by editors office, Garden Hotel Guangzhou, China

The judges have made their choice for the 2010 World Tourism Day Photo Competition on the theme ‘Tourism and Biodiversity’. Of the more than 500 photos received, five photos were selected as those that best captured the close relationship between biodiversity and tourism. The 2010 World Tourism Day Photo Competition has been a resounding success with over 500 photos entered from all around the world. Of these, the judges had the difficult task of selecting one overall winner and four runners up whose photos best reflected the theme ‘Tourism and Biodiversity’.

The winning photos, alongside a selection of finalists, will be displayed as part of a photo exhibition along the streets of Guangzhou, China, the host city of the official WTD 2010 celebrations. The winning photos have also been published in the latest edition of the UNWTO News, a special World Tourism Day edition with a focus on tourism and biodiversity.

World Tourism Day is a thematic event held every year on 27 September. Its purpose is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the UN Millennium Development Goals and to highlight the contribution the tourism industry can make in reaching these goals.

WTD 2010 is jointly organized by UNWTO, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the Guangdong provincial government in collaboration with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) as a regional partner and UNWTO media partner CNN.