Description
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education of the Klagenfurt University/Austria in cooperation with World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
International
Handbook on
Tourism
and Peace
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER
(Eds.)
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education
of the Klagenfurt University/Austria in cooperation with
the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
DRAVA
Disclaimer: Te opinions contained in this publication are exclusively those of the authors
and do not necessarily refect the point of view of the editors or the UNWTO. Te designations
employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not represent any opinions
whatsoever on the part of the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education of Klagenfurt Uni-
versity or the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization concerning the legal status of any
country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers
or boundaries.
Tis book is the Yearbook Culture of Peace 2013, edited by the Centre of Peace Research and
Peace Education of the Klagenfurt University/Austria
drava verlag · založba drava gmbh
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© Copyright 2014 by Drava Verlag/Založba Drava
Cover design by Walter Oberhauser, cover art by Sim Jun Han
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isbn 978-3-85435-713-1
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER
(Eds. )
International
Handbook on
Tourism and Peace
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education
of the Klagenfurt University/Austria
in cooperation with World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
DRAVA
Printed with the support of:
Forschungsrat of Klagenfurt University
with sponsoring provided by the Carinthian Federal State Government
Swedish Tourism Innovation Centre
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Afairs
Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture
TPA-Horwath Group, Tax Advisory and Auditing Services
Kärntner Universitätsbund
Tis book is published within the framework of the Project “Tourism and Peace”, an Initiative
of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Klagenfurt University, Austria and its
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education. Te project is supported by the Austrian Fede-
ral Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth, UNWTO and the Kärntner Sparkasse.
Centre for
Peace Research
and Peace Education
Content
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WINTERSTEINER
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Part I
Tourism, Ethics and Peace
WERNER WINTERSTEINER, CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
Peace Sensitive Tourism:
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
PETER VAN DEN DUNGEN
Peace Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
DAWID DE VILLIERS
Cornerstones for a Better World: Peace, Tourism and Sustainable
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Part II
Tourism, Development and Peace-building
RAMI ISAAC
Responsible Tourism and Development in the Context of Peace-Building . . . . . 87
RINA M. ALLURI, MARTINA LEI CHER, KARSTEN PALME, ULRIKE JORAS
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism:
Empirical Refections from Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
SUSANNE FISCHER
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
NATALIA NARANJO RAMOS
Communitarian Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region:
An Opportunity for Peace-Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
EMMANUEL J. BWASIRI
Te Confict Among Local People and Hunting Tourism Companies in
Northern Tanzania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Part III
Tourism, Democracy and Confict Resolution
CRAI G WEBSTER, STANISLAV H. I VANOV
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRISTIAN BAUMGARTNER
Myanmar on its Way to Responsible Tourism Management:
Te Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
KIPKORIR LAGAT, SIMON W. KIARIE, PETER NJIRAINI
Tourism and Peace: Te Role of Election Period Tourism Operating
Procedures in Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
WANTANEE SUNTIKUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
War and Peace – and Tourism in Southeast Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
PRANIL KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
Peace Sensitivity in Tourism Codes of Conduct at Destinations in Confict:
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
ROSALIND NEWLANDS
Te Role of the Tourist Guide in Promotion of Dialogue
between Civilisations: South Caucasus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
GORDON SILLENCE
Mainstreaming Sustainability through Peace-Building at
Large-Scale Tourism Events – Te Case of the Olympic Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Part IV
Culture, Heritage and Education
OMAR MOUFAKKIR, IAN KELLY
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
EDWARD W. LOLLIS
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
GEERT BOURGEOIS
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018:
Commemorating the Past and Inspiring the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WINTERSTEINER, MIRA WAGNER
Connected by the Trails that used to Divide Us:
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
HARALD A. FRIEDL
“I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy!”
Systemic Confict Training in Tourism Education as a Paradigmatic
Approach to Stimulating Peace Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
LOUIS D’AMORE
Peace through Tourism:
An Historical and Future Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Annex
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
Tourism and Peace in International and
Non-governmental Organisations: A Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Foreword
With over one billion tourists travelling the world every year, tourism has be-
come a worldwide social and cultural phenomenon that engages people of all
nations as both hosts and guests. Te fundamental experience of tourism –
visiting a new place and meeting its people and culture – is a transformative
aspect that defnes tourism’s role as an agent of peace.
Never before have people travelled so widely, nor encountered such a wide
variety of cultures. Tese connections spur dialogue and exchange, break
down cultural barriers and promote the values of tolerance, mutual under-
standing and respect. In a world constantly struggling for harmonious co-
existence, these values espoused by tourism are integral to building a more
peaceful future. Indeed, peace is the cornerstone of travel and tourism, and
essential to social growth and development. It is against this backdrop that
tourism has been hailed as the frst “Global Peace Industry”.
Yet in spite of tourism’s positive global impact, its full potential as an inst-
rument for peace remains to be realised. I trust that this International Hand-
book on Tourism and Peace will help enhance our understanding of the intrin-
sic relationship between the tourism sector and global peace-building eforts.
Published within the framework of the project “Tourism and Peace”, an in-
itiative by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the University of Kla-
genfurt in Austria, this book ofers a range of perspectives from leading spe-
cialists from all over the world, covering topics from sustainable development
and confict resolution to ecotourism and heritage preservation.
Tese pages provide invaluable insights on the vital role tourism plays in
paving the way towards a more peaceful planet and open new possibilities to
foster tourism as an instrument of peace, and I would like to extend our deep
appreciation for all those who contributed their experience and knowledge to
this project.
In today’s increasingly diverse and globalised world, the message of peace
through tourism has never borne more signifcance. By all coming together,
each as Ambassadors of tourism and peace, we will continue to come closer to
realising our shared vision of a better world.
Taleb Rifai
Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Prologue
Today, in a world of intense changes, peace requires ever more active invest-
ments, enlightened leadership, powerful educational values and a progressi-
ve media world. Each and every one of these are relevant to the mission of
UNESCO. Te Organisation’s longstanding commitments to the development
of education and sciences, the enrichment of cultural creativity, heritage and
cultural futures, including a vibrant and peace-oriented global media struc-
ture, can in fact be a meaningful contribution to world peace as active, fou-
rishing and sustainable.
It is in this spirit that the UNESCO Programme of Action for a Culture of
Peace and Non-Violence regularly rethinks strategies and operational moda-
lities. It aims to draw benefts from cultural diversity, respectful of human
rights, while providing individuals and societies with innovative ideas, skills
and tools for living together in harmony in a more and more interconnected
world. Tese strategies and modalities are tailored to the requirements of an
era of rapid social transformations marked by fuidity, complexity, uncertain-
ty, thus calling for new articulations between cultural diversity and universal
values. It is commonplace to say that lasting peace rests not only on economic
and political agreements but equally on a complex and fragile web of daily
practices embedded in local settings and the most ephemeral encounters that
individuals and communities creatively maintain out of the conviction that
they constitute the sustainable conditions for living together in dignity and
shared prosperity.
Analysing the global transformations generated by encounters between
peoples and continents at macro and micro-levels, provides not only a history
and a geography of intercultural dialogue through centuries, but also enriches
the debate on its future where intercultural understanding becomes more and
more necessary to build better knowledge on our rich, diverse, fragile and in-
terdependent humanity.
Relevant UNESCO programmes contribute to facilitate this journey where
culture becomes instrumental for facilitating intercultural encounters. In fact,
culture is about ways of being, knowing and relating to others; it is through
culture that we give meaning to our lives and develop a sense of who we are.
As a value-driven force, culture guarantees a more satisfactory intellectual,
emotional, moral and spiritual existence. Moreover, because culture is dyna-
mic and constantly changing through dialogue and interaction, it is a window
to new horizons, creating conditions of self-refexivity, conviviality, creative
adaptation and anticipation.
Let us take the example of cultural heritage in all its forms which is an in-
valuable record of human experiences and aspirations, and which continues
to nurture our everyday lives. Tanks to UNESCO World Heritage, for in-
stance, millions of tourists every year have the opportunity to visit, discover
and wonder in front of sites and places connecting them with the beauty of
Prologue 13
others’ history, culture and civilisation. It is also the occasion for encounters
with peoples from the visited places and for cultural interaction that may give
a chance for sharing one’s culture, while receiving from others the gift of an
immense treasure recording humanity’s collective intelligence and experience.
Some landmark examples, such as the reconstruction of the Mostar Bridge in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and its inscription in the World Heritage List in 2005,
show how heritage preservation instills tourism, which in turn becomes a ca-
talyser to reconciliation and peace in the region.
UNESCO Routes of Dialogue programme also highlights the importance
that travelling and tourism have in promoting meaningful intercultural en-
counters; for example, the Slave Route, where some painful pages of our his-
tory are revisited to reconcile our humanity with its past, namely through
places, sites and museums related to the slave trade and slavery or the Silk
Road, which is an invitation to discover the slow and patient process of driving
forces and movements leading to unexpected encounters and interactions of
peoples and civilisations of Eurasia.
However, given the economic weight of the tourism industry today, no great
evidence is needed to back up the statement that tourism can be both the best
friend and the worst enemy of development, understood not only in terms
of economic growth but also as a means of achieving a more satisfactory, in-
tellectual, emotional, moral, spiritual existence, social cohesion and peace
(UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Article 2).
Terefore, specifc standards, rules and conditions should be met for tou-
rism to meaningfully impact on an efective intercultural dialogue, develop-
ment and peace. But regulations will do little to instill a new attitude in the
tourism industry as well as in a wider public which is travelling more and
more. Tis becomes even more urgent as today’s world, for many, is flled with
temporary attachments, ephemeral associations and pragmatic connectivity.
Tis is namely the world of the migrant, the tourist, the visitor, the traveller
and the outsider; it is the human face of globalisation. Under these conditions,
it is unrealistic, even dangerous, to demand cultural conformity from others
during situations of temporary association. Te capacity for conviviality is
measured by the willingness to build partially shared social worlds – of work,
politics, leisure and information – with people who may not share the same
cherished cultural assumptions. Tis is an elementary requirement for practi-
cal, daily cultural life.
To this end, relevant intercultural competences are needed to decipher the
diverse and complex cultural milieus. Actions enabling dialogue between tou-
rists and hosts could, inter alia, be carried out, namely among young people.
In this regard, refexive tourism can become an ideal means to evaluate more
accurately the modalities for achieving intercultural confdence through a res-
pectful tourism, free from the negative clichés of mass tourism and its adverse
efects, such as the greedy consumption of cultures without giving a chance to
the encounter of the ‘other’, preventing, thus, a true intercultural communica-
tion from taking place, mutual understanding emerging and a culture of peace
rising.
14
Te present Handbook on Tourism and Peace is another milestone that
enhances the overall discussion in this domain, by providing some relevant
insights on political, cultural, and socio-economic conditions to strategically
position tourism as a powerful tool for dialogue and peace. Te International
Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013–2022), adopted by the Uni-
ted Nations General Assembly, may be a timely framework initiating research
and policy design to further explore this challenging feld.
Katérina Stenou
Director, Intersectoral Platform for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence,
UNESCO
Acknowledgements
Tis International Handbook is the product of a continuing project on ‘Tou-
rism and Peace’ – a joint initiative of the World Tourism Organization (UN-
WTO) and the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at the Austri-
an University of Klagenfurt. Te aims of this project are to compile current
knowledge, and to provide for a better understanding of the relationship bet-
ween tourism and peace. Tis book is thus a contribution to the overall dis-
cussion, within the international, academic and public community, regarding
the impact – on a global society – of sustainable peace-building based on jus-
tice, respect and mutual understanding; it is also the presentation of tourism
as a hugely powerful tool for the international agenda.
In preparation for this project, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed
by the UNWTO and the University of Klagenfurt in April 2012, in Vienna,
Austria, under the umbrella of the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Minis-
try of Economy, Family and Youth. We should therefore particularly like to
thank the UNWTO Secretary-General, Dr Taleb Rifai, for his support for the
project and the book since 2009, when the idea for this book was frst develo-
ped in the UNWTO Headquarter, Madrid. We are also grateful to Peter Jan-
ech and Sandra Carvao of the UNWTO ofce, for their constant belief in, and
support for, this project.
We are very grateful to the Department of Tourism and Historic Buildings in
the Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth of Austria – in particular to its
Head, Elisabeth Udolf- Strobl, and her colleagues, Angelika Liedler-Janoschik
and Ingrid Wehrmann – who from the very beginning supported this project
and ensured that some initial funding got it of to a good start.
We also wish to thank the Dean of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Research
and Education, Professor Verena Winiwarter, who signed the Memorandum
on behalf of Klagenfurt University in April 2012. Tis ensured the project’s
embodiment within the various research approaches that the Faculty repre-
sents.
Te book would not have been possible without our contributors: people who-
se work we deeply admire. We are honoured that they have shared with us
their views, and their approaches to the topic of tourism and peace. We under-
stand that many more authors responded to the call for papers but were not
provided with the opportunity to share their experiences this time.
Tanks must also go to all the junior collaborators and volunteers in the Cen-
tre for Peace Research and Peace Education, who were involved in the making
of the book at various stages. In particular we wish to mention Melissa Brun-
ner, Mariana Montoya, Tina Philipps, Kamal Tapa, Jeanette Riedl, Montser-
rat Romero, Christina Vanek, Mira Wagner and Valerie Woop. With their dif-
16
ferent nationalities, backgrounds and cultures they contributed to the positive
spirit of the project. We also wish to mention our proofreader Kathy Warren
Wilson, who did a tremendous job in proofreading articles for the book.
We are grateful to the sponsors of this publication, in particular the Research
Council of the University of Klagenfurt, the local Austrian Government of
Carinthia, the Swedish Tourism Innovation Centre, the Austrian Ministry of
European and International Afairs, the Austrian Ministry of Education, Arts
and Culture, the company TPA Horwath and the Kärntner Universitätsbund.
For their continuous support and the guidance throughout the process, we
thank the Drava publishing house, in particular Peter Wieser and Walter
Oberhauser.
Finally, we each acknowledge our families – whose continued faith, patience
and support sustained our motivation throughout the process. Te process
has been both enjoyable and enriching, as indeed we hope the book will be for
our readers!
Cordula Wohlmuther and Werner Wintersteiner
CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging
Field of Action and Research
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.
– Henry Miller
Tourism is a term waiting to be deconstructed.
– Chris Rojek and John Urry
‘Tourism and peace’ has become an emerging feld of action and research since
the 1980s; that is little more than a quarter of a century since this topic has
gained increased attention. It is a young, still underexplored and not even es-
tablished feld of research that will require continued eforts, which become
even more relevant when we understand that tourism is a continuously gro-
wing sector with enormous economic, environmental and socio-cultural im-
pacts.
Milestones
However, the issue ‘tourism and peace’ itself is not a new invention. Tourism,
from its very beginnings, has constantly been defned as a way of promoting
peace and mutual understanding. For instance, as early as 1925 at the opening
of the ‘International Congress of Ofcial Associations of Tourist Propaganda’
in Te Hague, Netherlands, Professor Wim Treub (as the Dutch host) stressed
the need for “encouraging travel so that diferent peoples could understand
and become better acquainted with each other, thus collaborating to the
peace so earnestly desired among peoples, who had just survived a prolonged
and deadly war”. (Personal interview by authors) In 1929 the British Travel
and Holidays Association declared ‘Travel for Peace’ as the theme for its inau-
gural meeting (Honey, 2008, 1).
Te end of World War II saw the start of various international youth ex-
change programmes – for example, between France and Germany (see Win-
tersteiner/ Wohlmuther in this volume). Tese exchanges built upon pre-war
experience; some had, in fact, been taking place even before World War I.
Ten, in 1967, the UN had its ‘International Tourism Year’ and this was gi-
ven the optimistic slogan ‘Tourism: Passport to Peace’. Next followed the 1975
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which led on to
the OSCE (the leading regional organisation for post-Cold War issues). Te
OSCE’s founding document, the ‘Helsinki Final Act’, mentioned tourism as
being an important means of achieving increased cooperation and better un-
18 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
derstanding. In 1980, a declaration by the World Tourism Organization in Ma-
nila highlighted the fact that tourism could contribute to the establishment of
a new international economic order, and could be a vital force for world peace.
Tat declaration served as the basis for a number of subsequent conferences
on this theme.
A conference on ‘Tourism – a Passport to Peace’, held in 1987 in Shannon,
Ireland, was followed by the frst ‘Global Conference on Tourism – A Vital
Force for Peace’ in Vancouver 1988 (see Louis D’Amore in this volume). Tis
conference resulted in a frst publication on ‘Peace Trough Tourism’, edited
by Louis D‘Amore, who founded the International Institute for Peace Trough
Tourism’ in 1986 and Jafar Jafari. Te ‘Amman Declaration on Peace Trough
Tourism’, a result of the Conference in Amman, Jordan in 2000 became an
ofcial document of the United Nations.
After a series of ups and downs, tourism as an agent for peace is now a
developing feld of research, study programmes and publications. It has even
led to the creation of specialised ‘peace through tourism’ courses (Blanchard,
Higgins-Desbiolles 2013, 19), for instance, at the Centre for Peace and Con-
fict Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. In 2008, the ‘International
Centre for Peace Trough Tourism Research’ (ICPTR) was created by Omar
Moufakkir, a tourism scholar who also established the frst online ‘Journal of
Tourism and Peace Research’ (2008). In 2009, a ‘Peace Tourism International
Working Group’ (PTIWG) was formed in order to assist the project ‘Envisi-
oning Peace Trough Tourism’ that focuses on the promotion of human se-
curity through international citizenship (Blanchard, Higgins-Desbiolles 2013,
25). Tis working group encouraged the establishment of an inaugural Peace
Tourism Commission of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA)
in 2010 (Lynch 2013, 263). Te most recent edited volumes are ‘Peace through
Tourism’ (Blanchard, Higgins-Desbiolles 2013) and ‘Tourism and War’ (Butler,
Suntikul 2013). Tey were preceded by the book on ‘Tourism, Progress and
Peace’ (Moufakkir, Kelly 2010).
Despite all these achievements there is seemingly still a “lack of research
indicating the precise circumstances under which tourism can promote peace,
while at the same time there is a widespread belief that it does contribute to
this end“ (Salazar 2006, 325). Tis leads some scholars to the conclusion that
“the relationship between tourism and peace is not yet established as an aca-
demic feld of research and much (but not all) of what has been published is
hypothetical and opinion-based.” (Moufakkir, Kelly 2010, xxv).
Tey are right. Much has to be done to establish this feld, and we see this
publication as a modest contribution to this aim.
Conceptual Frameworks
Te growing interest in tourism and peace issues can be understood as a re-
action to the changes that tourism itself has recently undergone. Modern tou-
rism can be seen as a consequence of (diferent stages of) globalisation. After
World War II, (European) holiday travels usually consisted of one annual trip
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 19
with the whole family by car or train to one location for one single form of
leisure for a prolonged period of time. Tis has changed to sophisticated and
individualised travel patterns that range from long-haul trips to former colo-
nial sites to several short-term city breaks on a regional basis, both of which
can include leisure and cultural activities alike. Te world has become a ‘glo-
bal village’ (to cite Marshall McLuhan’s famous saying) in which tourism plays
an increasingly important role. Tis is also to say that tourism is no longer a
privilege of the rich Western world, but instead is a globalising and already
globalised cultural practice, which obviously is changing the narrow Euro-
centric understanding of tourism.
Tus it becomes ever clearer that tourism is “a complex set of social dis-
courses and practices” (Rojek and Urry 1997, 1). In other words, we need both
a complex understanding of tourism and a complex understanding of peace,
when it comes to discussing the impact that tourism may have on peace pro-
cesses. We have to study tourism in the broader context of human mobility
while developing a concept of peace that goes far beyond the political dimen-
sion or negative peace (absence of war). In our view, an approach informed by
cultural studies, and by peace research inspired by cultural studies, may help
to overcome some controversies – like the one that sets the concept of tou-
rism as an industry against the concept of tourism as a social force.
In the beginning, research attempts on tourism and peace were limited to
the paradigm of the so-called contact hypothesis, i.e. the many intercultural
encounters that, thanks to tourism, take place on a daily basis all around the
world and that are supposed to contribute to a better mutual understanding
and thus global peace. Whilst defnitely not entirely wrong, this rather basic
and naïve assumption was quickly contested and relativised with arguments
drawn from intercultural communication, peace research and a cultural cri-
tique of tourism itself (see Wintersteiner/ Wohlmuther in this volume). Fur-
thermore, it was counterbalanced by a criticism of all the destructive conse-
quences of the tourism industry in terms of economy and the social, ecological,
and cultural traditions. Meanwhile, a more sophisticated ‘peace through tra-
vel contact’ approach has gradually been complemented by additional aspects
that are linked to the social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts
of tourism, and the sustainable and responsible organisation of tourism as an
industry. As the editors of the online ‘Journal of Tourism and Peace Research’
put it in a phenomenological way:
“Tourism and Peace is broad in scope and deals with many factors relat-
ing to peace, such as appropriate planning, international cooperation,
peace through tourism, tourism for peace, tourism in confict-ridden ar-
eas, avoiding potential negative impacts of tourism and mitigating exist-
ing ones, tourism and human rights, peace museums, tourism and attitude
change, etc.”
However, the interconnectedness of tourism and the building blocks of
peace – such as social justice, human rights, economic equity, sustainable
development and broad-based democracy with the capability of non-violent
20 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
confict resolution – has only recently received the necessary attention in the
tourism and peace literature. We believe in particular that the concept of a
culture of peace, developed by UNESCO and promoted by the UN during the
‘International Year of a Culture of Peace’ in 2000 and during the ‘International
Decade of a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World’
(2001 – 2010), may ofer the necessary framework for conceptualising the role
of tourism for sustainable peace (see Wintersteiner/ Wohlmuther in this volu-
me). Tis may open up a broader feld of research and action. It should go hand
in hand with a more realistic and modest attitude. Instead of speaking of tou-
rism as an ‘instrument for peace’ we prefer the term ‘peace-sensitive tourism’.
Peace-sensitive tourism – both from the supplier’s and from the consumer’s
side – is conceived not as an isolated peace strategy, but as part of a huge and
historical social transformation towards a culture of peace. Peace-sensitive
tourism is aware of its economic and social power and thus of its social re-
sponsibility. It aims to contribute – within the limits of its opportunities but
aware of the power of alliances – to the democratisation of the society con-
cerned, of international relations and of the world system as such. For it is
democracy (as understood not just from a narrower Western perspective), as
a permanent institution of non-violent confict resolution, which is a pathway
to peace.
The Purpose of this Book
Te aim of this international handbook is two-fold. Firstly, it seeks to describe
the current ‘state of the art’ regarding tourism and peace research, by giving
voice to leading scholars in the feld. Tey discuss critically the relevant defni-
tions, retrace research traditions and inform about the history of tourism and
peace in practice. Secondly, in order to widen the scientifc community, we
have invited scholars and practitioners to open up the feld in terms of topics,
approaches and geographic felds.
Accordingly, the book brings together expert contributors from around the
world to present current thinking, diferent views, practical experiences and
scientifc fndings. Te experts are not only tourism scholars and scientists,
but also practitioners, politicians and representatives of civil society alike.
Tis more unusual combination ensures that many diferent points of views
and considerations are presented and refected. Te degree to which theory or
practice is refected varies according to the authors. Whilst some of the chap-
ters discuss the theoretical background of the tourism and peace approach,
others are based on case studies, presented in a chosen theoretical frame.
Some chapters provide concluding remarks and even recommendations that
could help tourism suppliers raise their awareness of the need for peace-sensi-
tive tourism.
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 21
Te book is divided into four major sections, which are nevertheless closely
interconnected.
In Part I we discuss basic concepts of tourism and peace, such as ‘tourism,
ethics and peace’. WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER and CORDULA WOHL-
MUTHER provide an overview on the ‘state of the art’ of the interdisciplinary
tourism and peace discussion. Tey make a plea for a comprehensive approach
that includes various peace-relevant aspects of tourism, placing tourism in
the context of diferent forms of travel – such as warfare in general, histo-
rical crusades, colonialism and modern mass migration. Discussing the glo-
bal citizenship concept and its relevance to the peace and tourism issue, they
highlight Kant’s cosmopolitan idea of hospitality. Based on a ‘culture of peace’
approach, they identify three paths of ‘peace-sensitive tourism’, a less ambi-
tious term for the peace-through-tourism idea that opens avenues leading to
feasible peace processes.
PETER VAN DEN DUNGEN ofers a defnition of ‘peace tourism’ that in
principle consists of visits to places which are signifcant because of some
particular association with peace-making, confict prevention, resistance, or
non-violence and reconciliation issues. He also engages in the defnition of
peace cities and looks into famous places related to Nobel Peace Laureates and
related peace museums, etc. In addition, he describes peace monuments and
city peace trails that are of increasing interest for tourism planners. He covers
several recommendations that would ensure the establishment of peace as a
subject for tourism and would stimulate peace tourism development. He calls
for the recognition of peace tourism as an aspect of cultural and heritage tou-
rism.
DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS focuses on ethics, the discipline that examines one’s
moral standards, or the moral standards of society. He explains why a ‘Global
Code of Ethics for Tourism’ is needed – to sensitise and motivate the millions
of tourists and travellers and all stakeholders involved to be more responsible
in their undertakings. He argues that this ‘Code of Conduct’ is for tourism
what the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ is for the citizens of the
world. He highlights the fact that tourism, sustainable development and peace
are closely intertwined and that one without the other cannot exist. He chal-
lenges the reader by asking him/ her whether they think that they could apply
aspects of the ‘Global Code of Ethics’ to their business, to their job or to their
private life, efectively turning it into a personal code of responsibility.
Part II is about ‘tourism, development and peace-building’, refecting the in-
creasing role of tourism in countries in the more southerly parts of the globe,
and discussing the role of the private tourism sector in some real and practical
peace-building and confict-causing contexts. Nevertheless, this part starts
with some sound refections on the ethical bases of peace-sensitive tourism.
22 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
RAMI I SAAC introduces defnitions and concepts of alternative and respon-
sible tourism and outlines how these can contribute to peace-building in re-
gions of confict. He also refers, drawing from Harry Kunnemann, to three
modes of knowledge production and their linkage to responsible tourism. He
argues that the application of mode 3 of knowledge production – normative
and existential knowledge – combined with responsible tourism can be seen
as an ethical approach to regions of confict. It can contribute to hope and
stimulate people to have faith based also on discussions with responsible tra-
vellers. He suggests that, in the future, research should focus upon methods of
creating hope and peace-building in education, health care and youth empo-
werment.
Ri na M. Alluri, Marti na Leicher, Karsten Palme and Ulri ke
Joras present the results of a research study on the role of private tourism
stakeholders in post-confict scenarios using the examples of Croatia, Sri Lan-
ka and Rwanda. Te result demonstrates that the private sector, once active
again after the ending of the violent confict, engages in tourism development
rather more on the basis of ‘coping’ and ‘doing-no-harm’ than on the basis of
actively engaging in confict-transforming or peace-building activities. Tey
outline both motivating and inhibiting factors infuencing the engagement of
the private sector in peace-building. Te authors conclude by proposing a 10
Point Action Plan for strengthening the engagement of the private tourism
sector in peace-building.
SUSANNE FI SCHER discusses the role of business in zones of confict in
general and in tourism in particular. She analyses tourism in the Palestini-
an Territories and describes the engagement of two Palestinian tour opera-
tors, the Near-East Tourist Agency (NET) and the Alternative Tourism Group
(ATG), in peace-building activities. She points out the unequal distribution
of profts from tourism in the region, a consequence of two facts: that most
foreign tour operators work with Israeli partners; and that tourists who visit
the Holy Land usually do most of their travelling just in Israel. She argues that
the two Palestinian tour operators have taken some important steps towards
addressing these issues, namely the creation of international initiatives where
more visibility can be reached. In addition, she remarks that in this context
the tourism industry and the travellers have to re-think their modus operandi
in order to make tourism a tool for peace.
In her article, NATALI A NARANJO RAMOS describes the little known Co-
lombian regions of Darién and Urabá, which have long sufered from the con-
sequences of war and confict between guerrilla and paramilitary forces. Te
local population was struggling for survival and often had to engage in illegal
activities, such as drug trafcking, during these difcult and complex times.
Ramos argues that the development of communitarian eco-tourism in the re-
gion has brought some signifcant social changes to the inhabitants. Tanks
to some real eco-tourism development projects and the creation of some eco-
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 23
tourism centres, jobs and income were generated. Moreover, since the locals
had a very active role to play in the tourism development processes right from
the outset, a mental and economic empowerment could also take place. Tat
has lead to increased self-esteem and more self-confdence for the locals, ove-
rall helping them to overcome their traumas and suferings.
EMMANUEL J. BWASI RI addresses the complex confict of management at
the Loliondo Game Controlled Area in Tanzania. By analysing this case, the
author ofers an insight into the relations between the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Tourism and the Masai people, who have been afected by the
dispute over land-use issues. Bwasiri explains the causes and the history of
this confict by outlining governmental decisions, the role of tourism compa-
nies and the situation of the Masai people in this area. He concludes by outli-
ning potential solutions for this confict and presents a strategy for systematic
change, based on community involvement and co-governance of the contes-
ted region.
All these examples show that positive economic development necessarily re-
quires democracy as its political counterpart, an aspect that is further dis-
cussed in Part III, ‘tourism, democracy and confict resolution’. Te articles
presented here describe both positive and negative experiences. Tey demons-
trate that tourism, if practiced in a democratic and responsible way, can con-
tribute to confict resolution and democratisation processes.
Tourism as a force for political stability is the main focus for CRAIG WEBS-
TER and STANI SLAV H. I VANOV, in their article. Tey investigate the issue
of political confict and the theoretical reasons behind the belief that tourism
should lead to peace-building and political stability. With examples from Cy-
prus, Korea and Ireland, they seek to analyse the use of tourism as a tool for
political stability and peace. In an innovative approach they link the tourism
/ peace / political stability discourse to paradigms of international relations.
Tey argue that in international relations in particular, the idealist approach –
and, within that, the strand of liberalism – best fts the relationship of tourism
and peace. In this context they conclude that if liberalism is present then the
state and the citizens have to permit or to even encourage this approach. Te
biggest obstacles for sustained contact between the conficting parties – be-
sides physical barriers, such as walls – are the persisting attitudes and enemy
images.
NICOLE HÄUSLER and Chri sti an Baumgartner in their article, de-
scribe the eforts of the new government of Myanmar in developing a susta-
inable tourism sector. Tey argue that the creation of a responsible tourism
policy and a policy on community involvement was the result of a stakehol-
der process which, in this form, has probably never been accomplished in
any other country previously. Stakeholder processes in tourism are a tool for
democratic development and peace-building. By using real examples of how
24 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
such stakeholders’ meetings were held, and the efects they had on the locals
involved, the authors argue that such processes, besides being an important
platform for sustainable tourism development in Myanmar, are also an impor-
tant contribution to the internal peace-building process in the country.
KI PKORI R LAGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E and PETER NJ I RAI NI describe
the impact of political unrests during election periods on the tourism sector
in Kenya. Tey explain that, with joint eforts, the tourism sector stakeholders
in Kenya have made great eforts to promote peace during elections. Tese
eforts were manifested through a programme referred to as ‘Election Period
Tourism Operating Procedures’ (EPOP), executed jointly by the private sector
umbrella association Kenya Tourism Federation, the National Tourism Admi-
nistration (Ministry), the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Police Service.
In principle, this programme is a communication system which aims to en-
sure that tourists do not cross those zones where there is unrest. Whilst it is
about keeping the tourists safe, the article also shows that tourism can have
political power to a certain extent and can unite professionals of various po-
litical beliefs for a common goal, namely the protection of the tourism sector
in Kenya.
WANTANEE SUNTI KUL and RICHARD BUTLER state that, whilst the pre-
sence of war and unrest at a destination is a deterrent to most tourists, there
are many examples of tourism destinations built on the heritage of past con-
ficts. Tey bring to the fore two real-life examples, from the Preah Vihear
Temple located at the Tai-Cambodian border and from Viengxay, a region
located in northeast Laos. Preah Vihear has been the subject of long-lasting
border disputes that, in recent times, have resulted in violent actions around
the temple area. But once this violence was over, a big increase in visitor num-
bers was noticed at the site. Te example of Viengxay, a remote mountainous
and very poor region of Laos, became famous because it was the Laotian com-
munist headquarters during the ‘secret war’ that took place parallel to the war
in Vietnam from 1964 to 1973. It has received ample attention as a potential
and powerful tourism product that should bring signifcant economic empo-
werment to the region.
PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA brings an example from the Pokhara regi-
on in Nepal where, in a partnership efort involving all tourism stakeholders,
various codes of conduct (CoC) were developed. Tese partnership actions
had various positive efects, notably bringing together the various key play-
ers in tourism such as practitioners, researchers, local government and non-
tourism groups, and enabling them to produce codes of conducts. In addition,
this approach secured responsible tourism development on a voluntary basis.
Upadhayaya argues that tourism is not only sensitive towards confict, but
also responsive to peace, if protagonists collectively act to identify problems
and build responsible strategies in the form of CoC guidelines and their ap-
plication.
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 25
ROSALI ND NEWLANDS focuses on the role of the tourist guide in the pro-
cess of promoting dialogue between civilisations, and stresses that the tou-
rist guide can actively contribute to fostering peace and intercultural un-
derstanding. She presents the approach of training tourist guides in ‘neutral’
cultural interpretation, as well as in understanding cultural diferences and
existing prejudices. Moreover, she specifcally outlines the training strategy
of the ‘World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations’ that focuses on the
education of tourism guides who work in post-confict regions. As an example,
she presents tourist guide training in the South Caucasus and its challenges
within this context.
GORDON SI LLENCE explores the peace and sustainability eforts over the
Agenda 21 and the UN-supported Truce process at the Olympic Games in
London 2012. He describes an initiative that aimed to ensure the Truce at the
Olympic Games and outlines various reasons why this did not happen. He
looks into various stakeholder interest groups that are involved in the plan-
ning and execution of the Olympics and provides some explanations of their
roles in this context. He explores how the global economy, in moving from a
state of tolerating low-level warfare and violence towards a peace-based, green
economy, using larger scale Olympic tourism events, can make a contribution
to sustainability in general and the Truce in particular. He outlines a set of
16 recommendations at international and national level that would assist in
achieving this challenging goal.
Part IV, ‘Culture, heritage and education’ deals with various forms of peace
tourism, for instance, heritage tourism and discusses the role of education as a
required precondition for a sustainable peace-sensitive tourism.
Omar Moufakki r and I an Kelly discuss the potential of tourism, as a
mind-broadening educational experience, in contributing to a more harmo-
nious and peaceful world. Tey examine the elements of the peace through
tourism proposition and a number of strategies by which tourism can contri-
bute to the peace objective. Attention is directed to the role of interpretati-
on communicated by educators, organisations, travel writers (in travel guides,
travel journalism and travel literature) and tourists themselves in pursuing
the attitude changes which may be required. Te role of the tour guide is em-
phasised as central to this objective and the current contribution of ‘peace
tours’ is subjected to critical analysis. Cautionary considerations and some re-
commendations are included.
EDWARD W. LOLLI S defnes peace tourism and lists 86 diferent peace the-
mes. He argues that the 10 countries most likely to beneft from peace tourism
development (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Canada and Bel-
gium – in that order. Furthermore, he provides a case study in the USA, a
583 km highway between the Ohio and Detroit rivers along which 100 peace
26 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
monuments can be found. Tese monuments authentically represent 10 dife-
rent peace stories and some 36 notable peace-makers. Te author argues that
peace tourism is not taking place because the public at large is unaware of the
tourism value of peace places and that tourism planners have not yet conside-
red this aspect accordingly. He assumes that, through the creation of this new
tourism ofer, another diversifcation in the tourism sector could be achieved.
GEERT BOURGEOI S shares the Flemish experience and expertise regarding
the preparations for the 100-year commemoration of the First World War and
focuses in particular on the Flanders Fields, where the longest and most dead-
ly battles in Europe took place. He describes the tremendous eforts underta-
ken by the Government of the Flemish Community to ensure not only that the
needs of the visitors will be met, but also that the core messages of the Great
War will not be lost. Te aim of these endeavours is two-fold: frstly, to create
amongst the present and future generations both in Flanders and abroad, an
awareness of themes such as tolerance, intercultural dialogue, and internatio-
nal understanding; and, secondly, to provide a unique opportunity to ensure
the preservation of the war heritage relics for future generations and to make
them more accessible to local and foreign guests.
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER and MI RA
WAGNER present the example of the Alps-Adriatic Region that comprises the
southern part of Austria, Slovenia and the northern Italian provinces of Friuli-
Venezia Giulia and Veneto. Tis geographical area sufered severely during
World War I and II and was divided during the Cold War, when Slovenia was
part of communist Yugoslavia and the peoples of the three countries could
not come to terms with the burden of the past. Today, all these countries have
entered the European Union and, physically, there are no more borders. Slow-
ly, the people in this complex region are coming closer together. Tourism also
plays a certain role in this process. Te article examines the role of three dif-
ferent peace trails in the Alps that were erected on paths that, during World
War I, formed the fronts between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.
Whilst the authors argue that these trails are important for keeping the asso-
ciated history alive, they also see constraints in the ability to be efective from
a peace-educational perspective. Tey provide some recommendations which
could help increase the impact of such peace trails in all three regions and
also encourage more cooperation in the feld of cross-border tourism.
Harald FRI EDL presents the activities of the tourism sector as one that on
every level can provoke conficts. He outlines the reasons why such conficts
could occur during host-guest encounters and during tourism planning pro-
cesses. For the frst kind of conficts, he argues that the local populations, as
hosts, are sometimes not well trained in their roles, which might lead to con-
ficting situations during the encounter. For the planning of tourism on the
local level, he highlights the importance of being able to deal with conficts
and describes a specialised course on confict training in tourism education
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 27
that he recommends should be included in tourism educational curricula. He
views confict resolution from a constructivist point of view and emphasises
that it is important to understand, accept and fnally respect the ‘otherness’ of
the world. He ofers questions for us to ask ourselves rather than recommen-
dations, arguing that with this approach people will become more sensitive
and empathic to the complex determining factors of a confict situation.
LOUI S D’AMORE describes the beginnings of the tourism and peace dis-
course in the 1980s and related activities like summits, conferences and decla-
rations. He refers to the creation of the International Institute through Peace
to Tourism in 1986 and the philosophy behind its endeavours. According to
the Institute, peace tourism is a concept that entails peace within ourselves,
peace with others, peace with nature, peace with past generations, peace with
future generations, and peace with the Creator. He also lists challenges that lie
ahead for tourism development and highlights in particular that the ecologi-
cal context will require signifcant attention.
In their impressive edited volume ‘Peace through Tourism’ Lynda-ann Blan-
chard and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (2013, 1) lament “the partial or incomplete
perspectives” of the tourism and peace discussion. What distinguishes their
approach is a clear criticism of the economic and political power relations
in which the tourism system is involved, as a precondition to any attempt to
identify any peace-through-tourism opportunities. Quoting Morgan and Prit-
chard, they state that the study of tourism leads “to the core of global power
structures” (ibid. 6). Any further development of tourism and peace research
must defnitely be based on this criticism. However, the approach to the to-
pic has to be more interdisciplinary than to date, and should consequently in-
clude more post-Colonial studies and critical cultural studies. Whilst global
peace is only possible as a result of the common efort of people from all parts
of planet earth, this is also true for the eforts to use the worldwide social
practice of tourism for this aim. Seen from this perspective, this volume is no
more than a modest contribution to a discussion – but a discussion that it will,
nonetheless, hopefully help to broaden and deepen this important topic.
References
Blanchard, Lynda-Ann and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles,
edit. 2013. Peace through Tourism. Promoting Hu-
man Security Through International Citizenship. Lon-
don: Routledge.
Butler, Richard and Wantanee Suntikul, edit. 2012.
Tourism and War. London: Routledge.
Blanchard, Lynda-Ann and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles.
