Encouraged by the more than $27 billion Jamaicans spent on local attractions in 2007, Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, is urging nationals to embrace the concept of domestic tourism.

World Tourism Day (WTD) will commemorate its 30th anniversary this year. The celebration will be hosted by one of our first Member States, Ghana, under the theme Tourism: Celebrating Diversity.

We are celebrating World Tourism Day in one of the most challenging periods in global economic history, where virtually every thought and action is defined by the global economic crisis. We all are confronted by its direct and indirect effects, and are challenged to devise new ways of addressing them.

Today is being celebrated worldwide as World Tourism Day, under the theme “Tourism:  Celebrating Diversity”.  This theme is appropriate because diversity is one of the driving forces behind tourism, as it creates stronger ties with the people of other countries. It is therefore an undisputed catalyst for building understanding, fostering social inclusion and promoting higher standards of living.