IT GOES without saying that Lionel Messi is one of the greatest footballers on the planet. And now, he has made driving responsible tourism for our planet his responsibility.
United Nations’ World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili officially appointed Messi as UNWTO Ambassador for Responsible Tourism after an F.C. Barcelona – Leganés match in Barcelona over the weekend.
“Messi is a unique sportsman and an example of how willpower and constant work yield good results. It is a great honor to have Messi joining UNWTO and other well-known personalities in promoting the positive values and benefits that tourism represents,” said Pololikashvili.
Together with UNWTO, Messi will promote the value of responsible tourism, which the UN defines as tourism which “helps maximise the sector’s benefits while minimising its potentially negative impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies across the globe”.
The need for sustainable and responsible tourism has come to the forefront of countries around the world, as destinations like Thailand’s phenomenal islands are now buckling under the weight of overtourism and Cambodia’s orphaned children are being exploited in “voluntourism”.
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