The date will be celebrated during the 42nd ABAV International Tourism Expo in 2014. More precisely, September 27 (Saturday) will be the opening day of the Feirão ABAV, an extension of the event dedicated to sell itineraries, services and packaged tours to the end consumer. This promotional event will end on the following day.

“This is a happy coincidence that adds to our optimism with the initiative. We will celebrate the date in style, widening the sphere of action of the largest international tourism trade show of the Southern Hemisphere,” said Antonio Azevedo, chairman of ABAV Nacional.

The celebration of the date and the fact that the presidential elections will take place one week after the event favors the presence of national and international top-ranking authorities of the travel and tourism sector.

History

World Tourism Day has been celebrated every year on September 27 since 1980. It was at its third session (Torremolinos, Spain, September 1979), that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly decided to establish World Tourism Day, beginning in 1980. In 2014, the date will be celebrated in Guadalajara (Mexico), under the theme “Tourism and Community Development.”

In its Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, the UNWTO says tourism must be a a beneficial activity for host countries and communities: “Local populations should be associated with tourism activities and share equitably in the economic, social and cultural benefits they generate, and particularly in the creation of direct and indirect jobs resulting from them.” Therefore, tourism is a source of community development.

Institutional Profile

The 42nd ABAV International Tourism Expo is promoted by the Brazilian Travel Agencies Association (ABAV Nacional), with the support of the Tourism Ministry, the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur), the São Paulo City Government, and São Paulo Turismo (SPTuris), the city’s tourism and events company, which manages the Anhembi Exhibition Park.

An international partner of BTL (Bolsa de Turismo de Lisboa) and ITB Berlin, ABAV Expo, the largest and most important international travel and tourism business fair of the Americas is sponsored by the Brazilian Support Service to Micro and Small Companies (Sebrae) and the National Confederation of Goods, Services and Tourism Trading (CNC), which manages one of the world’s largest social development systems—the Commerce Social Service (Sesc), operating in the education, health, culture and leisure fields, and the National Commercial Learning Service (Senac), which is the leading professional education agent in the goods, services and tourism trading sector.