The Egyptian city of Aswan will host the official 2011 World Tourism Day celebrations, which will include a high-level think tank on this year’s theme: ‘Tourism – Linking Cultures’. Illustrating a remarkable turnaround for the Egyptian tourism industry following the political unrest seen earlier in the year, World Travel Awards has also confirmed it will host its annual Africa & Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony in the country in September.

Officials at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation have offered their support to Norway following the worst atrocity in the country since World War II. Anders Behring Breivik on Friday detonated a bomb in the government district of Oslo, killing seven, before launching a two hour shooting rampage on at Utoeya Island which claimed a further 69 lives.

The World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation (WYSETC) is pleased to announce that Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), will attend this year’s conference in Barcelona, September 20-23.

President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique has become the latest head of state to join the World Tourism Organisation and World Travel & Tourism Council sponsored Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign. He joins Hungarian president Pál Schmitt, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of Indonesia, in pledging his support.

International tourist arrivals grew by 4.5% in the first four months of 2011, despite new challenges emerging since the beginning of the year. According to the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, growth was positive in all regions with the exception of the Middle East.

The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has become the first Asian head of state to join the ongoing World Tourism Organization and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign. “Today, tourism plays a significant role not only in the preservation of cultural values, but also in increasing people’s welfare,” said president Yudhoyono.