Tourism for all-round development

Realising the importance of tourism in fostering social inclusiveness and reducing poverty and unemployment, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. Such an initiative will help create a unique opportunity to raise awareness and mobilise all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change. For a sector that contributes 7 per cent to worldwide exports, 10 per cent to the world’s GDP and provides one in 11 jobs, tourism has always been a significant contributor to the economic prosperity of a country. The idea is to push tourism towards bringing all-round development and not just focus on a few aspects. For an industry this crucial, we have a big responsibility as stakeholders to work together and not behave in a fragmented manner.