A day committed to fostering community awareness of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, economic and environmental value, every year World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27 September. With much of the globe experiencing lockdowns, international and regional borders closed and travel restricted, World Tourism Day certainly takes on a new meaning this year. Destinations and communities around the world, particularly those in rural and regional areas, have truly felt the impact of the value of tourism this year.
In Australia, the value of regional tourism is substantial. During 2017-2018:[1]
- There were 66 million overnight visitors to regional Australia during 2017-2018, 63 million were Domestic travellers.
- 112 million day trips occurred across Australian regions
- $51.5 billion was spent in regional Australia
- 1 in 19 Australian workers directly employed in the tourism industry[2]
In New Zealand, tourism generated a $16.2 billion contribution to the GDP with 229,566 people directly and another 163,713 indirectly employed in tourism[3].
This year’s UNWTO international day of observation theme of “Tourism and Rural Development”, couldn’t come at a more significant moment. All around the world, tourism empowers rural communities, providing jobs and opportunities, most notably for women and youth. As travel restrictions are lifted and the tourism industry begins to repair and reframe their offer, we can lend our support by travelling into our rural communities, staying, spending and touring with local people.
To celebrate World Tourism Day, our team has compiled a list of 10 things YOU can do to help support tourism in your local region:
Our team members have made plans to safely get out there this weekend and support their local regions. Join us and support your regional tourism operators and communities!
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