By Abubakarr Harding
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Day with the global theme: “Rethinking Tourism” and the domesticated theme of: “The Impact of Violence and Conflict on Tourism, Tourism for Peace” was celebrated by the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and its agencies at the Family Kingdom Resort at Aberdeen in Freetown on the 27th September 2022.
Chairman of the occasion, who also doubles as the Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Amb Foday Yumkella in his opening statements said it significant to converge with the objective of observing World Tourism Day with an important slogan “Tourism for Peace”.
The Political and Public Affairs Minister underscored that without peace there can be no tourism and tourism can promote peace. He pointed out that the complementary nexus between tourism and peace cannot be overemphasized adding that such has heightened the interest in tourism as a means of promoting peace.
On his part, the Director of Tourism, Mohamed Jalloh intimated the audience that the celebration of World Tourism Day creates the platform to have a sincere dialogue to address challenges and take advantage of the opportunities available.
The Director dilated on the gains made by the sector, the impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine emphasizing how they have affected world tourism.
He said the incident of August 10 captured the attention of renowned international TV channels which has negatively impacted the brand, Sierra Leone, adding that what is significant for tourism is for such ugly and horrible images not to cloud the good pictures of Sierra Leone, hence the local theme “The Impact of Violence and Conflict on Tourism” which he said will be discussed at the regional headquarter towns.
The Project Coordinator of Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Project (SLEDP), Mary Jalloh expressed excitement for gracing the occasion especially as a Sierra Leonean and also to share her branding experience about Sierra Leone. She said SLEDP is a World Bank funded project that focuses on transforming the perception of Sierra Leone through the tourism sector. She mentioned that they supported the Ministry to develop the first ever national tourism and rebranding strategy for Sierra Leone further maintaining that the brand of Sierra Leone is the people of Sierra Leone.
In her keynote address, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt said the theme for this year’s celebration was a deliberate attempt by the Ministry to set up their awareness raising campaign and change the mind-sets of young folks about the dangers of conflicts and its attendant consequences.
“The 27th September every year is regarded by UNWTO as a special day for the celebration of the World Tourism Day since 1980 and the day was chosen to promote public awareness on the immense contributions of tourism and the socio-economic growth of nations and to promote peace and socio-cultural cohesion globally as well as to reflect on the challenges faced by the industry,” the Minister informed.
She stated that tourism and peace are complementary with the two impacting each other adding that a positive development in one leads to the same in the other while negative development also drives in negative impact.
The Minister argued that tourism activities have the potential to bridge settlements within areas of conflict stating that there is the need to enhance the awareness raising campaign on tourism activities and its inter-relationship impact on peace to maximize society’s benefit from a feature she said this year’s commemoration intends to achieve.
She highlighted the significant gains made by the sector and called for concerted efforts across the board to ensure that those gains are sustained.
Representatives from the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, Office of National Security, Africa Peer Review Mechanism, Council of Paramount Chiefs and the Hotel Association all made relevant contributions during the occasion.
High leveled panel discussions on : “Tourism for Peace (Youth Violence, Conflict and Tourism) and “Tourism and Business” climaxed the celebration of World Tourism Day.
