The United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) World Tourism Day is observed every year on September 27 with the aim of fostering awareness among the international community about the importance of Tourism and its social, economic, political, and cultural values. The National Celebration is being hosted today, 27th September in the Upper West Region, Wa, under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
This year’s Celebration themed, “Rethinking Tourism”, focuses on how we can accelerate tourism recovery through a collaborative engagement of all stakeholders around a shared vision to build a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient sector. The official World Tourism Day celebration will be held in Bali, Indonesia, on 27th September to highlight the shift towards tourism as a crucial pillar of development.
As part of the celebration, Ghana has developed a sub-theme dubbed; Promoting Domestic Tourism for Wealth Creation in Communities to grow the interest of Ghanaians for tourism.
Prior to the celebration, tours were organised to some tourist sites such as Nakore Mosque, Royal Cosy Hills (Jirapa Dubai) among others. The celebration being climaxed with a Grand Durbar of Chiefs and Queen Mothers at the office of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs in Wa.
World Tourism Day was designated by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in September 1979, with the commemoration to commence in 1980. This date was chosen to coincide with an important milestone in world tourism: the anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27 September 1970.