World Tourism Day Promotes Energy Awareness With Photo Contest

by Chris Owen on

World Tourism Day is coming up on September 27 and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) hopes to raise awareness about the role of tourism within the international community. Showing how tourism affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide, this year’s theme puts a spotlight on the role of tourism in a brighter energy future.

If the United Nations has its way that will be a future in which the world’s entire population has access to modern, efficient and affordable energy services. To raise awareness, the UN hosted a photo contest looking for pictures that captured new ideas to increase energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and photos showing how tourism is bringing modern and clean energy to local communities.

%Gallery-166318%With a record 467 million tourists traveling in the first half of 2012, international tourism is on track to reach one billion tourists by the end of the year. That means there are one billion reasons to focus on a tourism industry committed to using energy responsibly. On cruise vacations alone, a record 20 million people took a cruise last year, an increase of almost 2 million, according to the latest industry figures.

As much of an impact as the global tourism industry has on the environment, those visiting destinations around the world can have a huge impact by focusing on being eco-friendly travelers, as we see in this video:


Developing nations see huge gains in tourism revenue

by Kraig Becker on

According to data collected by the United Nations World Tourism Organizations (UNWTO), developing countries have seen significant gains in both the number of tourists visiting those nations and the amount of revenue generated from visitors over the past decade. In many of those countries, tourism ranks in the top three categories for economic development, demonstrating that travel can play a vital role in helping developing economies mature.

These findings were revealed at a recent United Nations conference on developing economies, with the study revealing that the 48 least developed countries saw the number of travelers rise from 6 million visitors in 2000 to over 17 million in 2010. Perhaps even more encouraging however, is that the revenue generated from those visitors rose from $3 billion to $10 billion.

The UNWTO is hoping that these findings will give developing nations the incentive they need to build a sustainable tourism industry. Tourism is already proving that it can be a driving force in creating new jobs and building a more dynamic economy. Discussions at the special conference centered around just that, with a focus on creating good governance and sustainability practices in tourism; promoting investment in a tourism based economy; nurturing poverty reduction through tourism; and developing methods for training a sustainable work force. Attendees at the conference also discussed ways of protecting their considerable natural and cultural assets as the numbers of visitors rise as well.

It is interesting that despite the harsh global economic climate over the past few years, emerging economies across the planet have continued to see a significant increase in the number of visitors and revenue generated from them. This bodes well for countries looking to improve their economy, and tourism is now seen as a very viable way of climbing out of poverty.

That is definitely something I can put my travel dollars behind.

Sex Tourism becoming increasingly popular with older women

by Scott Carmichael on

When you think of a “sex tourist”, you probably think of a dirty old man in Asia, molesting young boys. As it turns out, these filthy old men now have some competition.

International organization “Defense for Children-EPCAT” is sounding the alarm bell for a disturbing new trend in the world of sex tourism – older women heading to Africa for the sole purpose of sex.

A spokesperson for the organization reports on an increasing number of European and American women taking “tours” to Africa for sex.

The women involved in this disturbing new trend become part of it in one of two ways; Some of them are approached by their “tour guide”, falling for their charm and engaging in sex, others know exactly what they are doing, and take the trip purely for the sex.

Sadly, many of the kids participating are still minors, as it isn’t always easy to correctly judge their age. A UNICEF report says that over 30% of children between 12 and 18 in Kenya are involved in the sex tourism business, a horrifying statistic.

A new initiative by EPCAT, UNICEF and the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) introduced a code of conduct to be adopted by any supplier or tourism. Of course, as with any initiative like this, it relies on the support of the industry, and it won’t help against tourists booking their trips outside a group package.