SORSOGON STATE COLLEGE

TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

SORSOGON CITY

Name: JOMAR D. LAJOTA

Year & Course: BSTM 4A

Topic: UN International Day of Happiness ( Tourism & Happiness – for a Brighter

Future)

Main Speaker: Juergen Steinmetz

Date & Time: March 20, 2021 2pm

I – Introduction:

Following the devastating impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and calls from all sections

of society for the travel and tourism industry to build back better, this inaugural event on

tourism and happiness convenes senior global tourism and associated thought leaders

sharing their views on how the Happiness Agenda can support tourism resilience,

recovery, and sustainability.

Speaking at the High Level Meeting on “Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New

Economic Paradigm” convened during the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly

the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that the world “needs a new economic

paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainable

development. Social, economic and environmental well-being are indivisible. Together

they define gross global happiness.” The meeting was convened at an initiative of

Bhutan, a country which recognized the supremacy of national happiness over national

income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National

Happiness over Gross National Product.

The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution 66/281 of 12 July 2012

proclaimed 20 March the International Day of Happiness recognizing the relevance of

happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human

beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy

objectives.
The United Nations invites Member States, international and regional organizations, as

well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to

observe the International Day of Happiness in an appropriate manner, including through

education and public awareness-raising activities.

II – Knowledge/Learning Acquired:

With the further development of positive psychology, researches of SWB and PWB

appeared the trend of integration. How to get authentic happiness is the challenge

researchers need to deal with. Meanwhile with the growing prosperity of tourism, more

and more attention is paid to the effect of tourism on individual. Through the research

on the relationship between tourism and happiness, we can find that tourism and

happiness are related.

But some studies have suggested that the effect, for the promotion of happiness, is

mostly short-lived. But with the continuous development of the tourism industry, tourism

will have a greater influence on individual. This requires us to make further studies on

the connotation and denotation of tourism. Combined with the further study of

happiness, new research findings will appear.

III- Observation:

The goal of all human being’s efforts lies in the gain of happiness. Psychology lays

particular emphasis on well-being about the study of happiness. This article is to make a

brief review on happiness from the perspective of positive psychology and Chinese

traditional culture; then combined with the tourist motivation, to find out the relationship

between happiness and tourism. Through previous research findings, we can see that

tourism and

happiness are related. But some studies have suggested that the effect, for the

promotion of happiness, is mostly short-lived.

IV- Recommendations/Suggestions:
Based on different philosophical tradition, there are two kinds of happiness research

paradigms from the perspective of positive psychology: subjective well-being (hedonia)

and psychological well-being (eudaimonia).

Subjective well-being (SWB) is dealing with happiness; psychological well-being (PWB)

is dealing with human potential (Ryan &Deci, 2001).Diener et al. offer the

following:“Subjective well-being is a broad category of phenomena that includes

people’s emotional responses, domain satisfactions and global judgments of life

satisfaction (Diener et al., 1999).” The primary components of SWB include life

satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. SWB tends to be stable over time and

is strongly related to personality traits(Steel,2008). PWB is based on eudaimonic. It is

the inheritance of Aristotle's theory of happiness. This kind of happiness consists of

meaning; self-actualization and personal growth (Ryff,1989).In recent years, there are

more and more integrated frameworks come up to redefine happiness.

According to Martin Seligman (2002), there are three “pathways to happiness”:pleasure,

engagement, and meaning, corresponding to three different kinds of happy lives.

Compared with pleasure, engagement and meaning seem to be more important

(Peterson et al., 2005). Fave(2011) says happiness may include more than hedonic

components, eudaimonic aspects may also be important constituents. By these

integrated analyses, we can have a better understanding of happiness. In Chinese

traditional culture, Le is the closest concept to happiness. Confucianism, Taoism and

Buddhism all have the descriptions of Le (ZHANG Xiaoming,2011).They all expressed

people’s apperception and pursuit of happiness. Confucian “Delightfulness of kong-yan”

reflected in harmony with ourselves, others and nature. For Confucians, there are two

kinds of Le. One is perceptual, with the satisfaction of primary needs; the other is

rational, without the satisfaction of primary needs. Taoist

“Uppermost happiness” means we should obey nature and pursue inner detachment. It

is not a feeling of pleasure, but a mental epiphany and other worldliness. Buddhist “The

joy of nirvana” describes a kind of happiness without

desire. It is a kind of realm, which is far away from desire, competition and anxious. Le

derives from an inner affection experience after the spiritual realm has been constantly

promoted (ZHANG Xiaoming, 2011). Spiritual realm performs an important role in Le.

V. Resources

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Capacity Development and Partnerships

Expert Group Meetings and Panel Discussions

International Days

International Years

Newsletters

Toolkit on Disability for Africa

Inter-Agency Network on Youth

Inter-Agency Support Group for the CRPD

World Programme of Action on Youth

Youth Delegate Programme

Opportunities within the UN

More Resources

VI. Flagship Reports

World Social Report (WSR)

World Youth Report (WYR)

State of the World's Indigenous Peoples (SOWIP)

More Publications

VII. Social Media

DISD e-Brochure

Facebook
Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

More DISD Social Media

Multimedia

Multimedia Library

VIII. News

UN News

UN DESA Voice

DISD Newsletter

ECOSOC News

UNSDN News

Ageing Newsletter

Youth Flash Newsletter

Enable Newsletter

"Qutes about tourism and happiness"

"This International Day of Happiness is more than just a fun celebration, it also remind

us all that the world is a better place when we connect with and care about the people

around us”

— Dr Mark Williamson

"It’s really inspiring to see so many people sharing photos of what really makes them

happy. In a world where we’re bombarded with fake images of happiness in the adverts

and the media, these more authentic pictures remind us that the best things in life aren’t

material things. ”

— Huffington Post (March 2014)

"International Day of Happiness has struck a chord. There were celebrations all over the

world: meditation in Bhutan, happy flash mobs in London, laughter yoga in Hong Kong

and screenings of the film Happy in coffee shops all over the world. The day had a

trending hashtag on twitter and its own website dayofhappiness.net”

— USA Today (March 2013)

End of NR