2013. “A Pedagogy of Peace. The Tourism Poten-
tial.” In: Blanchard, Lynda-Ann and Freya Higgins-
Desbiolles, edit. Peace through Tourism. Promoting
Human Security Through International Citizenship.
London: Routledge, 19–33.
Honey, Martha. 2008: Tourism: Preventing Confict,
Promoting Peace. Center for Responsible Travel,
Washington DC. US, accessed August 2013. In:
http: //www. responsibletravel. org/resources/
documents/reports/MHoney_Overview_Essay.pdf
Lynch, Jake. 2013. “Epilogue. Creating a peace tour-
ism commission of IPRA.” In: Blanchard, Lynda-Ann
and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, edit. Peace through
Tourism. Promoting Human Security Through Inter-
national Citizenship. London: Routledge.
28 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
Moufakkir, Omar and Kelly, Jan, edit. 2010: Tourism,
Progress and Peace. Wallingford: CAB International.
Rojek, Chris and John Urry. 1997: Touring Cultures.
Transformations of Travel and Theory. London: Rout-
ledge.
Salazar, Noel B. 2006: “Building a ‘Culture of Peace’
through Tourism: Refexive and analytical notes
and queries.” Universitas Humanística, no.62 julio-
diciembre de 2006, 319–333.
Wintersteiner, Werner. 2007. „Die Wafen nieder! –
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Bertha von Suttner auf Schloss Harmannsdorf. Wien-
Berlin: LIT, 107–130.
Personal interview with Peter Shackleford, UNWTO,
September 2013.
Part I
Tourism, Ethics and Peace
WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Peace Sensitive Tourism:
How Tourism Can Contribute to
Peace
Travel does not merely broaden the mind. It makes the mind.
– Bruce Chatwin
Introduction
Tis paper discusses the complex relationship between tourism and peace.
Rather than trying to defend an over-simplifed concept of ‘tourism as an
agent for peace’ or simply condemning ‘tourism as an agent for dispute, in-
equality, and exploitation of the poor’ we should frst try and understand be-
fore making any judgment. However, our ultimate goal is to explore how and
to what degree tourism can help to achieve and preserve peace and harmony
both within a society as well as between societies.
Basically, we are not suggesting that tourism is ‘an agent for peace’ but
instead are pleading for ‘peace-sensitive tourism’, a less ambitious expression
than the ‘peace-through-tourism’ idea. By placing tourism in the context of
other peace-promoting activities and designs, we can ‘carve out’, as we believe,
the specifc contribution of tourism for peace in a more appropriate manner.
In order to do so, we frst have to examine a set of terms and defnitions re-
garding tourism on the one hand and peace on the other hand. Tourism in its-
elf is a complex phenomenon, since there is not just one kind of tourism; there
are many. However, this in no way limits our discussion of the phenomenon
of tourism as such – and especially its cultural dimension and various other
dimensions that are important for our purpose.
As with all the articles in this volume, this one is written from a particular
starting point and from a clearly defned standpoint. Inevitably, we are writing
from the perspective of critical Western intellectuals, and our work is based
on the experiences of tourism as a Western project – despite the rapid globa-
lisation in tourism. Tis has to be kept in mind. It may limit the scope of our
fndings but, at the same time, it shapes our argument.
Understanding Tourism
Scholarly Defnitions and International Approaches
As mentioned in innumerable speeches and papers, tourism is nowadays vie-
wed as a vibrant, dynamic industry (or ‘sector’ according to Teobald 2005;
or ‘industries’ according to Leiper 2008; or ‘social force’ according to Higgins-
32 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Desbiolles 2006 and Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013a) which continu-
es to grow, which is consolidated in social life in afuent societies and which
plays an important role in many national economies (Freyer 2001). Tourism
can have positive and negative consequences. Unfortunately, and despite
many eforts in making tourism more responsible and sustainable, there are
still some very signifcant negative economic, social, cultural and environ-
mental efects in many destinations around the globe that increasingly requi-
re the attention of all stakeholders involved.
On a regular basis, and to demonstrate the importance of tourism as an
economic tool, ofcial announcements of the numbers of overnight stays, tou-
rists, visitors and international arrivals
*
and the share of tourism in the gross
domestic products (GDPs)
**
are made by tourism destinations / states / regi-
ons / sub-regions / cities and relevant international organisations alike. At the
same time, these statistics can also demonstrate the vulnerability of the tou-
rism sector to man-made or natural causes and crises.
In addition to business-oriented defnitions as produced by the UN Statis-
tical Department and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), others are
specifying things more from the supply or demand side (Kaspar 1991, 16–22).
When looking into the UNWTO’s defnition from 1991, we see that it descri-
bes tourism as “the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places out-
side their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisu-
re, business, and other purposes” (Gee and Fayos-Sola 1997, 5). In comparison
to the ‘tourist’ (overnight visitor) a ‘traveller’ is “any person on a trip between
two or more locations”. (Ibid.) Defnitions coming from tourism scholars refer
to the supply side of tourism as an industry consisting of enterprises, which
fulfl the needs and wishes of tourists (Leiper 1979); whilst others focus on the
demand side and consider the situation from the aspect of people who under-
take travel outside their usual working and living environment (Bieger 2004).
Overall, these defnitions lack a clear, unifying basis, although they have
some elements in common: e.g. that tourism is a change of place to somewhe-
re beyond the usual place of abode which brings one to a ‘foreign’ place, and
that it is carried out with diferent kinds of transport (Freyer, 2001). Whilst
these defnitions are helpful in measuring the economic impact, they refect
neither the social or environmental impact, nor the cultural dimension, nor
indeed the context of human rights, justice and international citizenship as
Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles state (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles
2013a, 2).
* The number of international arrivals has risen from 50 million in 1950 to more than 1 billion in
2012 and is expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030 (UNWTO 2012 and UNWTO 2011).
** Travel and Tourism represent an estimated direct contribution to some 5% of the world’s glob-
al gross domestic product, and is considered to contribute 30% to the world’s services export and
45 % to the total services export in developing countries. In 2010 about 8% of the total job market
worldwide, equivalent to about 235 million jobs (direct and indirect) – or one in every 12,3 jobs –
was attributed to tourism. (Goldin 2010, 9)
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 33
Te situation is a little clearer when the purpose and motivation of the trip
is used as a defning criterion. C. Kaspar (1991, 18), for instance, identifes six
categories from the demand point of view:
• Leisure tourism (recreation)
• Culturally-oriented tourism (alternative tourism, educational tourism)
• Society-oriented tourism (relatives, club tourism)
• Sport tourism
• Economy-oriented tourism (fairs, business trips, incentive travels)
• Politically-oriented tourism (conferences, political events).
In reality, however, the motivation for a trip is rarely just a single one; more
commonly, there is a mix of diferent factors, such as culture and leisure.
In the context of peace-sensitive tourism, some of these categories are more
relevant than others, since they provide more opportunities for intercultural
encounters than leisure tourism would do.
In addition to these tourism forms based on motivations and seen from the
demand side, tourism development models based on the supply side (though
not exclusively), such as ‘alternative’, ‘responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ tourism,
play an important role, in particular as regards peace-sensitive tourism. Tis
article will not give an in-depth overview of the defnitions of these three
types of tourism or tourism management models but rather will summarise
their most relevant characteristics, in order to provide a better linkage with
peace issues. Whilst defnitions of all three terms vary, they all have sever-
al guiding principles and indicators for the implementation process available.
Te ethical basis behind these three forms is, in principle, the same: namely,
that there are some rules to be observed if the environments in which tourism
takes place are not to sufer from that tourism. When the environments are
dealt with in an ‘inclusive’ manner, meaning that the local population is invol-
ved and local specifcs are taken into account at all stages of a tourism process,
then the negative impacts can be minimalised. Tis shows that democracy is a
key issue for any responsible tourism, including peace-sensitive tourism.
Te beginnings of ‘alternative tourism’ as a defned concept can be traced
back to the Manila International Workshop in 1980, as a response to growing
concerns about tourism development (Macleod 2005, 123–139). Whilst seve-
ral defnitions exist, the unifying elements are that alternative tourism tries
to be more ‘ just’, allow more meaningful encounters with locals, be based on
sound environmental principles, be sensitive to local cultures and religious
traditions and be a means of giving the poor a reasonable and more equal
share in the tourism gains.
MacLeod states that alternative tourism can have signifcant economic and
sociocultural impact on the local population, given that it communicates to a
greater degree with the indigenous people than is the case with mass tourism.
Alternative tourism, in comparison to mass tourism, can be seen as a refec-
tion of contemporary attitudes and values within society – but also no longer
has any clear boundaries with mass tourism. Its meaning is vague. It may have
been a good and valid concept in the beginning, but now it seems to need a
34 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
more precise defnition (Ibid. 138). Very often ‘ecotourism’ is stated as being a
form of alternative tourism. Whilst this term also lacks a clear defnition, the
philosophy behind it states the intention “to be respectful towards land, na-
ture, people and cultures and use it for conservation, economic development
and cultural revival” (Holden 2000, 193). Very often ecotourism also stands
for low-impact, soft, green and ethical tourism.
‘Responsible tourism’ (see Isaac in this volume) has its origin in the ‘Cape
Town Declaration’ (2002), which recommends guiding principles for econo-
mic, environmental and social responsibility in tourism development. “It is
not a brand or type of tourism, the term encompasses a framework and a set
of practices that chart a sensible course between the fuzziness of eco-tourism
and the well-known negative externalities associated with conventional mass
tourism” (Harrison and Husbands 1996, 1). It is an ethical approach that
addresses all stakeholders involved in the tourism development process, from
the planners and managers to the host populations, local governments and
businesses to the outbound tour operators and tourists visiting the destinati-
on. Te guiding principles of responsible tourism are in accordance with sus-
tainable tourism.
Te ‘sustainable tourism’ development approach was introduced for a frst
time at the First Global Conference on ‘Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace’,
held in Vancouver in 1988. Four years later it was again expressed in the ‘Agen-
da 21’, an outcome of the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 (see Sillence in
this volume). Whilst there are many publications outlining defnitions, gui-
ding principles and indicators for sustainable tourism (World Tourism Orga-
nization (WTO 2001, 2002 and UNWTO 2004), we consider that there is no
satisfactorily clear defnition available. Literature suggests that a broad dife-
rentiation can be made between ‘sustainable tourism’, in which the emphasis
is placed on the customer and marketing considerations of tourism to susta-
in the tourism sector; and using tourism as a vehicle to achieve ‘sustainab-
le development’, in which the emphasis is placed on developing tourism as a
means to achieve wider social and environmental goals (Holden 2000, 172).
Tis implies that sustainability is applied diferently by the diferent stakehol-
ders. In the sustainability discourse, a variety of guiding principles by various
tourism-related bodies have been developed. Some of these are directed to-
wards the relation between tourism and the environment, tourism activities
and the local community, and the overall acknowledgement of tourism as a
mechanism for sustainability. Sustainable practices should also be seen in the
context of the value systems of those involved, and the societies in which they
exist (Butler 1998), and should be directed towards limitations on tourism to
protect the environment, cultures and societies (Higgins-Desbiolles 2010, 117).
To summarise at this frst stage, with these three tourism forms in mind,
we see that the common elements, inter alia, are respect towards the human
and natural environments and the responsible treatment of such. Tis is a pre-
requisite to peace, which means that peace-sensitive tourism has to contain
the main elements of all three approaches. Furthermore, the long tradition
of social tourism (as the ‘other side’ of Western tourism) should be taken into
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 35
account (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013b, 22). An inclusive strategy
by the stakeholders – including tourism planners and tourists alike – is nee-
ded, taking local factors into account and treating them in a way that it is both
participatory and sustainable.
A Culturally Informed Approach to Tourism
Alternative, responsible and sustainable approaches to tourism can ofer
answers to some of the known defciencies in tourism, but – as we argue –
their analysis cannot always be completed with a conventional manner of stu-
dy. Currently, tourism is seen as an economic factor, as an ecological challenge,
and critically as a (positive or negative) factor of social justice, sometimes also
as a menace to the ‘authentic traditions’ of the indigenous populations. Te
cultural dimension of tourism is far from being adequately addressed. Howe-
ver, an understanding of the cultural dimension, as developed by Cultural Stu-
dies (for instance Rojek / Urry 1997), is a pre-requisite to the proper understan-
ding of all the other dimensions. Only recently has such an approach started
to appear and be discussed in tourism and peace literature, as in ‘A Pedagogy
of Peace’ (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013b) or in the context of a ‘Cul-
ture of Peace’ (Salazar 2006, Haessly 2010, Whyte 2013). Te cultural dimen-
sion of tourism is not about cultural tourism, it is about ‘tourism as a culture’,
i.e. as a way to conceive and to interpret the world, a social practice – always
closely linked to other practices. Culture is the thing which gives meaning to
our actions; in itself it is a meaningful ideal.
What is the meaning of tourism? “Tourism does not begin with the act of
touring, but with the construction of a worldview that renders the world ‘tou-
rable’. […] Tourism discourses are sets of expressions, words, and behaviours
that describe places and peoples, and turn sites into easily consumable attrac-
tions” (Salazar 2006, 326–327). Tourism, understood in this way, is a social
invention (not the only one, but a very powerful one) to deal with the many
desires of people of the modern industrialised world. But this is not a one-
dimensional thing. Tourism is “an arena in which many players interact and
negotiate the construction of culture to diferent ends” (ibid., 329). Basically,
tourism can be considered a ‘machine of happiness’, as Pravu Mazumdar puts
it (Mazumdar 2011, 15). Together with the ’myth of holidays’ (Mazumdar 2011,
73), tourism is the promise that we can temporarily escape our daily life and
experience a more autonomous, more fantastic, freer and happier world. Tus
the cultural ‘value’ of tourism is one of ‘travelling to happiness’. However, it is
of course a round trip. Unlike the migrant, the tourist doesn’t really leave her/
his home, and s/he knows that the adventure of tourism will soon be over. As
a tourist, s/he always enters a ‘virtual’ world, albeit as real as it can be. Tus
tourism – in contrast to migration – is not a breaking-up or more permanent
change of everyday life, but just a more or less regular ‘interruption’ that is
now part of our everyday life. Holidays have to compensate in many ways for
all that we have missed out during the year and as such they become a stabili-
sing factor in the way we lead our lives.
36 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
What tourism has in common with migration is that both are major means
of bringing people from diferent regions together and letting them have what
is called, in an overly superfcial way, ‘intercultural experiences’. As opposed
to magazines, TV or the internet – media which ‘bring the world into our ho-
mes’ – tourism is about direct communication between people, at least at frst
sight.
All tourists start out on their journey with a set of their own previous ex-
periences, ready with relevant information and full of expectations. Tese
expectations are pre-formed by exposure to the media, or mediated experi-
ences (and their fulflment is also a mediated process). “Tourists travel well
‘prepared’ and have already pre-interpreted the places and situations they will
encounter. Teir seeing may have been shaped by that US broadcasting station
or that Dutch geography teacher, and may well be confrmed or challenged
by that Palestinian tour guide.“ (Pernecky 2010, 10, original emphasis). Tus
(mass) tourism and media experiences have much more in common than one
would believe. Te diference is that, when absorbing information from the
media, almost everybody understands that this is nothing more than a me-
dia experience, whereas mass tourists usually believe that they are having ‘au-
thentic’ and direct experiences.
However, some commentators argue plausibly that authenticity is less and
less an argument for tourism. Due to the ‘travelling of cultures’ (Cliford 1992)
all cultures have become mixed and hybrid, to a greater or lesser extent. But
this is not the main reason that “the quest for authenticity is a declining force
in tourist motivation.” Te real tourism pleasure is about change: “Switching
codes of patterned behaviour is, in itself, a source of attraction for the tourist.
Te desire to keep moving on and the feeling of restlessness that frequently ac-
companies tourist activity derive from the cult of distraction. Pure movement
is appealing in societies where our sense of place has decomposed and where
place itself approximates to nothing more than a temporary confguration of
signs” (Rojek 1997, 71).
Our argument is not that mediated experiences are less valuable than ‘au-
thentic’ ones; it is rather to say that, nowadays, almost all encounters are me-
diated, at least to a certain degree. If this point is clear, we can get back to the
‘intercultural encounter’ that tourism provides, and this in increasingly global
dimensions. It is in this context that Chatwin’s statement can be fully appre-
ciated: “Travel does not merely broaden the mind. It makes the mind.” (Chat-
win 1997, 100). Tomas Pernecky has a similar approach when stating: “Tou-
rism has become an important ordering of modernity as well as global society:
resulting in an array of ordering efects” (Pernecky 2010, 5).
Tese encounters take place worldwide, on a daily basis, for more and more
people. Tey are encounters both for the travellers and for the residents, even
if in a diferent way. Tus it is not only the tourists who have new experiences,
but also people from the host regions who would never be able to aford to
travel, who fnd their horizons widened through meeting the tourists. Tere
is no doubt that tourism contributes to shaping our view of the world and to
providing us with a fuller, richer, more detailed and individual picture of the
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 37
world and its many societies. Tis is true both for the tourists themselves, and
also for the hosts and other people the tourists meet.
But – as we will discuss further in the later section entitled ‘Tourism and
Peace: Te State of the Art’ – it would be very naïve to believe that these con-
tacts automatically lead to a reduction of prejudices, a new, more tolerant
world view and better understanding of each other. Te so-called ‘contact hy-
pothesis’ is too simplistic a model of intercultural encounters (Tomljenovi?
2010). Generally speaking, when people of diferent countries, cultures or so-
cial classes meet, various outcomes are possible – depending on the situation
itself, on the personality of the individuals or groups, and on the topics at sta-
ke. Aggression, defence, assimilation of the other or being assimilated by the
other are very common ways of dealing with the ‘scandal of the other’ (Sartre).
Probably the most common pattern of reaction is ignoring the other, i.e. igno-
ring his or her ‘otherness’. One is only aware of those aspects of the other with
which one is already familiar, whilst almost subconsciously ignoring or con-
demning any other / new aspects that could be a challenge to one’s own world
view.
But tourism is not a martial encounter. Organised in a tourist-friendly way,
the world of the other begins to lose its original horror and instead become an
exotic attraction.
“Terefore we can aford the luxury of tolerance toward the impotent myths
of a strange and primeval world of happiness. Tus a tourist sojourn in
the postcolonial reality is often like a visit to the zoo. Behind the bars, the
beasts do not inspire horror and hatred anymore: they can be accepted with
milder and more modern passions and instincts of animal protection. […]
Te tourist gazes at the pacifed and humiliated strangeness of his hosts.”
(Mazumdar 2011, 51, our translation)
Tis sounds indeed very damning and even cynical, but is a description of one
of our ways of dealing with others, given the gaps in wealth and power. Howe-
ver, it is only one side of the coin: the hosts are not actually so powerless as it is
suggested here. Despite the diferences in power, “tourism can become a very
empowering vehicle of self-representation, and local people may deliberately
choose to culturally reinvent themselves through time, modifying how they
are seen and perceived by diferent groups of tourists” (Salazar 2006, 328).
Te cultural dimension of tourism is, as shown above, something which
gives meaning to our travels. Tus travelling is not merely to learn about other
cultures and people, but also to learn more about ourselves and to fnd our
own position in the world. Tis can be done in diferent ways: it need not al-
ways take the form of a radical deprecation of the other, as in the example
quoted above. However, very often, when travelling, we compare the lives of
the others with our own life – seeking to fnd additional confrmation of our
‘superiority’. A banal but very common example: A German woman (who co-
mes from a worker’s family that enjoyed the success of Germany’s booming
post-war economy) recalls her frst tourism experience as a child. For the frst
time, the family could aford to go abroad, with all three children in the back
38 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
of the small Volkswagen car. Tey went to Italy, and the mother warned the
children that Italians are very poor people. Surprisingly the ‘poor Italians’
lived in a big house which they owned, while the Germans only had a little fat
as their home …
Tis example shows that as tourists we also carry out some form of ‘identity
analysis’ – in comparing ourselves with the ‘others’, we confrm or challenge
our own self-image. Te way in which this works varies in an individual and
thus unpredictable way, according to the educational settings of intercultu-
ral communication. However, it makes sense to try and identify the specifc
conditions and tourism measures which are helpful or detrimental to such
encounters. Furthermore, we should diferentiate between diferent forms
of tourism, as some of them are more likely to have a positive efect on the
‘identity analysis’, i.e. to create open-minded people who are able to recognise
positive aspects of the ‘other’ and to negotiate regarding diferences, mistrust,
and opposing interests in a friendly way. Tis may be the case for eco-tourism,
alternative tourism, cultural tourism, heritage tourism and similar forms of
tourism – as long as there is a commitment by the tourists themselves and an
‘educational’ ofering from the ‘supply’ side.
But before drawing conclusions for the tourism and peace discourse too
quickly, we should go deeper into the analysis of the phenomenon of tourism
itself. One dimension of tourism, often falsely presented as the only one, is
“travel-for-leisure that is supported by a multi-layered global service industry”
(Salazar 2006, 323). In order to shape its profle, we have to discuss tourism in
the wider context of social mobility and compare it with other forms of travel-
ling.
The Fear and the Fascination of the Other:
Tourism and Travelling, Warfare and Hospitality
Mass tourism, as we understand it today, is a relatively young phenomenon,
with its origins in Europe in the 20th century. Tourism – in the simplest form
of ‘pleasure travel’ – is much older, and is mentioned as long ago as in the
Ancient Greek and Roman period. In modern times, tourism started as a pri-
vilege of the aristocracy, whose education included the ‘grand tour’ (visiting
various parts of Europe); later it became a custom of all the upper classes, in-
cluding the bourgeoisie; but on a mass scale it started with the introduction of
paid holidays for (almost) all social classes in the early 20th century (Gyr et.al.
2010, Hachtmann 2007, Krippendorf 1987). After World War II, globalisation
led to worldwide tourism, but basically still with people from the rich Nort-
hern (or Western) countries travelling to the Global South. Recently, a new
trend has become apparent: in many ‘emerging’ countries, for instance China,
other Asian countries or Latin America, more and more people can aford to
travel, and even to travel abroad. Tis creates an even more colourful picture
of tourism relationships.
As opposed to tourism, ‘travelling’ is not only an ancient human trait, it is
more a human ‘way of being’. Te nomadic origins of mankind are nowadays
often cited, recalled or evoked, e.g. by Bruce Chatwin (1997, 101):
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 39
“Evolution intended us to be travellers. Settlement for any length of time, in
cave or castle, has at best been a sporadic condition in the history of man.
Prolonged settlement has a vertical axis of some ten thousand years, a drop
in the ocean in the evolutionary time. We are travellers from birth. Our
mad obsession with technological progress is a response to barriers in the
way of our geographical progress. Te few ‘primitive’ peoples in the forgot-
ten corners of the earth understand this simple fact about our nature better
than we do. Tey are perpetually mobile.”
Tis is not without infuence on our modern life. Maybe we can state that tou-
rism is a surrogate of our desire to get back to the ‘golden nomadic age’. But
one does not have to share Chatwin’s nomadic romanticism to acknowledge
that, for the greater part of human evolution, nomadism was the natural way
of life. Moreover, migration was always an entirely natural mode of develop-
ment for human societies. Te settlement and exploration of the whole globe
was the work of ‘migrants’. However, travel was never only for economic rea-
sons; it also had spiritual impetus, as the widespread institution of pilgrimage
shows. Te image of travel as a human way of being is illustrated by all these
aspects.
Very often, a principal reason for travelling was an interest in the conquest
and occupation of other countries. Travelling was aimed at dominating and
converting other people (to the religion or ideology of the conquering armies
and people), at exploiting their resources, and at using the people themselves
as resources. Tus warfare was always a major reason for travelling: from the
campaigns of Alexander the Great to the wars of the (European) Migration
Period, from the Mongolians to Tamburlaine’s campaigns, from the Crusades
to Napoleon’s conquests – until today, warfare and travelling have always been
directly linked. Even today, warfare is still an important part of the travelling
business: be it armed invasions of other countries like the USA’s intervention
in Iraq in 2003, or be it so-called or real peace missions (with the consent of
the United Nations).
Tis search for conquest obviously has a gender aspect. Warfare has always
been a male domain, and conquest always also meant the conquest of women,
as the embodiment of the ‘other’. Te interest in the domination of the other
was not least the interest in sexual appropriation.
Tus, historically, ‘intercultural encounters’ were mostly the consequence
of wars and colonisation – producing encounters on a very biased and un-
equal level. People not only gained knowledge of other civilisations via wars
of conquest, but even developed their patterns of conceiving ‘the others’ in
this way, as Todorov, for instance, shows (Todorov 1982). Te frst experience
of any totally diferent society (like American natives for the Europeans) was
shocking and provoked a profound uncertainty. Te mere existence of a dife-
rent civilisation is a challenge to one’s own system of ‘world order’, up to that
point the one-and-only and thus the ‘natural’ one. In order to reduce the ‘fear
of the other’, (Western) societies have developed diferent strategies, basically
‘demonisation’ and ‘minimisation’ (Mazumdar 2011, 49 pp.).
40 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Demonisation means labelling the ‘other’ as the absolute evil – having no
morals, having no religion (or the wrong one) – i.e. they are with the devil,
they are enemies, or they are not even human. Tus it is justifable to kill them,
to exterminate or to enslave them; or at least they have to be converted, assi-
milated, and made ‘like us’. Minimisation, on the other hand, is the picture of
the ‘other’ as the ‘noble savage’, an idea that is often combined with cultural
pessimism – the belief that one’s own society is decadent and only can regain
its strength by drawing from the innocence and the natural power of the cul-
tures of noble savages (Todorov 1989). More often than not, this attitude is
linked with another (martial) form of travel – ‘colonisation’. Te colonisation
of the Americas, for instance, was fuelled by the fascinating ideal of a utopian
society, by the vision of creating ‘God’s own country’ in the ‘New World’: ‘tra-
velling as the pursuit of happiness’.
On the other hand, mankind has also developed peaceful ways of dealing
with the unavoidable presence of the ‘other’, especially through the concept of
‘hospitality’ (Gotman 2001, Montandon 2001). In traditional societies, travel-
ling and hospitality are two sides of one coin. Hospitality is rightly considered
“as of one of the most important social and political institutions, known from
the very dawn of civilization and not less relevant today” (Khayutina 2004).
Te right to hospitality was a holy right in many cultures and religions. Inte-
restingly enough, the word derives from ‘hostis’, which means ‘stranger’ (and
thus ‘guest’) as well as ‘enemy’. Hence the right to hospitality was a rule to deal
with uncertain situations: the stranger might be an enemy, but as long as he
remains on your territory, you owe it to him to treat him like a guest.
Nowadays tourism seems to be the inheritor of both traditions, warfare and
hospitality; some critics of tourism compare it with the invasion of enemy tro-
ops – they come en masse, take all they can get (at a very cheap price), over-
exploit the natural resources (like water in arid zones), and – when they do
spend some money – it is for the beneft of the big companies (often from their
own country), leaving the local people to derive almost no beneft from their
spending. Furthermore, we should bear in mind that the arrival of tourists
from the former colonising states, in the former colonies, unavoidably evokes
some historical memories and could easily be interpreted as a neo-colonial
endeavour. Not least, this is a cultural ‘package’ that can burden North-South
tourism. Additionally, the gender aspect, as mentioned in the travel and war-
fare context, is also true for tourism. Traditionally, travellers were predomi-
nantly male; coupled with the fact that a male interest in tourism as a liberati-
on of ‘home’ rules often applied, this still plays an important role.
As for traditional hospitality, modern tourism likes to refer to these tradi-
tions, with terms such as ‘hospitality management’ or ‘hospitality services’ in
common use. But to draw a direct line from ancient hospitality to the modern
tourism business, is to pretend that the tourism industry nowadays can provi-
de the same kind of warm, naïve and cordial hospitality to the mass of tourists
invading the cities and the beaches that traditional people reserved for the
infrequent and individual strangers who reached their homelands.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 41
In many advertisements, tourist agents promise the ‘traditional hospita-
lity’ of the ‘indigenous’ population as an additional beneft. It is obvious that
this cannot work. In former days, travelling was not something to buy and sell.
Hospitality could neither be booked nor cancelled. In a direct way, from one
person to another, hospitality can still happen and indeed does happen more
often than not, but this has nothing to do with the tourism business. Hospita-
lity was originally something reserved for single travellers or small groups, the
directive to ‘do no harm’ to these strangers was one precondition of organising
‘international’ trafc and trade. Whilst we have to reject this restricted and me-
aningless use of the tradition of hospitality, a discussion of the very meaning of
hospitality in a modern and globalised world might ofer a frst approach to the
connection of tourism and peace. Tis is the topic of the next sub-chapter.
Tourism, Mass Migration and Global Citizenship:
A First Approach to Tourism and Peace
In the context of tourism and peace, we cannot ignore all other types of jour-
ney. Tourism is only one half of travelling in the modern world. Whilst tou-
rism is one growing form of travelling, migration is the other. Migration is the
‘negative of the tourism constellation’. Whilst tourists travel for entertainment
and recreation, migrants travel for survival and better living conditions or
quality of life. (Western) tourists travel to (Southern) countries with an ori-
entalistic view. Tey admire the exoticism of the ‘indigenous’ population, in-
cluding their ‘hospitality’, be it the expression of personal friendliness or part
of a strategy. However, on the other hand, many people from the Global South
use contacts with tourists in order to prepare their migration to the ‘promised
land’ in the Northern hemisphere.
Tis ‘fow’ of hospitality rarely works in reverse though. When these mig-
rants actually manage to arrive, for them, the idea of hospitality does not exist.
With ever-stricter migration (or should we say anti-migration?) laws, the rich
countries try to stop or to hinder the migration fow. Te same people, admi-
red or at least looked upon in their countries of origin, are disdained or even
chased away when they come to the countries where the tourists originate.
And nobody is aware of this contradiction. Te movement of the tourists and
the movement of migrants are worlds apart; they do not contact each other,
not do they ‘see’ each other (Mazumdar 2011, 71 pp.).
In order to make a diference, hospitality must no longer be limited to a cul-
tural custom, but instead must acquire a legal status. Tis was at least the vi-
sion of European enlightenment – a tradition all European societies are proud
of. In his essay on the ‘Perpetual Peace’ (1795), German philosopher Imma-
nuel Kant develops the global right to hospitality. Te third defnitive article
for perpetual peace reads: “Te Law of World Citizenship Shall Be Limited to
Conditions of Universal Hospitality.” And Kant explains (Kant 1795):
“Hospitality means the right of a stranger not to be treated as an enemy
when he arrives in the land of another. One may refuse to receive him when
this can be done without causing his destruction; but, so long as he peace-
42 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
fully occupies his place, one may not treat him with hostility. It is not the
right to be a permanent visitor that one may demand. A special benefcent
agreement would be needed in order to give an outsider a right to become a
fellow inhabitant for a certain length of time. It is only a right of temporary
sojourn, a right to associate, which all men have. Tey have it by virtue of
their common possession of the surface of the earth, where, as a globe, they
cannot infnitely disperse and hence must fnally tolerate the presence of
each other. Originally, no one had more right than another to a particular
part of the earth.”
Tis is a remarkable statement, seen in the context of the current migration
policies of Western states. For Kant, the ‘Law of World Citizenship’, which in-
cludes the right to hospitality, is a cornerstone for the building of a peaceful
world order. World citizenship is a bridge between the universal human rights
and the state-based legal systems (Rademacher 2010). Nowadays, in times of
globalisation, the idea of world citizenship and the right to hospitality is be-
coming even more important. If tourism has a mission for world peace, then
it is to spread the idea of (and to provide stimulating images of) world citizen-
ship: the beauty of the whole planet, the diversity of human cultures and civi-
lisations, the necessity of dealing with our diferences in a political, i.e. non-
violent way – thus acting as global citizens. Tourism efectively contributes to
peace if and when it helps tourists, as well as hosts, to learn that together we
can make the world a better place for all human beings. It goes without saying
that tourism alone cannot make such a diference. Tourism for peaceful pur-
poses has to be embedded into a whole cultural system and an educational
strategy favourable to peace.
Tis argument could – in our view – be one starting point for a discus-
sion of the connection between tourism and peace. Te idea, the ideal of and
practical steps towards global citizenship can be promoted by peace-sensitive
tourism. However, beyond the fact that this efect of tourism is a desirable
outcome, there still lies the question of its feasibility. In order to discuss this
more in detail, we need to clarify a set of terms and assumptions, namely the
cultural dimension of tourism and the existing concepts of tourism and peace.
Understanding the Tourism and Peace Relationship
Tourism and Peace: The State of the Art
At the outset, the discussion of the complex relationship between tourism and
peace was mostly limited to the paradigm of the millions of intercultural en-
counters supposed to contribute to a better mutual understanding and thus
global peace – the so-called ‘contact hypothesis’. Over time, additional as-
pects have been added but have received less attention; their discussion is still
relevant as well, however, for this comprehensive overview. As already menti-
oned, peace-sensitive tourism cannot be separated from responsible and sus-
tainable tourism since, in a broad sense, most of their constituting elements
have peace-building efects. Some of these elements will be listed.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 43
Tourism as a force for peace and better cultural understanding has been
promoted since the early days of tourism research. Tis has been refected
in several international documents (Annex at the end of this book) and dis-
cussed in conferences. A conference on ‘Tourism – a Passport to Peace’, held
in 1987 in Shannon, Ireland was followed by the frst ‘Global Conference on
‘Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace’ in 1988 by the non-proft organisation ‘In-
ternational Institute for Peace Trough Tourism’ (see Louis D’Amore in this
volume) in Vancouver. Tis organisation, a coalition of international travel
industry organisations, promotes “tourism initiatives that contribute to inter-
national understanding, improved quality of environment, the preservation of
heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to build a peaceful and susta-
inable world” (Salazar 2006, 3). Over time, other events have been held and
more declarations formulated, although seemingly rather as ‘ad-hoc’ actions
without any systematic approach. Most of the time it has seemed more im-
portant to showcase tourism as a powerful economic tool that can assist in
overcoming economic crises, eradicate poverty and create jobs, rather than
as a peace-building tool within and between nations. Moufakkir and Kelly
state that the interest in the concept of tourism and peace can be presented
from “euphoric recognition in the 1980s to scepticism in the 1990s followed by
an almost total rejection” (Moufakkir and Kelly 2010, xxii). While it as assu-
med that the ‘Peace Trough Tourism Movement’ began with the First Global
Conference in Vancouver in 1988 a new euphoria emerged at the beginning
of the new Millennium (Etter 2007), which resulted in numerous new publi-
cations and articles. Te diference in these newer articles is that, in addition
to the oft-cited ‘contact theory’, other aspects of this multi-faceted topic are
discussed for the frst time. Case studies, in which tourism was used as a tool
for peace-building eforts, have also been described in more detail such as Ire-
land, Bosnia- Herzegovina, the Korean Peninsula, Israel-Palestine, Sri Lanka,
Rwanda and others (see Ivanov and Webster, Fischer, Alluri et.al. in this volu-
me). In 2013 several new publications and events on tourism and peace high-
lighted the current awareness and validation of this challenging topic among
the tourism leaders on an international scale.
When discussing other aspects of tourism and peace beside the contact
theory then, Kelly, in his ‘Peace Trough Tourism Implementation Guide’
names potential areas of action. He lists four broad and overlapping areas in
which he hopes that their implementation might have the required efect. He
outlines (Kelly 2012, 32-49):
• “Intergroup contact
• Ethical concerns (respect for the environment and human rights)
• Positive impact of tourism on negative elements of globalisation (poverty
eradication)
• Awareness raising among suppliers and consumers by codes of conduct,
peace parks and tourism education.”
Whilst we agree with Kelly, we will also try to ofer some other linkages bet-
ween tourism, as a cultural and social activity supported by a multi-layered
44 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
industry, and peace, as a process that aims to reduce human violence targe-
ted at other humans and nature through peaceful means (Galtung 2011, 69).
We base these linkages on dimensions that stem from the tourism impact but
are also an integral part of peace processes. Tus we distinguish educational,
economic, and environmental dimensions as well as the dimension of confict
resolution and reconciliation issues.
The Educational Dimension: Contact Hypothesis and Attitude Change
As already mentioned, the idea that tourism can produce an attitude change
and thus contribute to peace is the most widely-discussed one (also Moufak-
kir, Kelly and Friedl in this volume). Te ‘contact theory’ or ‘contact hypothe-
sis’, with a focus on the guest-host relationship, has received extensive atten-
tion in various publications and meanwhile has become the subject of many
empirical studies (Etter 2007, Pizam et.al. 2000). Despite all the eforts under-
taken by various researchers it still is a very complex theme that has as many
opponents as proponents.
Tis handbook will not ofer a comprehensive literature review on this to-
pic, but rather will highlight some relevant fndings. Etter, in 2007, summari-
ses the main fndings by referring to Gordon W. Allport who, in 1954 in his
book ‘Te Nature of Prejudice’, outlined the situational conditions whereby
intergroup contact will lead to a decrease in prejudice. His assumption was
that:
“prejudice (unless deeply rooted in the character structure of the individu-
al) may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority
groups in the pursuit of common goals. Te efect is greatly enhanced if
this contact is sanctioned by institutional supports (i.e. laws, customs or
local atmosphere) and provided it is of a sort that leads to the perception
of common interests and common humanity between members of the two
groups.” (Etter 2007; Allport 1954, 281)
Other researchers have supported this assumption and underpinned it with
empirical studies. While Tomljenovi? and Faulkner (2000) do not clearly sta-
te that tourism contributes to a better understanding of the ‘other’, they give
some real examples in which the tourist-host contacts failed to bring about
the desired changes (e.g. language and cultural barriers and poor guiding)
(Tomljenovi? and Faulkner 2000). Tey conclude that, in the end, it is the qua-
lity of services provided in the destination that determines the success of the
host-guest contact (Ibid. 31).
Something similar was stated in an empirical study by Anastasopoulos,
who did a survey on Greek frst-time visitors to Turkey in 1992, regarding their
attitude towards Turkey before and after their travels. Te major outcome was
that these travels had negative impacts on the visitors, mainly concerning the
perception of the living standards and institutions in Turkey (Anastasopoulos
1992). Other studies that tested this hypothesis can be found with Israelis vi-
siting Egypt (Amir, Ben-Ari 2010). According to Pizam (Pizam 1996 and Etter
2007), four studies between 1990 and 1994 on attitude changes amongst visi-
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 45
tors from the US, USSR, Israel and Egypt, Greece and Turkey were carried out
and concluded that only a “relatively small number of changes in the opinions
and attitudes of travellers resulting from their tourist experience […] and the
majority of changes occurred in a negative direction.” (Pizam 1996, 210)
With the outcome of various empirical studies it has become possible to
amplify Allport’s initial assumption on the specifcs of when a prejudice can
be reduced. Amongst those conditions Pizam et.al (2000, 399) mention the
following:
• “Equal status contact between the members of the interacting group
• Intergroup cooperation in the pursuit of common goals; this creates an in-
terdependency between the groups and discourages competition between
them
• Contact of intimate rather than casual nature, which allows the interacting
members to get to know each other beyond the superfcial level
• An ‘authority’ and / or social climate approving of and supporting the inter-
group contact
• Te initial intergroup attitudes are not extremely negative.”
Based on research on the conditions described by Pizam, Etter goes one step
further and concludes that the “most pertinent conditions for positive attitude
change are the sharing of common goals, voluntary and intimate contact and
the absence of negative personality structures; equal status within contact sit-
uations and authority sanction are less signifcant” (Etter 2007).
Tomljenovi? (2010) lists the many criticisms that the contact hypothesis
has received over time. She reminds us that the contact situations in tourism
are seldom such that they can contribute to an attitude change, since the en-
counters between hosts and guests are less intense and meaningful due to the
lack of contact opportunities and the lack of motivation on the part of the
tourists. Tey can even have adverse efects – sometimes, leading to a rein-
forcement of pre-existing prejudices and beliefs. She concludes that, despite
these negative fndings, seemingly about “two thirds of international travel-
lers seek out contact with hosts, motivated by a desire for cultural enrichment”
(Tomljenovi?, 2010, 29) and that this is also refected in the increasing creati-
on of diferent travel experiences to satisfy these desires and motivations. She
summarises that, whilst the evidence indicates that tourism does not manage
to foster intercultural understanding, there is more positive evidence as re-
gards the question of whether tourism contacts are benefcial to this overall
process.
