September 27th is World Tourism Day. Tourism can be defined in one world: traveling. This holiday was brought to existence by the United Nations in 1980 as a way of recognizing how tourism has had a positive impact on others. With over 90 million people traveling each year, tourism is widely popular.
Why Tourism Is Important
Tourism is important in a variety of ways. It helps boosts a country’s economy. It allows travelers to see how others live and brings awareness to different living conditions, traditions and cultures. Tourism helps bring about an understanding and tolerance of other people. WTD 2014 is an opportunity to raise awareness of how tourism can be stepping stone for community development. The official celebration will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico.
How You Can Help Boost Tourism
Obviously one of the biggest ways to boost tourism is to travel. Also, when you travel it’s important to have the least amount of impact on the area that you are visiting that is possible. The more respectful that a traveler is of a country’s culture and traditions, the more welcoming residents of that country will be towards travelers. It is important that individuals be aware of political issues that affect travelers and work together to resolve them as well.
WTD is the perfect time to reflect upon your responsibilities and impact as a traveler visiting other communities.
Remember when you travel:
- Buy local and handmade goods
- Respect the culture you are visiting
- Protect heritage
- Save energy
- Protect the surroundings
- Respect the environment
Facts About Tourism
-About a third of U.S. citizens that travel go to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico or North America.
-Tourism today is a trillion-dollar industry. In the U.S., the average family spends about $1,600 on just their summer vacations. For holiday trips like Christmas or Thanksgiving, they spend about $500.
-France is the world’s most visited country. Over 83 million people visit this country each year.
-The least visited country in the world is Tuvalu. This probably has to do with the fact that it’s hard to access even by plane and often takes several flights just to get there.
-A third of the world’s airports are located in the U.S. There are about 15,000 airports in the United States while only around 5,200 have paved runways.
-The city with the most number of hotel rooms available in it in the entire world is Las, Vegas Nevada. There are around 150,000 different hotel rooms to choose from.
At Atlas, we are all about traveling and tourism. Many of our suppliers offer volunteer travel as well a support and connect with communities and children around the globe. A great way to promote both is to not only travel, but to give someone the chance to do so as well. With the holidays coming up, now is the time to plan a trip to give as a gift to a loved one. We have a whole host of travel packages that can accommodate most budgets. Even if you can’t afford to give an entire travel package, a tour to see a unique place like a winery, or tickets to see a show would be great choices to not only promote tourism, but to give a gift that would be greatly appreciated.
