Globally, urban areas have been gaining ample benefits from tourism for many years. Tourism has even become a primary source of earnings for hundreds of cities worldwide. Notably, the number is consistently on the rise. So, as the tourism industry expands, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) is focusing on how the sector can now become rural area inclusive.
The matter of regional inclusivity
The world tourism sector is not merely about travelling for adventure and fun. The tourism sector has several responsibilities toward society, one of which is maintaining inclusivity, whether it is about gender or regional inclusivity.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has been insisting on promoting rural tourism. The rural areas worldwide provide intrinsic knowledge and culture of that place. Thus, rural tourism carries significant scope in the travel industry.
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The Best Tourism Villages: an initiative by UNWTO
In order to expand the general tourism perspective to make the world travel industry rural inclusive, UNWTO started an initiative in 2021 called the Best Tourism Villages. It is the world’s leading network for rural tourism development.
The development of rural tourism is also one of the Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative focuses on promoting the role of tourism in safeguarding rural villages, their landscapes, cultural diversity, knowledge systems, local values, and activities.
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The 2021 pilot project
The initiative began in 2021 and the first project was a great success. More than 40 villages from around 30 countries across the five continents were selected as the Best Tourism Villages—the project received around 170 applications. Further 20 villages were selected for the Upgrade Programme.
2022 Best Tourism Villages
This is the second year for the project, and the World Tourism Organization has issued the dates for the applications. Villages across the world can now send applications till June 28. The results will be announced at the end of 2022.
Through this initiative, UNWTO intends to promote the rural areas that have established cultural and natural assets. Such rural areas are preserving and promoting their community-based values and products. The initiative’s main motive is to bring these areas on the public radar to enhance rural tourism’s popularity globally.
Rural tourism is distinctive not only because of the natural and cultural assets but also because of the lifestyle principles in rural areas linked to sustainability in cultural, economic, social, and environmental aspects.
Additionally, the Upgrade Programme of the initiative is based on helping rural areas that lag on social, cultural, and developmental grounds. The programme aims to provide these areas with means so that the gap in the evaluation process can be filled.
Lastly, the initiative is essential because it promotes exchanging ideas, principles, and lifestyle patterns from rural areas on a global platform. The intrinsic qualities of villages across the world are very distinctive, and to bring these qualities into the limelight, the United Nations World Tourism Organization has begun this initiative.
All in all, Best Tourism Villages can bring several other rural areas on the platform and help promote rural tourism on a global level. Rural areas across the world are filled with natural and aesthetic beauty and to appreciate the real essence of it, we need intentional tourism to play its cards right.
SOURCE: KALKINE MEDIA
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