In the same line of argument, Kelly states that the task of tourism is to pro-
vide travel experiences which encourage appropriate attitude change (Kelly
2006), for which a certain predisposition to learning about the other is essen-
tial. For this purpose, the preparation of the traveller and his / her communi-
cation with the destination is crucial (Kelly 2006).
Te good news is that we can fnd increasingly new ‘peace-sensitive travel
models’ that work towards the improvement of such quality encounters bet-
ween guests and hosts. Also, the necessary preparation for the tourists in the
46 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
form of peace-sensitive ‘tourist education’ is increasingly being met by travel
guides, guide books and other media means (see Moufakkir and Kelly; and
Newlands in this volume).
To resume: based on the fndings and arguments displayed in this chapter,
the rhetoric of tourism leaders that tourism contributes quasi-automatically
to a better cultural understanding should be aligned less with the ‘optimistic’
and ‘assertive’ and more with the ‘realistic and evidence-based’ formulations.
Research and experience shows that, unless certain conditions and predispo-
sitions are met, it is extremely difcult to achieve a better cultural understan-
ding; the opposite can occur and prejudices can be reconfrmed and enhan-
ced. It is possible for some forms of guest-host interactions to contribute to
better understanding, but these do not occur in mainstream tourism; rather,
they have to be planned accordingly. At the same time we nevertheless wish
to stress that travel can ‘broaden the mind’, enrich someone’s understanding
of other living conditions, religious beliefs, etc. and thus have an infuence on
the traveller’s perception of the ‘other’.
The (not only) Economic Dimension: Peace by Welfare and Democracy
It is understood that the economic efects of tourism are very often adver-
se. Tese can “range from huge gains by big international companies in land
acquisition, tax concessions and other advantages that leave local, small- and
medium-sized companies with only minimal benefts, to low wages and poor-
quality employment alike” (Equations 2013, 118).
At the same time the argument that tourism, with its positive economic
impact such as poverty eradication, job creation and income generation, has
a peace-building efect, has received less attention in the ‘peace through tou-
rism’ literature. Kelly calls it “countering globalisation-induced dependency”
(Kelly 2012, 40) and refers to the poverty-reducing potential of tourism, but
does not go into this connection in more detail.
We understand that social, economic and cultural insecurity are reasons
for ethnic and religious conficts. Tus the economic aspect of tourism plays
a role in conficts but also in strengthening peace in destinations unburdened
by violent confict (Levy and Hawkins 2009, 571). Te Institute of Economics
and Peace states that among eight pillars of peace a sound business environ-
ment is crucial to peace; this is instrumental in providing a viable taxation
base, the productive use of human capital, and the ability for individuals to
access capital (Pillars of Peace, 20).
In a study by Levy and Hawkins (2009) on 136 award-winning tourism
practices in the feld of tourism’s contribution to sustainability and peace, they
tried to identify the contribution of commerce-based tourism to peaceful so-
cieties. Tey managed to demonstrate that, among the economic-related win-
ning tourism activities, two sustainable tourism principles were used: employ-
ment quality, and economically viable tourism destinations and enterprises.
In their conclusions they confrmed the “conceptual link between sustainable
tourism and peace” by illuminating how responsible tourism can contribute
to strengthening peaceful societies (ibid., 581).
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 47
At the same time Timothy (Timothy 2013, 17–18) argues that “tourism be-
cause of its positive economic potential can create animosity between neigh-
bours” and mentions as an example the eleventh-century Hindu Preah Vihear
temple at the Tai-Cambodia border (also Suntikul and Butler in this volume).
Tis temple is an important tourist attraction for both countries. Te territo-
ry on which it is located was the subject of territorial confict that began as
long ago as 1907, when the border was delineated and the temple located on
Cambodian soil. Tailand took action against this, but not until 1954, when it
sent troops to occupy the territory. In 1962, the International Court of Justice
afrmed Cambodian sovereignty over the temple, a decision that Tailand has
never recognised. Gunfre and skirmishes in this area erupted as recently as
2011. Te temple is of enormous cultural value and is included in UNESCO’s
World Heritage List (with Cambodia).
A similar story can be found among the Tuaregs around Agadez in Niger,
where the revolution in 2000 had a severe impact on the fourishing tourism
industry. Following the end of the revolution, many ex-rebels used tourism as
an employment tool, initially also using ‘violent’ methods to get tourists. It was
only after the establishment of an association aimed at focussing on tourism
development that the situation improved and tourism developed accordingly.
Unfortunately this changed again in 2003, when the frst Sahara tourists were
hijacked in Algeria and tourist groups were brutally attacked and robbed. Te
situation worsened with the new rebellion in 2007, in which renewed fghting
broke out between Tuareg rebels and government troops (Friedl 2008, 52–53)
with the consequence that the tourism industry came to a complete standstill.
To resume: as Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles (2013a, 22) state, “any
economic critique of peace through tourism starts with the negotiation of a
capitalist system that has incorporated and afected (to some degree) every
culture and region of the world, no matter how remote from key centres of po-
wer.” We argue furthermore that tourism as an economic force can, like other
economic sectors, put pressure on the authorities to (re)create the peaceful
conditions necessary for business. For groups in confict, the tourism deve-
lopment perspective, whether shared or not, can be an additional argument in
the negotiation process, but will not be the deciding one.
Stressing the economic potential of tourism for peace leads to addressing
the responsibility of the tourism sector for engagement in peace. Trough
the creation of employment opportunities and income, tourism can empo-
wer local populations, regardless of whether it concerns impoverished regi-
ons, post-confict contexts or in the ‘developed’ world. Trough this econo-
mic empowerment, a violence-reducing impact can be achieved in a situation
that could otherwise lead to the outbreak of violence and conficts. So far, the
tourism industry pays only lip service (if that) to peace issues. Te key ques-
tions in particular are mostly avoided: questions of economy are questions of
democracy, and ultimately how the economic wealth is distributed within a
society.
48 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
The Environmental Dimension
Little can be found on the environmental dimension of tourism and peace.
Looking into various defnitions, environment can be defned as the external
conditions in which an organism lives (Allaby 1985 and Collin 1991). For tou-
rism this defnition includes the physical dimension, in addition to a social,
cultural, economic and political one, explaining “the demand for tourism as
a consequence of the interaction between the local social, cultural and eco-
nomic environments with those in the locations from whence the tourists ori-
ginate” (Holden 2000, 24). In other words, we have natural and human-made
types of environment that have certain push/pull efects on the consumer.
Since the early days of tourism, the irresponsible consumption of the en-
vironment by tourism has been a point for discussion. Te negative physical
and cultural environmental consequences, ranging from the overuse of limi-
ted natural resources such as water, to pollution issues such as sewage prob-
lems and noise, to human behaviour towards the destinations, have left the
environment as being among the root causes for several conficts. In order to
reduce these consequences, codes of conduct and sustainable practices have
been developed. Tese eforts aim to protect the (natural) environment from
the more damaging forms of human behaviour (Holden 2000, 97).
Whyte, in his article on ‘an environmental justice perspective’, argues that
tourism is seen as an “environmental justice issue because tourism activities
afect the environmental quality of the places where host communities live,
work and play” (Whyte 2013, 49). Terefore it is essential for advocates of
peace through tourism “to take recognition justice seriously otherwise it may
not be better than mutually benefcial exploitation”. (Ibid.) He explains that
recognition injustice occurs when “tourists seek experiences that degrade and
stereotype the host culture(s)” and when “they do not compensate the hosts in
culturally appropriate ways, do not recognise that they are able to perceive the
hosts in certain ways because they are in the privileged position of not having
to be bothered by any resistance …” (Ibid. 52). With regard to the environment
heritage, he argues that tourism usually does not take into account the views
of the locals on their environmental heritage. It is therefore necessary, in
order to avoid recognition injustice, to have the hosts directly involved in
all steps of the tourism planning and implementation stages, where shared
power is exercised and the participants “work jointly toward promoting peace
as a process of acknowledging people’s diferent heritages and experiences …”
(Ibid. 58). Tis again shows that questions of the environment (like questions
of development) are in fact also questions of participation, democracy and
justice.
When we go one step further, to the environmental impact on peace-buil-
ding – environmental protection and cooperation as a factor for peaceful re-
lations – then we have to tackle the conservation issue. Tis issue has been
highlighted particularly in the creation of peace parks. Peace parks have usu-
ally been established in confict-ridden areas of ecological signifcance and
natural beauty. Tey have been a means of addressing not only the ecologi-
cal issues but also the roots of the conficts (Ali 2007, 1). Nowadays there are
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 49
“188 trans-boundary protected areas worldwide“ (ibid). Te creation of such
‘conservation zones’ has led to a common goal among the formerly conficting
parties, and has been used for confict resolution.
Tourism, Confict Resolution and Reconciliation
When looking into the relationship between tourism and confict resolution,
one can start by arguing that tourism depends on security and stability, thus
tourism during wartime cannot exist. As has been confrmed on many occa-
sions, tourism sufers severely from any political unrest or violent conficts. In
such cases numbers of tourist arrivals – and thus receipts – decrease signif-
cantly (see Lagat, Kiarie and Njiraini in this volume). Whilst tourism is very
vulnerable to any form of man-made or natural confict, it is at the same time
resilient and manages to bounce back once the violent confict ends.
Te question that arises in this context is how tourism can contribute to
the confict transformation and reconciliation processes that are required in
a post-confict context. Alluri et al. in this volume argue that there is a lack
of understanding and awareness of the possibilities of private sector engage-
ment in peace-building. Terefore the tourism private sector groups tend to
apply coping strategies during a confict, whilst in the post-confict phase a
lack of understanding, missing political space for engagement, lack of organi-
sational capacity and political convictions hinder their involvement in peace-
building eforts. Häusler and Baumgartner explain in this volume that, during
the development of tourism policies in Myanmar, the government ensured a
participatory approach through stakeholder processes that ofered not only a
“platform for sustainable tourism development in the country, but also an im-
portant contribution to the internal peace-building process”.
Something similar happened in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where all three na-
tionalities – Bosnians, Croats and Serbs – worked jointly on the production of
a marketing strategy for the whole country. During this process nationalistic
sentiments were put on hold and meaningful encounters, aimed at achieving
a common goal, were held (Causevic 2010, 59). In Australia, as an activity of
the formal process of reconciliation, a programme with reconciliation ac-
tion plans was developed. Tese action plans aim to promote reconciliation
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader Aus-
tralian community (Reconciliation Australia 2013). Also the National Tour-
ism Ofce, ‘Tourism Australia’, adopted its own plan that in overall terms
promotes aboriginal tourism based on respect and close cooperation with the
indigenous people (Tourism Australia Reconciliation Action Plan 2013).
Despite such reconciliation endeavours, Ian Kelly cautions that while tour-
ism in various forms can play a role through its ability to bring people togeth-
er, it is only a minor player in the encouragement of reconciliation, and may
be pursued through other trade linkages, diplomacy, and cultural exchanges
(Kelly, Nkabahona 2010, 239). However, the idea – promoted by some authors
like Louis D‘Amore and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles in several papers – of ac-
knowledging and using the potential of a ‘citizens’ diplomacy’, contesting the
monopoly of politicians and diplomats to deal with (international) conficts,
50 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
is a very productive one. Higgins-Desbiolles coined the term ‘reconciliation
tourism’ (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2006, 1 and 2013a, 24) in order to
describe, inter alia, initiatives to raise the awareness of (international) visitors
regarding on-going conficts. We believe this term can also be used for inter-
national peace activities from ‘below’; there were many between the Eastern
and the Western block during the Cold War, and during the war in Yugoslavia
in the 1990s, to cite just two examples.
To resume these arguments: Tourism does have a role in confict resolution,
confdence-building and reconciliation, but not in an isolated way. It is too
heavily shaped by other cultural or political dimensions in any given society.
Tus peace politics and culture also have an impact on the way tourism is con-
ceived and practised.
Understanding ‘Peace-Sensitive Tourism’
Any peace-sensitive tourism initiative has to start not only with a criticism of
the given situation and of the negative efects of tourism in economic, social,
ecological and cultural matters, but also with a criticism of the denial of exis-
ting conficts between diferent interest groups. Equally, it has to denounce
the hypocrisy of a tourism ‘new speak’, using the language of alternative and
responsible tourism or the rhetoric of peace without any substantial changes.
However, it would be counter-productive to condemn the tourism industry
wholesale. Any criticism should lead on to an emphasis of the potential of tou-
rism to contribute to peace. For out of this potential grows responsibility. And
it is this responsibility that peace-sensitive tourism has to stress as its funda-
mental basis.
Peace as a Process to Reduce Violence and to Create Sustainable
Non-Violent Relationships
Much too often, peace is understood as an exclusively political endeavour.
Two (or more) states (or parties), which have fought against each other, decide
to lay down their arms and to ‘make peace’. Tis – following Galtung – is what
peace research calls ‘negative peace’ (a rather uninspiring term). Research
shows that many peace processes are not very long-lasting because a political
peace without reconciliation, justice and a ‘new deal’ in society is, more often
than not, unsustainable. Why? Because the very reasons for the confict, its
(deep) roots, are not addressed. Other factors, besides those at the politico-
military level, have to be taken into consideration. Tis leads to the cultural
element in peace research, “the need to move beyond institutional thinking
about politics, power, sovereignty and representation and to engage with emo-
tive, aesthetic, linguistic and cultural representations” (Richmond 2008, 147).
In order to make peace sustainable, one has to work for ‘positive peace’ –
including social justice. Tis is where the cultural aspect comes in. Political
decisions are taken by politicians, but they cannot act in isolation. Tey are
not only ‘children of their time’, but also ‘children of their society’ – the po-
litical culture and, beyond that, basic assumptions on how to deal with dife-
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 51
rence, confict, violation of rules etc. play an important role when it comes to
decision-making on war and peace. Tis means that we not only need peace,
but also a ‘culture of peace’, a common understanding that confict has to be
settled in a non-violent way and, moreover, a deep-rooted non-violent practice.
But until now, this has not been the way things have gone. Even Western de-
mocratic societies, so proud of their technical and social achievements, have
still kept many elements of a culture of war. In order to overcome this culture
of war, we cannot just rely upon politicians but also have to consider other
groups from civil society. Tey all have to work together for new social relati-
onships. Until the key elements of cultural peace are established, the spectre
of war will not disappear. “For this reason, a culture of peace needs more than
the absence of war. It requires a profound cultural transformation”, under-
lines David Adams, former UNESCO mastermind of their Culture of Peace
programme (Adams 2003, 1).
But what exactly should be understood by a ‘culture of peace’? A classic,
but very general defnition is provided by the United Nations: “Te Culture
of Peace is a set of values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that
reject violence and prevent conficts by tackling their root causes to solve
problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and
nations” (UN Resolutions A/RES/52/13: Culture of Peace and A/53/243: De-
claration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace). Tis defnition di-
stinguishes three levels – values, attitudes and modes of behaviour. It states
that the whole cultural ‘system’ has to be oriented towards non-violence. It is
not enough to preach the value of peace whilst at the same time – in private
or in political life – aggression and (verbal) violence are considered natural
modes of behaviour.
Non-violence has to become ‘a way of life’, as the UN declaration puts it.
Usually, this is accepted as long as it remains on a very abstract level. As soon
as it comes to practice, there is the distinction between ‘us’ and ‘the others’.
Te peaceful mode of behaviour that is applied – as a matter of course – to
the individual’s own group / class / nation etc. does not apply to the others,
to those who – for one reason or another – ‘do not belong to us’. For instance,
Europeans do not always include migrants in their democratic and welfare
system, and the US do not apply their human rights standards to the prisoners
in Guantánamo. To sum up: the tendency is to behave peacefully only towards
friends and the ‘we-group’, and not in a universal way. In times of a confict
with signifcant dissent in interests or of identity confict, we ‘forget’ our good,
peaceful education and try to beat the enemy by any means. But the fact is that
a culture of peace requires that people act according to peace rules, and espe-
cially so in regard to important and existential conficts – and this not simply
at a personal level, but also at a political level.
Tus, the whole of society has to be ‘pervaded’ by a culture of peace. A cul-
ture of peace requires a social transformation that goes deeper than the poli-
tical level – although, of course, encompassing the political level as well. For
a culture of peace is not only about culture, seen as a special social factor. It
is, rather, about the cultural ‘dimension’ of each and every social activity and
52 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
structure. Tis profound transformation cannot happen overnight. All sectors
of society can contribute to this deep transformation, including tourism. (For
a deeper discussion of the term ‘culture of peace’ see Adams 2003, Winterstei-
ner 2010, or Wulf 2008).
Tourism as a Contribution to a Culture of Peace: Three Avenues
Based on these considerations, it is evident then that the following question:
‘How can tourism contribute to peace?’ should not be put in such a simplistic
form; it is just too general to be productive. Our argument is that tourism can
only contribute minimally to the ‘political’ process of peace-making. Someti-
mes, the perspective of (shared or separate) tourism development may be an
additional argument for the conficting partners to come to an agreement, but
this is hardly likely to be the decisive factor. Tourism is an economic force and
as such, it can, like other economic sectors, put a certain amount of pressure
on the authorities to (re)create the peaceful conditions necessary for business.
Tis is not, however, the specifc contribution of the tourism industry to peace.
Te very feld of tourism and peace is cultural, not economic or political.
‘Culture’ is, ironically, the ‘political’ dimension of tourism.
Tus tourism, in the best case, and together with other social practices, can
contribute to confict prevention and thus to a culture of peace. However, in
the tourism and peace literature, we sometimes fnd confusion between nor-
mative goals and empirical facts. Te researcher’s own wishes are presented as
facts. Tis even happens in the interesting approach of Haessly (2010). After a
correct description of a wider concept of peace – understood as ‘positive peace’
in the sense of Galtung, i.e. peace as social justice and, moreover, a spiritual
balance – she claims that tourism contributes to this noble aim: “Travellers
may undertake new experiences; gain knowledge of other cultures, regions
and countries; discover the importance of caring for the environment; develop
new friendships; and in the process, promote peaceful relations among people”
(ibid., 13). Tis argument raises two problems. Firstly, the notion of peace (or
culture of peace – this is not very clearly distinguished) is focused exclusively
on private personal encounters and therefore has no ‘political’ meaning; the
question of how this infuences the political level is not addressed. Secondly,
and even more problematically, this is not an evidence-based statement but
just wishful thinking. As Noel Salazar puts it: “Tere are many ‘good practi-
ce’ examples of alternative forms of tourism contributing to confict resolu-
tion, greater intercultural understanding, and even global social justice. Te
question whether and how tourism as a whole contributes to world peace is
more complex.“ (Salazar 2006, 323) In order to fnd out how tourism can best
contribute to a culture of peace, we need a more analytical as well as a more
empirical approach. If we read Haessly’s statement not as an empirical truth
but as a catalogue of useful criteria for tourism’s contribution to a culture of
peace, a kind of ‘code of ethics’, then we have a measure which provides an ini-
tial orientation. She distinguishes the following criteria (Haessly 2010, 14, here
presented in a condensed form):
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 53
• Honour spiritual and cultural tradition
• Reduce poverty by hiring people from local communities
• Promote sustainable development with care for the ecosystem (ecotourism)
• Promote and preserve a culture of peace by involving local people in decisi-
on-making regarding development and tourism.
Whilst all four criteria pursue noble aims and promote aspects of a culture
of peace, they are surely not sufcient, given the fact that a culture of peace
requires a deep transformation of politics, daily life and cultural production.
Based on the analysis of diferent case studies, including those assembled
in this volume, we can make a frst attempt to move beyond Haessly, in order
to create an evidence-based typology of peace through tourism. However, we
need to keep in mind that this typology only describes a set of constellations
with peace potential. As with any other social process, the outcome is unpre-
dictable. Nevertheless, it makes sense to identify such constellations and do
empirical research to fnd out under which specifc conditions and to what
extent this potential can be exploited:
• Firstly, tourism as an experience of the ‘other’, and of otherness in general,
may open the minds of people and teach them that the world has more to
ofer than just one model of living: a critically revised and limited version of
the contact hypothesis (How post-war Austrian villagers learnt from Ger-
many or from people of their capital, Vienna, and vice versa)
• Secondly, mutual cross-border tourism to pay attention to the narratives of
the other side, and eventually overcome their strict opposition (example
Alps-Adriatic peace trails in this volume)
• Tirdly, peace tourism to learn from the history of war and the history of
important peace makers (see van den Dungen and Lollis in this volume).
Most of the articles in this handbook, when referring to examples of ‘peace-
sensitive tourism’, are of the second or third type; the frst type is given less at-
tention, almost certainly due to its vagueness. However we believe that these
‘ordinary and banal encounters’ are the very basis of any systematic attempt to
use tourism as a tool for peace.
As already stressed, all three approaches ofer some opportunities for de-
veloping elements of a culture of peace – but this does not mean that they
will automatically lead to the intended or desired results. Some real examples
now follow, including some frst hints as to the specifc circumstances to be
met, and measures to be taken, in order to increase the chances that these ty-
pes of tourism will help to create better understanding, more tolerance, and a
feeling of solidarity amongst all those involved. However, we cannot pretend
that we are able to provide practical guidelines that guarantee success. In the
complex social processes in which tourism also plays out its role, there are no
mono-causal efects. Since the old Ghandian saying “You must be the change
you wish to see in the world” is still true, the tourism industry has to start by
changing itself. Tus ‘peace-sensitive tourism’ – together with other factors
54 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
and players – can make a diference. Te more the cooperation with other
participants or groups is systematically organised, the more efcient it will
be.
By ‘peace-sensitive tourism’ we mean that tourism ‘participants’ should be
aware of their responsibility to contribute to a culture of peace via tourism.
Tis refers to all levels: from the tourism managers who conceive (thematic)
travels, to tourism educators, to guides, writers of guidebooks, right down to
the waiter / waitress apprentice and, of course, the tourists themselves … To
a greater or lesser extent, they can all contribute to more peace-sensitive be-
haviour within the tourism business and possibly even make tourism a social
practice of peace.
First Type – Tourism as an Experience of the ‘Other’
Te ‘Global Code of Ethics for Tourism’ (1999, 1) states that “through the di-
rect, spontaneous and non-mediatised contacts it engenders between men
and women of diferent cultures and lifestyles, tourism presents a vital force
for peace and a factor of friendship and understanding among the people of
the world”. It is absolutely right to highlight these contacts between ordinary
people. In our view, they are the ‘raw material’ of any peace-sensitive tourism
policy. As previously argued, direct contacts have not only the potential for
better understanding, but the potential to consolidate prejudices (‘by experi-
ence’) as well. Together with sports, popular media, arts, and politics, tourism
is a feld where identities are negotiated and images of the self and the other
forged. Tis is a complex, contradictory, and on-going process.
An example from our own background is that of the German-Austrian rela-
tionships after World War II. Germans were and still are the most important
tourists for Austria’s tourism industry. From a foreign or a global view, there
are not too many cultural diferences between the Germans as tourists and
their Austrian hosts. However, Austria’s identity and the relatively new con-
cept of Austria as a nation (which was widely accepted only from the 1960s
onwards) were developed in dissociation from Germany. Germany was con-
strued as the big brother, economically very efcient, but with a character
less ‘nice’ and ‘friendly’ than that of the Austrian nation. For most people in
Austria, tourism was the main source of direct contact with Germans. Tus,
tourism experiences were often used to explain ‘how the Germans really are’.
Tese ‘disputes’ with the Germans, who were both admired and envied at the
same time, were often mirrored in TV movies and in (Austrian) fction. In
the long run, however, one can state that these tourism contacts contribut-
ed (together with TV, a norm from the late 1950s onwards) to ‘modernising’
the minds of people in remote areas of the Austrian provinces. (Interestingly
enough, the image of people from the capital, Vienna, was more often than
not construed in exactly the same way as the image of the Germans.) Tis all
resulted in an ambiguous picture: whilst Germans and Austrians got to know
each other better through tourism, it did not automatically lead to better rela-
tionships.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 55
In fact, the tourism industry did not try to deal with this constellation sys-
tematically, for example by developing training programmes for tourism per-
sonnel, including tour guides, or by fostering a peaceful negotiation of identi-
ties, without blaming or deprecating the other. But to be fair, we have to add
that, since Austria’s tourism industry was mostly based on small family busi-
nesses, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, such training would not have had
much impact.
Tings change, however, as soon as targeted measures are taken in this feld.
An example here is that of the ‘Franco-German Youth Ofce’ (FGYO). Foun-
ded in 1963 by the President of France and the German Federal Chancellor,
the purpose of the Youth Ofce is to foster Franco-German cooperation – in
order to overcome hostility between the two peoples that led to three wars in
the previous 100 years. From 1963 to 2011, the FGYO has enabled more than
8 million young people from France and Germany to take part in 300,000 ex-
change programmes. It grants aids on average for 9,000 exchanges each year
(more than 5,000 group exchanges and about 4,000 individual exchange pro-
grammes) in which 195,000 young people take part. All the evidence (evaluati-
on, research, studies) shows that these programmes have been very successful
and, together with other measures, have helped to create a new climate bet-
ween the two states.
First Type at a glance:
• Tourism, seen from below
• Broad and unspecifc audience, except special exchange programmes
• Intervention by general means (good education of personnel, strategies co-
ordinated with other participants, sensitive reaction to incidents instead of
ignoring them, education of tourists by guides and with information mate-
rial)
• Most important (intended) outcome: No specifc or predictable outcome,
but intensive experiences that can be discussed, interpreted and used for
developing a culture of peace, so to speak the ‘raw material’, the ‘basis’ of
any peace-sensitive tourism.
Second Type – Cross-border Tourism and ‘Reconciliation Tourism’
“While the peace-through-tourism rhetoric often seems to stress the impor-
tance of the intercultural person-to-person contact between tourists and
‘hosts’ as a conduit to peace, recent research suggests that high politics activity
may be more important than low politics activity as a vehicle for peace” (Sa-
lazar 2006, 326). Tis applies particularly well to our second type: tourism
as a political measure to reconcile two or more neighbouring peoples that
have experienced war or another kind of deep confict. Mutual visits to and
within a former war zone defnitely have a diferent and deeper meaning from
other tourism activities. Of course this kind of tourism also benefts tourists
coming from other regions, who have no prejudices (or simply no knowledge)
concerning the history of the region. But this is not the primary target group.
Tis cross-border tourism allows for an intensive exchange of diferent and
56 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
contradictory narratives, which can only lead to the intended outcome of a
better understanding when it is consequently applied to the whole tourism
industry of the region.
In addition, it has to be contextualised in the overall politics of reconciliati-
on and cooperation.
An example here is the peace trails in the three neighbouring countries of
Italy, Austria and Slovenia. Te trails were once approach paths to the front-
line in the mountains. Recalling the atrocities of World War I (and indirectly
World War II), they still provoke a debate about the opposite and contradicto-
ry narratives in these countries (Wohlmuther et al. in this volume).
Second Type at a glance:
• Tourism, seen from above and below
• Limited, but very broad audience: the people living on both sides of the bor-
der; they are addressed as both tourists and hosts
• Specifed interventions, ideally as concerted action from both sides; pre-
sentation of their own narratives about the relationship to the other in a re-
fected way (but without giving up their own point of view), ideally not only
working according to the same principles, but working together
• Tourism conceived as a tool for reconciliation and / or deepening the mu-
tual understanding; in combination with youth exchange, school education,
cultural exchanges and common guided cross-border trips; a vast amount
of non-organised travel, contacts and friendships being the best sign of a
good climate
• Most important (intended) outcome: a long-lasting, deeper understanding
of the two ex-enemy peoples, the creation of shared values and even shared
narratives.
Third Type – Peace Tourism and Related Fields
Tis is a small but, for our purposes, very relevant segment of tourism. It is
closely linked but not restricted to ‘cultural tourism’ and ‘heritage tourism’.
We thus need to keep in mind the shift in the meaning of heritage that, in for-
mer times, exclusively referred to local or national traditions.
“Heritage can be conceived of as a group of people’s natural and cultural
legacy from the past, what they live with today, and what they pass on to
future generations. In heritage tourism, however, what counts as heritage is
increasingly defned on a translocal scale (e.g. UNESCO’s World Heritage
List). World heritage sites no longer belong only to the community where
they are located; they now belong to all the peoples of the world (at least, so
goes the dominant discourse).” (Salazar 2006, 328)
Tis ofers new perspectives for peace-sensitive heritage tourism. However,
one has to be aware that this also includes clashes between diferent narra-
tives concerning the heritage. For instance, it makes a diference whether
French or German or Chinese tourists visit the World War I battlefelds of
Verdun, France.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 57
‘Peace tourism’ in a narrow sense is the travelling to peace sites, monu-
ments, museums etc. in order to learn from the experience that these places
reveal (van den Dungen and Lollis in this volume). It is tourism about peace
and for peace. It also includes specifc peace education tourism, like the Peace
Boat where the travellers have lectures on board and feld trips in diferent
parts of the world. Teoretically, peace tourism is the opposite of ‘war tou-
rism’ (Suntikul and Butler in this volume). However, this distinction is trickier
than one might imagine. ‘War tourism’, or ‘dark tourism’, is defned as the
commercial use of the desire to make exciting but morally doubtful ‘real life’
adventures in confict or war zones (Butler 2012). Tis is by no means a new
phenomenon. As long ago as the 19th century, the Waterloo battlefeld was
a tourism attraction. Immediately after World War I, Zeppelin fights over
the former battlefelds were ofered, for a rich clientele, by a French company.
However, these seemingly typical examples of war tourism can also be associ-
ated with peace tourism. When visiting a historic battlefeld today, for examp-
le, this can be done in the spirit of pacifsm, to learn from history, or can be
driven by an interest in arms, warfare, and military strategy. Tus, it is impor-
tant to look more closely at how the events are presented by (state or private)
tourism agencies.
Basically, we can assume that tourists are already interested in a culture of
peace. Tey travel to know more about it and thus to work even more efci-
ently for their mission. In order to reach a broader audience, it makes sense to
extend the focus to the related felds so that this kind of tourism is likely also
to attract people who are not yet convinced by the ‘message of peace’.
Third Type at a glance:
• A specialised tourism segment
• A specifc and relatively small ‘target group’ – those who are likely to be
interested in peace issues.
• Intervention by very specifc ofers using peace sites (or war monuments,
presented as warning and historical lessons) or the biography of persona-
lities who can serve as role models; the more the intervention reaches peo-
ple who have not yet been won over ‘for the cause’, the more likely it will
be successful; open and dialogic presentation of facts, presenting opposi-
te narratives, urging the judgment of the clients instead of missionising or
‘educating’ them.
• Most important (intended) outcome: peace tourism can help them to fulfl
their peace work by providing them with new knowledge and encouraging
them in their endeavours.
Outlook: A Widely Unexplored Field
Actually, at this very moment in time, tourism and peace – as a feld both of
action and of research – is characterised by a strong momentum. Tis is only
partially explained by the strength of tourism itself as a prosperous industry.
Another explanation is that the expansion of tourism provokes social conficts
58 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
which are refected by scholar-practitioners interested in making use of the
opportunities of tourism as a positive social force. Tis is especially true for
post-colonial criticism of many Western practices, including tourism. Finally,
peace-sensitive tourism as a social practice has reached a certain level and is
no longer invisible. Tanks to the indefatigable eforts of a couple of pioneers,
the research on tourism is no longer just the monopoly of the economy and
management departments of the universities.
Nevertheless, more efort is still needed in order to establish tourism and
peace as a veritable transdisciplinary feld of research and study. Tis feld is a
multifaceted landscape. Tus tourism and peace is not only one agenda but is
as multiple as peace itself. We should also remember that ‘peace through tou-
rism’ includes ‘peace within tourism’, as Noel Salazar states: “Tourism always
functions as part of the wider economic and geopolitical systems from which
it cannot be divorced. If we take the idea to build cultures of peace seriously,
informed action is needed on multiple fronts. Tis includes addressing the is-
sues of social injustice and other types of confict within the industry itself …”
(Salazar 2006, 330).
Whilst only occasionally mentioned, a very important but under-explored
feld is, for instance, the relation between tourism, peace and global citizen-
ship. Much too often, global (or international, or cosmopolitan) citizenship
is used in a ‘metaphorical’ way – as a term for global individual responsibility.
We claim that global citizenship is (or should be) much more than that. In
our view, global citizenship is a concept of the political transformation of the
world system into a more peaceful one, made possible by restricting the law of
the rulers through the rule of law and a democratisation of the international
relations (Wintersteiner 2013).
We believe that tourism and peace necessitates both empirical and theore-
tical development. Without further discussion, deconstruction and refection
of all dimensions of the issues, empirical research would be restricted to the
well-trodden paths. For this transdisciplinary ‘praxis’ (in the sense of Paulo
Freire who always attempted to combine what we call theory and practice)
we propose the term ‘peace-sensitive tourism’. By peace-sensitive tourism we
understand a comprehensive approach, including the various felds of action
in the tourism ‘struggle’ for peace and for a culture of peace – a formula clear
enough to determine the direction, but wide enough to avoid any monocausal
connection between tourism as a social practice and peace as the ultimate
goal. Tis term is in favour of a process-oriented approach to peace work –
which means placing a focus on the processes involved in transforming, step
by step, the current social realities, but without restricting overall aims to tho-
se which have already been defned. Others, with similar intent, use diferent
terms, such as ‘peace-responsive tourism’, a term coined by a group of Nepa-
lese researchers (Upadhayaya et al. 2013) who speak, however, of communi-
ty-based and peace-sensitive tourism as well as of a ‘peace-sensitive’ code of
conduct for tourism (Upadhayaya in this volume). Tis suggests that ‘peace-
sensitive tourism’ is also, in practice, a well-rooted term. For us, however, it
is less important which term is widely used; what is more important is to sti-
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 59
mulate discussion about the concepts underlying the respective arguments in
favour of, or against, the peace-through-tourism idea. For creating a culture of
peace is the contemporary, timely and topical agenda of mankind.
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PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
Peace Tourism
Introduction
In the growing debate and literature about the contributions of tourism to
peace, a particular aspect that has so far been largely ignored is ‘peace tou-
rism’. Tis involves visits to places, at home and abroad, which are signifcant
because of their association with such notions as peace-making, peaceful
confict resolution, prevention of war, resistance to war, protesting war, non-
violence and reconciliation. Tese associations can refer to the past as well as
present, and to national as well as international contexts. Tis chapter identi-
fes and discusses several aspects of peace tourism.
In the frst place, a growing number of cities can be regarded, or regard
themselves, as cities of peace. A variety of peace cities – which constitute an
obvious destination for the peace tourist – will be introduced. Secondly, mu-
seums play an important role in the national and global tourism industry. In
the second half of the twentieth century, a new type of museum came to the
fore – the peace museum. Here, also, a great variety can be noted. Visits to
peace museums and exhibitions constitute a second aspect of engaging in
peace tourism. Another development concerns the (re)discovery of local peace
history, and the production of city peace trails. Walking in the steps of great
teachers of peace and nonviolence, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther
King, Jr., or Nelson Mandela, provides yet another opportunity for being a
peace tourist. Te chapter aims to show that an important aspect of ‘peace
through tourism’ is peace tourism, a hitherto neglected and unrecognised as-
pect of tourism. In the conclusion, a number of recommendations (addressed
to diferent partners and groups) will be made in order to promote peace tou-
rism, which should be seen as a vital component of a culture of peace.
Since the 1960s, historians of world peace and related concepts such as pa-
cifsm, internationalism, anti-militarism, conscientious objection, disarma-
ment and world government have together forged a new sub-division of histo-
ry – peace history – that studies, documents and analyses a myriad of actions
and campaigns of individuals and organisations that have signifcantly contri-
buted to the promotion of these related and interdependent causes (van den
Dungen and Wittner 2003; van den Dungen 2013). Te legacy of peace eforts
of the past is not only documented in these new approaches to history and in
publications, but frequently also made visible in buildings, memorials, parks
and other features of the cultural landscape.
Peace Tourism 63
Te evidence of war is visible in both the natural and cultural landscapes –
e.g., in the form of battlefelds, and war memorials and museums, respec-
tively – but the material evidence of anti-war and peace is far less known and
far less visible. Whilst battlefeld tourism has a long history, and is more po-
pular than ever – admittedly, in some countries more than in others – the very
notion of peace tourism is hardly known. In the U.S., the National Park Ser-
vice identifes about thirty diferent topics regarding historic sites and land-
marks that it administers. Among these topics are listed battlefeld & military;
civil war; revolutionary war. No mention is made of peace; the closest topic
listed is human rights. Yet there are many peace-making sites in U.S. history;
their formal recognition would enhance the visibility of peace and would help
to teach about peace-making as well as to stimulate peace tourism (Strikland
1994).
War tourism, which has become an increasingly important part of the glo-
bal tourism industry, will be stimulated further in the coming years because
of the centenary of the First World War. For instance, an award-winning UK
tour operator is organising, in 2013–2014, a series of commemorative tours
through the battlefelds of Northern France and Belgium and has published
an attractive 16-page brochure with details: ‘Journey back to the Battlefelds
of World War One’ (Great Rail Journeys 2013). Anniversaries of the Second
World War will not be forgotten either. To mention one example: Fred. Ol-
sen Cruise Lines is ofering a 7-night D-Day 70th Anniversary Voyage in June
2014 to commemorate the allied landings on the beaches of Normandy in June
1944. In both cases, participants will mainly visit battlefelds, war memorials,
and war museums.
Even without such commemorative anniversaries, however, ‘war tourists’
are never short of destinations. In the UK, they have a sizeable library of guide-
books available to plan their journeys; the proliferation of this literature sug-
gests the growing popularity of this kind of tourism. Such outings are often
presented as a great day out for all the family with ‘special events and hands-
on experiences for children and adults alike’, to quote from Mark Adkin’s ‘Te
Daily Telegraph Guide to Britain’s Military Heritage’ (Adkin 2006), which de-
scribes 350 notable places. More than twice that number – including 250 mu-
seums, 100 battlefelds, and 400 fortifcations, castles, bastions and airfelds –
are identifed in Martin Marix Evans’s ‘Te Military Heritage of Britain and
Ireland’ (Evans 2004). Specialised guides are also available, such as the one
devoted to 140 regimental museums (Sibun 2007). Also, in many other coun-
tries, battlefeld, military, and war tourism are well developed. For instance,
the National Geographical Institute in Belgium has issued a military tourism
map of the country (Military Tourism 2000).
Although there are undoubtedly points of convergence, at times war tou-
rism and peace tourism may have little in common, and appeal to largely dife-
rent publics. Te typical battlefeld or war museum enthusiast is perhaps unli-
kely to show great interest in visiting, for instance, the United Nations in New
York or Geneva, or the Peace Palace in Te Hague.
64 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
Peace Cities
If Hiroshima can be called a battlefeld, it is one of a new and unpreceden-
ted kind. Visitors to the city, with its large peace museum and park with
numerous memorials, are more likely to be peace tourists rather than war
tourists. Among them will be peace activists and educators, involved in cam-
paigns and education concerning the abolition of nuclear weapons, and who
visit the city as pilgrims. A visit to Hiroshima can be a life-changing experi-
ence, as is well documented. Hiroshima has long promoted itself as a city of
peace and is, indeed, the world’s foremost example of such a city, which at-
tracts a considerable number of visitors from home and abroad (Kosakai 2002).
Hiroshima is also the birthplace of important campaigning organisations, no-
tably Mayors for Peace, which strives for the abolition of nuclear weapons and
has 5,700 member cities in more than 150 countries.
