Tourism for inclusive growth

Ranjan K Baruah

(With direct inputs from UN/WHO publication and feedback may be sent to bkranjan@gmail.com)

One of the major sectors when it comes to employment is tourism as it employs one in every ten people on earth but due to the recent pandemic, 100-120 million direct tourism jobs are at risk. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) foresees that domestic tourism will return before international tourism and if managed well then this could benefit rural communities around the world.

There is no doubt that tourism creates jobs, promotes local culture and products, works in the sustainable use and management of the environment, like marine resources, and improves measures to make tourism an inclusive experience for all. We know that 17 Sustainable Development Goals( SDGs) and the corresponding 169 SDG targets offer the world a new direction, tourism can and must play a significant role in delivering sustainable solutions for people, the planet, prosperity and peace. Tourism has the potential to contribute, directly or indirectly to all of the goals. In particular, it has been included as targets in Goals 8, 12 and 14 on inclusive and sustainable economic growth, sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and the sustainable use of oceans and marine resources, respectively.

The many important contributions of tourism encouraged the UNWTO to institute World Tourism Day in a meeting that took place in Spain, commencing the first celebration of the observance in the year 1980. This date was chosen to coincide with an important milestone in world tourism: the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the UNWTO Statutes on 27 September 1970. This year's theme and focus is on "Tourism for Inclusive Growth." UNWTO is guiding the global sector towards inclusive recovery and growth and it ensures every part of the sector has a say in its future – including communities, minorities, youth and those who would otherwise be at risk of being left behind.

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN in his message said that "on World Tourism Day, we recognize the power and potential of tourism to advance the prosperity and drive inclusive, sustainable development. The tourism sector touches almost every part of our economies and societies, enabling historically marginalized people and those at risk of being left behind to benefit from development that is local and direct."

"With many millions of livelihoods in jeopardy, it is time to rethink, transform, and safely restart tourism. With the right safeguards in place, the tourism sector can provide decent jobs, helping to build resilient, sustainable, gender-equal, inclusive economies and societies that work for everyone. This means targeted action and investment to shift towards green tourism – with high emitting sectors, including air and sea transport and hospitality, moving towards carbon neutrality", he added.

There are many challenges ahead as the sector already faced many challenges after the pandemic and starting of lockdown and travel restrictions. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism could result in a more than $4 trillion loss to the global economy and tourism experts do not expect a return to pre-COVID arrival levels until 2023 or later. Developing countries have borne the biggest brunt of the pandemic's impact on tourism due to the absence of widespread COVID-19 vaccinations. They suffered the largest reductions in tourist arrivals in 2020, estimated at between 60% and 80%.

The constant growth of the tourism sector during the last six decades reflects more progressive access to tourism thanks to the decline in the cost of transport and the worldwide growth of the middle classes. Post-pandemic the domestic tourist shall increase in many parts which should be beneficial for many rural communities of the north-eastern region. The promotion of tourism is the responsibility of every one of us. As this year's theme is focused on inclusive growth, we have to make sure that many people and communities benefit from it. We know that tourism allows people to experience some of the world's cultural and natural riches and brings people closer to each other, highlighting our common humanity.

Let us take the opportunity of the day and rethink and innovate ideas to engage more people in tourism for achieving sustainable development and it means giving everybody a say in how tourism shapes the future of our societies and our planet. We can make tourism an engine for prosperity and also a vehicle of integration. We should encourage responsible tourism so that we can protect our planet as it has already faced challenges from climate change.