CDS (I) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 118 of 120

Correct — B, India. World Tourism Day is observed on 27 September under the auspices of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and a different member country hosts the official celebration each year. India was the host for 2019, and the theme that year was 'Tourism and jobs: a better future for all' — a theme chosen to press the point that tourism is among the largest generators of employment, especially for women and young people, which is precisely why India wanted it. The neighbouring years are worth carrying alongside: Qatar in 2017 on sustainable tourism, Hungary in 2018 on digital transformation, the Mercosur bloc in 2020 on rural development, and Ivory Coast in 2021 on inclusive growth.

• (a)USA — Has never been the designated host in the years around this one, and the sequence of hosts in this period runs Qatar, Hungary, India, the Mercosur countries and Ivory Coast.
• (c)Russia — Hosted large international events in this period, including the 2018 football World Cup and the 2020 BRICS chairship, which is what makes it a plausible-looking option. It was not the World Tourism Day host in 2019.
• (d)Canada — Not a host in this run of years, and the rotation in this period deliberately favoured emerging tourism economies.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization is the United Nations agency for tourism, headquartered at Madrid. It fixes 27 September as World Tourism Day, sets an annual theme, and designates a host country where the official celebration is held. The theme and the host are announced separately, and examinations have asked for each — which makes the pair worth memorising together rather than one at a time.

This exact event has been asked from both ends. The CDS paper asks for the host, and the NDA paper of the same year asks for the theme, with the answer being 'Tourism and jobs: a better future for all'. That is the strongest argument for learning international observances as a small table — day, organisation, year, theme and host. Note also the tourism thread running through this very paper, which elsewhere asks which Indian State is promoted as 'One State Many Worlds', keyed as Karnataka. Tourism recurs in CDS as an economy topic, not merely as current affairs.

• World Tourism Day is observed on 27 September under the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
• India hosted World Tourism Day in 2019.
• The 2019 theme was 'Tourism and jobs: a better future for all'.
• Hosts and themes around it — Qatar 2017 on sustainable tourism, Hungary 2018 on digital transformation, the Mercosur countries 2020 on rural development, Ivory Coast 2021 on inclusive growth.
• The United Nations World Tourism Organization is headquartered at Madrid.

• Mixing up the host country with the theme; both are set annually and both have been asked.
• Confusing World Tourism Day on 27 September with World Environment Day on 5 June, which also rotates its host.
• Assuming the host is always a large tourism market; the rotation in this period favoured emerging destinations.

As a host-country or theme question on a United Nations observance, often paired across examinations in the same year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  World Tourism Day is observed every year on

  • (a)5 June
  • (b)27 September
  • (c)16 September
  • (d)10 December

  Answer(b) 27 September — under the auspices of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, with a fresh theme and host country each year.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The United Nations World Tourism Organization has its headquarters at

  • (a)Geneva
  • (b)Vienna
  • (c)Madrid
  • (d)Rome

  Answer(c) Madrid — it is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible and sustainable tourism.