Focuses on Gastronomy
Cameroon, Africa in miniature, on September 27, 2022 joined other UN members to celebrate World Tourism Day, under the theme “Rethinking Tourism” for people and the planet. This year’s World Tourism Day was the 42nd edition.
This Central African country, while rethinking tourism as the Day’s theme indicated, laid emphasis on its gastronomy.
World Tourism Day has been celebrated on 27 September each year since 1980 and the 2022 World Tourism Day officially held in Bali, Indonesia, last 27 September.
The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, said this of the day:
“Let’s celebrate and form the future of tourism that is sustainable, stronger, more inclusive, and empowering for the planet we live in and the people who rely on it. Because even though tourism potential grows, the core has to be humanity. Thus, no matter how we navigate tourism in the future the end goal must be inclusivity for all people.”
According to Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the day has always been a chance to celebrate the many and varied accomplishments of [the Tourism ] sector.
“For the best part of four decades, we celebrated tourism’s unparalleled growth – in size, in reach and in significance”, he noted, adding that this year “ We must Rethink Tourism ”
He said: “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, remains our end goal. However, every part of the sector, from UNWTO and governments at the top down to destinations and small businesses at the bottom, must rethink how we get there. This will require restructuring business models so that they put people first.
“Tourism has always worked for young people, for women and for communities. But now it must truly work with them as well. We need new voices as well as new ideas if we are to transform our sector and build a better tourism for all…
“The potential of tourism is enormous, and we have a shared responsibility to make sure it is fully realized. On World Tourism Day 2022, UNWTO calls on both tourism leaders and everyone at the base of the broad and diverse tourism pyramid to pause, reflect and rethink what we do and how we do it. The future of tourism starts today. “
In his official message on the occasion of this year’s World Tourism Day celebration, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, acknowledged the power of tourism in fostering inclusion, protecting nature and promoting cultural understanding.
“Tourism is a powerful driver for sustainable development. It contributes to the education and empowerment of women and youth and advances the socioeconomic and cultural development of communities. It plays a critical part in the social protection systems that form the foundation for resilience and prosperity,” he pointed out, urging all to “rethink and reinvent tourism and together, deliver a more sustainable, prosperous and resilient future for all,” he said.
In Cameroon, its Minister of State for Tourism and Leisure, Bello Bouba Maigari presided at celebrations marking this this year’s World Toursim Day in the nation’s capital of Yaounde.
Minister Maigari, whose continued efforts towards enhancing tourist attractions in this Central African country are widely commended, focused attention on Cameroonian gastronomy, which took place in the garden of at BOIS DE Saint Anastasie ,Yaounde .
At BOIS DE SAINT ANASTASIE, there was the display and exhibition of the various Cameroonian dishes, in order to encourage the consumption of Cameroonian meals.
The Minister reiterated the global importance of tourism and urging the need to intensify efforts towards promoting the rich cultures of Cameroon especially its gastronomy.
Kuma Peter, of the Communication Unit of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, said by rethinking tourism, the Ministry organized activities on the eve of the World Tourism day, the were a blend of different cultural regions of Cameroon.
“At the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure today… we are organizing an exhibition that projects the four cultural regions of Cameroon: the Sawa, the Grass field, the Sudano Sahel and the Fang-Beti -which is the center,” Kuma noted.
“We want to promote culinary tourism, so to encourage Cameroonians love and consume their own foods”, he added.
“We want to greatly promote and boost internal tourism, in order to increase the number of people coming to visit Cameroon.”
During the celebrations, the Cameroonian tourism minister appealed to his compatriots to consume Cameroonian dishes with pride.
“We should consume what we prepare in our kitchen and not only what is coming from other countries. We have a lot of food in Cameroon; we should consume what we produce,” he said.
(With contributions from Buma Sandra Lemegha)
