UN: 1.2 billion tourists around the world each year

"With almost 1.2 billion people travelling abroad each year, tourism has become a powerful economic sector, a passport to prosperity and peace, and a transformative force improving millions of lives," UN Secretry-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Tuesday entitled "Message For World Tourism Day 2016".

Those remarks were made marking the World Tourism Day 2016 which is celebrated across the world on Tuesday with the theme ‘Tourism for all - promoting universal accessibility’.

In a statement published Tuesday on the website of the United Nations Information Service, Ban added that everyone has the right to access leisure and tourism services on an equal basis. Yet 1 billion people around the world living with disability, along with young children, seniors and persons with other access requirements, still face obstacles in accessing fundamentals of travel such as clear and reliable information, efficient transportation and public services, and a physical environment that is easy to navigate.

Even with modern technologies, the UN Secretary-General noted, those with visual, hearing, mobility or cognitive impairments are being left behind in many tourism destinations.

Accessibility is both an important market opportunity and central to responsible and sustainable tourism policies and business development strategies, he added. 

"I encourage policy makers, destination planners and companies working with people with special needs to work together to remove all barriers, mental and physical, to travel," the UN chief stressed. 

On this World Tourism Day, Ban went on to say, let us recognize that all people can and should be able to participate in tourism and enjoy unforgettable travel experiences.

Source: MENA