In 1955, Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened a peace museum and peace park
(‘Hiroshima Peace Park Guide’ 2005). In the following years many renovations,
extensions, and additions have made both cities a veritable place of pilgrimage
for peace people. Of the approximately 1 million annual visitors to the Hiro-
shima Peace Memorial Museum, not more than 10% are from overseas. Te
global task that the city, and Mayors for Peace, have set themselves would be
greatly facilitated if sister museums were to be established around the world,
starting in the capital or main cities of the states with nuclear weapons. Tis
would ensure that the powerful and vital message of the Hiroshima Peace Me-
morial Museum, of the ‘hibakusha’, and of the city will be heard where it mat-
ters most.
Tirty years before the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Flemish
city of Ypres in Belgium was totally destroyed in three long and costly batt-
les (1914, 1915, 1917) during the First World War, making the battlegrounds
around the city among the most notorious in the world (see Bourgeois in this
volume). New weapons such as gas, land mines and famethrowers made these
battles even more horrifc and resulted in half a million dead and 1.2 million
wounded. Many of the dead were British and Commonwealth soldiers who are
buried in the numerous cemeteries in and around Ypres, making the city and
surrounding region very popular with war and peace tourists from around the
world. With the opening of the In Flanders Fields museum – ‘a war museum
for peace’ – in 1998, the city declared itself a peace city, and likewise the whole
region was ofcially declared a region of peace. Te city and region are among
the world’s most important destinations for war and peace tourism, which in
the coming years of the centenary of the First World War will attract even
more visitors than usual.
Cities which have sufered greatly in war and subsequently resolved to de-
dicate themselves to its prevention, are only one type of ‘peace city’ (van den
Dungen 2009a, 2010b). Another type, to be found especially in Europe, is a
city which hosted negotiations that ended a war and where a peace treaty, usu-
ally named after the city, was signed. Te tercentenary of the Peace of Utrecht
(1713) has been celebrated throughout the year 2013, with an extensive pro-
Peace Tourism 65
gramme of events – not only for the specialist but also for a wider audience, of
young and old, from home and abroad. Such a celebration aims to draw less-
ons and promote peace today, and also attract visitors and tourists and thus
contribute to the local economy.
An impressive and earlier example of a wide-ranging programme to cele-
brate the anniversary of the restoration of peace following a devastating war
concerns the 350th anniversary, in 1998, of the Peace of Westphalia (1648)
(‘350 Jahre’ 1998). Te protracted peace negotiations (1643–1648) took place
in the German cities of Osnabrück and Münster which, ever since, have been
known as peace cities. Both contain important legacies today which remind
the visitor of the historic peace-making that took place there and which has
been commemorated through certain customs and traditions that continue to
pay grateful tribute to the ending of the Tirty Years’ War (1618–1648).
A more recent example concerns Dayton, Ohio where negotiations for en-
ding the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were successfully concluded in 1995
through the Dayton Peace Accords. Within a decade, and thanks to private
initiative, the Dayton International Peace Museum opened its doors. Shortly
afterwards, the Museum instituted a Dayton Peace Award, and this was fol-
lowed by the creation of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize by a coalition of au-
thors, librarians, and media representatives. Te latter prize – the only one
of its kind – has grown to be an important annual event in the social and
cultural calendar of the city. Te museum not only exhibits artefacts but also
is actively involved in a variety of peace education and outreach projects, with
strong links to the local community. Its dynamic approach has made the mu-
seum the main vehicle for promoting a culture of peace in the city. A more
recent initiative in Dayton is the establishment of Te International Cities of
Peace organisation, dedicated to promoting and connecting the global cities
of peace movement.
With the growth of international organisation(s) since the middle of the
19th century, and especially since the foundation of the League of Nations and
then the United Nations in the frst half of the 20th century, cities such as Te
Hague, Geneva and New York have become important for peace tourism. Te
Hague ofcially describes itself as an ‘international city of peace and justice’
and various publications and tourist guides have been issued by the city in re-
cent years to highlight this aspect (Bouhalhoul 2007; Kids Tour 2008; Eyfnger
2003). Te two Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 (and projected third
conference in 1915) are the modern foundations for the development of the city
as a global centre of peace and justice. Te main achievement of the 1899 con-
ference was the Convention for the Pacifc Settlement of International Disputes,
which included at its heart the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
(PCA), the oldest instrument for peaceful confict resolution by states in the
modern world. In order to give the Court a home worthy of its mission, the
Scottish-American steel tycoon and staunch opponent of war, Andrew Carne-
gie, provided the funds for the building of the Peace Palace. It has become the
city’s calling card. Anticipating its centenary in 2013, an attractive Visitor Cen-
tre was opened in 2012 just inside the gates of the Palace. Tis will enable the
66 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
many passengers on the tourist coaches, stopping every day in front of it, to do
more than just take a photograph of Carnegie’s striking ‘Temple of Peace’.
In recent years, citizens of Te Hague (and through them also the munici-
pality) have re-discovered Bertha von Suttner, the Austrian baroness and au-
thor of the bestseller, ‘Lay Down Your Arms’ (‘Die Wafen Nieder!’ 1889), who
was an important lobbyist at both conferences. Earlier, she had inspired Alfred
Nobel to support the peace movement by his creation of the peace prize. She
was the frst woman to receive it in 1905. In 2013 she became the frst woman
with a statue in the Peace Palace; at the same time, another statue of her was
unveiled in the large atrium of the city hall. Te previous year, on International
Women’s Day (8th March 2012), a building near the Peace Palace – which hou-
ses many international and peace NGOs – was named after her. On the same
day six years earlier, a large ofce building of the European Union in Brussels
had likewise been named after her. It is disappointing that Vienna, the city
where she lived and died, and from where she conducted an indefatigable cam-
paign to prevent the First World War, hardly remembers her (van den Dungen
2010a, Jalka 2011). A future International Peace Tourism Bureau would be able
to ofer her growing number of admirers throughout the world an attractive
and instructive journey – ‘Following in the footsteps of Bertha von Suttner’ –
which would cover cities in many countries in Europe as well as the U.S.
Something similar has already been available for a long time for devotees
of her friend and contemporary, Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross,
and frst co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Geneva is the birth-
place of Dunant and of the worldwide humanitarian movement he founded.
Tere is unlikely to be another city anywhere in the world which has so many
memorials to a famous son or daughter as has Geneva, for Dunant. His bio-
graphy and the history of the Red Cross can be learnt by walking the streets
of the city – with the added bonus of seeing the very locations intimately con-
nected with both. Tis is in no small measure due to the eforts of the private
Henry Dunant Association (Société Henry Dunant). Established in the 1970s,
through its many publications, exhibitions, conferences, research projects and
study tours, the Association has considerably contributed to our knowledge
and understanding of the origins of the movement and the many traces it has
left in Geneva (Durand 1991). At the same time, the city and canton of Gene-
va have cooperated in making this important story visible through memorial
plaques and statues which are scattered all over the city. One of the many pub-
lications of the Association is ‘Tose Places Where Henry Dunant …’ (Durand
and Roueche 1986) which identifes and illustrates some 25 sites of historical
interest in Geneva.
Te centenary of Dunant’s Nobel Peace Prize, in 2001, was celebrated in
Geneva by an extensive programme of events, some academic, others of a po-
pular nature, including concerts, conferences, exhibitions, and also an ‘Itine-
rary for Peace’ to places and buildings associated not only with Dunant and
the Red Cross, but also with the work for peace in the city during the past
200 years (‘Itinéraire de la Paix’ 2001). Tis handy guide, which identifed and
briefy described 43 sites of interest, was expanded the following year into a
Peace Tourism 67
fully illustrated bi-lingual book, ‘Itinerary for Peace in the Streets of Geneva’
(Durand, Dunant and Guggisberg 2002). Te celebrations in 2001 and 2002
were coordinated by an organisation, ‘Geneva: a place for peace’, that had been
created specifcally for the purpose, and which comprised several partners.
Large colourful banners were placed in front of each of the 43 signifcant sites
of peace and remained there throughout the year. Te frst Geneva conference
was held in 1863, and the frst Geneva Convention was signed the following
year. Te 150th anniversaries of these foundational events in 2013 and 2014
provide further opportunities for commemorative events as well as refections
on the challenges facing the Red Cross movement today.
With the establishment in Geneva of the League of Nations, created in the
aftermath of the First World War, the city’s pre-eminent position in interna-
tional peace-making was assured. Also, several international organisations
associated with the League, such as the International Labour Ofce, and the
High Commissioner for Refugees, established their secretariats in the same
city, thus reinforcing its pivotal role in international cooperation. After the
Second World War, when the League’s successor, the United Nations, was
headquartered in New York, the Palais des Nations (which had been construc-
ted for the League) became the European ofce of the United Nations.
Many agencies associated with the UN have their seats in Geneva. For both
diplomats and students of international relations and international organisa-
tions, the city remains a place of prime importance. Te concepts of neutrality
and impartiality, which are key principles of the Red Cross, have also been
characteristic features of Switzerland’s foreign policy, helping to explain the
many peace conferences which the city and country have hosted over the ye-
ars. Much of this is documented and displayed, notably in the museum on
the history of the League of Nations in the library of the UN in Geneva. Te
library houses the extensive and important archives of the League of Nations.
Tey include, for instance, one of the most important collections on the histo-
ry of the peace movement, the Fried-Suttner papers. Every year, some 100,000
visitors tour the Palais des Nations. In New York, the United Nations Visitors
Centre welcomes more than ten times that number every year.
Multi-language tours of the UN building complex started soon after its
opening in the early 1950s. Since then, more than 38 million visitors have tou-
red the building. As Kof Annan wrote, in addition, “countless thousands have
called it their workplace. All of them have their own memories and impressi-
ons … they recall the UN building as a source of inspiration … a place that is
home to the world” (Annan 2005, 7). Te UN building is a beacon of hope, the
visible symbol of the belief in a world connected and incessantly striving for
peace. Visiting the UN building can have a lasting impact, and confront the
visitor with the complex and challenging situation facing the world organisa-
tion. Although primarily a place of work, for the visitor the UN headquarters
building can assume the functions of a peace museum (Apsel 2008).
Like Hiroshima, Geneva is a Mecca for peace tourists – but these two cities
have a very diferent history. Another city, diferent again, but also with a spe-
cial signifcance for peace is Oslo. Here, every year on 10 December (the day
68 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
when Alfred Nobel died) the Peace Prize that he established is awarded during
a day of celebration. Tere is no higher accolade in the world today than the
Nobel Peace Prize. Te annual festivities on and around 10 December make
‘peace’ and what it takes to be a ‘champion of peace’ (the expression that Nobel
used in his last will and testament) newsworthy. Together with the announce-
ment the previous October of the year’s winner, these are rare occasions when
the media focus, for once, not on war and violent confict but on peace and
the merits or otherwise of the laureate. Te nomination of brave, controversial
or unusual candidates, especially when put forward by prominent individuals,
can also make the headlines.
Tourists who visit the Norwegian capital are likely to see the elegant buil-
ding of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, with a bust of Nobel in front of it. Te-
re is also the possibility of stepping into the room where the secretive Nobel
Committee has been meeting since 1905, and whose walls are lined with the
ofcial portraits of the laureates. Students and scholars make use of the excel-
lent library of the Institute, established to assist in the evaluation process of
the merits of the candidates and their work.
During the last twenty years or so, the Institute has organised conferences
and regular seminars, developed research programmes, and ofered fellow-
ships to visiting scholars – making this both a very appropriate and desirable
location for research and debate on contemporary war and peace issues. Du-
ring the same period, the Institute has organised a spring tour every year for
its staf and visiting fellows – taking them one year, for instance, to Sweden
‘in the footsteps of Alfred Nobel’, or another year to Austria ‘in the footsteps
of Bertha von Suttner’ – great examples of peace tourism. Te growing world-
wide interest in the Nobel Peace Prize also frequently brings journalists and
media people from around the world to the Institute in Oslo.
In 2005, as part of the centenary celebrations of Norway’s independence
from Sweden, the Nobel Peace Center was opened in a historic location in the
heart of the city. Te chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed
the hope that “the Center will be an important forum for all types of activities
relating to the peace efort. We also hope that the Nobel Peace Center will
rapidly become one of Oslo’s leading tourist attractions” (Mjøs 2005, 3). Five
years later, in 2010, the Center welcomed a record number of 200,000 visitors.
In the same year, nearly 850 school groups participated in educational acti-
vities or guided tours organised by the Center. Amongst its most popular at-
tractions are the temporary exhibitions, including one every year on the new
laureate (Nobel Foundation 2010, 55).
Gandhi, M. L. King, Mandela
Te combined biographies of the Nobel peace laureates (including organi-
sations), stretching back more than one hundred years, provide an excellent
overview of the modern history of peace-making and confict resolution.
Many of the laureates are inspiring fgures whose often heroic lives, fully de-
dicated to the struggle for peace, continue to enlighten and encourage later
Peace Tourism 69
generations. It is therefore no surprise that several museums and centres
exist around the world devoted to individual peace laureates – such as Jane
Addams, Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King Jr., and Woodrow Wilson in the
U.S.; Nelson Mandela in South Africa; U Tant in Myanmar/Burma; and Al-
bert Schweitzer in France and Germany. It is ironic that the peace person who
has by far the most museums and centres devoted to him, Gandhi, is not a
Nobel peace laureate. Many of these museums and centres are in India, where
they attract biographers, scholars, activists, and Gandhians who follow in his
footsteps by undertaking a Gandhi peace trail.
Gandhi’s most famous and productive follower, Martin Luther King Jr., did
just that. Greatly inspired from the earliest days of the Montgomery Bus Boy-
cott (1955–1956) by the Mahatma’s technique of nonviolent social change, and
its subsequent success, King contemplated travelling to India to deepen his
understanding of Gandhian principles. Tree years later, following an invita-
tion from the Indian government, King made a celebrated month-long tour
of India, together with his wife and Lawrence Reddick, his friend and early
biographer. Upon his arrival in New Delhi, he famously said to reporters, “To
other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim” (King
1970, 188). Afterwards he wrote: “Te trip had a great impact upon me perso-
nally … I left India more convinced than ever before that nonviolent resistance
was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for
freedom … As a result of my visit to India, my understanding of nonviolence
became greater and my commitment deeper.” Tese are the concluding words
of the chapter entitled ‘Pilgrimage to Nonviolence’ in his autobiography (King
2000, 134). Te 50th anniversary of this historic journey was commemora-
ted in 2009 by a visit to India (sponsored by the U.S. Department of State) by
King’s son, Martin Luther King III, members of the U.S. Congress, and others.
In her memoirs, Coretta Scott King had noted, “In the course of our travels
we visited many places that Gandhi had made so memorable by his presence
that they had become shrines” (King 1970, 191). Something similar can be said
about her husband. A peace, nonviolence, and civil rights movement trail – in
the footsteps of Martin Luther King, Jr. – starts in Atlanta, Georgia, the city
where he was born and lived for all but fve years of his life. Among the nota-
ble sites and visitor attractions are his birth home, the Martin Luther King,
Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (the King Center), and the Ebenezer
Baptist Church where he delivered many of his impassionate sermons (Farris
2007). Tese and other buildings are part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nati-
onal Historic Site that was created in 1980 by the U.S. National Park Service.
In homage to his teacher, a statue of Gandhi, donated by the Indian Council
for Cultural Relations, was unveiled here in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of
India’s independence (‘Atlanta Peace Trails’ 2008, 20; Farris 2007).
King and his fellow campaigners were of course constantly on the march
throughout the land, but especially in the Deep South, comprising the sta-
tes of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North & South Carolina, and
Tennessee. Hundreds of the most memorable places (some famous, some
forgotten) of arrests, beatings, demonstrations, marches, murders, protests,
70 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
shootings, sit-ins, strikes, witnessing – sites of tragedies and triumphs, defeats
and victories – are described and illustrated in ‘Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A
Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement’ (Davis 1998). Tese places re-
present all aspects of social life: banks, barber shops, churches, courthouses,
homes, jails, parks, restaurants, schools, streets & squares. Segregation and
discrimination were pervasive, as was the struggle for equality, justice and
human dignity. Davis’s impressive and fascinating travelogue documents nu-
merous sites that are associated with signifcant events in the history of a mo-
vement (1954–1968) that transformed America and the world. Taken together,
these sites represent a battlefeld of a special kind where the armed forces of
an unjust and repressive ‘law and order’ system were eventually overcome by
nonviolent resistance.
One aspect of the lasting impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. is of particular
interest to the tourist and traveller: the 650 avenues, boulevards, and streets
in cities, towns and villages across the country that bear his name. Tey each
have their own story to tell, and many can be found in another pioneering and
fascinating work of cultural history which is also of interest to the peace tou-
rist: Jonathan Tilove’s ‘Along Martin Luther King: Travels on Black America’s
Main Street’ (Tilove 2003). In the U.S., the path from civil war to civil rights
can also be pursued in individual cities. Washington, D.C., provides an excel-
lent example where local historians, heritage and tourism experts, and busi-
nesspeople have joined forces to produce a walking tour of downtown D.C.,
following in the footsteps of ‘Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Walt Whitman, and other great Americans whose lives were
intertwined with the history of the nation and its capital city’ (Busch 2001,
cover). While visitors to the city fock to the National Mall to see the grand
monuments that symbolise the country’s highest ideals, this heritage trail
(consisting of three one-hour-long walks) invites visitors to deepen their ex-
perience by discovering the places where people have struggled to make those
ideals a reality.
If India has Gandhi, and the U.S. has Martin Luther King, Jr., Africa has
Nelson Mandela. It seems that no individual has ever commanded so much
admiration and love as the leader of the long struggle against apartheid in
South Africa. Robben Island, where he was imprisoned for eighteen years, has
become a very popular tourist destination; in 1999 it was declared a World
Heritage Site. Many South Africans, Africans, and people from around the
world have been inspired by his heroic life, and want to pay their respect and
also increase their understanding of a remarkable life that has touched their
own by retracing his steps. Tis may reinforce their own commitment to
struggle for freedom, justice, reconciliation, and peace.
A more elaborate tour, covering a diferent part of the country, has recently
been designed and ofered by Edgeworld Tours in the Eastern Cape Province,
in cooperation with the Samara Private Game Reserve. ‘Mandela Landscapes’
is ‘a seven day tour to the land of the great man’. Travelling through the Trans-
kei, the region where Mandela was born, the tour includes visits to his birth-
place and the Mandela Museum at Qunu where he grew up, the church where
Peace Tourism 71
he was baptised, and the family graveyard. On another day, a walk in the fo-
rest with a Xhosa guide explores local traditions and beliefs which infuenced
Mandela. Tere are also visits to St. Matthew’s Mission, where participants
learn about the role of missionaries in the life of Mandela and his people, and
to Fort Hare University where he was a student. Participants will gain a much
better appreciation of ‘the historical background, the cultural norms, and the
great African landscape’ that helped to form the unique mind-set of Nelson
Mandela and that set him on his great ‘walk to freedom’. Yet another dimen-
sion in the make-up of Mandela and the Xhosa nation is revealed by visits to
the Eastern Cape battlefelds. Tey make clear that the struggle for freedom in
South Africa began two centuries before Mandela was born and encompassed
a 100-year war of dispossession when the Xhosa nation lost 70 % of the tribal
lands (www.samara.co.za/specials.htm).
Peace Museums
Let us return to a diferent struggle, and a diferent war. Te centenary of the
First World War (2014–2018) ofers many opportunities, not only in Europe
and America, but also elsewhere, to remember, re-discover and re-evaluate
individuals and movements which in the preceding century had been waging
a campaign to abolish war (Cooper 1991). In particular, in the decades before
1914, heroic eforts were made to educate and alert the wider public about the
dangers of the arms race, the imperial rivalries, and the cult of the nation. Te
Nobel Peace Prize and the Peace Palace – both important symbols of peace
today – were created at this hopeful time.
Another remarkable creation of the same pre-1914 movement did not survi-
ve the war: the International Museum of War and Peace in Lucerne, Switzer-
land. It was conceived and fnanced by the Polish-Russian entrepreneur, early
peace researcher, peace educator, and peace lobbyist, Jan Bloch (van den Dun-
gen 2006). It opened its doors in 1902, and immediately made the city a signi-
fcant place for the international peace movement, which decided to hold its
annual congress for 1905 in the picturesque Swiss town. As the city archivist
commented in his history of the city around this time, “Tis unique collection
quickly became for everyone, locals and foreigners alike, an attraction that in-
vited thoughtful refection” (Rogger 1965, 76).
Tis anti-war and peace museum, the frst of its kind, was noted in all the
travel guides for Switzerland. For instance, Karl Baedeker’s ‘Handbook for
Travellers’ included the museum in the map of the city and explained that the
institution was founded “in order to illustrate the historical development of
the art and practice of warfare and the ever-increasing horrors of war, and
thereby to promote the movement in favour of peace” (Baedeker 1903, 100).
Bloch had chosen an ideal location: Lucerne was a popular holiday destination,
in the middle of Switzerland, itself in the heart of Europe. Te museum was
next to the railway station, and situated along the lake from where the pleasu-
re boats would arrive and depart. Although open only during the summer, it
attracted annually some 60,000 visitors, twice the number of the city’s inhabi-
72 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
tants (Troxler 2010, 142). In 1910 the museum moved to a diferent location in
the town in a purpose-built facility (Cook 1912, 108). In 2010, commemorating
the centenary of the opening of the new museum building, a comprehensive
history of the museum was published (Troxler 2010). Te city archives also or-
ganised a small exhibition and published a brochure that aptly referred to the
museum as one that was founded to oppose the arms race (Walker 2010). Lack
of visitors and tourists during the Great War starved the museum of funds,
however, resulting in its closure in 1919.
Today, the building is home to a pedagogical academy. A large painting,
‘Pax Defeating the Warrior’, which graced the façade of the museum near the
main entrance, can still be seen today (Stadelmann et al. 2001, 138–139). Neit-
her the museum’s demise, nor its inability to prevent war, in any way dimini-
shes the merits of Bloch’s pioneering institution. How much is the world today
in need of a ‘museum against the arms race’, now that annual global military
expenditure amounts to a staggering $1.75 trillion and nuclear weapons are
proliferating? Even more than before, the arms race has become a race to the
death. Bloch is now being recognised as the pioneer of peace museums that
gradually emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War, initially in Ja-
pan, and then elsewhere. While several have become important visitor attrac-
tions – such as the museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki previously menti-
oned, as well as several other peace museums in Japan, the Guernica Peace
Museum in the Basque country in Spain, or the Memorial for Peace in Caen,
France – others are small and struggling to survive. Still, the idea is in the air
and, more than that, new peace museums are being created all the time (van
den Dungen 2009b).
One of the most remarkable and beautiful of these is the Tehran Peace Mu-
seum. It was founded by members of the Tehran-based NGO, Society for Che-
mical Weapons Victims Support, with the help of the city. Te Society brings
together Iranian survivors of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons attacks du-
ring the long Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Tese survivors are passionate about
sharing their stories, and working for a world without war. Te idea for the
museum was suggested by visits to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
with which the Tehran Peace Museum has forged strong links. Te Muse-
um also serves as the secretariat of the country’s section of Mayors for Peace
(which includes the mayor of Tehran).
Another inspiring project, this time in Africa, is the Community Peace
Museums Heritage Foundation in Kenya, which brings together ten ethnic, re-
gionally-based community peace museums. Among their objectives is the re-
discovery and teaching, with the help of artefacts, of traditional healing and
reconciliation processes (Gachanga 2008).
Representatives from about two dozen peace and anti-war museums from
around the world came together for the frst time at a conference in Bradford
in 1992, where it was decided to try to meet every three years, and to establish
an International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP). Its 8th conference
is scheduled to take place in September 2014 at the No Gun Ri Peace Park in
South Korea. Te network has stimulated publications about peace museums,
Peace Tourism 73
including the frst directories which were published by the library of the
United Nations in Geneva in 1995 and 1998. A comprehensive directory, with
extensive bibliography, was published by the Kyoto Museum for World Peace
at Ritsumeikan University to coincide with the 6th International Conference
held in Kyoto and Hiroshima (Yamane 2008). Since 2008, INMP has
maintained a small secretariat in Te Hague (see www.inmp.net). Certainly –
for those involved in peace campaigning, peace education, peace history and
promotion of a culture of peace – the notion of peace tourism has become a
reality.
As the country with the most peace museums, Japan is a popular destina-
tion for peace tourists. University and high school students form a particular
group of tourists who, as a class or in a group, visit the country, sometimes
with a special focus on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the other hand, Japanese
people involved in peace education and activism are keen to visit peace muse-
ums abroad.
Peace Monuments & City Peace Trails
Peace museums can be regarded as peace monuments or memorials of a spe-
cial kind in that they are both much larger and much livelier than the typical
monument (Lollis 2010, 416). Since the latter is easier and cheaper to const-
ruct, monuments devoted to peace are much more numerous than museums.
Such monuments have come to fourish during the last few decades. Former
U.S. diplomat, Edward W. Lollis, maintains the world’s largest website on the
subject: www.peacepartnersintl.net. He selected more than 400 for a book pu-
blished in 2013, on the occasion of the centenary of the Peace Palace – itself
one of the oldest, greatest, and most beautiful monuments devoted to peace
(Lollis 2013). Because of the institutions housed in it, such as the Permanent
Court of Arbitration, and the International Court of Justice of the UN, the
Palace is of course much more than a monument.
Peace monuments are welcome reminders in the cultural landscape of the
importance of peace and provide a much-needed counterpart to the numerous
war memorials and streets and squares named after battlefelds and their he-
roes. Combined with the preponderance of war museums in many countries,
the impression could easily be gained not only that war and human slaughter
are inevitable, but also that this is where glory and heroism reside.
An important part of peace education and the development of a culture of
peace is to make peace and all it implies (cooperation, nonviolence, tolerance,
justice, human rights, equality) more visible – in school textbooks, in the me-
dia, in the public sphere – and also in tourism. Excellent vehicles in this res-
pect are city peace trails. As mentioned above, several peace cities, with a rich
historical as well as contemporary peace ‘scene’, have produced such guides.
But many other cities and towns can also produce their own guides. Whilst
these may not be as extensive, and the names included may not be as famous,
they are likely to report on fascinating individuals, organisations, and events
that hitherto had been unknown, forgotten, repressed, or insufciently ap-
74 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
preciated. Local historians, heritage and community groups, women’s groups,
teachers, senior high school pupils and university students, and of course
peace activists – all can contribute to the research and information-gathering
necessary to document the work for peace and justice of their local commu-
nity both in the past and today. Such active involvement in the production
of peace trails may inspire these groups to make their own contributions to
peace-making today.
During the last few years, several city peace trails have been designed and
published, especially in England. Today, the inhabitants of – and visitors to –
cities such as Birmingham, Bradford, Cambridge, Coventry, Leeds, London
and Manchester are able to explore their rich and often surprising peace he-
ritage with the help of attractive and handy (and sometimes free) trails, of-
ten available from the local tourist ofce or public library. When much of
the world is remembering the centenary of the First World War, it is good
to be able to remember those who worked to prevent it, as well as those who
believe(d) that a world without war is possible. Tis idea has also inspired an
EU-funded project, currently underway, to produce city trails for several Eu-
ropean cities including Berlin, Budapest, Paris and Turin. Whereas the tourist
ofces or local heritage associations of many large cities frequently ofer their
visitors a number of specialised walks, catering for a wide variety of interests
(such as architecture, crime, cuisine, militaria, music, sport, transport), un-
til recently, ‘peace’ was absent from this particular tourist menu. Tis is now
changing and the great and still growing number of Mayors for Peace may
well result in many more city peace trails. Te global application of such map-
ping of signifcant peace-making locations will provide an important stimulus
for peace tourism around the world.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, I would like to ofer a few refections on my own experience
regarding peace tourism. As a peace historian and peace educator, and keen
traveller, I have always been interested in seeking out and visiting places as-
sociated with peace-making and peacemakers – frst and foremost, regarding
the abolition of war. In particular, with the emergence of an organised inter-
national peace movement in the early 1800s, there is a rich history and lega-
cy, unfortunately all too little known not only by the general public but also
among peace educators and activists (van den Dungen 2005). Tis is where
peace museums and peace trails have an important role to play in bringing
out into the open the fascinating history of peace – a highly relevant subject
in this day and age.
I have greatly enjoyed the peace tourism that colleagues and former stu-
dents have organised in Tokyo and other cities during several visits to Japan,
the leading country not only regarding peace museums but also with respect
to the campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Te programme for
non-Japanese participants at the 3rd International Conference of Peace Muse-
ums that was held in Osaka and Kyoto in 1998 included the option of a 2-day
Peace Tourism 75
excursion to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or Okinawa. Tis option was widely used
and was a great enrichment of the conference.
Te following year, when the U.S.-based Peace History Society organised
its own programme as part of the Hague Appeal for Peace when 10,000 acti-
vists gathered in the Dutch city to celebrate the centenary of the First Hague
Peace Conference, I was happy to guide colleagues one afternoon to familiar
and less familiar places associated with that unprecedented diplomatic gat-
hering. Likewise, a few years later a group of admirers of Jan Bloch met in Lu-
cerne to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of his pioneering
peace museum with a conference, an exhibition, and a walk (2002). Te city
had kindly agreed to install a memorial plaque which was unveiled on this
occasion. Many years before, Dr. Andrzej Werner, founder of the Jan Bloch
Society in Warsaw, took me to visit Bloch’s then little known and neglected
burial chapel in the city’s main cemetery, and also showed me buildings and
sites with strong associations to that remarkable peace warrior and leading
entrepreneur.
With peace studies students at the Jaume I University in Castellon, Spain,
we would make a day’s feld trip to nearby Valencia every year, where a Water
Court (‘Tribunal de las Aguas’) has been meeting in the open air, on the steps
of the cathedral, every Tursday for 1,000 years to peacefully arbitrate irriga-
tion disputes that may arise between the several water districts in the region.
Today, the weekly event has become a major tourist attraction.
Te following recommendations would greatly help in establishing peace as
a subject for tourism, and stimulating the development of peace tourism on
both the local and global level:
• Tat travel agencies which ofer battlefeld tours also consider ofering
peace tours
• Tat schools and other educational institutions which organise trips to
battlefeld sites consider the inclusion of anti-war and peace sites
• Tat Mayors for Peace encourage and support the production of peace trails
for their cities
• Tat local authorities, in the naming of streets, squares, and public buil-
dings, do not forget those who have worked for peaceful confict resolution
(both in the community and beyond)
• Tat tourist ofces be made aware of the possibility of peace tourism in
their respective localities and commission relevant research
• Tat experts in local history and heritage document the peace legacy of the
local community, in cooperation with peace activists and educators
• Tat the travel and tourism industry invites peace educators to propose tra-
vel itineraries and visits focused on peace and such issues as war prevention
and peaceful confict resolution
76 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
• Tat the travel and tourism industry explores suitable ways for celebrating
Te International Day of Peace (and similar days, such as M. L. King Day in
the U.S.)
• Tat UNWTO establishes a data-base and acts as a clearing-house for in-
formation about peace tourism
• Tat ‘peace tourism’ becomes a recognised aspect of cultural & heritage
tourism.
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DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
Cornerstones for a Better World:
Peace, Tourism and Sustainable
Development
As I write this article I am deeply aware that we live in a very challenging
time in history. It is a time in which we face so many uncertainties. Tere is
uncertainty about economic recovery, we see anger on the streets and unem-
ployment is rising. It is a time when the whole world is changing dramatically.
Serious political conficts and violence afect the lives of millions of people,
while pervasive corruption, lawlessness and organised crime are making poor
countries poorer. Whichever way we look at our world, we can only conclude
that we need a set of shared standards and values – an ethical framework –
that is meaningful enough to guide us through the volatility and uncertainty
that lie ahead. Te more we shrink our world electronically, to link a buyer
with a seller, a business with a market, a tourist with a destination, the more
we need to rely on each other to deal from the same ethical desk. I endorse the
words of Oliver Williams that Global Codes of Conduct is an Idea whose time
has come.
Te meaning of the term ethics is not easy to defne. Aristotle was one of
the frst philosophers to consider this and he defned it to be the study of how
individuals should best live. In my mind ‘ethics’ refers to a set of standards and
values that an individual, or a group of individuals, have about what is right
and what is wrong; about what is good and what is evil. It guides and dictates
the behaviour of people; it is our inner compass that gives us direction in life.
A person’s ethical standards are frst absorbed as a child from parents, fa-
mily, friends, and from other infuences such as church, school, television, ma-
gazines etcetera. Later, as people grow up and experience more of life, their
intellectual development may lead them to question and change some of these
moral standards.
Tere are many diferent kinds of standards – such as quality standards,
educational standards – and many more. Moral standards are diferent. Tey
are standards that deal with behaviour of a serious nature that often has bad
consequences (such as theft, rape, murder, child abuse, fraud, and so on). Mo-
ral standards are based on sound values and good reasons and are not decided
by a government or any other authority (such as laws or rules made by govern-
ments and other empowered bodies). Moral standards should be above other
non-moral values, such as self-interest, and fnally a moral transgression is
associated with feelings of guilt and shame.
Ethics then, is the discipline that examines one’s moral standards, or the
moral standards of a society. It asks how these standards apply to our lives,
Cornerstones for a Better World 79
guide our behaviour and whether these standards are based on good reason.
A person starts to practise ethics when he or she takes the moral standards
absorbed from family, church and friends and asks: ‘What do these standards
imply for the situation in which I fnd myself? Do these standards really make
sense? Why should I continue to believe in them and behave as they prescribe?’
Moral reasoning is a way of persuading other people to do the right things.
It is also a way of sorting out our own moral convictions, of fguring out what
we believe and why. And more importantly, moral values are of little value as
long as they remain only words and theory. Te most important issue in ethics
is doing the right thing. Don’t just talk about it: do it, do the right thing! Live
your convictions. Moral questions are about how individuals should treat one
another, how we should live and work together. Tey are also about what the
law should be, and about how society should be organised. Tey are questions
about justice and fairness, about honesty, respect and caring. And they very
much constitute the conditions for peace.
Justice and peace go together. Te idea that justice means respecting cer-
tain universal human rights is increasingly embraced around the world. To
ask whether a society is just, is to ask how it distributes the things we prize –
income and wealth, duties and rights, powers and opportunities. A just society
distributes these goods in the right way. It gives each person his or her due.
Te same ethical principles apply to tourism. Te billion mark in tourist ar-
rivals was reached in 2012. A billion tourists per year! Teir journey, by car or
plane or ship, and their collective impact on the countries and places they vi-
sit, will be substantial. Tourism in total has become the biggest business in the
world and it leaves a huge footprint. Te contribution tourism is making to the
economy of receiving countries is enormous. Tat is good, but unfortunately
there is also a negative side.
In its success lies tourism’s biggest challenge. Te mere size and growing
volumes of the tourism industry have a huge positive, but also negative, im-
pact on social and cultural life and a particularly big impact on the natural en-
vironment. Te environment – the very product that forms the basis of most
tourism activities and is providing much of its profts – is in danger of being
harmed irreparably.
As tourism activity continues to grow, travel and tourism have become in-
creasingly intertwined with environmental sustainability. Te tourism indus-
try leaders are acutely aware of the challenges we face. Tey have made remar-
kable progress in many sectors to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry
and to introduce new and cleaner technologies. Te fact is that responsible
tourism can be a major driver of the ‘green economy’ in providing sustainable
infrastructure, green business-models, opportunities, jobs and incomes.
Te case for sustainable development has been made convincingly over and
over again. I am not going to remind you how rapidly our planet and its na-
tural resources are being eroded by unsustainable policies and practices. We
depend on the resources of the Earth to sustain our lives – from the most
basic requirements such as air, water and food, through to the materials we
use for shelter, transport, work and recreation. Some of these resources – like
80 DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
minerals and fossil fuels – are fnite and hence not renewable. However, most
of the Earth’s resources are infnitely renewable – if, and it is a big IF – they
are utilised in a sustainable manner.
Te problem of sustainability is fundamentally an issue of values, like many
other issues in the tourism industry. What was needed was a code of ethics
that would guide and direct all the diferent stakeholders. A code that would
sensitise and motivate the millions of tourists and travellers, as well as all the
other stakeholders. A code about what is right or wrong in diferent situations.
It was against this background that the World Tourism Organization (UNW-
TO) decided to draft a text titled ‘Te Global Code of Ethics for Tourism’. Te
draft was presented to the General Assembly of the Organisation at its mee-
ting in Santiago de Chile in 1999. After thorough and extensive discussions,
including various changes to the original text, ‘Te Code’ was unanimously
approved and remains to this day a guiding light for the tourism industry. Te
GCET was recognised by the General Assembly of the United Nations. It has
the support and encouragement of all Government members of UNWTO and
increasing support from the private sector.
Te Code is in essence an Ethical Road Map to guide tourists and the va-
rious role-players, through the tourism landscape, providing a framework for
responsible tourism in all its diversity. It is for tourism, what the Universal De-
claration of Human Rights is for the citizens of the world. It recognises tourism
as a vehicle for individual and collective fulflment; for mutual understanding
and respect between people; as a driver of sustainable development and econo-
mic growth; and, as a cornerstone in peace-building. Responsible tourism and
peace are partners – the one strengthens the other – they belong together.
I am mindful of the fact that, on 9th November 2000, I had the privilege
to speak at a Summit on ‘Peace through Tourism’ in Amman, Jordan. Tat
was only a few weeks before violence fared up in the Middle East. Looking
back over the time since the Summit, one is overwhelmed by the escalation of
conficts and violence in so many places around the world. Te sad fact is that
tourism and peace are always the frst victims.
Tourism, like peace, is fragile. It breaks easily. Tere are many examples of
how a political crisis, security threats, fnancial collapse, natural disaster or
military confict can seriously damage and even destroy tourism in a parti-
cular region, country or destination. Peace, as we all know, is equally brittle,
depending as it does on human relations. Prejudice, misconception and intole-
rance are root causes in the destruction of peace. Tat is why tourism is an ally
of peace. Tourism establishes contact between visitor and host, between dife-
rent cultures, between peoples and places. How can anyone feel enmity for so-
meone who has received him and made him feel safe and welcome? To travel,
cross borders, visit new places and encounter diferent cultures, is a learning
process that leaves the visitor wiser and more tolerant. By breaking down the
divisions between people, tourism contributes to a better understanding bet-
ween the peoples of the world. It opens the eyes of people so that we can see
one another as we are – equal human beings – each person with his or her
own unique culture, values, history, traditions and customs.
Cornerstones for a Better World 81
Peace and tourism belong together, they are interrelated. Without peace
there can be no tourism, but tourism can also contribute to the peace process
– the building of peace. I call peace a process, because it can never be absolute,
fnal or complete – at least not in this world. Peace is not a destination, a place
where you arrive and unpack. Peace is a journey which demands continued
efort. It requires that we vigorously protect and advance those rights and va-
lues that form the foundation of real peace – rights that can be equated with
individual freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Peace also depends on security. One of the most important components
of social and political stability is economic development. Te creation of jobs
brings hope and opportunity to poor and shattered communities. Honest
work brings dignity and purpose to daily life. Growing prosperity can remove
economic despair and poverty, which often act as catalytic elements that fre
up emotions and create conficts. Again, the economic contribution of tou-
rism can sustain peace and help to difuse these emotional fres. Cross-coun-
try evidence demonstrates that tourism in Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
is a labour intensive activity ofering many small-scale opportunities. It has
the capacity to create jobs – jobs for the poor, jobs for women and young peo-
ple, jobs for the indigenous communities, unskilled as well as highly qualifed
jobs – in small island states as well as in remote rural areas and in ecotourism
activities. Economic development and the creation of more job opportunities
is a strategic move against poverty, anger and confict. Te role tourism can
play in economic terms makes it an important ally in the process of peace-
making.
Te tourism industry has grown phenomenally over the years and is recog-
nised as one of the biggest economic activities in the world. It has become a
major economic force and a driver of economic growth and development. It
constitutes 30% of the world’s export of services and employs between 7%–8%
of the world’s work force. Travel and tourism is the primary source of foreign
exchange for the vast majority of developing countries.
