Can Tourism Promote Peace?

This morning, I came across a video entitled Can Tourism Promote Peace and it pulled me in to watch it. You see, this is a question that I have been reflecting on and researching for many years.

From 2007-2008, I worked with on a project on the Role of Tourism in Peacebuilding where colleagues from swisspeace and the Cologne Business School carried out empirical research in three cases from Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Croatia.

What emerged was findings that tourism has the potential to promote peace, particularly when there is collective action from both the private and public sector, where tourism can act as an important sector to revive an economy that has been damaged due to conflict and civil war, and that tourism that promotes  niche destinations for targeted travelers (as opposed to mass tourism) has a high potential to be sustainable, help address root causes of conflict and support equal employment opportunities. The project resulted in a number of publications such as swisspeace working papers on The role of tourism in post-conflict peace building in Rwanda and The motivating and impeding factors for corporate engagement in peace building. It also led to chapter contributions as part of the CSR in conflict and post-conflict environments as well as the International Handbook on Tourism and Peace.

As part of the launch for the International Handbook, myself and a panel of authors came together this May in Baku, Azerbaijan at the 3rd World Forum on International Dialogue to discuss the role of tourism in fostering peaceful societies. Here, cases from Rwanda, Myanmar, the Palestinian Territories and Colombia were presented. A key issue that emerged was the importance of creating tourism initiatives that supported local communities and promoted income-generating projects for those who were the most hard-hit by conflict.

So if you’re still reading this, and interested in what the video had to say, take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0OKW77A-lo I think what emerges from the video as well as from the research that I have been involved with and exposed to, is that there is indeed a high potential for tourism to promote peace and peace building, particularly in societies that have experienced divisions and conflicts. However, this is not a give-in. Specifically how tourism promotes peace requires thoughtful reflection on the sources of conflict and how tourism as a sector can address these issues. It involves partnerships between countries, ministries, the private sector as well as civil society. And it requires a purposeful intention to use tourism as a force for reconciliation, income generation and socio-economic activities.

Other ideas on how tourism can promote peace? Drop me a line.

by Rina Alluri