Cape Town celebrates tourism day

This years Tourism Day celebrates Tourism and Biodiversity on 27 September.
 

Tourism organisations around the world have begun gearing up for the celebration of World Tourism Day, taking place on 27 September 2010, with this year’s theme being Tourism and Biodiversity.

World Tourism Day, an annual celebration initiated by UNWTO, aims to create an international awareness of the role and value of tourism with regard to social, economic and environmental factors. The chosen theme provides an opportunity to raise awareness for the importance of biodiversity and the role of sustainable tourism in future development and the conservation of life.
 

This year’s annual UNWTO World Tourism Day celebrations will be hosted in China’s Guangdong Province, with smaller regional events and awareness projects scheduled world-wide.

 Cape Town Tourism’s answer to the Tourism and Biodiversity theme is a project called My Cape Town. A variety of Cape Town competitions, specials, giveaways and events will unfold throughout the month to encourage Capetonians (hence My Cape Town), and visiting travellers, to explore Cape Town’s biodiversity and learn something new about the city in September.

The peak of the campaign is the My Cape Town Weekend, which falls on the long weekend of Friday 24 September (Heritage Day) to Monday 27 September (UNWTO World Tourism Day). The event provides the perfect opportunity for locals to be tourists in their own city. All details will be posted on www.capetown.travel/mycapetown on the 1 September 2010.

The theme of biodiversity is one that speaks directly to Cape Town, relying, so heavily on its natural and cultural resources to attract visitors. “Biodiversity is a large part of what makes Cape Town a beautiful and authentic place”, says CEO of Cape Town Tourism, Mariette du-Toit Helmbold; “Tourism has the potential to create innumerable jobs and contribute to community development in general. Within this growth, it is important that our natural resources and communities are adequately protected and regenerated. With this World Tourism Month’s focus on biodiversity, now is the time to examine what we can do for our environment and our fellow human beings and to celebrate the exceptional City that is our heritage.”

Biodiversity can be defined as the variety of life around us – from the largest animal and the smallest plant to the whole of humankind. In Cape Town, this definition applies to the city’s rich fauna and floristic variety, as well as its many cultures.
 
For more information on World Tourism Day, please visit www.unwto.org/worldtourismday  
For more information on the International Year of Biodiversity, please visit www.cbd.int/2010/welcome

For more information on responsible tourism in Cape Town please visit

www.capetown.travel/responsibletourism
 

Valere Tjolle