Te case for sustainable development has been made convincingly. Econo-
mic production is basically the process of converting the natural world (rene-
wable and non-renewable resources – water, trees, plants, minerals etc.) to the
manufactured world. Te economy is largely growing at the expense of the
global ecosystems. Te ecosystems are fnite – the planet is not getting any
bigger or producing more water, trees, plants etc. Tis leads to the conclusion
that economic growth cannot continue indefnitely – there is a limit!
Tese ecosystems are necessary to maintain the chemical balance of the
earth; to stabilise weather and climate; to supply food, shelter and raw ma-
terials as well as medicines. Tere are serious concerns and even fears that
if we do not introduce adequate protection measures, future generations will
be saddled with an ecological burden that will condemn them to a poor, un-
healthy and miserable future.
Evidence suggests that environmental degradation contributes to poverty,
and that poverty accelerates the degradation. It becomes a vicious circle. In
the absence of proper sewage systems and waste collection, water gets conta-
82 DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
minated and the diseases spread to more people. Any efective policy to allevi-
ate poverty and build peace must address environmental issues.
Tere are three essentials without which the human economy and indeed
life itself cannot function. Te global ecosystem provides us with all three.
• Firstly it provides resources (food, fbre, fuel, medicine, etc.)
• Secondly, it performs ecological services, such as photosynthesis, gas regu-
lation, climate and water regulation and soil formation
• Tirdly, it absorbs waste.
Running a sustainable economy therefore has three simple rules:
• Don’t use up all the resources
• Don’t undermine the delivery of ecological services
• Don’t over-load the waste-absorption capacity.
It is more and more obvious that peace not only relates to harmony between
peoples and nations, but also harmony between man and nature. Te natural
resources of the world are in great demand. It is not inconceivable that dispu-
tes over natural resources – oil, water or minerals – could destroy peace and
ignite conficts and wars.
Tourism is ideally suited to balance development with conservation. It has
become the biggest economic activity and one of the biggest employers, but
it has also made an indelible contribution towards conservation of both the
natural and cultural environment. If it were not for tourism a large proportion
of the world’s cultural inheritance would have remained in a dilapidated state
or even lost forever. Te income generated by tourism has contributed to the
restoration and maintenance of most of the world heritage sites.
Whilst tourism, peace and sustainable development are interrelated – each
one contributing to the other – peace remains the most important and pre-
cious of all. Without peace there can be no tourism and there will be no sus-
tainable development. Terefore, every efort to promote peace – however
small – is very important. Building peace, promoting tourism and implemen-
ting sustainability are fundamentally moral issues.
Moral issues can be dealt with in two ways: from the perspective of im-
personal impartiality, in other words, from a cold, objective and intellectual
analysis, or from the perspective of caring, which means caring for persons
and relationships. Te great philosopher Martin Buber wrote about the three
fundamental relationships that defne the identity of every person. Te frst
is ‘I – you’ (the relationship between people), then ‘I – it’ (the relationship
with things) and fnally ‘I – Tou’ (a relationship with the unknown). But it is
through the ‘I – you’ relationship, that I become ‘I’. ‘Ich werde Du’. ‘Trough
you I become myself’. It is through people, fellow human beings, neighbours
and friends that I become what I am; that my identity is developed.
Tat is a very powerful vision that puts human relationships at the heart
of the discussion of questions such as: ‘who am I’ and ‘how should I care for
others and for our planet?’ Tat is why I believe that the ethics of ‘caring’ and
of taking responsibility for others, for our world and for the future of society
Cornerstones for a Better World 83
and our planet, is an approach with more feeling, more heart and would there-
fore be more efective.
Trough interaction with people and the discussions of moral issues, we
can develop our ability to move beyond the simple acceptance of moral stan-
dards and turn them into action-driven objectives. Let them become guideli-
nes of what ought to be, what can I do to promote sustainability and advance
responsible tourism in my business and in our village, in our community. Sus-
tainability is like charity. It begins at home – my home.
Doing business in a specifc place is not an isolated exercise. It is linked into
an interrelated network with the people of a geographical area and all the acti-
vities that take place in it. My business is linked to the people, nature, culture
and values of the place where I do business.
Local communities can play an important role in advancing the principles
of responsible tourism, sustainable development and peace. Most countries
have a history in which the views of communities on matters that afect their
lives are seldom seriously considered at governmental levels. Decisions are
handed down from the top and they begin to resent this attitude. Commu-
nities want to have a direct say in matters that afect their lives and futures.
Local communities have a crucial role to play in creating a sustainable en-
vironment with sustainable tourism products. Te expression ‘think globally,
act locally’ is a particularly relevant principle for Communities. Sustainability
will come from the villagers, the communities, and from the people – or not at
all.
I have thought about a conceptual framework that would facilitate the im-
plementation of sustainable tourism with clear ethical guidelines. A frame-
work that appeals to me is one based on the concept of environmental ‘em-
bedding’. It is the concept that all our activities are rooted in the surrounding
natural, cultural, political environment and have knock-on efects on that en-
vironment. All our relations and actions are inter-connected and establish a
framework in which we can formulate our policies. Te point I raised earlier
was that sustainability is fundamentally an issue of values – it has to be dealt
with at the cultural and political level. Solutions must be explored and tested
through a process of continuous learning and application. Because there can
be no permanent solutions in an ecologically dynamic world, the choices will
have to be made again and again as circumstances evolve.
I am convinced that the tourism industry can play a key role in establishing
peace and sustainability as the guiding principles for economic activity and
development. It can help to provide the income and means to care for our
world by generating money and energy for conservation. It can generate a pro-
cess of responsible planning and good management of our scarce resources. It
also reaches out to people by redistributing wealth and income and providing
opportunities to improve the quality of life. Tere is a fne balance between
development and sustainability – we walk a tightrope – but, at the same time,
there are many exciting opportunities.
I would like to conclude my contribution with a question about the applica-
tion of some of the principles contained in the Global Code of Ethics for Tou-
84 DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
rism. Would it be possible in your business, in your job, in your trade to turn
those aspects of the Global Code of Ethics that are relevant to your activities,
into a personal code of responsibilities? Would it be possible to phrase the
relevant sections as goals that you set yourself or the company or community,
and actively try to reach those goals? I think it is possible to phrase the goals
in such a way that you can monitor, and over time measure your progress or
regress; that you can audit your actions? And adjust them to be more ethically
responsible. Tat is our next big challenge. To walk the walk; not just talk the
talk.
Paul (the apostle) wrote to the Romans and advised them that they should
overcome evil by doing good. But how to do that? Well, he wrote, by not being
lazy, sluggish, and inactive. Te application of that advice to our day and our
problems is that we can overcome bad situations of environmental degrada-
tion, resource depletion and confict, if we are willing to act decisively. We
should not be lazy or inactive but should work hard and purposefully, being
prepared to make personal sacrifces. Tings can go horribly wrong when
good people choose to do nothing. But we can turn the tide if we act decisively.
Responsible tourism challenges us to take action, to implement our moral
convictions and help to turn the tides that rise against us. And at the core
must be the cultural values of tourism communities. It is our challenge and
responsibility as travellers, as businesses and as policymakers to understand
them and to ensure that our own behaviour respects and enhances them. In
the process we will strengthen our own ethics.
Part II
Tourism, Development and
Peace-building
RAMI I SAAC
Responsible Tourism and
Development in the Context of
Peace-building
Introduction
Defnitions, concepts and the terminology of alternative tourism are conten-
tious (Higgings-Desbiolles, 2008). Te concept is still a vague one that lacks
concrete defnition (Butler, 1992, 31; Pearce, 1992, 15). Labels for alternative
tourism include ‘alternative tourism’ (Eadington and Smith, 1992, 3), ‘new tou-
rism’ (Mowforth and Munt, 2009, 4-5), ‘soft tourism’ (Sharpley, 2000; Broggi,
1985, 286), ‘low-impact tourism’ (Wearing and Neil, 1999, 5), ‘responsible tou-
rism’ (Wheeller, 1991, 91), ‘new order of tourism’ or ‘ justice tourism’ (Lanfant
and Graburn, 1992, 91), and many others. Te main aim of this article is to ex-
amine how so-called responsible tourism can contribute to peace-building in
confict regions. Te article starts by providing a brief overview of some of the
alternative forms of tourism found in the literature and attempts to contextu-
alise the form of tourism it is exploring, namely ‘responsible tourism’. Tourism
as a tool for promoting peace will be followed and discussed. After that, the
article moves to the so-called Modes 1, 2, and 3 of knowledge production. Gib-
bons et al. (1994) discuss the transformation in knowledge production as a
global phenomenon.
Since the end of the 20
th
century and alongside ‘traditional’ Modes of
knowledge production (Mode 1 knowledge), Mode 2 knowledge has emerged,
creating a broader, trans-disciplinary social and economic context of appli-
cation (Isaac and Platenkamp, 2012, 177). An example of Mode 2 knowledge
production during the 1990s was a revolutionary contribution to the develop-
ments in the applied context of information communication & technology by
many participants involved. Coles et al. (2009, 84) describes the distinction
as follows: Mode 1 appears to be the dominant type in higher education the-
se days, as ‘the traditional centre for knowledge production’, whereas Mode 2
was originally anticipated as taking place outside university structure. Mode 3
knowledge was introduced by Kunneman (2005), who was aware that during
the second phase in the frst two Modes there was a long-term tendency to ex-
clude the ‘slow questions’ related to sickness, death, repression, and sufering.
Moral virtue as compassion, inner strength, and other sources of existential
fulflment remain important for all generations in a variety of places and regi-
ons.
88 RAMI I SAAC
For example, in the eyes of tourism developers in Myanmar, moral questi-
ons related to injustice, human rights, and the everyday lives of local people
are excluded in their context of application. As a result, many villages are des-
troyed and human rights are violated for the sake of tourism development. De-
velopers and professionals who abstract from these situations do not consider
the moral part, but instead focus on the viability of the tourism business. In
this chapter, the central focus will be on Mode 3 knowledge production and
its relevance to responsible tourism. In this case, responsible tourists could
play a crucial role to enable this stimulating, normative discourse and potenti-
ally contribute to peace-building, justice and hope in confict regions.
Alternative Tourism
‘Alternative Tourism’ was one of the frst concepts that emerged as a response
to the negative impacts of tourism and was seen as an approach to increa-
se sustainability in tourism. Sustainable tourism was initially understood as
the opposite, or alternative, to mass tourism from which the term ‘Alterna-
tive Tourism’ originated (Clarke, 1997, 224). Alternative tourism has become
a sort of umbrella term for new forms of tourism that ofer an alternative to
the mainstream and mass tourism products. If sustainable tourism develop-
ment is, as Godfrey (1998) argues, a process, then it is logical to identify the
appropriate means with which to engage in that process. Such means have
been refected in a host of new terms and forms of ‘alternative’ tourism that
have evolved from the theory of sustainable tourism development as solutions
to the problems and negative impacts of tourism. Tese so-called ‘alternatives’
include ecotourism, green tourism, community tourism, fair-trade in tourism,
new moral tourism, ethical tourism, and responsible tourism, which is the
subject of this chapter.
Responsible Tourism
Responsible tourism emerged in the 1980s and in terms of interpretation and
application in tourism is well carried by the following: “Responsible tourism
is not a tourism product or brand. It represents a way of doing tourism plan-
ning, policy and development to ensure that benefts are optimally distributed
among impacted populations, governments, tourists and investors.” (Husband
and Harrison, 1996, 1, cited in Scheyvens 2002, 186) Otherwise, “it simply me-
ans treating local people as people – not as beggars, nuisances, servants, thie-
ves or exotic photo opportunities.” (Mann, 2000, 201) In addition, Lea (1993,
708) argued that responsible travel is based on three key principles: “to under-
stand the culture that you are visiting, to respect and be sensitive to the peo-
ple who are hosting your visit, and to tread softly on the environment of your
hosts” (cited in Scheyvens, 2002, 103).
According to Cleverdon and Kalisch (2000, 182), who state that “ethics in
tourism should not be confned to an expensive niche market for sophistica-
ted ‘ego-tourists’” and Budeanu (2005, 92), who writes that sustainable tou-
Responsible Tourism and Development 89
rism cannot be achieved through ‘alternatives’ to mainstream tourism, but
that tourism in general needs to “… incorporate more responsible policies and
practices.” Responsible tourism flls the gap that the alternatives leave as a way
of incorporating better practice into all sectors of the market. Husbands and
Harrison (1996, 2) clearly capture this view, stating that responsible tourism
is not a niche tourism product or brand, but a “… way of doing tourism” – any
kind of tourism.
As opposed to several other approaches, responsible tourism is an ethical
approach that is not to be understood as a new type of tourism introduced as
an alternative to mainstream tourism. It is a principle that can and must apply
to all forms of tourism, including small and large scale, domestic and interna-
tional, mass and individualised, and culturally and environmentally-oriented
tourism. According to Goodwin (2011), its goals are to perform a change in
the mainstream forms of tourism. “Responsible Tourism is about encouraging
and motivating people, individuals alone and in groups to take responsibility
for making tourism more sustainable.” (Goodwin, 2011, 30) It is an approach
that aims not only at tourism planners and managers in the development pro-
cess of tourism but at everyone involved in a tourism product, ranging from
the host populations, local governments and businesses, to the outbound tour
operators and the tourists visiting a destination.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary defnition, responsible means
“having an obligation to do something, being the cause of something, being
morally accountable for one’s behaviour and capable of being trusted.“
Krippendorf marked the beginning of the evolution of responsibility and
ethics in tourism in the early 1980s with his publications like “Te Holiday
Makers.” (1987, original: Die Ferienmenschen: Für ein neues Verständnis von
Freizeit und Reisen, 1984) His point of view was controversial at that time, cal-
ling out for “rebellious tourists and rebellious locals” (Krippendorf, 1987, 148)
and openly denying the predominantly negative perception of mass tourism
for a sustainable tourism future.
In 2002, Cape Town hosted the frst International Conference on Respon-
sible Tourism in Destinations which produced the Cape Town Declaration.
On the basis of the UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics, the Cape Town Declara-
tion (2002) identifed Responsible Tourism’s aims to “minimise negative eco-
nomic, environmental and social impacts and to maximise positives ones, [….]
to engage local people, alongside other stakeholders, in decisions that afect
their lives, [….] make positive contributions to the conservation of natural and
cultural heritage, [….] and provide enjoyable experiences for tourists through
more meaningful connections with local people [….].” Tese mostly comply
with the general principles of sustainable tourism, which shows that respon-
sible tourism does not aim to ‘reinvent’ sustainability, but instead promotes
its unconditional implementations. Focusing on the quality of life of both
hosts and guests, the main objective of responsible tourism is “to create better
places for people to live and visit.” (Cape Town Declaration 2002)
As with other sustainable tourism approaches, Responsible Tourism
addresses all three dimensions of sustainability, being economic, social and
90 RAMI I SAAC
environmental sustainable, although it recognises that priorities will vary
from destination to destination. Te guiding principles for economic, social
and environmental responsibility that were identifed in the Cape Town De-
claration are summarised in the following three sections.
Economic Responsibility
From an economic point of view, there are several aspects that need to be con-
sidered by governments, businesses and tourism developers in order to esta-
blish a Responsible Tourism industry at a destination. First of all, before tou-
rism is developed, the economic benefts should be evaluated and decisions
should be made as to whether tourism is a suitable form of local economic de-
velopment. An over-dependency on tourism, presented in destinations where
tourism is the only economic sector, is dangerous and irresponsible. Further-
more, the most appropriate form of tourism should be chosen that benefts
the local population. To maximise these benefts, economic linkages must be
increased and leakages must be reduced. Tourism development should focus
on quality products that refect and enhance destinations. Also, marketing of
the tourism product must be appropriate and represent the natural, cultural
and social integrity of a destination. Moreover, fair business practices must be
promoted, including fair and appropriate pricing strategies, and local labour
should be trained and employed. Finally, sufcient support should be given to
SMEs to ensure a vital and sustainable tourism industry (Cape Town Declara-
tion 2002).
Social Responsibility
As regards the social aspects of responsible tourism, local involvement in
tourism planning and development, as well as in the decision-making pro-
cess, is of critical importance. Furthermore, the monitoring of social impacts
throughout the operation of a tourism project is crucial to minimise negative
impacts and maximise the positive ones. Tourism should be accessible to all
communities; in particular vulnerable and disadvantaged communities must
not be excluded as responsible tourism aims to make tourism an “inclusive so-
cial experience”. Moreover, exploitations of any kind must be combatted and
tourism must be managed sensitively to maintain and encourage social and
cultural diversity. Finally, it must be ensured that tourism makes a positive
contribution to the health and education of local communities (Cape Town
Declaration 2002), reinforcing the fact that responsible tourism makes linka-
ges to other sectors beyond tourism. Indeed, tourism today is not happening
in a vacuum – it has political, environmental, economic and social dimensi-
ons.
Environmental Responsibility
Te responsibility for the environment lies in the sustainable use of natural
resources, as well as minimising waste and over-consumption. For this, edu-
cation and awareness-building is crucial among all stakeholders. Te environ-
mental impacts must be assessed and monitored throughout the life cycle of
Responsible Tourism and Development 91
a tourism project to minimise the negative and maximise the positive ones.
Te natural diversity of a destination should be maintained and appropriate
forms and scales of tourism must be found, which can be supported by the en-
vironment. Furthermore, all stakeholders must be assisted in improving their
capacities to follow the best environmental practices (Cape Town Declaration
2002).
Tese guidelines are generally in accordance with the sustainable tourism
agendas and do not introduce new dimensions or ideas to the concept. Fen-
nell (2006, 14), for example, recognised that essentially, “tourism is a form
of human behaviour” that is driven by ethics and moral beliefs. Responsib-
le tourism should address this moral level of every individual involved in the
tourism and aim to cause a change in the attitude and behaviour of tourists.
In addition, it is a call for responsibility that everyone has to think further
than short-term economic gains and to be aware of and consider the impact of
one‘s actions before making a decision. Tis is exactly the principle on which
responsible tourism could (or should) contribute to peace and peace-building
in struggling regions. Let’s now turn to the next section to discuss the relati-
onship between tourism and peace, and examine how tourism may contribute
to peace and hope in divided nations.
Tourism as a Tool for Promoting Peace
Peace – the word evokes the simplest and most cherished dream of humanity.
Peace is and has always been the ultimate human aspiration, said Javier Peres
de Cuellar, former Secretary-General of the United Nations (Moufakkir and
Kelly, 2010, xvii). Several scholars (Butler and Mao 1995; Isaac 2010; Kim and
Crompton 1990) have investigated the proposition that tourism has some po-
tential to reduce tensions between divided countries. Other researchers, for
example, have contemplated that tourism may act as a positive tool through
reducing tension (Hall 1984; Hobson and Ko 1994; Jafari 1989). Until now, this
proposition has not been documented, with Litvin (1998) suggesting that tou-
rism is not a generator of peace but the benefciary of it. Tis is an important
fact to consider once we talk about the role of (responsible) tourism and its
potential contribution to the creation of hope and peace-building.
Kim and Compton (1990, 353–366) introduced the concept of two-track
diplomacy. Te frst is described as the ofcial level – government-to-govern-
ment relations, whereas the second is an unofcial means of people-to-people
relations through tourism. Research has shown that people-to-people levels
have become an important avenue for increasing engagement between Isra-
el and Palestine (see Isaac, 2010, 584). In this type of engagement, though, it
does not contribute to peace talks and negotiations on the government-to-
government level and it will not solve the core problems. However, these types
of contacts increase better understanding between communities. Te same
can be relevant to the role of responsible tourism, whereby contacts between
responsible tourists and hosts can increase better understanding of the con-
fict. Salazar (2006, 322) argues that peace is not static and utopian, but imper-
92 RAMI I SAAC
fect and permeable and that there are as many types and defnitions of peace
as there are cultures. Te Author proposes a broad defnition of peace as re-
ferring to “peaceful relationships not only between nations, but also between
groups or communities, between individuals and between people and cultu-
res”.
Yu (1997), building on previous input in the political sciences theories pro-
posed by Spero (1981) and Zhan (1993), presented the concept of high and low
political activities. Spero (1981) defned the former as political, military, strate-
gic and intelligence issues that occur at the national, regional and internatio-
nal levels, whereas Zhan (1993, 61) defned low political activities as “activities
that impact indirectly on national, regional and international afairs”. In con-
nection to tourism, Yu (1997) defnes the latter as activities at the local level
among ordinary people. Tis concept indeed relates to the process described
by Butler and Mao (1995), where the increasing familiarity among citizens of
disputing countries may lead to better relations.
A number of scholars have advocated that tourism may be a positive
strength capable of reducing tensions and dispute by infuencing national
politics, international relations and world peace (Hall 1994; Hobson and Ko
1994). However, empirical studies have not supported this proposition. Tou-
rism has signifcant potential to develop a more positive image of a long-term
enemy, paving the way for more harmonious relations, particularly on a per-
son-to-person basis. Tus, responsible tourism may not only be a benefciary
of peace, but also a facilitator of peace.
On the other hand, existing arguments negate the claim that tourism is a
promoter of peace (Cho, 2007, 557). Te key argument is that it has not yet
been empirically investigated and that tourism makes a realistic attribution to
peace, and the relationship between peace and tourism is questionable. Din’s
(1988, 80) statement clearly exposes the negative view on the contribution of
tourism to peace:
“Te universal desire for peace and the desire to see tourism as an avenue
for cross-cultural understanding which is a prerequisite to such goals, have
long been expressed. Unfortunately, such expressions of desire and hope
have never been actually pursued beyond ritual occasions … Tus, at this
stage, ‘Tourism as a vital force for peace’ remains at best a futuristic state-
ment”.
Hall (1994, 91), also criticised the supporting views of some scholars on the
relationship between tourism and peace because of their narrow perspective
as follows: “Te idea that tourism is a force for peace is an overly simplistic in-
terpretation of complexities of tourism and international relations. Such gross
simplifcation of the political dimensions of tourism may serve to provide a
platform for politicians and consultants to launch nice-sounding statements,
but it does little to improve our understanding of tourism’s position in the
political environment”.
As a result of this discussion, it is conceivable to say that peace indeed
exists, as an inspirational concept on a universal level but the idea of peace
Responsible Tourism and Development 93
is constructed, and few would dispute the desire for peace and harmony on a
personal, national and international level. Peace remains a fundamental aspi-
ration for humanity. However, peace is a negative concept in everyday practice.
It is a cynical reality where peace only is misused. In situations of confict, cal-
ling for peace to pursue that kind of reality has no meaning unless it is used by
dominant power groups, for achieving their specifc hidden goals and political
agendas. Consequently, in these types of situations, are there any other alter-
natives for creating hope?
Nevertheless, we need to be realistic in the context of creating hope and
building towards peace in divided nations. Terefore, Mode 3 (existential and
normative questions) would be as a frst step – an inspirational way for the
creation of hope for people in desperate situations. Hope creation and building
toward peace. Whether this will happen, nobody knows, but this is indeed the
only alternative in this context of creating hope. Responsible tourism is an
ideological form of tourism, as discussed above; responsible tourists therefore
need to return to a realistic but inspirational alternative that is realistic, and
“keeping on the conversation between two diferent parties” through Mode 3
discussions, in order to create hope as opposed to the danger of losing it. Con-
sequently, Mode 3 is inspirational for face-to-face contacts between hosts and
responsible tourists, which may contribute to the creation of hope in confict
regions.
Leslie (2012, 54) states a key question for any discourse that may include
responsible tourism: what do we mean by responsible? And who exactly is re-
sponsible? Are tourists responsible for the choice they make? In this chapter,
the author would like to refer to the responsible tourists/ visitors and their
moral responsibility for their ‘potential’ contribution to peace-building and
hope in disputed and contested regions. In addressing these questions, this
brings us to the considerations of ethical, moral and existential questions.
Terefore, the central question here is how moral and existential questions
(Isaac and Platenkamp 2012, 178) may infuence the responsible practices of
tourism in contributing to peace-building and hope.
Now, we turn to the so-called Mode 3 knowledge production and what role
it may play in contributing to ‘responsible tourism’ which in turn might be
a positive force able to reduce tension between divided societies, and bring
peace-building in divided nations. All in all, one thing indeed remains obvi-
ous in this discussion, namely that ‘responsible’ tourism takes place in a con-
text imbued with normative and existential perspectives. Terefore, it beco-
mes crucial to elaborate on the relations between responsible tourism and
normative and existential issues in confict areas.
Mode 1, 2 and 3 in Controversial Areas
Gibbons et al. (1994) started to make a distinction between Mode 1 and Mode
2 knowledge productions. On the one hand, Mode 1 knowledge refers to the
traditional academic, decontextualised debates among members of universi-
ties according to universal rules and procedures. Natural science at traditional
94 RAMI I SAAC
universities is the most appealing example of this type of knowledge. Mode 2,
on the other hand, implies the changing context of application in which dife-
rent teams of researchers collaborate in transient environments. Tribe (1997)
and Portegies et al. (2009) used this distinction in the area of tourism stu-
dies. Coles et al. (2009, 84) say that “Mode 1 appears to be the dominant type
in higher education these days, as ‘the traditional centre of knowledge pro-
duction’, whereas Mode 2 was originally anticipated as taking place outside
university structures”. Mode 3 knowledge has been introduced by Kunneman
(2005) – normative and existential knowledge – in the awareness that in both
of the other Modes – in the professional as well as in the academic knowledge
productions (Gibbons et al. 1994) – there is a long-term tendency to exclude
the ‘slow questions’ (Kunneman, 2005, 116–123). Tese ‘slow questions’ are in
contrast with ‘quick questions’ that emerge from every day reality. Tey do not
require ‘quick answers’ because they are dealing with universal concerns rela-
ted to sickness, death, repression and in addition “moral virtues as compassi-
on, inner strengths or wisdom, and other sources of existential fulflment that
remain crucial for all generations in various places and spaces.” (Isaac et al.
2012, 162) According to Isaac and Platenkamp (2012, 178), there are two ways
of tourism knowledge production associated with Mode 2 which lead to the
fnding of acceptable solutions in context-related problems: on the one hand,
objectifying knowledge of Mode 1, and on the other, the existentially and mo-
rally-laden values that are co-determinant for organising these solutions in
Mode 3. Knowledge production in Mode 3 is linked to the powerful character
of these values and frames of meaningful interpretations of the questions and
problems in the context of application in Mode 2.
Relevance of Mode 3 in Responsible Tourism
In a normative discussion, responsibility and hope are at stake from the start,
especially in respect of areas of confict. Under these circumstances, peace-
building and hope may be associated with new tourism. With respect to re-
sponsible tourism, this could become the core issue. Responsible tourism, as
mentioned before, is about encouraging and motivating people – individuals
alone and in groups to take responsibility for making tourism more sustainab-
le. Te use of sustainable tourism in this particular context does not refer to a
tourism-centred approach in development discussions and practices, but it in-
volves the ethical aspects of the ideology of sustainability that may contribute
to the development of peace-building contexts.
It is also appropriate in this context to describe the responsible tourists.
Tere are few direct defnitions that can be found in literature. Krippendorf
(1984, 132), for example, gives a description of what he calls the ‘critical consu-
mer’ as follows:
“He chooses those forms of travel which are least harmful to the environ-
ment, which are least disturbing for the people and cultures of the tourist
areas and from which they get the greatest beneft. He spends his money on
Responsible Tourism and Development 95
those products and services about which he knows the origin and who will
proft from their sale. He observes these principles when choosing accom-
modation, food, means of transport, visiting institutions, buying souvenirs.
He takes time to prepare his journey and he stays as long as possible in the
places he visits so that the experience may be a lasting one and that he may
really identify with it”.
Sharpley (1994, 84), uses the label of “Responsible Tourist”, who he says
“… seeks quality rather than value, is more adventurous, more fexible, more
sensitive to the environment and searches for greater authenticity than the
traditional mass tourist”. Swarbrooke (1999) does not suggest a defnition of
the responsible tourist, but rather a description of the responsibilities of the
tourist:
• “Te responsibility to obey local laws and regulations
• Te responsibility to not take part in activities which, while not illegal, or
where the laws are not enforced by the local authorities, are nevertheless,
widely condemned by society, such as sex with children
• Te responsibility to not deliberately ofend local religious beliefs or cultu-
ral norms of behavior
• Te responsibility to not deliberately harm the local physical environment
• Te responsibility to minimize the use of scarce local resources.“
Tese ‘responsible’ tourists and visitors are confronted with the issue of crea-
ting hope and building for peace through concrete improvements in areas
such as education, healthcare, training and youth empowerments. One of the
basic responsibilities of these tourists is to take part in these activities that
contribute to hope and building for peace. Tese are all activities that can be
supported by responsible tourists in making tourism in these confict areas
more sustainable and building peace and hope for those who live in this des-
perate situation.
Tis approach also suggests that excluded voices are heard and stimulated
to enter the discourse, and the voice of the “Responsible Tourist” constitutes
an important one in areas of confict. Responsible tourists come from distant
places where ignorance and indiference dictate the general opinion. By ente-
ring these areas of confict, he/she cannot stay out of discussion. Te primary
intention of these responsible tourists would be to participate in this norma-
tive and existential discussion. Teir interest would be to support peace-buil-
ding. Initiatives should be stimulated whereby responsible tourists provide
training in health care and education in building towards peace and creating
hope for these people living in confict. As revealed before, responsible tou-
rism is an ethical approach. It is the ethical responsibility of responsible tou-
rists to take actions in these confict areas towards building peace and crea-
ting hope.
If we take Husbands and Harrison’s (1996) defnition of responsible tourism
as a way of ‘doing’ tourism, then it makes sense to get an overview of what ac-
tually is being done, in particular what is being done by the tourist to achieve
96 RAMI I SAAC
responsible tourism and by others to enable the tourist to participate in res-
ponsible tourism, for example, by participating in activities that contribute to
peace-building. Te purpose of the following section is to give a brief overview,
looking at where responsible tourism has been put into practice.
Swarbrooke and Horner (1999) report some anecdotal instances of ‘green’
tourist behaviour such as tourists not buying souvenirs made from animal
parts, not attending bullfghts and not being photographed with monkeys and
bears which are kept in captivity. Tere are also some instances of what they
term ‘dark green tourists’ who take holidays that actively support and partici-
pate in environmental projects. Nevertheless, they continue that few tourists
appear to choose an airline based on environmental practice, boycott hotels
that do not recycle, or campaign against the building of new theme parks
and accommodation units that destroy wildlife habitats. As one would expect
from the term ‘green’ tourist, these issues only relate to environmental con-
cerns.
What other research there is tends to focus on what tourists intend to do or
would like to do (Tearfund 2001; Goodwin and Francis 2003; Chafe 2004) and
not on what they have done (Swarbrooke and Horner 1999). Yet, research does
demonstrate that some tourists are demonstrating responsible intentions
(Stanford 2000; Tearfund 2001; Weeden 2001; Goodwin and Francis 2003;
Chafe 2004). For example in the 2001 Tearfund report, Worlds Apart: A call
to responsible global tourism (Tearfund 2001), it was found that 52% of those
questioned in their survey said they would be more likely to book a holiday
with a company that had a written code of conduct to guarantee good wor-
king conditions, protect the environment and support local charities and that
65% would like information from travel agents and tour operators on how to
support the local economy, preserve the environment and behave responsib-
ly when they go on holiday. Te Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA)
has found from a MORI poll in 2000 that 53 % of those asked would be pre-
pared to pay more money for their package holiday in order that workers in
the destination could be guaranteed good wages and working conditions, and
45% were prepared to pay more to assist in preserving the local environment
(Goodwin and Francis 2003).
Again these good intentions are seen in a recent study, Consumer Demand and
Operator Support for Socially and Environmentally Responsible Tourism, un-
dertaken by the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD)
and Te International Ecotourism Society (TIES) (Chafe 2004). Te report de-
tails, among other things, a majority of tourists wanting to learn about social,
cultural and environmental issues while travelling, who think that it is im-
portant that tourism does not damage the environment and who want hotels
to protect the environment. However, only a small percentage of tourists who
actually ask about hotel policies are reported; with even fewer changing plans
due to responsible tourism issues. One third to one half of tourists surveyed
were willing to pay more to companies that beneft local communities and
conservation (Chafe 2004). Te above research is valuable as it shows the ex-
tent to which tourists demonstrate good intentions. Similar actions can be put
Responsible Tourism and Development 97
in practice with regard to destinations in confict where these tourists can (or
should) contribute to peace-building and creation of hope.
Tere is a general assumption that there are always two sides of a confict,
but in fact what we do not see that there is a third side, which is us or more
precisely ‘responsible’ tourists, and they can play a far-fetched, constructive
role – perhaps the most fundamental part is that they can remind the parties
of what is really at stake, for the sake of our children, communities, and for the
future of our children. Let’s stop fghting, let’s talk.
In a situation of confict and political instability, there is a need for the de-
velopment of responsible tourism for two main reasons – namely that respon-
sible tourism should create hope and build towards peace by contributing to
improvements in areas of primary schools, education and democracy, and is-
sues related to extended normative and existential discussions that need the
clarifcations of a Mode 3 discourse. Responsible tourism ofers communities
the chance to share their culture, tell stories, request solidarity and foster to-
lerance and greater understanding between two societies. By entering these
places of confict or ‘troubled spots’ (Isaac and Platenkamp, 2010, 159), a nor-
mative discussion will be stimulated, and responsible tourists can be challen-
ged to refect upon this.
Trough the tours in the country, which dive into the cultural contexts in
order to get information about what’s happening in this region, responsible
tourists are introduced to the reality of daily life in the host communities, as
well as the social, cultural and economic issues of the country. By taking nor-
mative discourses into consideration, responsible tourists will be inspired to
generate new ideas, concepts and directions for developing, helping and initi-
ating responsible tourism projects that contribute to peace-building relating
to the contextual situation in regions of confict. Furthermore, because of this
confrontation, responsible tourists start asking questions about human sufe-
ring, injustices, right of return and chances of young people in isolation. Tese
questions are clearly related to normative issues (Mode 3) of people in existen-
tial need. Tese questions are also about life and death, about the signifcance
and meaning of life, and about the future of their children. A thorough refec-
tion on these types of discourses will stimulate responsible tourists to take
part in various activities that beneft the destination.
Conclusion
Te main aim of this chapter is to assess how so-called responsible tourism
can contribute to peace-building. In this context, responsible tourism can be
seen as an ethical approach in relation to confict regions in such a way that
could contribute to hope and stimulate the people in these desperate situa-
tions to have faith in hope. What responsible tourism can do is to raise their
normative awareness. In these ‘troubled spots’ people still have hope. Tere is
always hope and hope will be infated through responsible tourism in discus-
sions, dialogue and awareness. Unfortunately, research has shown that the-
re is no direct relationship or evidence that tourism can contribute to peace
98 RAMI I SAAC
and peace-building. Tourism is not a generator of peace, but benefciary of it.
Terefore, the development of responsible tourism is necessary in these ‘trou-
ble spots’ and has a chance of success only because it creates hope through
Mode 3 discussions for the people who live in these difcult situations. Po-
tential motives for responsible tourists visiting these regions of confict could
be ‘interest in the country’, ‘support and solidarity’, ‘a desire to understand the
real cause of the confict’, and ‘we have everything in Europe and it’s time to
give something back’, such as generating new ideas and participating in pro-
jects that beneft the country in terms of education, health and empowerment
of the youth. Mode 3 is an inspirational and realistic approach for increasing
face-to-face contacts between divided nations through responsible tourism
that create hope and build towards peace.
As Isaac and Platenkamp (2012, 184) articulated in the example of Palestine
“for tourism – and in particular, for inquiry into open-to-the-future possibili-
ties in tourism studies research, we maintain that attention should indeed be
paid in controversial areas as how tourism could in fact ofer opportunities
which decidedly create hope ‘in situations of apparent sustained/longstanding
despair’. Such orientations to tourism require a rather diferent or fresh focus
– that is, away from one where tourism is viewed only an activity/site/place of
relaxation and exotic pleasure. It is our view that tourism is inherently and
substantively embedded within society”.
Finally, this chapter has attempted to contribute to the debate on the role
of (responsible) tourism as a force for peace and creation of hope and interna-
tional understanding by investigating the role that tourism, and in particular,
responsible tourism, plays in fostering relations between divided nations. Te
main question for future research remains how to create hope and build peace
in education, health care and youth empowerment. Te mere presence of re-
sponsible tourists already contributes to this much-needed principle of hope.
However, stakeholders in these destinations should be involved in a dialogue
in which spaces are created, where responsible tourists in agreement with va-
rious stakeholders involved can generate new ideas and projects that are nee-
ded for further creation of hope and peace-building.
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RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARSTEN PALME,
ULRI KE J ORAS
Understanding Economic Efects of
Violent Conficts on Tourism:
Empirical Refections from Croatia,
Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Introduction
Since the end of the Cold War, there has been increasing interest from po-
licy makers, researchers and advocacy organisations on the roles that pri-
vate businesses play in confict contexts. Tis has contributed to two domi-
nant yet seemingly contradictory lines of thought. One line has focused on
the confict-aggravating infuence that businesses have had. Te second line
of thought emphasises the positive impact that businesses have had through
their infuence on peace-building and confict transformation. Both lines of
thought have been important in paving the way for initiatives and guidelines
that promote increased due diligence of companies in confict contexts. Te
development of multi-stakeholder processes and initiatives has demonstrated
that while ‘blaming and shaming’ can be efective in infuencing company be-
haviour, NGOs, governments and other groups also need to work construc-
tively with the private sector to achieve positive change.
Although one could argue that businesses have a rational self-interest
in peace – as the high economic costs of war may provide incentives for them
to engage in peace-building – the practical examples of private sector enga-
gement in peace remain limited. Furthermore, there remains a lack of know-
ledge on how companies can strategically integrate peace issues into their
core businesses in confict contexts. Tis raises questions on which factors
contribute to private sector engagement in peace and whether self-interest is
indeed a relevant issue. From an economic perspective, ‘self-interest’ tends to
be quantifed through a rational perspective on cost-beneft analysis. Tis as-
sumes that high economic costs of confict on tourism should motivate priva-
te sector businesses to engage in peace promotion, as it is in their long-term
interest. However, limiting our understanding of businesses to their being
merely ‘rational capitalists’ fails to take the infuence of their political, eth-
nic, social or religious identities into consideration. Terefore, more emphasis
needs to be placed on understanding the interdependence of political, social
and economic factors that play an important role in determining corporate
engagement in peace.
102 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
Tere is still a lack of understanding of the potential contributions of pri-
vate sector groups to peace-building, and of the realities that businesses face
in confict contexts. In order to contribute to a better general understanding
of the impact that private sector groups have on confict settings, Swisspeace
and COMPASS GmbH carried out a joint project for the Deutsche Stiftung
Friedensforschung in 2008 and 2009. Te study placed a specifc focus on un-
derstanding the role of the tourism sector in three confict-afected countries,
namely Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.
Generally, the study gained insights into the main motivating and inhi-
biting factors that infuenced corporate engagement in peace-building. Spe-
cifcally, it explored the diferent roles that tourism actors played in confict
and peace processes in the three countries in order to understand whether
tourism has been used to aggravate confict and/or promote peace and, if so,
through which activities. Te study was based on primary, qualitative, semi-
structured interviews that were conducted in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Croatia and
Europe (Switzerland, UK, Germany). Interviews were carried out with repre-
sentatives from the local and international tourism industries, Government,
non-governmental organisations, academics and other experts on the private
sector and peace and confict contexts. Tis chapter is a summary of the full
report and resulting publications (Joras, Palme, Alluri and Leicher 2011; Joras
2009; Alluri 2009).
The Role of Tourism in Peace and Confict
Te private sector generally and the tourism sector specifcally can have both
positive and negative impacts on the social, environmental and political si-
tuation in a country. Moreover, tourism can play both positive and negative
roles in peace and confict. Tere are four key issues that can be both confict-
aggravating and peace-promoting in the tourism sector.
