Indonesia has been confirmed as the official host for the World Tourism Day 2022 celebrations, with various events and summits planned for the months ahead. Created by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Tourism Day will be on 27 September this year, inspired by the central theme: “Rethinking Tourism”.
In Indonesia, the World Tourism Day Indonesia Foundation and PATA Indonesia Chapter will be working closely with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and 20 of the country’s top universities, to provide innovative new solutions and promotional opportunities.
“We will continue to hold activities like this every year,” said CEO of the PATA Indonesia Chapter, Poernomo Siswoprasetijo, during a special kick-off event for the WTD Indonesia 2022 International Conference, held on Thursday, 21 April. He noted that the aim of these events is primarily to “strengthen human resources in the tourism sector.”
Also present at the kick-off event was Iman Santosa, who is the Director of Inter-Agency Relations at Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. He said “[we] welcome the activities organised by the World Tourism Day Indonesia foundation and the PATA Indonesia Chapter…this event can also be considered as the road to WTD 2022 in Bali.”
The main event in Bali, which is scheduled to take place on 26 and 27 August 2022, will be an International Conference addressing a number of key issues and ideas related to global tourism. This includes climate change, community-based tourism, MICE, digital solutions, nature-based tours, sustainable development, special interest travel, tourism marketing promotions, industry resilience, and health and safety.
The WTD International Conference will feature prominent academics, government officials and major players from the tourism industry, who will share their expertise and examples of best practice, through a series of presentations and seminars.
A number of experts in the field of tourism have already been confirmed for the conference, including Erdoan Ekiz, who is a Professor of Marketing (Hospitality and Tourism) at Tashkent Uzbekistan; Peter Semone, a specialist in the field of tourism development in Southeast Asia, as well as the Chief of Party at USAID Tourism; Maria Christina G Aquine, Chair of the Tourism Industry Board Foundation; and Hera Oktadiana, Lecturer and Researcher at Trisakti School of Tourism, Jakarta and James Cook University, Australia.
The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is a specialised agency within the United Nations, entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. World Tourism Day is an event that has been held every year on 27 September, since 1980. The date marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Statutes of the Organisation in 1970, paving the way for the establishment of UNWTO five years later. Indonesia has been a member of UNWTO since its founding in 1975. With markets and borders reopening around the world, Indonesia’s hosting of WTD 2022 offers a great opportunity to find solutions in the new normal era and look ahead with optimism to the future of tourism.
