Fijian Minister for Tourism, Hon. Faiyaz Koya, joined the G20 Tourism Leaders and Heads of Indonesia, Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Spain, Republic of Korea, Germany, United Nations World Tourism Organisation and World Travel and Tourism Council at a high-level debate on ‘Rethinking Tourism’ along this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD) theme.
For the first time, the United Nations General Assembly held a special debate on tourism in May 2022, affirming Tourism as a more prominent foundation on national agendas and international developments.
The high-level debate inspired discussions from different destinations, with diverse levels of tourism development. The Panelists shared how they are advancing the sector’s contributions to sustainable development, including through education, jobs, inclusivity and opportunities.
Key was putting people and the planet first. Under the Republic of Indonesia’s presidency, the Panelists discussed opportunities for tourism to advance in national agendas, building on a smarter and greener travel and tourism sector.
Marking climate change a definite uncertainty, Minister Koya highlighted the ramifications of natural disasters in the Pacific, as well as the importance of being resilient in dealing with such uncertainties in the future.
“For Fiji, and the Pacific, when it comes to rethinking tourism it’s not just an afterthought from the pandemic. We started rethinking tourism years ago purely because of climate change. It is on our doorsteps and is the single greatest threat to our industry. So the challenges for us can be insurmountable,” said Hon. Koya.
“But Fijians are resilient people. And for us, it’s much more than a word. It’s a value we have embraced long before COVID,” added Hon. Koya.
The G20 Tourism Leaders and Heads also shared positive lessons and how tourism’s relevance became clear through its absence. The high-level panel also shared how the different countries could keep tourism’s window of opportunity open and mainstreamed, including harnessing innovation and digitalisation, social inclusion, local community empowerment and efficient resource management.
Every year, on 27 September, United Nations World Tourism Organisation members’ states and the rest of the world join hands to commemorate WTD. Next year the members will be welcomed by Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to celebrate WTD theme “Tourism and Green Investments”.
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