The official World Tourism Day celebrations, was held in Kurumba Maldives on 27th September 2013, under the theme “Tourism and Water – Protecting our Common Future”, in line with the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation.

As part of the WTD celebrations, in collaboration with the UNWTO, a World Tourism Day Think Tank Seminar was held on the topic Tourism and Water. The Think Tank Seminar aimed to examine water consumption in the tourism sector, the challenges facing water management, the measures being undertaken by the UNWTO to raise awareness and ensure access and the preservation of water resources worldwide & to increase the understanding of the importance of tourism and its contribution to major global challenges.

The five-year, Fourth Tourism Masterplan of the Maldives was also launched on the World Tourism Day 2013 . The aim of this Fourth Tourism Masterplan (4TMP) is to articulate a 5-year strategic agenda and action plan agreed by both public and private players in the tourism industry.