related matter, then by a natural disaster. No place in the world is immune from this. I can challenge anybody to name me any place that tells me it’s impossible to have it. No place can claim to be 100% safe and secure. This is a fact. There’s never been anyhow. Does that mean that we stop traveling, we stop living as human beings, stop celebrating beauty of of life and the enjoyment that travel brings and the benefits that travel brings through it? We should never, ever do this…

In a nutshell, I’m not worried about the travel and tourism industry. I’m concerned about the lives of people and security of people, of course. We need to be concerned about security of travel. We have to put it at the heart of our objective. Security doesn’t mean we don’t travel. Do not travel or reduced travel is not an answer, it’s not an option.

— Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization, in an interview with Skift on August 29, 2016

World Tourism Day is September 27 each year, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly, and is meant to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The celebration also seeks to highlight tourism’s potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing some of the most pressing challenges society is faced with today. The lead agency for the day is the UN World Tourism Organization.

In case you are wondering why I care so much about this particular day: I’m an avid traveler. I want to use my privilege to see different parts of the world, whether that’s something around the globe from me or in the next county. Travel gives me hope in humanity, because of the incredible kindness I experience. Travel gives me a sense of wonder, because of the incredible natural beauty and human-made marvels I see. Travel gives me a sense of brotherhood with all humans, because of the various representations of history I encounter. I want all people to get to experience this, particularly women. And the economic benefits to local communities regarding tourism are real and something I very much want to support.

Also see adventure tourism as a tool for economic & community development by me! This is a resource for those that like to explore developing countries / low infrastructure environments, as well as offering more about why I make travel a priority in my life.

Universal accessibility in tourism! World Tourism Day theme 2016

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tourismforallWorld Tourism Day is September 27 each year, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly, and is meant to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The celebration also seeks to highlight tourism’s potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing some of the most pressing challenges society is faced with today. The lead agency for the day is the UN World Tourism Organization, and the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day is “Promoting Universal Accessibility.”

Accessible Tourism for all is about the creation of environments that can cater for the needs of all of us, whether whether we are traveling or staying at home. May that be due to a disability, even temporary, families with small children, or the ageing population, at some point in our lives, sooner or later, we all benefit of universal accessibility in tourism.

Which is why we want to call upon the right for all of the world’s citizens to experience the incredible diversity of our planet and the beauty of the world we live in. 

LOVE the theme. The organizers are offering a free publication, UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Information in Tourism (2016) , in English and Spanish. I love this from the introduction of that publication:

Tourist information needs to be designed based on the principles of Universal Design in order to maximise its ease of use by as many people as possible and in varied environmental conditions and situations. This applies equally to print media, graphics and  digital communication formats. No one should be excluded from participating in tourism activities because of poorly designed information tools and systems, as this also implies being excluded from the opportunity of living an independent life.

I am SO pleased to see this emphasis from a United Nations agency! Accessible design for web sites and smart phone apps is a very, very big deal with me – and if you need help with accessible design, there’s no better place to look than the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Knowbility!

The campaign also has UNWTO Recommendations on Accessible Tourism for All (2013), to advise on ativities for ensuring that people with disabilities have access to the physical environment, the transportation system, information and communications channels, as well as to a wide range of public facilities and services. There are lots more free UNWTO publications regarding accessibility in tourism, as well as logos in English, Spanish, French and Russian in association with this year’s theme,

If you are having an event in association with this theme on World Tourism Day, you can submit it via the web site and it will appear on the official map.

And in case you are wondering why I care so much about this particular day: I’m an avid traveler. I want to use my privilege to see different parts of the world, whether that’s something around the globe from me or in the next county. Travel gives me hope in humanity, because of the incredible kindness I experience. Travel gives me a sense of wonder, because of the incredible natural beauty and human-made marvels I see. Travel gives me a sense of brotherhood with all humans, because of the various representations of history I encounter. I want all people to get to experience this, particularly women. And the economic benefits to local communities regarding tourism are real and something I very much want to support.

Also see Adventure tourism as a tool for economic & community development by me! This is a resource for those that like to explore developing countries / low infrastructure environments, as well as offering more about why I make travel a priority in my life.

(my own blog)