Cameroon joined the rest of the world on tuesday, September 27, to celebrate the 21st edition of the World Tourism Day (WTD) on the theme “Tourism, Linking Cultures.” According to the message of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s Secretary General, Taleb Rifai, the celebration was a call to all those involved in tourism to act in a conscious manner, paying attention to culture. This, the message said, promotes intercultural dialogue and ensures that local communities fully participate in, and benefit from, development opportunities.
A day earlier, on Monday, September 26, the commemoration kicked off in the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management of the Faculty of Modern Letters and Human Sciences (FALSH) of the University of Yaounde I, with exhibitions, round table discussions and workshops highlighting the importance of training for the tourism industry. In that regard, the Head of Department, Dr. Roger Onomo Etaba, said the department that was created on November 14, 2007 wanted to make its voice heard during this year’s WTD. “The department should be hailed for putting several professionals like tourist guides, managers and tourist site developers into the tourism industry,” said the Dean of FALSH, Professor Laurent Omgba while presiding at the ceremony. He disclosed that an agreement was underway with the National Employment Fund to assist best students do six-month internships in renowned European tourism agencies so that Cameroon can soon boast of professional tour operators.
Stakeholders are generally agreed that efforts to boost the income generating potential of tourism should not undermine the urgency to preserve human, environmental and cultural resources.
This year’s WTD was the first since Cameroon attained the long sought-after status of an international tourist destination by recording 572,000 tourist visitors in 2010. The country, as of last month, had 471 classified hotels with 13,025 rooms, 298 suites and 234 apartments. A total of 196 travel agencies operate in the country, leading tourists to the 500 recommended destinations. The hotel and restaurant business sector now contributes three per cent to the country’s GDP thereby chipping its own quota in the march towards economic emergence.