The Impact of Tourism on the Local People
Tourism has the potential to generate both direct and indirect employment
for local people, to provide training for capacity development and to act as a
stabilising tool for areas where confict may be linked to lack of employment
and livelihood opportunities. Such processes can help to foster an environ-
ment in which the benefts of tourism are more equally distributed amongst
the various groups. Tus, tourism can act not only as a source of economic
development, but also as an agent for social change (Ashley, De Brine et al.
2007; Nicolau 2008).
However, when local people are not integrated into the planning and stra-
tegy development of tourism, there is a risk that they can act as spoilers of
development, particularly if they do not have the opportunity to reap tourism
benefts. When tourism development is only geared towards international
tourists and not domestic tourists, there is also the risk that the latter feel
left out – creating tensions or resentment towards international tourists. Tou-
rism projects that use unlawful or corrupt practices for land acquisition risk
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 103
leading to the displacement of local people or disruption of local livelihood
practices. If consideration is not given to how local people may beneft from
tourism facilities, there is a risk that tourism infrastructure may lead to nega-
tive social and environmental impacts. Moreover, this may make community
access to natural resources challenging.
Supporting Fair Labour and Employment Strategies
Te highly intensive labour needed to promote tourism can have a very po-
sitive efect on the local employment market by generating both direct and
indirect employment and acting as a multiplier efect to primary and secon-
dary sectors. Furthermore, in confict-afected countries, the establishment of
equal-hiring practices of diferent groups is imperative to ensure access to op-
portunities for vulnerable people. By supporting the establishment of human
rights standards in associated labour practices, tourism can act as a model for
other sectors.
Due to the seasonality of tourism, there is the risk of the tourism sector
exploiting the opportunity to use short term labourers who do not gain access
to competitive salaries and benefts, and who struggle to claim their human
rights due to their dependence upon the sector. Local labour may also strugg-
le to compete against labour that is hired and trained internationally. Tere is
the risk that the tourism sector fails to invest in the capacity development of
local labour, contributing to a long-term cycle where local people fail to gain
competitive knowledge and skills in the sector.
Addressing Economic Inequality
Tourism has the potential to support both central and peripheral development
in countries where economic opportunities tend to be centralised in certain
regions. Tis allows regional or rural areas to also beneft from tourism profts.
By supporting peripheral development, tourism can have a long-term positi-
ve impact on the migration patterns of local people, who might otherwise be
forced to move to larger cities where more economic opportunities are availa-
ble. Tere is the risk that certain forms of tourism (such as high-end, luxury
or resort tourism) contribute to a physical, psychological and cultural barri-
er sbetween the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. Te creation of ‘luxury ghettos’
can have damaging efects on local people, particularly if they are unable to
gain access to contracts with tour operators or package tours, thus preventing
them from benefting from tourist revenue. Tis creates a system where the f-
nancial benefts of tourism remain in the hands of foreign tourism companies
or local elites, thereby preventing a transfer of benefts to local communities
or smaller operators. Tere is also the risk that such forms of tourism develop-
ment contribute to long-term divisions between tourists and locals, and sup-
port a hierarchical social system that heightens the gap between rich and poor.
Environmental Resources
Pristine nature and protected landscapes are essential for attracting tourists.
Tere is the potential to invest tourism profts into processes that support
104 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
environmental conservation practices. Tis is particularly important for de-
stinations that depend on their natural landscapes and wildlife for tourism.
Tis can help to ensure that there are environmental standards and practices
put in place, so as to ensure that tourism infrastructure and services are not
detrimental to the environment. In addition, practices that consume fewer
environmental resources, and less land and energy, can help to ensure long-
term sustainability. However, there is the risk that tourism infrastructure de-
velopment can have a negative impact on resources such as water and land,
which may already be sources of confict. Furthermore, the infux of tourists
may risk increasing the consumption of plastics, and the output of garbage
and waste etc. Tourism development that does not take the environment into
account can have detrimental efects on issues such as conservation of the en-
vironment, local access to high quality natural resources and the quality of
the destination itself.
Tere have been signifcant eforts to ensure that tourism is more environ-
mentally friendly and socially responsible. For example, the tourism sector
has been challenged to respond to the high demand to develop ‘eco-’ ‘respon-
sible’, ‘pro-poor’, ‘volun-’ and ‘community-based’ tourism initiatives and poli-
cies that take specifc issues into consideration. Tourism companies have also
been urged to develop corporate social responsibility policies and guidelines
to ensure that they practice what they preach (Lovelock 2008; SNV-Rwanda
and RSM Erasmus University 2008; ODI 2007; Milne et al. 2001; Brohman
1996).
A lack of concrete tourism eforts for peace
Despite these eforts to make tourism more responsible, there have not been
many concrete eforts to make tourism companies more aware of their impact
on peace and confict issues. Tis is surprising considering that the tourism
industry tends to thrive more in peace than in confict (Richter in Burns and
Novelli 2006). Tourism is highly vulnerable to confict as violence can inhibit
tourism activities, cause damage to the necessary infrastructure and infu-
ence travel warnings – which decrease tourist arrival numbers. Tourism desti-
nations are likely to have fewer options and be less appealing to tourists if they
are insecure or close to a confict. While this ‘peace dividend’ would appear to
provide tourism companies with the motivation to engage in peace promotion,
few cases of tourism engagement have been explored. Insights into how tou-
rism could engage in confict prevention, confict settlement or post-confict
peace-building via ‘peace through tourism’, have only been analysed by a few
scholars (Richter 1992, 1999; Richter and Waugh 1986; Strong-Cvetich 2007;
Feil, Fischer et al. 2008).
Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on the Tourism Sector
in Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka are three countries that have been negatively
afected by violent confict. At the same time, they are tourism destinations
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 105
that have established diferent types of activities prior to, during and after
experiencing confict. Although tourism was adversely afected in all three
countries by respective violent conficts, the nature and intensity of the conse-
quences of the confict on the tourism sector difer considerably. Tis section
will provide a summary of the linkages between tourism, peace and confict in
the three country cases.
Croatia
Te ‘Yugoslav Wars’ refer to a series of conficts that took place between 1991
and 1995 between the Belgrade Government of Yugoslavia and the sovereign
republics of Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Serbia, who were seeking indepen-
dence. Te collapse of communism in 1990 led to the election of pro-indepen-
dence governments in Slovenia and Croatia. Although Slovenia achieved inde-
pendence relatively easily, Croatia’s fght was extremely violent as the Serbian
minority of approximately 600,000 people rejected the newly formed Govern-
ment and fought to remain under the Yugoslavian state. Te Serbs were unwil-
ling to be ruled by an independent Croatia, whilst the Croats saw the Serbian
minority as a group that had profted from certain privileges under the former
Communist Government.
Te core confict being explored here is that of the Croatian-Serbian war
of 1991 to 1995. Te root causes of the confict are manifold. Historically, the
creation of the Yugoslavian state itself and the unison of the republics under
one rule was often a source of confict. Tis created regional disparities and
inequalities in the country, which pitted diferent ethnicities in competition
with one another over opportunities and resources.
One of the triggers of the war emerged on 17 August 1990, with the ‘Log
Revolution’ whereby Serbian residents in Krajina – in the middle of the high
tourist season – put up blockades between Zagreb and Istria to disrupt the
elections. At the end of June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their desire
for independence. At the same time, Serbian rebels began regularly to attack
Croatian security checkpoints, as well as systematically targeting Croatian
people from Krajina and east Slovenia. Tis contributed to several incidents
of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the cities of Dalj near Osijek and Struga in Banija (Kle-
mencic 1993).
In resistance to Croatia’s declaration of independence, the Serbian minority
established its own Republic of Serbian Krajina in central and north-eastern
Croatia. By the end of 1991, the Serbian minority had succeeded in occupying
approximately 30% of the former Yugoslav Republic of Croatia. By 1993, the-
re were 2,500 dead and 9,000 wounded people on the Croatian side; 300,000
people were driven from their homes. After numerous failed attempts by
the European Community to negotiate peace, a truce was administered and
enforced by the United Nations peacekeeping force UNPROFOR.
Te confict reached a peak in 1995, when the Croatian army targeted Kra-
jina Serbs, leading to the death of approximately 14,000 Serbs and producing
300,000 Serbian refugees (Human Rights Watch, 2006). Te Serbs responded
by attacking the capital of Zagreb in May 1995 causing several deaths and over
106 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
100 wounded. Tis was seen as a direct attack on the tourism sector. Between
May and August 1995, the Serbian troops then began to withdraw from Kra-
jina and east Slovenia. Between 1996 and 1999, the Kosovo confict erupted;
this also had a negative impact on the tourism sector.
Te Croatian tourism sector was strongly afected by the various conficts
that were related to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. In addition to its
own independence struggle, the country’s tourism sector was further nega-
tively afected by the Kosovo confict between 1996 and 1999. Two main tou-
rist destinations were studied in order to provide a comparison of diferent
developments and activities. Tese were Eastern Slavonia and Dubrovnik in
Croatia.
Whilst Dubrovnik is one of the most popular destinations in the Mediter-
ranean, with 4.8 million overnight stays in 2011 (1988: 5.5 million) and with a
strong tourism sector, Eastern Slavonia is still in the early stages of tourism
development (200,000 overnight stays in Osijek-Baranja (Damir, 2012)). In ad-
dition, Dubrovnik has an appealing historical city centre and several attracti-
ve beaches and islands. Tere are also three to four cruise ships a day. Kotor, in
Montenegro, as a neighbouring destination, also increases the level of attrac-
tiveness of Dubrovnik. Eastern Slavonia, however, specialises in nature and
hunting tourism but is unfavourably situated transport-wise because of its
border with Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary. Although Osijek plays
a certain role in the tourism business as a trade and convention city, with Da-
nube River cruises providing some day visitors, agriculture is by far the more
important economic sector in this region.
In Croatia, the tourist numbers fell even before the outbreak of the war due
to a generally difcult economic situation and problems of quality. Because
of its dependence on seasonal tourism, the sector was hit particularly hard.
In 1991 the number of foreign overnight stays dropped to less than 8% of the
previous year’s total. Even after the northern Croatian coast was considered
safe in 1992, tourist arrival numbers remained low. Tis shows the enormous
vulnerability of the tourism sector. Whilst neither the war in Slovenia, nor the
fghting in the Krajina, concerned the classic tourist areas specifcally (excep-
tion: the city of Sibenik), nonetheless Croatia as a whole was still considered a
war zone. In the following years, growth in overnight stays was largely conf-
ned to Istria and Kvarner Bay but this was also interrupted by periods of vio-
lent confict in Croatia and the wider region (Jordan 1998). Te tourism sector
remained highly sensitive to any outbreaks of violence and to the continuing
political instability. For example, there was a large decline in overnight stays
in 1995 due to the rocket fre of Zagreb and the Croatian military operation to
retake Krajina. Up until then, tourism in Istria had almost recovered (Jordan
1998).
After ‘bottoming out’ in 1995, tourism in Croatia began to recover, star-
ting rapidly from the north. Whilst Istria quickly reached its pre-war number
of overnight stays, Dubrovnik never recovered to its pre-war levels. Te re-
conquest of Krajina by Croatia led – although, again, tourist areas were not
directly afected – to large-scale evacuation from the country of origin. Even
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 107
the Kosovo crisis resulted once again in dips. In nine years of war and post-
war from 1990 to 1998, the losses of overnight stays in Croatia amounted to a
total of $400 million, while the revenue losses are estimated at $14 billion. In
addition, the war resulted in the destruction of hotels and tourist facilities as
well as the implications of refugee accommodation in hotels. Tese fnancial
losses are estimated as being at least $100 million (Ivandic 1999). As the tou-
rism sector accounted for about 20% of GDP in Croatia, the direct economic
consequences of the war for the entire country were immense.
With the end of the war, tourism representatives who had been recruited
to the army, or who had fed, or who had engaged in other activities such as
agriculture and trade, returned to rebuild the sector. Also, international tour
operators who had left the country quickly returned. Interestingly, the tou-
rism sector made eforts to establish cross-border travel and exchanges, which
were important for re-establishing contact with former enemies. As part of
the reconstruction programme, UN ofcials and US troops were some of the
frst ‘guests’ that were able to use tourism facilities and infrastructure. Te
tourism sector began to bounce back, albeit in a rather low and slow fashion.
Tour operators co-operated with governmental institutions, hotels and other
infrastructure were rebuilt or renovated, and loans and subsidies became
available for small- to medium-sized businesses. Furthermore, investments in
marketing and a changing of the image of the country were imperative for its
recovery.
Rwanda
Te Rwandan civil war and genocide represent a manifestation of deeply roo-
ted class divisions and social stratifcations often expressed and manipulated
through constructed identities of the Tutsi, Hutu and Twa (Alluri 2009, 13).
Te civil war broke out in October 1990, when a group of (predominantly)
Tutsi ofcers residing in Uganda formed the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)
and invaded Rwanda to reclaim their homeland. Despite eforts to end the war
through the Arusha Peace Talks in 1992, violence continued.
Te Rwandan genocide was sparked on 6 April 1994, when the shooting
down of the then Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane led to ac-
cusations towards Tutsis generally and the RPF specifcally. Te genocide was
realised through a combination of high-level political leadership of Hutu ex-
tremists alongside trained, armed ‘interahamwe’ militia who recruited and
threatened ordinary citizens to target Tutsis (Human Rights Watch 2006, 16).
Te Rwandan genocide was part of an orchestrated strategic plan by a small
group of self-interested Hutu elite who saw the extermination of ‘the other’ as
the alternative to power-sharing (Newbury 1995, 1998). Te genocide led to
the loss of approximately 800,000 lives in one hundred days (Des Forges 1999,
692-8). Te RPF managed to halt the genocide in July 1994, eventually taking
over political power.
Te development of ‘gorilla’ tourism in the Volcanoes National Park in
the 1980s supported conservation eforts and earned foreign currency. Des-
pite weak infrastructure, transport and telecommunication services, tourism
108 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
reached its peak in 1984 with 39,000 tourist arrivals. However, with the out-
break of the civil war in 1990, arrival rates dropped to 17,000, later coming to a
complete halt with the outbreak of the genocide in 1994 (Plumptre et al. 2001,
12). While some conservationists attempted to monitor the gorillas, the secu-
rity situation was highly unstable. Te Government and militias built camps
in the parks for hiding and training recruits. Civilians sought protection while
depending on natural resources. Existing hotels were used both by the plan-
ners of the genocide for meetings and training of militias, as well as for the
protection of refugees sites (Alluri 2009).
Tourism in the Volcanoes National Park resumed in 1995 thanks to a timely
mine clearance campaign and the infux of international organisations’ staf.
However, the security situation remained fragile due to on-going regional
conficts. Returning refugees and ‘interahamwe’ rebels sought refuge in the
areas of national parks until the late 1990s, and impaired tourism. It was not
until the restructuring of the Government-run Rwanda Ofce of Tourism and
National Parks (ORTPN) in 2001 that the tourism sector made a signifcant
recovery.
Rwanda’s reputation continues to be plagued with the memory of the 1994
genocide. Despite this dark past, the country has been increasingly seen as a
site for development and as a destination for tourists. Concerted eforts by the
Rwandan Government to promote conservation tourism have been rewarded
by rapid sector growth and tourist arrivals that have surpassed the pre-war
years. Since 2001, Rwanda has defned tourism as one of the key economic
sectors to play an important role in the diversifcation of national economic
development. As of 2011, tourism was the largest foreign exchange earner
with $251 million. Te tourism sector increasingly serves not only as a source
of income and foreign exchange, but also as a tool with which to improve the
country’s destination image.
Since the original project study, the ORTPN has become integrated into the
Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Department for Tourism and Conservati-
on. While eforts have been made to support the private actors in tourism, the
centralised role of the Government in tourism remains both an opportunity
and an impediment for private sector development.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been beset with two interlinked confict lines since the 1970s.
Te confict between the Sri Lankan Government and the Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP) emerged in 1971, when a group of primarily young Sinhala
men protested against limited socio-economic opportunities in the southern
and central provinces. Tere was renewed fghting between 1987 and 1989
which took the lives of about 60,000 people before the Government brutally
crushed the insurgency. Since 1994, the JVP has been a political party repre-
senting Sinhalese nationalist views. Te civil war between the Liberation Ti-
gers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan Government was triggered
in 1983 with the killing of 13 Government soldiers in the north, which led to
anti-Tamil pogroms. Te confict is commonly interpreted as an ethno-politi-
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 109
cal confict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority, although
confict dynamics and causes have altered over time. After fve unsuccessful
peace negotiation attempts, the Sri Lankan Government defeated the LTTE in
May 2009 by military means.
Mostly known for its beaches, the formal development of tourism in Sri
Lanka began in 1966 with the founding of the Ceylon Tourist Board. Between
1966 and 1982, the number of tourists grew by an annual average of 20%, brin-
ging the number of 24,000 guests in 1967 to approximately 410,000 guests in
1982 (Sri Lanka Tourist Board, 2006, 70).
Te negative efects of the civil war on the tourism sector were particularly
evident at times of intensifed political violence. From 1983 to 1987, the coun-
try experienced negative growth rates in tourist arrivals (between minus 6%
and minus 21%) bringing the number of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka back
to the level of 1978. With the end of the JVP confict in the late 1980s and the
confict with the LTTE mainly confned to the less touristy north and east,
tourists regained confdence. Tourism numbers recovered and, in 1994, arri-
vals exceeded the peak year of 1982. Repeat bombings in Colombo in 1996,
however, also had an impact on arrival numbers. In 2001, the bombing of the
international airport in Colombo closed down the airport, raised travel war-
nings and decreased tourist confdence.
However, the 2003 ceasefre agreement raised tourist confdence; in this
year, the ‘magic threshold’ of 500,000 arrivals was surpassed. Despite the civil
war, none of the large hotels had to close and in fact the total number of hotel
beds has even increased since 1996. However, tourism development remains
geographically uneven. Although tourism partly grew on the west and south
coasts and in the interior, tourism in the confict-ridden north and east was
insecure and inadvisable. Economically, tourism generates only a small con-
tribution of 2% to the GDP and absorbs about 2% of the workforce (approxi-
mately 134,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2006). In the generation of foreign
exchange, tourism is the third largest source (after the garment industry and
tea) (Bandara 2003, 23).
Sri Lanka represents the only case in which active, direct and intentional
engagement in peace promotion took place. After the bombing of the interna-
tional airport in 2001, members of the tourism sector led the development of
a multi-sector initiative known as Sri Lanka First (SLF) that advocated ending
the war through a peaceful resolution to the confict. It aimed at raising awa-
reness of the ‘peace dividend’ and the need to enter into renewed talks with
the LTTE (Joras 2009).
At the time of the original project research, Sri Lanka was still at war. Tere
have been signifcant eforts to develop tourism in the former confict zones
since the war ended in 2009. Whilst populations in the confict-afected areas
are eager for job opportunities and sector development, they do not appear to
be reaping the benefts of tourism. In addition, the ‘dark tourism’ being pro-
moted in the north and east of the country poses the risk of exacerbating ten-
sions, particularly since they appear to be re-entrenching former root causes
of the confict.
110 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
Common and Difering Efects
In the three country cases, the following efects of violent confict on the tou-
rism industry can be identifed:
Decrease of Overnight Stays and Efects on Jobs, Purchasing Power, and
Upstream and Downstream Sectors
Violent conficts in the countries researched had consistent negative efects on
the tourism industry, with losses in overnight fgures; these varied, according
to rough estimates, between about 50% and 90%. Tourism is closely integrated
into the regional economic cycle; therefore crafts, construction, agriculture
and trade in the region are also afected with a decline in overnight stays. For
example, interviewees from tourist areas in Dubrovnik and Dalmatia in Croa-
tia placed an emphasis on the importance of tourism for almost all industries
in the region.
Direct and Indirect Destruction of Tourist Attractions and Infrastructure
Croatia was the only case where tourist infrastructure was a direct target of
attacks. Tourist attractions were intentionally targeted as symbolic represen-
tations of the economic inequality in the country (one of the root causes of
confict) and as cultural sites (particularly in Dubrovnik) that were signifcant
for Croats.
Shortage of Skilled Personnel Through Death, Expulsion or Flight
In all three countries, a lack of skilled workers is a direct result of the vio-
lent conficts. People who worked for the tourism industry faced insecurity
and hardship, causing many of them to take on other forms of employment,
fee, be killed or be expelled. For example, many guides and conservationists
who supported gorilla tourism and worked in the Volcanoes National Park in
Rwanda were forced to fee. Whilst some were able to come back to the Park in
the aftermath of the civil war and genocide, others never returned. Due to its
vulnerability to crisis, tourism in these three countries has had to rebuild its
reputation as an attractive and proftable employer.
The Emergence of Investment Gaps and an Associated Competitive
Disadvantage due to Lower Quality Standards
All three countries faced difculties in attracting investment and supporting
the local private sector during and after experiencing confict. For example,
in Croatia, local businesspeople faced difculties in obtaining loans during
and in the immediate aftermath of the war. Tourism in the country conti-
nues to sufer due to the investment gap during the 1990s. Rwanda and Cro-
atia provide examples of how investment in tourism development can also
be used as a strategic tool to improve a country’s reputation, gain valuable
foreign currency and help contribute to broader development and investment
in the country.
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 111
Image Problems and Loss of Confdence Among Investors and Guests
All three countries have faced difculties in (re)developing tourism due to the
association with confict. Te countries’ reputations became tainted with sto-
ries of death and violence and were not seen as opportunities for business in-
vestment generally and the tourism sector specifcally. Unstable and insecure
destinations risk being replaced by other countries that are able to continue to
receive investment and development. Rwanda continues to be most closely as-
sociated with the genocide; thus tourists tend to fear insecurity, violence and a
dangerous environment. Te country has therefore had to invest signifcantly
in its marketing strategies by trying to push images which are attractive to
tourists and which provide the opportunity to rebuild their reputation.
Intensity and Geographical Location of Confict
Despite some similarities between the case studies there are other major dif-
ferences regarding the impact of the violent conficts for tourism in Croatia,
Rwanda and Sri Lanka. Especially noteworthy is the fact that in Croatia and
Sri Lanka tourism was still able to continue even during the time of the violent
conficts and despite them. In Rwanda, however, the entire public life came to
a complete halt and tourism did not take place in the period of the civil war
or the genocide. One reason could be that the tourism sectors in Croatia and
Sri Lanka were already developed when the confict broke out, allowing them
to develop coping strategies. Another reason is linked to the sites of the wars.
Te tourism areas in Croatia and Sri Lanka were, for the most part, geogra-
phically removed from the location of confict. Travel to Istria in Croatia and
to the western and southern beaches in Sri Lanka was still possible for most
of the duration of the confict. However, since the genocide in Rwanda was so
widespread, each region, sector, ‘colline’ and family was afected.
Tourism recovered relatively quickly in all three case destinations after the
end of the conficts. Te prerequisite, though, was a stabilisation of the con-
fict situation not only within the country but also within the regions of the
country. Te ability for tourism to bounce back quickly makes it a relevant
sector to help support economic growth in post-confict societies and fragile
economies.
Integration of the Tourism Private Sector in Peace Promotion
in Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Te businesses in the three countries developed remarkably similar measures
to ‘manage’ the risks of violent conficts. In the following there will be a dis-
tinction made between ‘coping strategies’, ‘confict sensitivity and proactive
peace-building’ and ‘peace-building efects as a by-product of core business’
that businesses employed.
Coping Strategies
Coping Strategies have a central role in all three countries examined, espe-
cially in Croatia and Sri Lanka, regarding how tourism businesses dealt with
112 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
violent confict. Tey are distinct from private sector engagement, which aims
specifcally at peace-promotion. Te most relevant are:
Temporary or permanent halting of business activities
Business activities may halt temporarily or close down permanently due to a
lack of security, low guest arrivals or the feeing of personnel (especially hotels
and restaurants). Despite spurts of instability, international tour companies
often work hard to maintain contact with their local partners even if the desti-
nation has been cancelled from the catalogues temporarily or permanently, in
order to be able to return if the confict ends.
Cost and price cutbacks
Private sector operators in Croatia and Sri Lanka tried to cut costs through
redundancies, hiring short-term labour or by limiting investments. Price cuts
are another common strategy to maintain tourism revenue despite violent
conficts, and often result in price wars amongst local providers – as happe-
ned in Sri Lanka.
Shift to alternative sources of income
Small businesses and family-owned enterprises are likely to shift to other
sources of income to bridge the time of the confict, for example moving to-
wards trade, crafts or agriculture.
Continuation of business activities with an alternative focus
Some tourism companies remained active during the confict while aligning
their ofers with the new circumstances. For example, many hotels survived
in Croatia and Rwanda because they benefted from the infux of expatriates
or, in some cases, they harboured refugees. Some agencies in Croatia reloca-
ted their business to safer destinations like Istria, where stability was better.
International businesses often shifted to alternative destinations. Some Sri
Lankan companies, for example, increased their investments in the Maldives
and India, during periods when investments in Sri Lanka were limited and
risky.
Government support and marketing strategies
Although not a coping strategy of the private sector in the narrow sense, the
involvement of governmental support for tourism businesses has been si-
gnifcant for their survival. For example, in order to support the sector, the
Government in Sri Lanka helped tourism companies in the early 1980s to ac-
cess cheaper credit schemes. Te Ministry of Tourism also strategically incre-
ased its marketing to countries such as Russia, India and China as growing
markets which rely less on government travel warnings to guide their destina-
tion choices (see Kron et al. 2009). In Croatia, similar strategies on the part of
the Government and the private sector have been used to promote tourism in
the safe areas during the confict.
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 113
Support from partners from source markets
Coping strategies are often also developed in tourism source markets. For ex-
ample, German tour operators interviewed highlighted the need to develop
efective coping strategies rather than focus on their role in peace-building.
Processes such as crisis management and cross-sector strategies are being em-
phasised in the German tourism market, in particular by those catering for
destination countries that are or have been afected by confict. One German
tour operator made it clear that they do not see the prevention or transforma-
tion of violent conficts as their task.
Confict Sensitivity and Pro-active Private Sector Engagement in Peace-
building
Te ‘Sri Lanka First’ initiative, in Sri Lanka, was the only example where the
tourism private sector took an active, intentional role in promoting peace-
building. It did so through the lobbying of the Government, organising aware-
ness campaigns, promoting opportunities to do with the ‘peace dividend’ and
organising dialogue forums with the LTTE and the Government.
Peace-building Efects as a ‘By-product’ of Core Business
Only in Sri Lanka did the tourism sector and private sector stakeholders ac-
tively and consciously implement peace-building eforts. In Croatia and Rwan-
da activities were seen as having peace-promoting efects, but rather as an ‘ac-
cidental by-product’. Some tour companies, hotels, and products use the word
‘peace’ in their name but this was often more for marketing purposes than for
direct engagement in peace-building. While there appears to be a potential
for the tourism sectors to engage in more direct peace-building activities (for
example, all three countries have strong peace-building sectors that are led
by local and international NGOs), there remain few examples of such engage-
ment. Tis suggests that tourism companies do not see peace-building as a key
priority area.
In the relevant countries ‘unintended’ peace-building was observed, espe-
cially in the post-confict contexts. Economic collaboration between formerly
hostile groups and the creation of jobs and income opportunities can be im-
portant components of the reconstruction process. In some cases, the tourism
sector in the sample countries took over a pioneering role in cross-border co-
operation. Te sector has the potential to use dialogue processes and econo-
mic development to contribute to the stability in post-confict regions. In all
three countries, tourism has recovered within a short time after the subsiding
of (regional) violent conficts and has also, for this reason, an interesting po-
tential for post-confict reconstruction.
Political and Economic Engagement in Peace-building
Sri Lanka was the only case where the private sector actively and intentionally
lobbied the government to support peace-building. However, this took place
within a time period and political leadership that was conducive to such an
interaction. One likely reason that companies are reluctant to engage directly
114 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
in political issues is due to their complex relationship and dependence on the
state. For example, the tourism sector is reliant on the state for access to con-
tracts, tenders, tax cuts, business-friendly legislation or fnancial support. It is
often also dependent on Government support for governmental outlays, such
as airports, national parks, spatial planning, etc. If the government is not open
to criticism or if doing so would afect a company’s access to opportunities
and resources, this would be a signifcant deterrent to engage in political is-
sues.
Private Sector Involvement in the Post-confict Phase
Tourism as a factor in the post-war reconstruction process was – both in Cro-
atia and in Rwanda – the area in which tourism businesspeople most likely
saw a role for themselves. In both countries, tourism has been revived with
the support of state institutions. Since the war, the Croatian National Tou-
rist Board has made great eforts to market the attractions and security in the
country. Te wars were also used as a turning point to develop new strategic
directions. In Rwanda, for example, a new tourism strategy has been deve-
loped that provides massive investment, focuses on high-quality eco-tourism
and strengthens the overall sector.
Te main challenges of (re)developing tourism in the post-confict phase
are linked to:
• a tainted reputation and loss of confdence in the destination
• high level travel warnings in key source markets
• corruption as a result of weak state institutions
• destroyed infrastructure
• lack of accommodation
• lack of skilled local staf
• unclear land ownership processes
Te main considerations and strategies of entrepreneurs in Croatia and Rwan-
da was undoubtedly the goal of generating profts as soon as possible. A signi-
fcant role was assigned to the members of the diaspora. In Rwanda, especially,
former refugees were of signifcance as a driving force in the private sector. It
was similar in Croatia, but to a lesser extent, since many Croats did not leave
the country, but were able to continue to operate in tourism in the northern
part of the country.
The Potential to Promote Peace in the Aftermath of Confict
Te creation of jobs and income immediately after the confict is imperative in
rebuilding the local tourism sector. In all three countries, tourism managed to
bounce back relatively quickly after the end of violent confict. Tourist facili-
ties were only a minor target of attacks, so many companies were able to take
up their business again soon after the violent conficts. Due to the high mul-
tiplier efect of tourism, other areas can beneft from the growth of the sector.
Supporting co-operation with former adversaries in the confict and the
promotion of mutual understanding is important to moving forward with re-
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 115
conciliation. In particular, international tourists and tour operators perceive
destinations according to their attractions and natural spatial homogeneity.
Administrative boundaries, social diferences or political entities play only a
marginal role. Consequently, the demand for tourism encourages people on
both sides of a territorial boundary or within a society to co-operate.
Strategic eforts must be made to improve the image of the country as per-
ceived by tourists and the media. Tis is a key factor, as the reputation and
image of the destination country is highly infuenced by tourism reviews or
media coverage, which can afect the overall competitiveness of the location.
In Croatia, interviewees emphasised that Zagreb and Dubrovnik have reco-
vered from the consequences of war because of the positive experiences of
guests and journalists, which in turn have played a role in attracting investors
and business travellers.
Motivating and Inhibiting Factors for Private Sector Engagement in
Peace-Building
As a theoretical basis for the investigation of the case countries, motivating
and inhibiting factors for private sector engagement in peace-building were
identifed and then later researched and analysed through the feldwork.
Below are the factors that have become apparent in the three case studies.
Motivating Factors
Tese are the main motivating factors for private sector engagement in peace-
building that were identifed through the empirical research in Croatia, Rwan-
da and Sri Lanka (Joras 2009):
Economic self-interest
Although it was assumed that the economic stimulus is of central importance
to the commitment to peace-building, it seems that economic self-interest is
not a sufcient motivation for private sector engagement in peace (PSEP). All
three countries faced negative economic consequences due to the outbreak of
confict. Nevertheless, an active and concerted commitment of the tourism
sector in promoting peace could only be found in Sri Lanka in 2001 (after 18
years of war).
In Sri Lanka, tourism stakeholders provided the impetus for the subsequent
founding of the private initiative Sri Lanka First (SLF) in 2001. Although born
in the tourism sector, SLF was a cross-sector initiative, in which like-minded
individuals from the Sri Lankan business sector joined forces, with the aim of
pointing out the negative consequences of the civil war through public infor-
mation campaigns and of calling for an end to the confict. SLF was only active
for a comparatively short time; however, it seems to have been one of the frst
broad-based, private sector-led campaigns and a pioneer for other economic
initiatives in peace-building. In Croatia and Rwanda, activities were rather li-
mited in the area of PSEP. Some additional factors that may have played a role
in PSEP are discussed below.
116 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
Funding sources
Sri Lanka First (SLF) and other business initiatives in the country were able
to beneft from international donor funding that supported their activities.
Despite the assumption that businesses have the fnancial means to invest in
peace, this is not always the case. Furthermore, the private sector in both Sri
Lanka and Rwanda remains heavily dependent on the state for access to loans,
tenders and land. It is likely that the mobilisation of resources was also an im-
portant incentive for their establishment.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
In Sri Lanka, CSR is more established in the business sector than in Croatia
and Rwanda. It is likely that this situation has helped to provide an environ-
ment that was conducive to PSEP. However, CSR in Sri Lanka is mostly linked
to philanthropy and environmental protection, and not peace-building.
Development of a cross-sector initiative
As mentioned above, SLF developed as a cross-sector initiative, despite its in-
itial start in the tourism sector. It is likely that SLF’s cross-sector nature ena-
bled it to build on a broader support base and thus gain in importance and
relevance. Whether a purely sector-specifc initiative of the tourism industry
could ever have developed on the same scale is questionable.
Inhibiting Factors
Tese are the major inhibiting factors for an intentional private sector engage-
ment in peace-building in Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka:
Awareness
Interviews in Croatia and Rwanda demonstrated that a substantial obstacle
for the reluctance for PSEP was a lack of understanding and awareness of the
possibilities of private sector engagement in peace-building. In particular, this
applies to the pre-and post-confict phase. Although a number of interview-
ees from the tourism sector saw a role for themselves in the reconstruction
process (largely limited to peace-building as a ‘by product’), the knowledge of
implementation was low. Companies still consider peace and security as the
area of responsibility of the state and have little knowledge of the course of
action for private stakeholders. Despite the increasing presence of guidelines
and initiatives for private sector engagement in confict zones, implementati-
on continues to be challenging.
Political beliefs and private sector support for military activities
In some cases, political beliefs seem to have been linked with economic con-
siderations against a private-sector engagement in peace-building, or have
led entrepreneurs to support violent conficts. In the case of Sri Lanka, feld-
work in October 2008 showed that many of the private sector interviewees
welcomed the military strategy of the Government against the LTTE. A large
part of the population was disillusioned with previous failed attempts to fnd
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 117
a peaceful settlement of the confict and preferred a military solution to the
civil war rather than a new attempt at peace negotiations. Tis was the case
even for those people who may have once supported SLF.
Lack of political scope for PSEP and dependence on the state
A lack of political space often limits the readiness for PSEP. In a restrictive
or authoritarian state where critical opposition voices are limited, the private
sector (as well as NGOs and critical political groups) fnds it challenging or
even dangerous to engage in peace promotion or policy engagement. Tis is
also likely to afect any economic motivations for PSEP, particularly if the pri-
vate sector is reliant on the state for the operation of its business.
Not to be underestimated either is an argument that was stated mostly by
Croatian and Rwandan entrepreneurs. In both countries, the business com-
munity felt overwhelmed by political events. Tey saw economic arguments
generally and the tourism sector specifcally as having too small a role to play
in the face of strong political struggles for power. Tourism was additionally
seen as too small a sector to be able to infuence political decisions.
Coping strategies as a means of reducing confict-related costs
Te coping strategies described above can reduce the cost of confict and thus
infuence the willingness of PSEP. Most private sector groups interviewed res-
ponded by saying that they used coping strategies in order to deal with violent
confict. More direct engagement with peace-building was not a common re-
sponse. Such strategies were efective in order to allow at least for the partial
continuation or development of the tourism sector, despite confict, in both
Croatia and Sri Lanka.
Lack of organisational structure
Peace is a public commodity where the associated free-rider problem is chal-
lenging to tackle. For example, it is often difcult to organise or monitor tou-
rism activities that take place in public spaces (for example, beaches, scenery,
buildings).
Te establishment of well organised, structured tourism organisations or
associations can be efective in preventing problems of collective action. Te
tourism sector is organised yet relatively weak in the three case study coun-
tries. One issue is the cropping up of many small- to medium-sized enterpri-
ses that do not invest in certain training or standard practices. Furthermore,
the emergence of many companies in secondary industries such as transport,
restaurants, hotels, suppliers, and arts and crafts, makes it difcult to ensure
communication and organisation. Te Sri Lanka example demonstrates that
an efective organisational structure for PSEP is essential, or at least impor-
tant, when the idea for PSEP is rooted, but that organisational internal resis-
tors can also sufocate PSEP.
In the three case study countries the above-mentioned motivating and in-
hibiting factors were of varying relevance. A dominant factor has not emerged.
Rather, only a combination of factors may explain the particular behaviour of
118 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
tourist operators in the countries. Te economic self-interest is, thus, an im-
portant but not sufcient motivating factor for corporate engagement in peace.
Te initially-formulated theoretical assumptions were relevant for understan-
ding. However, they were not sufcient to explain all factors. Factors such as:
a lack of awareness regarding the options for business contributions to peace-
building; political convictions; a lack of organisational capacity; and political
space for engagement; negatively infuenced the willingness and ability of tou-
rism companies to assume an active role in peace-building. As the least clear
factor, however, the acceptance of the ‘peace-related costs’ was confrmed.
Recommendations: The 10 Point Action Plan
In summary, the following recommendations have been identifed through
the research study as being necessary to strengthen private tourism sector en-
gagement in peace-building:
• Improving knowledge of the confict-escalating and peace-promoting po-
tential of tourism as a basis for the development of clear behaviour guide-
lines.
• Raising awareness with tourism enterprises and private companies on the
interactions of private sector activities in the context of confict and peace
eforts.
• Improving the understanding of policy options (codes of conduct); showing
how private sector representatives and stakeholders of the tourism sector
can specifcally engage in peace promotion.
• Promoting a better understanding of the policy options for private sector
engagement in peace-building as a supplement or alternative to tourist /
private sector ‘coping strategies’.
• Identifying ‘win-win’ opportunities between peace-building and general
economic activities of the tourism industry.
• Strengthening of associative structures and of destination management or-
ganisations to organise and promote better the positive efects of private
sector engagement in the confict context.
• Empowering the private sector that has both a political and an economic
interest in the peace dividend in a country or a region.
• Promoting the active integration of tourism in post-confict reconstruction.
Tis includes tourism policy measures, such as promoting cross-border co-
operation or subsidies for small and medium businesses.
• Promoting CSR strategies in tourism and integrating confict sensitivity
and peace-building in existing CSR approaches.
• Actively promoting dialogues between political and economic groups. Tis
includes developing universal tourism policies that can develop the con-
fict-reducing efect.
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 119
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SUSANNE FI SCHER
Religious Tourism – Business for
Peace in the Holy Land?
Introduction
An often-heard argument concerning the role of business for peace in the
Holy Land is: “You don’t throw stones if there is food on the table” (personal
interview by author, 30 May 2008
*
). Against this background, a lot of money
annually goes to the Palestinian Territories in order to support economic de-
velopment. In contrast to this macro-economic perspective, International Re-
lations- and Peace and Confict-scholars argue that individual corporations
also play a vital role regarding confict prevention and peace-building in zo-
nes of violent confict (Bais and Huijser 2005; Ballentine and Nitzschke 2005;
Rieth and Zimmer 2004; Rittberger 2004; Sullivan 2003; Wenger and Möckli
2003; Wolf, Deitelhof, and Engert 2007).
Tis debate, however, concentrates heavily on the activities of Transnatio-
nal Corporations (TNCs) or corporate engagement within transnational initi-
atives such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights or the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and it says very little about the
actual role of local business actors and local networks (Feldt 2004; Freeman
and Hernández-Uriz 2003). Although some profound case studies already
exist (Banfeld, Gündüz, and Killick 2006; Joras, Alluri, and Palme 2009; Joras
2007), it is still unclear under which conditions local corporations contribute
to peace and what forms of engagement can be expected from them.
Tis article seeks to contribute towards flling this void and therefore deals
with the following two research questions:
• Do local businesses contribute to peace in zones of violent confict?
• What are the driving factors for corporate engagement?
