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Chronicles<br />
World<br />
Tourism Day<br />
September 27<br />
Turning<br />
Back Time<br />
World Tourism Day.<br />
Tourism for All!<br />
World Tourism Day falls on September<br />
27 each year. This year, the theme is all<br />
about promoting universal accessibility.<br />
According to the United Nations World<br />
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), the<br />
theme was chosen to highlight the<br />
need to ensure that everyone,<br />
regardless of their physical limitations,<br />
would be able to travel and benefit, at<br />
some point in their lives, the universal<br />
accessibility in tourism.<br />
The theme also highlights the need to<br />
create environments that can cater to<br />
the needs of all, whether while travelling<br />
or staying at home.<br />
UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai<br />
in his official address said, "When we<br />
travel, we come across new people,<br />
new sights and new ideas. Often our<br />
perception of the world changes as we<br />
see more of it. We definitely become<br />
better people. However, we must not<br />
forget that for many of us, travelling<br />
can be quite a difficult process. Fifteen<br />
per cent of the world’s population is<br />
estimated to live with some kind of<br />
disability or another."<br />
He said the percentage equated to about<br />
1 billion people worldwide who may be<br />
unable to enjoy such travel privileges.<br />
Rifai added that, "Accessibility for all<br />
should be therefore at the heart and<br />
at the center of tourism policies and<br />
business strategies. Not as a human<br />
rights only which is important on its<br />
own, but also as a great market<br />
potential and as a great business<br />
opportunity. With the world’s<br />
population ageing, all of us will benefit<br />
sooner or later from universal<br />
accessibility in tourism."<br />
As opposed to the past to which almost<br />
25 million international tourists were<br />
crossing borders annually during the<br />
1950s, today, there are over 1.2 billion<br />
travelling the world.<br />
Travelling has become a huge part of<br />
many people’s lives and this day is meant<br />
to reinforce the notions that all of the<br />
world’s citizens have the right to<br />
experience the incredible diversity of<br />
this planet and the beauty of the world<br />
we live in.<br />
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