Their Royal Highnesses Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias were in San Bartolomé de Tirajana on the island of Gran Canaria to attend the inauguration of Día Mundial del Turismo 2012 (World Tourism Day 2012).

“Día Mundial del Turismo 2012 is being held under the theme, Tourism and Sustainable Energy: Drivers of Sustainable Development, which aims to highlight the role of tourism in achieving a more hopeful energy future, a future in which the all of the world’s population has access to modern energy services, efficient and affordable…”

During today’s inauguration Prince Felipe gave a speech noting:

“… tourism is a generator of wealth, according to the latest data, is now up to 9% of world GDP and employs 255 million people. In this sense it is also an important and growing generator jobs, which helps to alleviate the negative effects of the economic crisis, especially unemployment and especially youth unemployment.”

Source: CDSMR