To answer these questions the article analyses the role of tourism in the Pa-
lestinian Territories. It describes the individual engagement of two Palestini-
an tour operators and of two sector initiatives: frstly, the Near East Tourist
Agency (NET); and secondly, the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG). NET is
located in East Jerusalem. Its corporate executive manager (CEO) is a member
* This interview was part of a research project sponsored by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and
conducted at the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) in Frankfurt/Germany. The German Foundation
for Peace Research and the Minerva Foundation supported the empirical assessment of corpo-
rate engagement in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 121
of the board of the Holy Land Incoming Tour Operators Association (HLI-
TOA). ATG has its ofce in Beit Sahour – a small village near Bethlehem –
and is a founding member of the Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tou-
rism (PIRT). Te case studies reveal quite diferent forms of engagement and
the explanation of these variances sheds light on the conditions and limita-
tions of corporate engagement.
Te article is structured as follows: the frst section briefy outlines the aca-
demic debate on the role of business in zones of confict in general and on tou-
rism in particular. As this article deals with the role of tourism in the Israeli-
Palestinian confict, the root causes of the confict and the role of tourism in
the region will then be introduced (section two). Tereafter the article turns
to the aspect of corporate contributions to peace (section three). Drawing on
conceptual considerations from peace and confict studies, as well as global
governance research, this article will propose a framework for the empirical
assessment of corporate contributions to peace in zones of violent confict.
On this basis, the engagement of NET and ATG, as well as the activities of
the HLITOA and PIRT, will be described in the next section. Te empirical
fndings from these case studies will then be explained and discussed. Two
fndings stand out:
• Firstly, individual leadership and the corporations’ ownership structure, as
well as the market segment, seem to explain the individual pattern of cor-
porate engagement.
• Secondly, being part of a network is a driving factor for corporate engage-
ment for peace in zones of confict.
Te article concludes with a brief summary of these fndings and policy re-
commendations for practitioners.
The Role of Business in Zones of Violent Confict
During the last decade, research on the role of business in zones of violent
confict has brought together two strands of political science research investi-
gating the behaviour of business actors.
Peace and confict studies, and research on the so-called ‘war economies’,
belong to the frst strand. Tese works mainly discuss the negative role and
the negative consequences of business engagement in confict zones (Rittber-
ger 2004, 16; Wenger and Möckli 2003, 4). In this context the debate concen-
trates on the role of the world market, the global demand for raw materials
and on the question as to whether the actors’ ‘greed or grievance’ are the re-
levant factors determining the eruption and persistence of war economies
(Ballentine and Sherman 2003; Berdal and Malone 2000; Collier and Hoefer
2000; Jean and Rufn 1999; Ross 2004).
Te second strand of research is global governance. Global governance
deals with action and interaction processes of state and non-state actors on
a sub-national, national or international level and the individual or collective
122 SUSANNE FI SCHER
provision of public goods. Terefore, global governance also accounts for ac-
tors beyond the state – international organisations (IOs), non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) or business actors (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992, 4–5;
Stoker 1998, 17). In this context, scholars of global governance also became
interested in the emergence of private authority (Cutler, Haufer, and Porter
1999; Hall and Biersteker 2002). As a consequence, the efectiveness and the
legitimacy of private engagement in actor constellations, such as public-pri-
vate partnerships and self-regulation initiatives, became a key topic of global
governance research (Dingwerth 2003; Schaller 2007; Wolf 2006). Research
on private authority focuses on labour rights or environmental issues and ex-
cludes questions regarding peace and security (Feil et al. 2008, 2; Deitelhof
and Wolf 2010, 5–6). Tese aspects seem to remain the domain of the state
(Zürn 1998, 95).
Tis constellation allowed for the combining of the conceptual considera-
tions of global governance research with the empirical experience of peace
and confict studies in order to systematically investigate the (positive) role
of individual businesses in zones of violent confict. Political debates about
the potential and limitations of corporate responsible behaviour and develop-
ments, such as the Global Compact Foundation or the establishment of ini-
tiatives such as the Kimberley Process, nurtured academic expectations that
corporations might become relevant actors regarding the provision of peace
in zones of violent confict. In its early stages, this debate lacked theory-orien-
ted and systematic empirical research (Wolf, Deitelhof, and Engert 2007, 297;
Rittberger 2004, 29). In the meantime, profound case studies have emerged
which shed light on the opportunities and limitations of corporate engage-
ment in confict zones (Bray 2005; Bone 2004; Deitelhof and Wolf 2010; Feil
et al. 2008; Rieth and Zimmer 2004). Most of these studies, however, deal with
the behaviour of TNCs – especially from the extractive industries – while ac-
tivities of local, small and medium sized companies (SMEs) remained largely
unexplored.
Local businesses have a vital interest in peace since they – in contrast to
TNCs – usually don’t have the option to transfer their operations to another
country and are ‘often based on the “front lines”’ (Banfeld, Gündüz, and
Killick 2006, 197). Tey are the last to shut down their operations in the wake
of violent confict and the frst to reopen after confict has come to an end.
Tis makes local businesses an important feld for research in the role of busi-
ness for peace.
Tourism can be described as a most likely case for local business contri-
butions to peace due to two characteristics. Firstly, business operations can
easily be (re)opened after violence has come to an end, as there is no need for a
huge investment to be made in advance (personal interview by author, 30 May
2008). Secondly, tourism is known for having positive efects on several other
sectors such as banking, telecommunication and the food sector (de Kadt
1979, 11; Mundt 2006, 432). In addition, tourism can be described as a service
sector par excellence according to the immaterial character of its product: the
journey (Kirstges 2005, 91).
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 123
Tourism research and policy-orientated studies usually concentrate on
the role of tourism for sustainable development (Beyer, Häusler, and Strasdas
2007; Hein 2006; Keyser 2002, chapter 12) or challenges for tourism that arise
from terrorism (Aschauer 2008). Te role of tourism for development and eco-
nomic prosperity in developing countries was already discussed during the
1980s. Most studies came to the conclusion that the negative consequences
of modern (mass) tourism outweigh the positive efects of tourism for tho-
se countries (Mundt 2004, 285–306; Nuscheler 1996, 298–304) but they also
concentrated on the role of TNCs or at least large businesses. To sum up, thus
far, only a small amount of research has been done on the role of local SMEs
from the tourism sector for peace in zones of violent confict (Alluri 2009; Fi-
scher 2009; Nelson 2000, 22; Joras, Alluri, and Palme 2009). Tis article seeks
to further contribute to flling this gap.
The Israeli-Palestinian Confict
Te brief description of the Israeli-Palestinian confict roughly follows four
dimensions of corporate engagement that will be introduced in detail in the
following section. Systematising the root causes of this confict according to
these dimensions makes it easier to assess the confict-relevance of the cor-
porations’ engagement for peace in the later section titled ‘Corporate Enga-
gement for Peace in Israel and the Palestinian Territories’. Defning confict,
I refer to Wallensteen:
“Confict is defned by three components: action, incompatibility and par-
ticipants. Combining them we arrive at a defnition of a confict as a social
situation in which a minimum of two groups (parties) strive to acquire at
the same moment in time an available set of scarce resources” (Wallensteen
2002, 16). And: “What counts is the use of violence. […] It covers conficts
from a threshold level of 25 battle-related deaths in a year” (Wallensteen
2002, 24).
Confict-Relevant Territorial and Security Issues
In the Israeli-Palestinian confict two peoples are fghting for the same small
piece of territory (Uppsala University 2013). Negotiations between Israel and
the Palestinians enabled the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Inte-
rim Self-Government Arrangements (DoP) in 1993. A central detail to these
negotiations was that Yassir Arafat, then chairman of the Palestinian Liberati-
on Organisation (PLO), recognised the State of Israel, and Yitzhak Rabin, Isra-
eli prime minister, recognised the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian
people. In the negotiations the parties agreed on the concept of ‘gradualism’.
Tis concept allowed them to postpone important issues such as the status
of Jerusalem, settlements and refugees, borders and security to permanent
status negotiations. Te assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
must be described as a turning point: neither of the succeeding prime minis-
ters was then able to implement the respective agreements, which ultimately
124 SUSANNE FI SCHER
led to the collapse of the peace process. Te new round of talks, initiated by
US Secretary of State John Kerry, faces a lot of scepticism by both peoples, the
Israelis and the Palestinians.
Confict-Relevant Issues of Political Order
From the beginning, the two existing political pillars, the Palestinian Au-
thority (PA) and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), impeded the
development of efective political institutions in the Palestinian Territories
(Amundsen and Ezbidi 2004, 144–45). Te political separation of the Gaza
Strip from the government in the West Bank (2007) enhanced the duplication
of political and administrative responsibilities. In December 2007, the PNA
presented the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (2008–2011) (Pales-
tinian National Authority 2007). Tis plan tackled the issues of institutional
reform and the professionalisation of internal administrative afairs in the Pa-
lestinian Territories.
Whilst the Annual Corruption Report reveals a mixed picture (Coalition
for Accountability and Integrity 2012, 50–65), the establishment of the rule
of law and the implementation of the security sector reform seem to have
worked quite well:
“Te PA Security Forces (PASF) in the West Bank have continued to demon-
strate the capability to fulfl the policing function required of a state in the
areas currently under its jurisdiction. Te PASF, with international assis-
tance, including the areas of criminal justice and the rule of law, continue
to expand their scope of deployment in the parts of the West Bank under
their jurisdiction (Area A). […] Tis increased enforcement capacity has
been complemented by improvements in the area of rule of law […]“. (Te
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process 2012, 2-3)
Te ‘National Development Plan’ (2011–2013) (Palestinian National Authority
2011) builds upon those achievements but progress is confronted with immen-
se challenges. As the United Nations Special Coordinator puts it: ‘[T]he politi-
cal process continues to lag behind progress on the state building achievement’
(Te United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process 2012, 1).
Confict-Relevant Socio-Economic Issues
During the second Intifada many corporations had to close their operations
and most Palestinians lost their jobs in Israel. Tis led to a substantial and
persisting economic decrease in the Palestinian Territories – in the second
quarter of 2012, 17.1% of the population in the West Bank and 28.4% in the
Gaza Strip faced unemployment (Te World Bank 2012, 7). In 2011, 17.8% of
the Palestinians in the West Bank and 38.8% in the Gaza Strip were living
below the poverty line (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2012, 1).
According to the Paris Protocol (1994), many important issues (customs, li-
cences for tour guides etc.) remain within the responsibility of the Israeli side.
Te Palestinian economy therefore remains highly dependent on its neighbour.
Goods as well as persons cannot easily cross either the checkpoints between
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 125
Israel and the Palestinian Territories or those within the Palestinian Territo-
ries. Tis has severe consequences for all business activities that rely on free
movement, such as the Palestinian tourism industry. Although many attrac-
tive tourist sites are located in the Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian tou-
rism sector is unable to beneft from positive dynamics in the Holy Land, e.g. in
2012, 3.5 million tourists visited Israel (Germany Trade & Investment 2013, 12).
Serious security conditions, restrictions on movement in the area, as well
as travel warnings from institutions such as foreign ministries, tend to sufo-
cate the Palestinian tourism industry. At the end of the last decade, only one
third of the tourists who travelled to Israel had also visited the Palestinian
Territories – and those who travelled to Bethlehem or East-Jerusalem did not
usually stay in Palestinian hotels or restaurants (Ashkenazi and Greenapple
2009, 38; Te Peres Center for Peace and Paltrade 2006, 67; personal interview
by the author, 5 June 2008). Moreover, most foreign tour operators mainly co-
operate with partners from the ‘Israeli side’ (personal interview by author, 1
December 2007).
Finally, the decision to coordinate the activities of the Israeli and Palesti-
nian tourism sector (e.g. common marketing, access to tourist sites etc.) as
laid out in the Paris Protocol has not been implemented (Dajani, Dayan, and
Touboul 2006, 384; Te World Bank 2012, 15). Tese factors lead to unequal
prospects for the local tourism businesses to earn money, which means that
the economic gap between the conficting parties is continuously widening, to
the disadvantage of the Palestinian people.
Confict-Relevant Socio-Cultural Issues
Te optimism shared by a large portion of Israelis and Palestinians at the be-
ginning of the 1990s has diminished along with the failing peace processes.
As many Palestinians who had been working in Israel in the past lost their
jobs, Israelis and Palestinians are not in touch with each other in everyday life
anymore. Tis has an enormous infuence on how they perceive each other.
Additionally, agitating media aggravates the negative image Israelis and Pa-
lestinians hold of each other. Tese dynamics further intensify the mutually
exclusive character of the respective collective narratives regarding the con-
fict and thereby afect the disposition of Israelis as well as Palestinians to turn
to each other and support a (peaceful) solution of the confict (Adwan 2008;
Salomon 2004).
Corporate Engagement for Peace – Conceptual Considerations
Drawing on conceptual considerations from global governance research and
on considerations from research on peace-building, the framework for the
empirical assessment of corporate engagement for peace will be described in
the following two sections (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 11–15; Feil et al. 2008,
4-8; Fischer 2011, 48–61; Wolf, Deitelhof, and Engert 2007).
126 SUSANNE FI SCHER
Three Types of Corporate Engagement
Some articles on corporate behaviour in confict zones refer to “do no harm”
or “confict-prevention” and “peace-building” concepts to grasp corporate en-
gagement more systematically (Rieth and Zimmer 2004; Wenger and Möckli
2003, 31–40; Lederach 2008). Tese concepts, however, share a certain norma-
tive basis and are closely connected to impact (Feil et al. 2008, 32). Another
relevant debate is that on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR stands
for quite an elaborate discourse in the feld of business ethics (Blowfeld and
Murray 2008; Carroll 1979; Freeman 1984). However, this concept will not be
applied to the analysis of corporate behaviour since CSR is not only an acade-
mic concept, but is also used by companies to label various types of corporate
engagement (Blowfeld and Frynas 2005, 503).
In contrast, this article identifes corporate engagement on a structural ba-
sis, which means that the degree to which corporate engagement is integrated
in a corporation’s core business is being used as a defning criterion to dis-
tinguish three types of corporate engagement whilst CSR is only used as an
empirical indicator for corporate engagement.
Following these considerations, a corporation’s business activities – as far
as they take place in a zone of violent confict – belong to the frst type of
corporate engagement called ‘ just doing business’ (Corporate Engagement
Type 1) (Fischer 2011, 48). Tis categorisation only covers activities that com-
ply with the legal framework of the respective host country and is based on
the assumption that business activities as such have the potential to foster
peace and stability in zones of violent confict since they contribute to econo-
mic growth and prosperity. Tis assumption can be found in several works of
scholars of peace and confict studies (Gerson and Colletta 2002, 122; Hauf-
ler 2001, 663; Wenger and Möckli 2003, 8). However, research that deals with
the relation between peace and economy on a more structural level should be
mentioned as well (Reuveny 2000; Russett and Oneal 2001).
Te second type of corporate engagement refers to unsystematic corporate
activities that go beyond a corporation’s core business. Tese ‘unsystematic
activities’ (Corporate Engagement Type 2) have no substantial relation to the
corporation’s core business but address several and/or diferent issues e.g. so-
cial, environmental problems or political problems (Fischer 2011, 49). Tey
can be described as mere ‘add-ons’ to a corporation’s core business. Against
this background, these activities frequently follow a case-by-case logic on a
short-term basis. Typical examples for this type of engagement are corporate
donations to civil society participants.
Finally, ‘corporate governance contributions’ (Corporate Engagement Type
3) represent the third and probably the most elaborate type of corporate en-
gagement (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 11–15; Feil et al. 2008, 4-8; Fischer 2011,
49–52). Governance is characterised by the following elements: a guiding ac-
tor acting with intention, the creation or implementation of collective binding
rules and norms, and the provision of collective goods (Mayntz 1997, 2005).
Referring to Rosenau and Czempiel, governance can also be understood as ‘or-
der plus intentionality’ (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992, 5). Governance implies
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 127
a certain political quality (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 11) and thereby contrasts
corporate engagement, which can be characterised as ‘ just doing business’ or
‘unsystematic activities’.
Referring to the considerations on assessing efectiveness from regime
theory, corporate governance contributions can be distinguished in two
dimensions, output and outcome (Börzel and Risse 2002, 143–44; Easton
1965, 351; Huckel, Rieth, and Zimmer 2007; Young and Underdal 2004). With
regard to corporate engagement, output comprises the adoption of ‘corporate
policies’ such as a corporation’s commitment to an initiative’s guidelines or
a corporation’s code of conduct, whilst outcome comprises the observable
‘corporate activities’ such as participation in a sector’s working group or
fnancial support for development projects in the host state. Tis illustrates
that these two (ideal-typical) dimensions of corporate engagement can be
observed both as individual and as collective corporate engagement. It is
important that the adoption of policies and the observable activities are not
mandated by law but have voluntary character. Corporate engagement, in
accordance with the law and implemented by the state, will be quantifed as
compliance.
Corporate Engagement for Peace
At the beginning of the 1990s, peace and confict studies – especially in Ger-
many – claimed a lack of research with regard to those factors and mecha-
nisms that foster peace and stability in zones of violent confict (Brock 2002,
110; Matthies 1994, 1; Senghaas and Senghaas 1996, 267). Research addressing
this matter during the last two decades covers a broad theoretical (e.g. demo-
cratic peace theory, regime theory, peace-building research) and methodolo-
gical spectrum (e.g. typology, theory-guided inductive research, praxeological
orientated inductive research) (Matthies 1997, 32; Meyers 1994, 117–147; Mül-
ler 2003, 224; Senghaas 1995). Tis article mainly draws on peace-building
research, especially on the ‘peace-building toolboxes’ that address the root
causes of violent confict and the prerequisites for successful peace-building
processes (Barash and Webel 2002, chapter III, IV; Barnett et al. 2007, 45;
Lund 1996, 203–05; Lund 2001; Matthies 1995, 3-27; Matthies 2000, 544–49;
Smith 2004, 28). With regard to the considerations of Barnett, Matthies and
Smith (Barnett et al. 2007; Matthies 1995, 3-27; Smith 2004) the article iden-
tifes four (ideal-typical) dimensions of corporate engagement for peace: the
security dimension, the political dimension, the socio-economic dimension,
and the socio-cultural dimension.
Tese dimensions comprise the factors that are seen as being important for
the devolution of a confict. Tis means that corporate engagement – which
falls into the ‘security dimension’ – includes contributions to disarmament,
demobilisation and reintegration processes or security sector reform measu-
res (Bryden, Donais, and Hänggi 2005; Ginifer and Greene 2004; Nelson 2000,
69). Additionally, a company might also be involved in peace negotiations by
providing informal communication channels or logistic support (Fort and
Schipani 2004, 30–31; Gerson and Colletta 2002, 32).
128 SUSANNE FI SCHER
Corporate engagement in the “political dimension” comprises contributions
to the establishment of democratic structures and the rule of law (Zandvliet
2005, 11). Other measures might be the promotion of human rights (Sullivan
2003, 21–112), transparency and anti-corruption measures (Lunde and Taylor
2005, 281–82), or the support of civil society activities.
Te “socio-economic dimension” covers corporate activities that support
local economic development (Wenger and Möckli 2003, 133–159) or contribu-
te to the local education and health systems (Feil 2010, 38; Lim and Cameron
2003). In addition, these activities may also aim for the sustainable manage-
ment of environmental resources such as diamonds, forests or water (Bone
2004; Fort and Schipani 2004, 192–96).
Te “socio-cultural dimension” comprises issues such as reconciliation
processes, media trainings or peace education (Kriesberg 1998, 195; Gardener
2001). Tese issues try to confront the feelings of hatred and fear that emerge
and often persist within societies that have experienced war.
To avoid the creation of an all-inclusive concept, the confict-relevance of a
corporation’s engagement is assessed case by case. It is assumed that corporate
contributions to, for example, ethnic reconciliation in a confict between dife-
rent ethnic groups could increase peace. To sum up, the only activities qualify-
ing as a ‘corporate engagement for peace’ are those which address the root cau-
ses of the respective violent confict and consider confict-specifc prerequisites
for building peace (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 14; Feil et al. 2008, 7).
Corporate Engagement for Peace in Israel and the Palestinian Territories
Applying the concept that has been developed in the previous section, the fol-
lowing sections investigate if and to what extent local corporate engagement
concerns the above-described issues and thereby contributes to peace in the
Holy Land.
Tour operators manufacture and sell their (own) tours to the customers
and therefore have to make investments in advance (Freyer 2006, 203). Tis
means they decide whom they co-operate with at the respective destination,
which makes them an interesting case study regarding investigation of the
role of local tourism for peace. Te Palestinian Territories allow for investi-
gating diferent types of tourism such as leisure, cultural or health tourism.
Due to the geographical location of many tourist sites – e.g. the Dead Sea, the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the traditional market in Jerusalem –
tourism is deeply involved in the Israeli-Palestinian confict. Te engagement
of the two corporations, NET and ATG, is being assessed inductively. Te case
studies follow the logic of a structured, focused comparison. Tis means that
the assessment and the analysis of the empirical material are guided by the
same research questions (George and Bennett 2005, 67). Te comparison and
explanation of the corporations’ engagement allow for generating hypotheses
on the conditions of local corporate engagement for peace.
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 129
Case Studies
Near East Tourist Agency (NET)
Emi Abu Dayyeh founded Near East Tourist Agency in Jerusalem in 1964. To-
day, the corporation can be described as a family-owned local SME with its
headquarters still located in East-Jerusalem. Furthermore, the corporation
runs ofces in Jordan, Turkey, Italy and Greece and co-operates with partners
in Syria and Egypt (NET 2013a). Up to now, 2000 was the most successful year
for the company. In that year NET organised around 250 tours in Israel and
the Palestinian Territories. At that time the company ran three hotels, two in
Jerusalem and one hotel in Tiberias, and it owned around 50 buses.
With the second Intifada fewer tourists booked NET tours and the corpo-
ration had to reduce its capacities; this meant selling buses and dismissing
employees. In 2008 – with a short downturn in 2006 – the company was able
to increase its activities again and organised 180–200 tours and ran 28 buses.
Moreover, NET ofers services such as buses, tour guides or hotel capacities to
foreign tour operators. One of the co-operating partners is the German tour
operator Studiosus, which is located in Munich (personal interview by author,
30 May 2008). NET organises trips to tourist sites in Israel and the Palestinian
Territories and – with the support of its partner ofces – to hotspots in Turkey
or Greece etc. Te company focuses on those tourists who are interested in
the historical, cultural and especially the religious setting of the respective
destinations:
“NET is your gateway to the lands of the Bible: the cultural roots, the reli-
gious heritage, the historical pathways. Visiting the lands of the Bible is not
like touring anywhere else. It is a kind of homecoming, because we all grew
up hearing about these places, and the events became part of our lives.”
(NET 2013)
What about NET and corporate engagement for peace?
Whilst the company commits itself to high quality tourism concerning ser-
vice, tour guides and buses (NET 2013), no self-commitments can be identi-
fed that would qualify as corporate policies or activities as conceptualised in
the section entitled ‘Te Israeli-Palestinian Confict’. Instead, NET seems to
be highly sceptical towards issues of corporate engagement for peace that go
beyond “just doing business”:
“First you have to fulfl your urgent needs. If there is food on the table, then
you can aford to care about additional issues.’ And: ‘You have to aford to
think about issues like environmental sustainability.” (Personal interview
by author, 30 May 2008)
Whilst this interview reveals a clear hierarchy of priorities, it is interesting
that the co-operation between NET and foreign tour operators such as Stu-
diosus is described as successful due to the fact that NET already fulfls the
130 SUSANNE FI SCHER
environmental and social standards that are demanded by those tour opera-
tors. Moreover, since the tourism sector lacks educated staf, NET educates
its employees within its own company. Tis comprises all of the activities of
the tour operator, from administration to the corporation’s tour guides. Te
products of NET address tourists with a special interest in history or religious
sites but also in pilgrimage. Against this background, the corporation disco-
vered that those tourists who travel for religious reasons tend to be more sen-
sitive with regard to the problems that prevail in Israel and the Palestinian
Territories and more robust concerning political (in-)stability:
“Religious tourists also travel during political crises to the Holy Land – they
are less confict-sensitive. Moreover, so called ‘biblical tourism’ cares more
about the gap concerning the imbalanced benefts from tourism in the re-
gion.” (Personal interview by author, 30 May 2008)
Concerning political (in-)stability, the company has not established any spe-
cifc security measures. On its webpage, NET provides information about the
closing of tourist sites for security reasons (NET 2013b) and, during Spring
2008, the company did not ofer tours to Nablus for safety reasons (personal
interview by author, 30 May 2008). For security reasons, however, Palestinian
tour guides have to apply for licences from the Israeli administrations. Tese
licences are hard to obtain and only last for three months. Tere have been
periods in the past during which no licences were issued to Palestinian tour
guides. During that time NET employed tour guides from Israel.
Te CEO of NET is also a member of the board of the HLITOA and re-
presents this initiative to ofcial institutions. Te HLITOA was founded in
2005 and currently has 43 members – all of them tour operators dealing with
incoming tourism. Te sector initiative aims for the promotion of tourism in
the Palestinian Territories but – as formulated in its vision – it also seeks to
enhance the development of an independent Palestinian economy:
“For the Holy Land Incoming Tour Operator Association (HLITOA) to be a
key player and major catalyst in developing the Palestinian Tourism Indus-
try so that it grows as the major economic sector in Palestine, and for this
sector to contribute towards an independent, viable and sustainable Pales-
tinian economy [sic].” (HLITOA 2013)
Concerning this macro-economic perspective, NET identifes a direct relati-
onship between economic development and peace: “If economy provides in-
come – this is defnitely a way to peace” (personal interview by author, 30 May
2008). Against this background, NET identifes tourism as a relevant sector
for peace because tourism generates income very quickly and can be descri-
bed as labour intensive: “People beneft from tourism immediately. Tourism
creates jobs and creating jobs is what counts.” And: “It is a very rewarding
business” (personal interview by author, 30 May 2008).
To sum up, the corporate engagement of NET can be quantifed as ‘ just
doing business’. Te company has not committed itself to certain policies (or
activities) that address the Israeli-Palestinian confict and no ‘unsystematic
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 131
activities’ could be identifed. Nevertheless, the business activities of NET
contribute to peace in the following ways:
• With the provision of education and the inclusion of local Palestinian sites
in its travel itineraries, NET helps to confront unemployment and the lack
of education in the region. Tis also balances the benefts from tourism
between Israel and the Palestinian Territories (socio-economic dimension).
• Trough its active engagement within the HLITOA, the corporation not
only supports independent private sector development but also the consti-
tution of an actor who represents tour operators within the political arena
(political dimension).
The Alternative Tourism Group (ATG)
After the Oslo I Accord, in 1994, the number of tourists who travelled to the
Holy Land rose signifcantly. Soon, however, it became obvious that most tou-
rists only travelled around Israel and did not visit the Palestinian Territories –
or they just made a half-day trip to Bethlehem (personal interview by author, 1
December 2007). Against this background, ATG was founded by intellectuals
in Beit Sahour in 1995. Since 2000, ATG has been operating like a regular tour
operator, i.e. it organises and ofers tours and coordinates the partners during
the tour runs (Betz 2006, 3). ATG has six employees and co-operates with se-
veral hotels and bus companies. As with NET, ATG’s operations also peaked
during the year 2000 celebrations. During that year more than 2000 tourists
booked ATG for tours around the Holy Land. With the second Intifada the
numbers fell to 500 tourists per year. But in 2006 the company was able to
welcome 1200 tourists once again (Betz 2006, 4).
Te itineraries cover historical and religious sites, but what makes ATG
special are its tours that deal with current political issues, e.g. the wall, refu-
gees etc. Tese themes result from the concept that underlies the operations
of ATG: whereby a ‘bad image’ of the Palestinian Territories was seen as the
reason for the number of tourists travelling to Israel and not to the Palestini-
an Territories. Te founders therefore decided to confront this image with a
grassroots concept of tourism. Tis concept, which was awarded the TO DO!
Prize 2006 by the Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. (Studien-
kreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. 2013), focuses on the contact bet-
ween tourists and locals and seeks to enhance the Palestinian share of profts
from tourism in the Holy Land.
What about ATG and corporate engagement for peace?
ATG has committed itself to so-called “alternative tourism” (Rami Kassis, di-
rector of ATG, also talks about “justice tourism” (Kassis 2006)). As already
mentioned, this concept has two aims – intercultural exchange and economic
participation (Betz 2006, 4; Kassis 2006, 2):
“Our aim in tourism is to convince people to include meeting with the Pal-
estinians and to inform the people, the visitors, the tourists, the pilgrims
132 SUSANNE FI SCHER
about Palestine and the Palestinians – and to work a little bit in making
a balance in the tourism revenues between the Palestinian and the Israeli
side.” (Personal interview by author, 5 June 2008)
Te intercultural exchange is mainly implemented through the specifc sub-
stance of the tours that are ofered by ATG. Te tourists not only visit histo-
rical and religious sites but also people from Palestinian society, e.g. mayors,
members of development organisations or managers of local frms. Moreover,
they have the opportunity to learn more about the current political situation
in the Palestinian Territories through visits to refugee camps.
Finally, discussions on environmental protection can also be part of the
programme and, together with other NGOs, ATG also participates in concre-
te activities such as the planting of olive trees (ATG 2013). With this in mind,
the tour guides who accompany the groups are advised not to dominate the
activities and discussions but to operate as facilitators of the dialogue between
the tourists and the local people. Usually, the topics that are being dealt with
during these tours result from intensive correspondence between ATG and
the tourists before the tour is booked (personal interview by author, 5 June
2008).
To enhance economic participation ATG applies a double-strategy. Firstly,
ATG started to develop a bed & breakfast system in Bethlehem and the sur-
rounding villages using fnancial support from the Japanese government and
the United Nations Development Programme (United Nations Development
Programme 2013). Te project, through which Palestinian families should
gain the opportunity to directly beneft from tourism, was granted in 1997
and implemented in time for the year 2000 celebrations. Te project was ad-
vertised via the local media and Palestinian families could apply for it in an
open process. Tirty families were accepted and those who were accepted re-
ceived a grant to improve the infrastructure (e.g. bathrooms, furniture) and
training with regard to the bed & breakfast concept (Betz 2006, 6). Secondly,
ATG not only focuses on hotels, restaurants or souvenir shops, etc. that are
run by Palestinians, but the group also cares about whether their partners use
local Palestinian products, e.g. products of Palestinian agriculture as well as
furniture or handicrafts made in Palestine. Additionally, it is important that
partners comply with social and environmental standards, i.e. pay fair wages,
try to conserve resources, and do not take part in corruption practices (inter-
view by author, 5 June 2008).
Aside from this individual engagement, which is based on the concept of
‘alternative tourism’, ATG – like NET – reveals active involvement in two sec-
tor initiatives.
A project meeting in October 2005 in Alexandria, Egypt with two other
NGOs, the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) and the initiative Golan
for Development (GFD), can be described as a starting point for ATG’s engage-
ment for peace within and through (trans-)national sector initiatives. Tis frst
meeting on ‘Interfaith Co-operation for Justice in the Occupied Territories –
Human Encounters for Peace and Reconciliation through Tourism’ resulted in
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 133
the establishment of the programme ‘Pilgrimages for Transformation’ (PIFT)
(ATG 2005: see Resolution for Action). Two more meetings took place in 2007
in Mardaba, Jordan and in 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland (ATG 2007).
Tis programme also played an important role regarding the decision of
ATG to foster the establishment of an initiative in the Palestinian Territories.
Terefore, ATG was actively involved in the organisation of the frst meeting
between NGOs in the Palestinian Territories to discuss the chances and chal-
lenges of tourism in the Palestinian Territories. Only two months after those
NGOs had met, in August 2007, the Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tou-
rism (PIRT) was founded (PIRT 2013). Besides tour operators and civil society
participants, public sector institutions are also allowed to become a member
of PIRT. Tus, the Palestinian Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities, the Arab
Hotel Association and the HLITOA soon became members as well.
Te members of PIRT commit themselves to what they call ‘ justice tou-
rism’ (ATG 2005) which also aims “to transform tourism in Palestine to be-
neft the local communities, to enable encounters between tourists and host
communities and to struggle for more justice in tourism for the Holy Land”
(PIRT 2013b). During the initiative’s frst workshop diferent stakeholders had
the opportunity to work on selected tourism-related issues (ATG 2007). Aside
from security problems and regulation, the participants also discussed envi-
ronmental protections and “[t]ourism as a tool for peace (...)” (Ranjan 2007, 15).
Te fndings of the workshop resulted in the formulation and the proclama-
tion of the ‘Code of Conduct for Tourism in the Holy Land’ on 28 November,
2008 at the University of Bethlehem (PIRT 2013). Interestingly, this ‘Code of
Conduct’ deals with the responsibility of the Palestinian tourism industry and
the responsibility of tourists. For example, the code of conduct appeals to tou-
rists to use the local infrastructure and to conserve water and energy while
travelling through the Palestinian Territories. Furthermore, the members of
the Palestinian tourism industry commit themselves to guaranteeing local
communities an equal share of the profts, in order to protect the environment
and save resources as well as to co-operate with their partners on a fair and
transparent basis (Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tourism 2008).
Summing up, ATG has committed itself to the concept of “alternative tou-
rism” and to the “Code of Conduct for Tourism in the Holy Land” of PIRT.
Te corporate policies and activities cover issues of the political dimension
(e.g. anti-corruption, human rights) as well as the socio-economic dimension
(local accommodation and products, fair wages; environmental protection).
Against this background, the engagement of ATG can be quantifed as ‘gover-
nance’.
Te study also demonstrates that there are strong connections between the
company’s policies and its observable activities. Local partners (e.g. local ho-
tels, restaurants and bed & breakfasts) really beneft from the activities (socio-
economic governance contribution) and the tourists who travel with ATG not
only visit the famous historical sites but also get in contact with people and
become familiar with the current political situation – especially with regard
to human rights – in the Palestinian Territories (governance activities in poli-
134 SUSANNE FI SCHER
tical dimension). Moreover, with its engagement for (trans-)national initiatives
the tour operator contributes to the establishment of important civil society
structures (governance activities in political dimension).
Last but not least, the tour operator reveals ‘unsystematic activities’ such as
the edition of a guidebook for the Palestinian Territories (ATG 2013). Table 1
provides an overview of the engagement of NET and ATG. It focuses on the
engagement, which addresses the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian con-
fict and shows that the tour operator reveals no engagement in the security
dimension and little in the political dimension while most activities fall into
the socio-economic dimension, the feld which has a strong relation to the tour
operators’ core business (Deitelhof et al. 2010, 205, 220; Feil et al. 2008, 31).
Table 1: Corporate Engagement for Peace of NET and ATG
Security (1) Political
Dimension (2)
Socio-economic
Dimension (3)
Socio-cultural
Dimension (4)
Peace Negotiations,
Demobilisation
Disarmament
Reintegration
Processes,
Control of Small Arms
Proliferation, Demining
Democratic Institutions,
Rule of Law, Civil
Society,
Human Rights, Anti-
corruption Measures
Economic Development,
Poverty Reduction,
Education, Health
Care, Protection of
Environment and
Resources
Independent Media,
Peace Education,
Reconciliation, Coping
with Trauma
Corporate Policies ATG ATG
Corporate Activities ATG ATG
Unsystematic Activities ATG
Just Doing Business NET NET
Comparing and Explaining Corporate Engagement for Peace
Comparing the engagement of NET and ATG reveals that ATG has not only
committed itself to certain ‘corporate policies’ but also has ‘corporate activi-
ties’ and ‘unsystematic activities’. In contrast, the engagement of NET quali-
fes as ‘ just doing business’. Te case studies show quite diferent forms of en-
gagement. Te explanation of these variances in the following section might
give fruitful insights into the opportunities and limitations of corporate enga-
gement for peace in zones of violent confict.
Comparing and Explaining Corporate Engagement of NET and ATG
Analysing the empirical material, three factors seem to explain the variances
between the engagement of NET and ATG:
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 135
• ‘CEO-leadership’
• the ‘market segment’
• the ‘corporate structure’
Te CEO has a lot of infuence, especially in small companies. Not only the
corporate strategy but also all important decisions during daily business de-
pend on his ‘leadership’ (Factor 1 above). Comparing NET and ATG, it beco-
mes clear that the CEOs of these tour operators follow completely diferent
strategies. Whilst the CEO of NET describes a purely proft-oriented strategy:
“First you have to fulfl your urgent needs. If there is food on the table, then
you can aford to care about additional issues.” (Personal interview by au-
thor, 30 May 2008)
the CEO of ATG highlights the political impetus:
“Actually the main goal – or one of the main goals – of ATG and of alterna-
tive tourism is the political issue. And we also believe that tourism is a tool
of promoting peace and justice.” (Personal interview by author, 5 June 2008)
In addition, the CEOs of these tour operators also implement diferent ‘marke-
ting strategies’ (Factor 2 above). Whilst both tour operators focus on tourists
who are interested in the historical, cultural and religious setting in the Holy
Land, ATG especially seeks to attract tourists who are not only interested in
this setting but also in the political situation. Tis means that those travellers
are aware of the political implications of tourism in the Holy Land and, with
their decision to travel with ATG, they also take up a political stance on the
role of tourism in Israel and the Palestinian territories:
“Of course, after the second Intifada […] all of the tourism industry went
down to zero. […] Tis afected all in the tourism industry, including ATG.
We were lucky that it does not afect us as it afected others […] because our
programme is totally diferent from what others are promoting.” (Personal
interview by author, 5 June 2008)
In contrast, NET focuses on tourists who are interested in the afore-menti-
oned setting but for whom the political issues remain excluded. Tose tourists
are less confict-sensitive, which is enough for a company like NET that has
to be proft-oriented. Tis leads directly to the third variable, the ‘corporate
structure’ of the tour operators (Factor 3 above). Whilst NET can be descri-
bed as a local SME, the organisational structure of ATG is that of an NGO.
Tis allows ATG to apply for funding from IOs or from other NGOs that are
interested in peace in the Palestinian Territories in order to guarantee the
‘survival’ of its operations and to operate like an ordinary tour operator wit-
hout the pressure of trying to maximise its profts. In contrast, NET has to
follow the logic of the market.
Although both companies reveal so-called “coping strategies” (Joras, Alluri,
and Palme 2009, 6, 25), the pressure to reduce capacities or to make proft
with other destinations is much higher for NET than for ATG. Moreover, its
136 SUSANNE FI SCHER
business partners probably have to withdraw as soon as political confict es-
calates according to the travel warnings in the home states (Fischer 2010, 146),
while politically-motivated individual travellers of ATG might be less depen-
dent on these travel warnings.
The Role of (Trans-)National Sector Initiatives
NET and ATG are actively involved in the activities of (trans-)national sector
initiatives. Te members of these initiatives share information on new pro-
ducts, sector-relevant fairs as well as upcoming regulation. Moreover, the
Palestinian tourism sector is represented in (national) political institutions
and gains visibility for foreign business partners. Drawing on interviews with
members of the Palestinian tourism industry, these initiatives can be seen as
compensation for the lack of governmental support.
Caught between a powerful Israeli administration and a weak Palestinian
government, these institutions help Palestinian tour operators deal with the
Israeli administration (e.g. licences for tour guides, access and mobility in the
Holy Land), with foreign governments (e.g. travel warnings) or global tourism
institutions (e.g. access to marketing funds, interest-representation in stan-
dard-setting processes). Tis demonstrates that – to a certain degree – the ex-
pectation that non-state participants complement or substitute governmental
functions is fulflled.
