World Tourism Day
Photo: Kalim Shantu / driknews
This year the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) will celebrate the World Tourism Day on 27th September under the theme 'Tourism and Biodiversity' and China is the host country. The United Nations also declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of the value of biodiversity in our lives. The UN has called on all its member countries to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth. As the UN's specialised agency for tourism, UNWTO has long been working to maximize tourism's contribution to biodiversity conservation. UNWTO is also committed to the UN approach to provide a coherent response to the current challenges, including environmental sustainability, as one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals. This year's World Tourism Day theme will raise awareness among people about tourism development, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. Through this year's campaign, UNWTO draws everyone's attention to the most pressing global challenges of our time the sustainable use of environmental resources and reduction of extreme poverty. Biodiversity based tourism represents an important source of income for the world's poorer population, 70% of whom live in rural areas and depend directly on biodiversity for their survival and well-being. As biodiversity is the tourism's natural capital, Bangladesh may emphasize the promotion of eco-tourism in the country. Here concerted efforts from both the govt and NGO bodies are required to protect the natural attractions from depletion. The tourism planners should always focus on how tourism can contribute positively to biodiversity conservation.
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