By Nicole Brewer
Greetings globetrotters! It’s World Tourism Day and I know we all miss globetrotting during this pandemic. Even though our opportunities are limited in regards to travel, it is still time to reflect on tourism and how we can make an impact from where we are currently located.
The theme for this year’s World Tourism Day is ‘Tourism and Rural Development’, as tourism is a leading provider of employment and opportunities in numerous rural areas around the world. Unfortunately, so many have been impacted due to the pandemic. I know in the iluv2globetrot travel community, the discussion of how we can give back to local tour operators from our past travels has come up. I’ve personally gotten emails from some collecting donations for local charities, children, education, and more.
I think it’s important to think of ways to give back to local communities when it comes to tourism. I’ve been advocating for “staying closer to home” this year. Many local businesses even here in Oman are at risk of closure due to lost business from a decline of tourists due to the pandemic. I’ve been doing local staycations at resorts here in Oman, ordering food from my neighborhood restaurants, and the like.
Tourism is one of the major sources of income for people living in rural parts of the world as it helps them to hold on to their unique cultures and heritage. The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) noted that about 100 to 120 million jobs in the tourism industry are at risk currently across the globe.
Whatever small part we can do as globetrotters to keep the industry going is highly recommended for the love of travel enthusiasts like the iluv2globetrot community. In what ways are you giving back on World Tourism Day GTs? Please feel free to comment below. Stay safe, stay healthy, if you are globetrotting do it as safely as possible as well.