This event is a dual showcase focused on tourism, trade, and culture, attracting approximately 500 exhibitors annually and drawing an average of 20,000 visitors from around the world for conferences, business meetings, and exhibitions of products, projects, and programs.

Our participation involved a 6-square-meter stand adorned in national colors, staffed by the BIT chief and two volunteers. Various Cameroonian products and flavors were presented, along with brochures, maps, and visual materials highlighting the country as a travel destination and its attractions.

We received nearly 120 visitors, all interested in Cameroon and the multiple facets of the country showcased at the stand. Beyond our participation, the highlight was experiencing a cultural and commercial approach to tourism focused on flavors, offering American visitors a taste of the diversity within Cameroon’s communities.

This experience provides material to further develop our thinking in terms of concepts and strategies.

As we mark World Tourism Day this year, our planet is ravaged by war and insecurity.
Around one in four of the global population now lives in areas of conflict.

Many of us have first-hand experience of the suffering caused by war. And the impacts are felt far outside of war zones.

We must urgently stand up for peace.
The global tourism family is broad and diverse. But what unites us is our shared humanity. Ours is the most human sector. Every journey leads to a connection.

Tourism brings world together and closer. Tourism builds trust and respect. It lays the
foundations for cooperation. And it drives inclusive growth and prosperity, the surest safeguards against conflict. We need these values now more than ever.

They underscore every part of UN Tourism’s mission and of our work. Our focus on education brings young people from different countries and cultures together. And it creates opportunities for them to find work and meaning.

Our work in tourism for rural development means that nobody is left behind and that economies grow equally and fairly.

And our passion for innovation presents new ways in which we can connect and collaborate. Working side by side, we can ensure a brighter tomorrow for all.
Let us take this occasion to set the tone for future generations. Let us re-commit to multilateralism, respect for international law and the values of the United Nations.

Above all, let us work together as a sector united to make tourism a beacon of hope and ensure that when peace does return to areas of conflict, we are ready to help people rebuild and reconnect. Wherever you are and however you are celebrating, on this World Tourism Day,

I wish you all peace and prosperity.

Like every September 27, the world is once again celebrating World Tourism Day 2024 on the theme: “Tourism and peace”.

In this period of our common, UN Tourism, a specialized agency of the United Nations, “reaffirms the vital role of tourism in promoting peace, mutual understanding and friendship between people around the world”.

This theme emphasizes the role of tourism as a powerful instrument of peace. It brings focus to the fact that each traveler, by crossing the borders of his country of residence or birth, has the potential to become an important contributor to understanding and harmony between cultures, thus strengthening international relations and cooperation. Tourism, considered already everywhere as an activity with undeniable economic benefits, is also a means of promoting tolerance, respect and peaceful coexistence, on a planet where, despite the shortening of distances through the explosion of transport and communication, cultural exchanges remain uncertain and lacking trust. As we can all see, the world has a great need to reduce geopolitical tensions and promote peaceful and lasting connections between peoples and communities