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.

UNWTO launches World Tourism Day 2011 which will be held on 27 September 2011, and will be celebrated under the theme Tourism – Linking Cultures, an opportunity to highlight tourism’s role in bringing the cultures of the world together and promoting global understanding through travel.

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation and the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism have launched a new energy efficiency project in the country. The project – entitled Sustainable Tourism through Energy Efficiency with Adaptation and Mitigation Measures in Pangandaran – aims to serve as a model of innovative climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in tourism destinations in Indonesia and south-east Asia.

While tourism has enormous potential to contribute to development, it can only do so with adequate governance systems which empower people and communities – this was one of the main messages emerging from the UNWTO Algarve Forum (1-3 June, Vilamoura, Portugal).