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The 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Pays Attention to Recovery of Tourism

The High-Level Thematic Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly focused on “putting sustainable and resilient tourism at the heart of an inclusive recovery”, discussing such topics as the promotion of the development of tourism, improvement of human well-being, and facilitating of economic prosperity and sustainable development.

Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th General Assembly, affirmed the importance of tourism development and emphasized the promotion of more sustainable, resilient, and responsible tourism in his speech. He pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has grounded the entire tourism sector to a halt, dealing a “devastating blow to the global economy”. In 2019, tourism contributed USD 3.5 trillion to the global GDP. According to preliminary estimates, the pandemic has brought about impacts on 120 million employment positions in tourism around the world, and the losses to tourism in some developing countries are too huge to be measured through statistics. Over the past two years, quite a few countries launched such measures as cloud tourism, tourism bubble, and vaccine passport to push tourism forward and overcome the negative impact of the pandemic. With the recovery of tourism, more attention should be paid to its sustainable development, attaching importance to the influence of tourism on the environment and promoting the transformation and sustainable development of tourism with a stronger sense of responsibility.

The Secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, stated that tourism is the main bridge for building cross-cultural understanding and can help people create a brighter future, facilitating the construction of a more resilient and peaceful society. Tourism is particularly significant for the livelihoods of women, youth, and rural communities. It is critical to balance the short-term demands of tourists and the long-term development of communities.

It is learned that this debate is the first high-level debate themed on tourism convened by the United Nations General Assembly. During the debate, a series of roundtables were organized on topics ranging from developing sustainable tourism to climate-friendly transformation of tourism and promotion of investment in tourism.

Copyright by Zhengzhou Municipal Tourism Administration