Is green travel important to Canadians? (Shutterstock)

As the number of worldwide tourists is set to exceed one billion for the first time this year, the World Tourism Organization gets ready to celebrate World Tourism Day on Sept. 27.

Organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Tourism Day, celebrated on September 27, has its headquarters this year in Maspalomas, Spain.

Recalling the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on sustainable development which took place early this year in Rio, World Tourism Day has been given the theme Tourism and Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development.

While tourism keeps growing at a fast pace, the celebration aims to highlight how the industry can promote environmental sustainability and green growth.

The UNWTO recently announced an increase of 5% in the number of international arrivals during the first six months this year compared to the same period last year.

With a record 467 million tourists traveling between January and June this year, the industry is expecting to reach the one billion, a growth principally led by Asia. International arrivals in the Asia/Pacific region were up by 8%.

As part of the events, the UNWTO organized a photo contest to raise awareness on energy use, looking for pictures that capture new ideas to increase energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and photos showing how tourism is bringing modern and clean energy to local communities. Winners will be announced shortly, and a selection of photos will be featured on www.UNWTO.org.