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A world united
Tourism Linking Cultures
Basotho Cultural Village, Free State
© South African Tourism
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) World Tourism Day theme celebrates tourism’s role in uniting different cultures of the world through travel. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, says of the event: ‘World Tourism Day is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of tourism to global wellbeing. As we travel, let us engage with other cultures and celebrate human diversity. On this observance, let us recognise tourism as a force for a more tolerant world’. This is what Tourism Linking Cultures is all about.
Tourism Month is being celebrated all across South Africa during the month of September. In fact, we start early with the official South African Tourism Month being launched at Freedom Park on the 25 August 2011. Numerous cultural celebrations will take place to mark this important month on the tourism calendar. The culmination will be the UNWTO World Tourism Day celebrations in the Free State on 27 September. The Free State was an obvious choice for the festivities – with the province’s wide range of cultural offerings and its rich history and heritage.
Tourism and culture go hand in hand in all provinces of South Africa. We have a wealth of cultural offerings, including our UN World Heritage Sites (including The Cradle of Humankind, Robben Island, Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, and Robben Island). Our music, our fashion and our food also add to the creative cultural mix. There are wonderful cultural villages, museums, townships and attractions that allow travellers to take journeys into the multitude of cultures that make up the diverse and fascinating South African landscape.
Here’s to Tourism Linking Cultures in South Africa and around the world - and to all the fun to be had during Tourism Month 2011 and beyond.