Being one with the United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Malaysia will be celebrating the World Tourism Day which announced on 27 September each year to show the importance of tourism in global economy.

This years celebration is themed 1Billion Tourists, 1Billion Opportunities aimed to foster awareness of the importance of tourism and its contribution to social, cultural, political and economic value.

The global World Tourism Day 2015 celebration will take place in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Adding colours to the World Tourism Day 2015 celebration, Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia through Malaysia Tourism Centre (MaTiC) is organising #Kolektif1 which is a photography exhibition consists of a total of 78 beautiful pictures taken by 28 professional local photographers starting from 26 September until 30 October 2015.

Other exciting activities during the celebration include the Fuji Global Photo Walk; Photography Talk; Hop on Hop off (HOHO) World Tourism Day 2015 Bus Launch and also the Media City Tour.

A lot is happening for this year World Tourism day 2015 celebration as the Ministry is also collaborating with Taylors University for an institutional level World Tourism Day celebration on 29 September 2015 through the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS). More than 3,000 participants including students, lecturers, representatives from various tourism agencies as well as industry players such as Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Tourism Educators Association of Malaysia (TEAM) are expected to join the celebration.

Among the activities are the Cultural Stalls, Orang Asal Demonstration, Cultural Performances, 1Billion Tourists, 1Billion Opportunities Tourism Talk and many more. It is hoped that this collaboration will help to increase awareness, knowledge and opportunities especially among students about tourism diversification to national development and a key-driver to socio-economic progress.

It has also been an honour and another accolade to Malaysia especially in conjunction with World Tourism Day 2015 celebration as the Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, YB Dato Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz was elected as the Vice President of the 21st UNWTO General Assembly in Madellin, Colombia on 16 September 2015.

To support the local tourism industry as well as heighten up the celebration, public are encourage to upload photos of their visits to local tourist destinations with hashtag, #MYWorldTourismDay. Globally, UNWTO also invites everyone to join them showcasing the power of travel and tourism sector in global conversation using hashtags #1billiontourists and #WTD2015 in social media.