However, the two initiatives – as well as the members within these initi-
atives – seem to represent two diferent perspectives on how the problems
arising from the confict might be confronted. Whilst the HLITOA might be
described as a ‘pure’ business oriented initiative, PIRT and PIFT have a strong
normative orientation. Te ‘business-men’ of HLITOA focus on the common –
seemingly non-political – interests of the business community. Te interest
in growth and economic prosperity seems to be a neutral ground for busi-
ness participants in the Holy Land. Tese ‘serious business-men’ always keep
an eye on the consequences of the global fnancial crisis, the rising costs of
energy or the competition between diferent tourism destinations for business
partners from the global market. Tis focus on the common market rationali-
ty is also described by local interview partners:
“In the past, meetings between representatives from the business sector
were dominated by complaints concerning the political situation. Tose
meetings turned out to be pointless since the corporations could not do an-
ything about the political situation. […] Against this background, the new
starting point for projects is the common economic interest of the corpora-
tions. Te guiding question is: “How can corporations contribute to peace
and stability without explicitly focusing on contributions to peace?” (Per-
sonal interview by author, 28 May 2008; Translation from German)
In contrast, there are those tour operators who claim that doing business as
well as travelling is not a neutral activity but always embedded in the political
context, which is heavily determined by the Israeli-Palestinian confict. For
this reason, they integrate the business case and the political case under one
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 137
conceptual roof – that of ‘ justice tourism’ or ‘alternative tourism’. Accordin-
gly, the idea of responsible business not only commits business participants
of PIRT to comply with environmental or social standards, but it also puts
business into a political context in order to balance the profts from tourism
between Israelis and Palestinians.
Concluding Remarks
Looking at these fndings from a more policy-oriented perspective, it becomes
clear that tourism ofers jobs to people with various skills and has positive
efects on several other sectors, e.g. the food sector, hotels etc. Tis might be
highly relevant for peace as the Palestinians struggle with a poor economy,
high unemployment and a high poverty rate. However, the distribution of pro-
fts from tourism is very unequal because:
• most foreign tour operators mainly work with Israeli partners.
• the tourists who visit the Holy Land usually travel around Israel but not the
Palestinian Territories – or, if they do visit, then only make a half-day trip.
To confront the frst problem, some important steps have already been taken:
Palestinian tour operators have founded (trans-)national initiatives to share
information, to gain visibility and to represent the interests of the Palestinian
tourism industry – to both the national and the international tourism sector.
Tese steps strengthen the Palestinian tourism industry and should receive
more political as well as fnancial support also from the international commu-
nity and/or the developing agencies in the region.
To deal with the second problem, it seems important to approach the tou-
rists who visit the Holy Land and to enhance public awareness regarding the
fact that travelling is not a neutral activity. Concerning this, the two compa-
ny case studies (NET and ATG) demonstrate that travellers interested in the
cultural and/or religious background of a destination are much more confict-
sensitive because of their normative orientation and/or intellectual approach
towards travelling. Consequently, this market segment seems to be a good st-
arting point to enhance public awareness about confict-sensitive tourism.
What we also learn from the case studies is that the tourism industry and
the travellers – ie both provider and customer – have to rethink their ‘modus
operandi’ in order to make tourism a tool for peace. In this regard, the Code of
Conduct of PIRT that addresses tour operators and travellers could serve as a
model for confict-sensitive tourism not only in the Holy Land but for confict-
sensitive tourism in general.
138 SUSANNE FI SCHER
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NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Communitarian Ecotourism in the
Colombian Darién and Urabá Region:
An Opportunity for Peace-Building
Introduction
Te Urabá Gulf is located on the western border of northern Colombia, next
to Panamá. Te continental part of the Gulf is the Darién and Urabá Regi-
on. Tis area of Colombia is still unknown; its violence and uprooting history
have stigmatised a beautiful place, diverse in people and nature. In this area,
tourist initiatives have emerged from rural communities, the same ones that
have sufered a history of violence and repression.
Te aim of this article is to show how tourism is an opportunity for peace-
building in the Darién and Urabá Region; and through this example to show
how endogenous development models are essential for local communities. It
is an interesting example of how tourism services provided by local people
through four ecotourism centres, managed by communitarian organisations,
and with more than 100 families directly involved, are an opportunity for the
promotion of a local endogenous development; these services – integrating
personal, communitarian, commercial and territorial aspects – are leading to
a social change in the area.
Colombia is located in a strategic position, in the northern corner of South
America: it is the main corridor to Central and North America. On the nort-
hern border with Panamá, no roads are available for vehicle transit and the
only transportation is by boat, or by foot on a dangerous and hidden road. Tis
region is called ‘Tapón del Darién’, or ‘Darién Gap’. Its dense vegetation makes
it a region with one of the largest amounts of plant and animal biodiversity in
the world, although most species – despite their potential value for scientifc,
biomedical or industrial purposes – have not yet been identifed. It’s consi-
dered a strategic ecosystem capable of guaranteeing essential environmental
goods and services for sustainable human development, the maintenance of
cultural and biological diversity, the protection of endemism and the balance
of basic ecological processes. Te environmental richness and the cultural di-
versity in this territory is amazing: indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, far-
mers and people from diferent regions in Colombia, who came looking for
new opportunities in the region, all live together here. Urabá borders the Da-
rién region, where agriculture and banana farming are the main commercial
activities; the land is productive and has access to the sea through the port of
Turbo at the Urabá Gulf.
144 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Map 1: Northern Colombia and Panama with Darién and Urabá Regions marked in dotted line
Map 2: Location of Ecotourism Centres in Darién and Urabá Region
In the Urabá Gulf, the four ecotourism centres are in Capurganá, Playona, San
Francisco (Acandí municipality), and El Carlos (Necoclí municipality).
Access to these regions is complicated. Possible routes are:
• Fly from Bogotá to Montería, and then go about 3 hours by road to Necoclí
• Fly from Bogotá to Medellín and then Apartadó; from there, either go about
2½ hours by road to Necoclí, or else go about 1 hour by road to the port in
Turbo, and then by boat to Acandí
• Fly from Bogotá to Medellín and then Capurganá; from there, go by boat
to Playona / San Francisco / the port in Turbo, and then by road to Necoclí
If you are heading north beyond Capurganá, there is a boat from Capurganá
to Puerto Obaldía in Panamá (there is also a path, which is usable only for
walking or on horseback, and it’s defnitely not recommended); from Puerto
Obaldía, there are fights to Panama City.
War and Confict in the Darién and Urabá Region
Te Darién and Urabá region has sufered a history of violence due to its stra-
tegic location. According to an investigation published by EAFIT University
and the Antioquia Government in Medellín, this territory acts as a corridor to
North America for drugs, weapons and other illegal items. Te economic po-
tential, and the environmental richness, make the control of the territory an
important military objective for diferent forces. Since colonisation, social and
economic interests, linked to vast banana farms and palm crops, have always
Bogota
Medellin
Montería
UR AB Á
GUL F
C AR I B B E AN S E A
PANA MA
GUL F
Panama City
Capurganá
Iracas de Belen
Playa Caná
Posadas
del Rio
Centro Arqueológico
el Carlos
Apartadó
Necocli
Arboletes
Turbo
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 145
caused conficts about land rights and access. A lack of Government presence,
and of legal documents for property, has provided the perfect opportunity for
illegal forces to take control of the territory.
In the 1970s, guerrilla forces – FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Army
Forces) and EPL (Liberation Popular Army) – occupied this territory, aiming
to win the support of the people. Tey started to take sides with the banana
farm employees against their employers, fghting for labour benefts. All over
Colombia at that time, the Government failed to implement means that could
provide an equitable access to land and political participation to left-wing par-
ties and ideologies.
Soon, confict between the guerrillas arose – each one with its own strategy
to gain control of the territory. Te guerrillas’ main actions were focused on
supporting people to occupy land, in both urban and rural sites. Tey star-
ted killing each other, and this confict between guerrilla groups about labour
and land intensifed in the 1980s. Tere were Government eforts to negotiate
and in 1991 the EPL initiated a process to participate in politics; in this con-
text, FARC started killing all people involved in the process and consolidated
their presence in the region. Ten, in the 1990s, paramilitary forces from the
northeast emerged.
During this time, drug trafcking became an important economic income
for all illegal bands. After Pablo Escobar’s death in 1993, Carlos Castaño beca-
me the main leader and, with the support of EPL’s former combatants, fghting
began against FARC. Te violence perpetrated by paramilitary forces was es-
calating; Darién and Urabá was a place known for torture and captivity, and
was the region in Colombia that sufered the most from this kind of paramili-
tary violence. (Gobernación de Antioquia 2011: 20–45).
Te complexity of the confict is enormous. Between 1988 and 2002 there
were 103 massacres and 697 people were killed. 2001 was the year with the
most displaced people in Colombia and specifcally in the Darién and Urabá
region. Te consolidation of the paramilitary forces has a complex analysis; in
common with military Government forces they were fghting against FARC,
and this common goal facilitated their position in the region. Some violent
actions, connected with the responsibility of the military forces, are still being
brought to justice. At that time, Elmer Cardenas Block and its leader Freddy
Rendón Herrera, alias ‘El Alemán’, was the main force. According to a report
of the Intereclesial Justice and Peace Commission, paramilitary forces killed
600 people annually from 2001 to 2005. Between 2002 and 2005, paramilita-
ry forces started to negotiate and also started productive projects in the area.
(ibid.).
Te region is a place where diferent forces collided, from guerrilla to para-
military; in the middle of this struggle were farmers, indigenous people and
local people fghting for their right to land access and basic needs. Nowadays,
it seems that the worst part of the confict has ended even though drug traf-
fcking still persists. Te challenges now are the restitution of land and rights
to all victims of confict, and the bringing of productive alternatives to drug
trafcking and illegal activities to the local communities.
146 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
The Benefts of a Tourism Local Development Model
Te Global Code of Ethics for Tourism points out the important role of tou-
rism “towards alleviation of poverty and the improvement of the quality of life
… its potential to make a contribution to economic and social development, es-
pecially of the developing countries … the need for the promotion of a respon-
sible and sustainable tourism that could be benefcial to all sectors of society”
(WTO, Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, 2).
Te value chain of tourism implies economic, cultural and social relations
with diferent participants: farmers, fshermen, health services, security forces,
guides, transportation, commerce, handicraft workers, the educational sys-
tem, and commerce in general. Tourism is an activity that generates multiple
benefts to the various economic sectors of society.
Besides that process, tourism helps to identify and promote the value of lo-
cal culture, the territory, the natural resources and landscapes; helping com-
munities to care, watch and protect their land, their culture, their roots and
identity.
Te World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates that tourism has
been growing in emerging countries. In Colombia, foreign visitors are an in-
creasing trend in recent years: 7.3% more from 2010 to 2011, and 7.16% from
2011 to 2012 according to migratory data; in total 1,692,821 visitors were re-
gistered in 2012. (Migración Colombia 2013). Tis represents an enormous
potential to develop and improve the quality of life in Colombia. Tourism also
presents huge possibilities to stimulate local development – from cities to ru-
ral areas – due to Colombia’s great natural and cultural diversity and potential.
Tourism is a tool for economic and social development that has increased in
importance in the world. It’s one of the sectors which has a greater impact on
the social structure due to its wide reach into society.
Te positive efects of tourism are stronger if the community gets involved.
Tat’s why communitarian tourism is a good alternative – because local peo-
ple can manage their resources, thereby allowing the preservation of environ-
mental and cultural assets, and enabling the benefts of the tourism activity to
ft more closely with the communitarian needs. If the local people have a main
role, then it’s possible to promote endogenous development models, which
strengthen their roots and identity. Community-based tourism, constructed
for and by the local people – who thus have control of decisions and have an
active role – makes it possible to establish relationships based on dialogue and
interaction between them and the visitors.
World Wide Fund International defnes communitarian-based tourism as
the activity where local societies have efective control over their territory,
their development and management (World Wide Fund 2001). Trough local
active participation, tourism projects bring most of the benefts to the local
communities.
In this kind of tourism, other economic activities of the local community
are necessarily involved, such as agriculture, fshery, artisan crafts, commer-
ce, transportation, guided tours and others. Tourism, then, generates local in-
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 147
come, jobs and a dynamic economy. Te innovation and initiatives for local
employment and opportunities could be more suitable to their needs, their
vocation and their economic possibilities and abilities. Te process then beco-
mes a continuous endogenous development, looking for what the local peop-
le want with a signifcant contribution for them and their locality. If tourism
is responsible and planned, it articulates an equitable economic development
and preserves culture and environment (Da Silva 2012, 181–99).
Nowadays, Colombia is trying to strengthen the normative frame for com-
munitarian tourism and nature tourism. According to the UNWTO, nature
tourism is one of the fastest-growing types of tourism worldwide; and eco-
tourism is defned as nature-based, containing educational and interpretati-
on features, organised usually for small groups, minimising negative impacts
upon the natural and socio-cultural environment, generating local income to
communities and increasing awareness towards conservation.
Nature and communitarian tourism tend to preserve natural and cultural
resources and improve local income in a sustainable way. Tese types of tou-
rism characterise the function of the ecotourism centres in the Darién and
Urabá region.
Tourism in the Darién and Urabá Region
Even though tourism is not the most important economic activity in the Da-
rién and Urabá region, Capurganá, Sapzurro, San Francisco and Necoclí have
been identifed as local destinations. Te main economic activities in the area
are commerce, banana farming, fshing and agriculture. Due to the extensive
banana farming and the commerce, the region is a place where many people
from Apartadó and Medellín come to vacation with their families; Capurganá
has also received some international tourists, but there is no data available
about the number of tourists in the area.
In this region, there is a basic level of infrastructure, with some hostels, ho-
tels, campsites and restaurants; local inhabitants and residents generally have
been employed by these, but they are usually not the main participants in tou-
rism. Nowadays, the community has the possibility of getting involved in the
service as main participants in their territory. Te United Nations Ofce On
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) supports an initiative, which promotes alterna-
tive development through communitarian projects on artisan fshing, han-
dicrafts and ecotourism managed by social organisations, working towards
establishing a value chain.
Tere are four ecotourism centres managed by social organisations in the area,
as follows:
• ‘El Carlos’ Ecotourism and Archaeological Centre – El Carlos, Necoclí, An-
tioquia
• ‘Iracas de Belén’ Ecotourism Cabins – Capurganá, Acandí, Chocó
• ‘Posadas del Río’ – San Francisco, Acandí, Chocó
• ‘Playa Caná’ Ecotourism Centre – Playona, Acandí, Chocó
148 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Te centres have cabins, restaurant service, paths and ecotourism activities
covered by a local development course of action to build up management and
operational abilities for local sustainability. Te construction has low impact
on the environment, and the residents control and measure water, energy and
waste, trying to work in a sustainable way. Currently, this operation is the frst
and only one in Colombia with an international certifcation: ‘Smart Voyager’
for Sustainable Tourism is the certifcation chosen for the ecotourism centres.
Tis is a certifcation programme for the whole of South America, which has its
origins in Ecuador and is given by Smart Voyager Certifed. Smart Voyager is
recognised by UNESCO, and one of its frst programmes was in the Galapagos
Islands; it is part of the Sustainable Tourism Certifcation Network of the Ame-
ricas promoted by Rainforest Alliance. Tis certifcation has been considered to
be a big step for the community, and refects the great work that they have been
doing to promote tourism in a sustainable way, working together as a group.
Te four ecotourism centres in more detail are:
1 El Carlos Ecotourism and Archaeological Centre, Necoclí
Tis centre is managed by a cooperative and 22 families are directly involved
in the project. Tese are mainly farmers, some of whom used to work with
drug trafcking and paramilitary forces. El Carlos is a rural village; Adven-
tism is the main religion there and, for this reason, there is no loud music
around, unlike in the Caribbean and on the Colombian coast. People are
friendly, simple and kind; they are learning about tourism. Tey keep trying
to bring groups to visit and experience their quiet life. People from schools,
enterprises and families from Medellín and Apartadó come to visit. Te main
attractions here are the landscapes, the food, the rural way of life, the archa-
eological museum and the ecological paths leading towards a waterfall. Te
artefacts in the museum were found in the village and originally one of the
leaders took care of them. Later they were legalised and the community is now
the administrator of all the legacy of ancestral inhabitants of the area. Some
local people work in handicrafts and their products are sold at the Centre. Te
tourists buy agricultural products from the locals and fsh from the local fs-
hery association in town.
2 Iracas de Belén in Capurganá, Acandí
Tis centre is managed by an association; 32 families are directly involved in
the project. Tese people are mainly Afrodescents, farmers and some fsher-
men. Te territory is a communitarian afrodescent area, and the Centre is lo-
cated between the sea and the forest. Te main attractions are the beaches
and the sea, the forest, the culture, and the diverse fauna and fora; there are
also some activities like diving, snorkelling, bird watching and nature walks.
Te tourists buy agricultural products from the area, fsh from the local asso-
ciation and handicrafts from the local people.
3 Posadas del Rio in San Francisco, Acandí
Tis centre is managed by an association. 35 families are involved directly in
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 149
the project; these people are mostly women. Tis ecotourism centre is located
in a beautiful area in the middle of the forest, close to the San Francisco River.
It’s a corridor for fauna and fora, and is visited from time to time by howling
monkeys and titis (small monkeys). It’s a quiet place surrounded by nature,
ideal for resting, nature walks, snorkelling and bird watching.
4 Playa Caná, Acandí
Tis centre is also managed by an association. 35 families are directly involved
in the project; these are mostly displaced people who are returning to their
land. Due to this factor, however, more conficts have arisen; the roots and
the networks are fragile, and this makes the dialogue and problem-solving
difcult. Te land is right by the beach, where there was once a school and
a community; nowadays there is a 10 kilometre, beautiful but isolated beach.
Here, the Cana turtles (a big kind of marine turtle) come to leave their eggs
that hatch once a year between May and July. People are trying to protect the
eggs, learn, and teach others to respect the beach and nature. Today the area
has been declared a national natural reserve for the protection of the turtles.
Tere is an organisation in charge of the commercialisation of all four eco-
tourism centres. Tis is very challenging – because guaranteeing visitors, and
a stable income to the communities, is not at all easy in a place with difcult
access and stigmatisation.
Te objectives of the various organisations are to improve the quality of
life, and to generate employment and alternative income – as well as social,
cultural and environmental preservation. Te people involved are organised
through a board and committees; amongst other things, they have the ability
to make decisions, and they show communicational skills, management capa-
cities, leadership and teamwork. Te active community participation in the
project’s process of identifcation, diagnosis and creation promotes the empo-
werment and strength of the communitarian concept.
Each ecotourism centre has its own dynamic and refects a diferent reali-
ty. Te most important objective in the process is to strengthen communita-
rian capacities for a common goal; this process is a long-term action for so-
cial change through tourism. In some cases, it’s important to reincorporate
people who were involved in confict directly. In other cases the confdence
and return to the territory are the main objectives. Empowerment of women
and leadership bring opportunities to the families; in all of them network and
identity strength are essential.
All the families involved in the ecotourism centres have high levels of un-
satisfed needs, according to the statistics managed by the Government. Tey
are a vulnerable-based population, according to the Colombian Government
– meaning that they have no protection or capacity to face a threat to their
psychological, physical or mental status due to diverse factors that could be
institutional, educational, health-related, cultural, environmental, and educa-
tional. Te presence of women, children and people afected by the confict
is therefore essential: without the active participation of the community the
project wouldn’t make sense.
150 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Social Change Through Communitarian Tourism
Tourism could provide collective benefts:
• Sustainable development and the preservation of cultures and the natural
habitat
• Economic local growth
• An integral experience for visitors and host communities
• A leisure activity that has efects on the culture and the spirit
UNWTO emphasises in the Code of Ethics, that tourism can be an efcient
tool to advance international peace and understanding and that its social, cul-
tural and ethical dimensions are an important potential contribution to pro-
mote values such as tolerance, respect of diversity and respect of nature.
Te organisational associative structures promote solidarity values though
a qualifcation process that includes personal, familiar, communitarian and
entrepreneurial aspects. Furthermore, tourism is a service, and its focus is on
human interaction and personal experience. It also implicates human skills,
abilities and capacities both as an individual and as a group. When people
start a process working together with others, it starts to create an internal
process for the development of confdence and self-esteem.
Tis case experience in the Darién and Urabá region has diferent compo-
nents that promote social change through communitarian tourism:
Personal skills
Every single person involved in the ecotourism centres has gained confdence
and self-esteem by developing their personal skills; this could be linked to the
participation in a wider group, where each opinion is taken into account, and
where the decision-making process involves each member of the group. Wo-
men don’t usually have time to work because of their family duties, but here
they have a space to talk, participate, and make important decisions for the
community. Teir role is essential at the centres: in service, reception, gastro-
nomy and administration, among others; they could also bring their children
who could get involved in some duties.
Communitarian work and participation
Te positive aspects of the participation in communitarian activities promote
feelings of wellbeing, and of being useful. Te associations and groups provi-
de the possibility for people to get involved and, in turn, to be given a sense
of empowerment in the community. Te communitarian participation brings
individual welfare through a higher self-esteem and useful feeling. (Sánchez
1999, 254)
Identity
Tis is the way people defne themself; its how their fundamental characte-
ristics make a person a human being. Tis identity could be infuenced by the
existence of recognition from others. Tis recognition could shape the identi-
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 151
ty of individuals and groups. Taylor refers to the understanding between peo-
ple as being shaped by meaningful dialogue and interaction with others; this
helps to consolidate identity and dialogue through recognition. (Sánchez 1999,
252–253)
Te strength of the identity linked to the territory through tourism is ano-
ther important contribution. Tis territorial identity in rural areas is essential,
and even more so, if it’s a strategy regarding peace-building. When this pro-
cess to rediscover landscapes and surroundings means you could walk again
without fear along the paths leading to the forest and the sea, along the paths
to rice crops and banana farms, along the paths where you could show outsi-
ders and visitors the birds, the plants that heal, and maybe the endemic frog
that only you could fnd in your territory, where you live, then your territorial
identity is strengthened and reconfrmed.
Territorial identity could be interpreted as a ‘sense of belonging, social
identifcation, shared representation of a collective self’ (Pollice 2003, 109); the
author points out that territorial identity helps to strengthen locally-shared
ethical and behavioural values, that improve productivity, and allow commer-
cial relationships and collaboration. It also helps to improve inter-generational
transfer of knowledge, and to create and improve the mechanism of change
and adaptation – and is therefore a sound basis for innovation.
Tourism could help in an active way to promote territorial identity through
two specifc activities:
• Gastronomy
• Guiding as an interpretation of culture and nature
It’s a great experience for local communities to identify their local products
for their restaurant menu, and to rediscover favours and use their ancestral
knowledge in recipes, with local plants and domestic animals. Tey feel proud
to let visitors know that the vegetable was planted by families and neighbours,
and was taken care of by their children, perhaps; letting them know their fa-
mily recipes, and how the husband fshes in the morning, may also be wor-
thwhile. Some other options could be the identifcation of routes and paths
around their homes, to show visitors the best view of their town and lands-
capes, and to show how the sea provides food and is sometimes calm or not
so calm to navigate. Tey could also show how they plant a tree, or diferent
fruits and vegetables, or how they live from agriculture, or maybe how the
forest is their ancestral land.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Te Darién and Urabá region in Colombia has for years been sufering from
the consequences of a complex confict. People there have been developing
survival strategies to get through all these years. Afro-Colombian people in
Capurganá are organised in a communitarian entity and have remained the-
re, in the middle of confict. People in Playona have been returning to their
152 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
land and restructuring family and communitarian networks. In San Francisco,
where the women have been resisting war and inequity, and where there are
neither police nor hospital, the people have been developing ways of living in
a mixed community with people from the interior, including Afro-Colombi-
ans, indigenous people and farmers. El Carlos in Necoclí has witnessed the
emergence of violence in the middle of the paramilitary forces and has been
resigned to losing fathers, brothers and sisters. With on-going violence, these
communities have been living in perpetual silence to try and survive without
becoming a target of war.
In the last six years, the worst of the confict has seemed to be over; peo-
ple are recovering from their wounds and Colombia’s Government is trying
to reach a solution for victims. Tourism as an alternative for communities,
linked to other associated initiatives like fshing and handicrafts, has been de-
veloping little by little; the area has been identifed as an attractive destination
for visitors. Tere is some basic infrastructure and tourism has been a tool
for strengthening networks, for the preservation of nature and culture, and
as an economic alternative for families. Te process is long and, after years of
community work in tourism, there are both tangible and intangible changes
in the territory, in the society and individually. Tis changing process through
tourism, improving personal and entrepreneurial skills based on local resour-
ces in an endogenous development frame, creates identity, feelings of security,
a sense of community and belonging, helping to reconstruct society and to
build the foundations for peace. Te reinterpretation of life to show to visi-
tors their positive aspects of everyday life and surroundings helps to reinforce
their sense of life as a community.
In a place where violence has its roots and people try to overcome this
devastation, it’s very important to restore confdence, strengthen networks
of support and give people the means to empower a life project that could
be an efective tool for communities to work together for a common goal. In
this case, tourism provides the tools for economic growth, social and cultu-
ral strength, and environmental preservation. Te strong feeling that local
communities in the Darién and Urabá region are creating through tourism
for their territory, their rich diversity, their cultural values, their local pro-
ducts and all the resources involved in the service they give to visitors, is an
invaluable feeling that helps them to be proud of themselves, their origin, their
territory, their community and their own decisions in life.
Tese communitarian initiatives present multiple challenges. Te support
in commercialisation and entrepreneurial aspects is essential to maintain a
stable income for local people. On the other hand, local public institutions
and even private ones have to start a process of trust and support of these
initiatives. Usually people in rural communities are subjects of subsidiary po-
licies, but they are not seen as main participants in their own development. It’s
important to start the movement towards this by giving the means to grow
and develop self-esteem and self-confdence in their own territory. If local ru-
ral development is not based on communitarian values and abilities, and local
communities are not the main participants in their own destiny, peace will be
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 153
a difcult achievement. Tey, like everyone else, have to fnd their own path in
life, and be able to integrate their own resources, both territorial and symbolic,
to lead productive lives. If they could fnd the means to live harmoniously in
their territory, people would have less interest in self-destructive or illegal ac-
tions.
It’s essential to support these rural communities; to help strengthen their
roots and value their land. Leaving them alone only contributes to the pos-
sibility of war and confict. Tourism implemented the right way is a tool for
development, for understanding, for sustainability and for peace.
References:
Da Silva, Rosijane E., and Moema M. Badaro. 2012.
‘Tierras de Preto de Filipa (MA) – Brasil. Identidad,
territorialidad y turismo comunitario en la lucha
por el reconocimiento.’ Estudios y perspectivas en
turismo no. 21:180:202.
Gobernación de Antioquia and Universidad EAFIT.
Urabá: Entre la abundancia y la disputa territorial.
Medellín: Gobernación de Antioquia and Universi-
dad EAFIT, 2011.
Migracion Colombia, http://www.migracioncolom-
bia.gov.co/ acessed February 2013.
Pollice, Fabio. 2003. ‘The role of territorial identity in
local development processes.’ Proceedings of the
Conference “The cultural turn in geography”. Go-
rizia Campus, Italy.
Sánchez, Emilio. 1999. ‘Relación entre la autoestima
personal, la autoestima colectiva y la participación
en la comunidad’. Anales de Psicología No. 15 (2):
251- 260.
World Tourism Organization. Global Code of Ethics
for Tourism. 2001. Spain: World Tourism Organiza-
tion.
World Wide Fund, WWF. 2001. Guidelines for com-
munity-based ecotourism development. United
Kingdom: World Wide Fund.
EMMANUEL J. BWASI RI
The Confict Among Local People
and Hunting Tourism Companies in
Northern Tanzania
Introduction
Tis paper seeks to address the problem of management at the Loliondo Game
Controlled Area (LGCA) in Northern Tanzania. It focuses on exploring the
cause of conficts between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism
through the Wildlife Department, the indigenous people (the Masai) and tou-
rism companies working in the LGCA. Te results from this paper indicate
that the decision made by the Government through the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Tourism to allocate and give land to the hunting companies
in 1992 is the source of confict. Te paper provides recommendations of how
game areas in Tanzania could be controlled and, in particular, how the LGCA
could be managed in order to keep its attractiveness for tourists.
Tanzania and its National Parks
Tanzania is a big country covering a total area of 945,234 square kilometres
of which 942,832 square kilometres is Tanzania mainland (Tanganyika) and
2,402 square kilometres forms the Island of Zanzibar. Approximately 25% of
the total area of the country is occupied by Protected Areas. Tere are 16 na-
tional parks, 28 game reserves, 44 game controlled areas, 1 conservation area,
2 marine parks and 16 protected cultural heritage sites. Te country also has
various natural features such as sandy beaches, lakes and mountains. Additi-
onally, Tanzania ofers interesting culture and craft – notably the Masai and
Makonde sculptures – as well as carving done in ebony. All these make the
country an exclusive tourism destination in Africa.
Tanzania national parks are amongst the leading wildlife resources in the
world and have been widely known for many centuries. For example, the Ser-
engeti Plain is a world-famous area in which numerous diversifed species live.
Here, the annual migration of wildebeest can be seen and this has been recog-
nised as one of the seven African natural wonders. Other areas with a high
concentration of wild animals include the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire Na-
tional Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Mikumi and Ruaha National Parks
and the Selous Game Reserve. Tree quarters of the parks and reserves are
located in the northern part of the country, notably near Arusha and Kiliman-
jaro.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 155
Te two regions also contain important archaeological and paleontologi-
cal remains ranging from Oldowan to Iron Age, including rock painting sites.
Te fnest sites are Oldupai Gorge, Laetoli and Engaresero, where footprints
date from many thousands of years ago (Leakey 1951; Leakey & Hay 1979). In
2011 the President of the United Republic of Tanzania re-opened the Laetoli
footprint project, with the aim of providing access and attracting both local
and international tourists. In addition, the indigenous Masai people have lived
in the national parks, game reserves and controlled areas in these regions for
many years.
Te people and their culture, the ecology, wildlife, rock art sites, historical
buildings and archaeological signifcance prompted the World Heritage Com-
mittee (WHC) to declare seven protected areas as World Heritage Sites. Tis
ranks Tanzania as third in Africa and frst in East Africa in terms of num-
bers of World Heritage Sites. Among these seven areas, four are natural sites:
Mount Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National
Park (these three are included within the seven African Natural wonders) and
the Selous Game Reserve; the other three are cultural sites, notably Zanzibar
Stone Town, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara ruins as well as Kondoa Rock
Art Sites. Tese World Heritage Sites (natural and cultural heritage) and the
Masai people attract large numbers of tourists who visit the country for leisu-
re and enjoyment.
Te Masai form a group of Eastern Nilotic people whose linguistic origins
can be traced to the East Nile valley. Tey lived at the border between Uganda
and Sudan before arriving in northern Tanzania around 1500 AD (Ehret 1974,
1998; Ambrose 1982, 115) and living there for centuries. In recent decades they
migrated to other regions seeking fresh pasture and water for their cattle. Ma-
sai are warm, open, friendly people with a long tradition of generous hospitali-
ty and a wealth of folklore, which attracts tourists who visit the national parks
and reserve areas. A strong relationship exists between the Masai, the tourists
and the wild animals in the northern part of the country and there is no doubt
that the Masai culture contributes to income from tourism through the sale of
souvenirs to tourists.
A Brief History of Tourism in Tanzania
It is unclear when tourism began in Tanzania. Noel Lwoga (2011, 8; see also
Smith 1995, 21) defnes the tourist as a person who travels away from the area
of his / her origins to another for whatever reasons: leisure / holiday and busi-
ness. Movement of the tourist takes place both within and out of the country.
Based on that, Lwoga has traced the beginnings of tourism in Tanzania to the
time before the colonial era. In Tanzania people travelled from one area to
another for various purposes including leisure and business and this, perhaps,
was the foundation of domestic tourism.
In early times, the coastal communities of Tanzania interacted with people
from Asia and the Middle East through trade along the Indian Ocean. Tis in-
teraction may also be considered as the beginning of foreign tourism along the
156 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
Indian Ocean, raising the Swahili culture and its towns such Kilwa (see also
Chami 1998). Te remains of this early town and its historical buildings form
an important cultural heritage site, attracting numerous tourists (Lwoga 2011).
For example, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara World Heritage Site is one of
the fnest tourist attractions in the southern part of the country connected to
the early traveller from the Middle East. Te missionaries from Europe also
visited Tanzania, notably in the central and north of the regions where they
documented Mount Kilimanjaro and put Tanzania on the global tourism map
(Lwoga 2011, 121).
During the colonial era, in the late 19th century, Tanganyika (now the Tan-
zanian mainland) was under German administration. Tis was a period when
the country began to experience modern tourist trips from abroad coming for
adventure and leisure. ‘Hunting tourism’ was introduced and encouraged by
the people from Europe and America (Lwoga 2011, 122). According to Lwoga
(ibid, 122; see also Chachage 2003) hunting tourism became one of the main
activities. Te Germans established a Game Ordinance and published this in
their ofcial Gazettes number 3 and 25 of 1912 (Lwoga 2011; Ouma 1970), with
the aim of protecting wildlife and its environments. Te Germans also built
architectural buildings for various purposes: administration ofces, residenti-
al houses, churches, schools, health facilities, hotels and railways. Such infra-
structure and its facilities ensured the availability of accommodation and inter-
nal transport for travellers visiting Tanzania, as tourists or for other reasons.
Architectural buildings left by the Germans in most Tanzanian towns are
now protected by the Government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Na-
tural Resources and Tourism (Antiquities Division) by the Antiquities Act of
1964 and its amendments of 1979. Various visitors from both within and out-
side Tanzania visit these buildings to see past German styles and designs in
Tanzania. Te Government has been using the buildings as tourist attractions.
Most are located in Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, Ujiji and Tabora, to mention
just a few.
After the end of World War I, the British took over the administration of
the Territory of Tanganyika. Te Germans left the country and handed po-
wer to the British Government in December 1921. Te British introduced an
indirect rule where local chiefs were given power to rule and administer other
local people. Amendments were made to both wildlife and cultural heritage
legislations. Classifying, declaring and adding more wildlife reserve areas
went hand in hand with these legislations: Kilimanjaro Reserve, Mount Meru
Reserve, Engurdoto Crater Reserve, Lake Natron Reserve, and Selous Game
Reserve are such good examples. In 1951, the Serengeti Plain was named as a
national park. Te Masai people who live on the Serengeti Plain were recog-
nised by the Act and allowed to remain in these protected areas.
Tanganyika gained independence from the British colony on 9 December
1961, followed by Zanzibar in 1964. On 26 April 1964 the two countries for-
med a union and the United Republic of Tanzania was born.
To encourage the tourism sector, soon after independence in 1962, the Tan-
zania National Tourist Board (TNTB) was formed (Salazar 2009). Te Natio-
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 157
nal Development Corporation (NDC) was given the task of building hotels to
ensure sufcient accommodation for tourists. A number of hotels were built
in Dar es Salaam. Several lodges were also built in national parks and reserve
areas such as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti National
Park. Soon after, in 1969, Kilimanjaro international airport was constructed.
Government eforts resulted in an increase in the number of tourists visit-
ing the north circuit centres such as Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Tarangi-
re, Manyara and Mount Kilimanjaro (Ranja 2003; URT 2012). In addition, the
coastal circuit – which encompasses cultural heritage towns, game reserves,
national parks such Selous Game Reserve, Mikumi National Park, Bagamo-
yo historical town and Dar es Salaam beaches – was developed. In the 1960s,
tourism became the fourth largest industry contributing income to the nation,
after agricultural products such as cofee, cotton and sisal (Lwoga 2011).
In 1991 the Government formulated the National Tourism Policy. Te po-
licy emphasises private participation and the empowerment of local people
to become involved in the tourism project (Anderson 2010). In 1998, the 1991
policy was reviewed and a new policy was formulated in 1999, encouraging
promotion of the economy and poverty alleviation (URT 1999). Te policy
also aimed to increase the number of tourists and to boost the economy (ibid).
Since 2000, the numbers of international tourists have increased (Table 1).
Table: International Visitor Arrivals and Receipts in Tanzania, 2004–2012
Year Number of
Visitor Arrivals
Annual Change
(%)
Receipts
(US $ Mill)
Receipts
(TZS Mill)
2004 582,807 1.18 746.02 812,676.89
2005 612,754 4.80 823.05 929,058.84
2006 644,124 5.12 950.00 1,079,137.00
2007 719,031 11.62 1,198.76 1,290,542.25
2008 770,376 7.14 1,288.70 1,520,429.10
2009 714,367 - 7.27 1,159.82 1,511,704.59
2010 782,699 9.50 1,254.50 1,767,967.85
2011 867,994 10.89 1,353.29 2,107,613.85
2012 1,077,058 24.00 1,712.75 2,691,929.18
Te table above shows the increase in the number of visitors and income asso-
ciated to tourism. Te decline of more than 7% in 2009 was partly attributed
to the global fnancial crisis and the A (H1N1) infuenza pandemic (URT 2009).
However, scholars have varying opinions regarding the benefts of tourism
to local people. For instance, Chachage (2003, 2007) and Salazar (2009) argued
that tourism businesses such as hunting, tour operators, hotels and leisure are
foreign owned. In the same vein Luvanga & Shitundu (2003) also showed com-
158 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
petition for resources between local communities, conservators and tourism
companies. Tis has happened in protected areas where the rate of population
growth of local people is becoming higher than in the past. I will use the Lu-
vanga and Shitundu idea to address the issue of confict in the Loliondo area.
Wildlife and Tourism Land Use at Loliondo
Te Loliondo Game Controlled Area (LGCA) consists of a high concentration
of biodiversity plus the indigenous people, the Masai. Te LGCA was initially
established under the Fauna Conservation Ordinance No. 7 of 1951 by the Bri-
tish Colonial Government in Tanganyika, covering an area of 4,000 square
kilometres. Since 1951, the area has been used for hunting activities. After in-
dependence in 1961, the Government continued to use the LGCA in the same
way. It is protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009 (URT
2009), replacing the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974. Te 2009 Wildlife
Conservation Act (WCA) prohibits human activities in all game controlled
areas. Te LGCA is also recognised as government land according to the Land
Act of No. 4 of 1999 (URT 1999), which requires conservation protection.
Te LGCA is situated in the Ngorongoro district in the northern part of
the country along the border with Kenya. Te Loliondo highland where the
LGCA is situated lies between two jewels of the Tanzanian tourism industry:
Serengeti National Park to the west and Ngorongoro Conservation Area to
the south. It is also bordered by Lake Natron to the east and the Masai Mara
Natural Reserve in Kenya to north.
Te LGCA forms part of the Serengeti ecosystem, covering about 25,000
square kilometres and including the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and
the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya (Homewood & Rodgers 1991). Te
Serengeti National Park has an abundance of wild animals such as the now
world-famous wildebeest, which move between the Serengeti plains and the
Masai Mara annually, notably April to June. Te wildebeest migration from
the Serengeti to the Masai Mara passes through the LGCA. Other wildebeest
move from Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the Sale Plains of Loliondo to
graze during the rainy season (Sinclair 1995).
Tis seasonal movement of the wild animals – passing through the Loli-
ondo highlands – attracts tourists / visitors whose interests include hunting
and photography. Tese two activities have been carried out in the LGCA ever
since the colonial period. After independence, the LGCA was divided into two
hunting blocks until 1992: North and South. LGCA ‘North’ was under Safa-
ri East Africa Tanzania Limited and Chasse de Afrique Safaris whilst ‘South’
was under the Tanzania Wildlife Corporation (TAWICO). At the same time,
the LGCA was also used by the Government Wildlife College – Mweka, to
hunt animals for practical teaching purposes. Additionally, the Government
took ofcial visitors to the country, who had an interest in hunting, to the
LGCA. Te activities were operated without consultation with the local peop-
le, but no confict arose. Tis made the LGCA a centre for hunting tourism in
northern regions.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 159
Hunting tourism in Tanzania was prohibited for few years from 1973 but
re-opened again in 1978. It was then under the management of TAWICO.
However, from 1988 to the present time, the Wildlife Department (WD) of the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, a Government institution, has
had the authority to manage and conserve the LGCA. Te WD minister res-
ponsible also has the authority to issue permits to the tourist hunting opera-
tors to conduct hunting business in the area.
In 1992, the abundance of wild animals surrounding the Loliondo area in-
fuenced the Government of Tanzania, through the Wildlife Department, to
lease hunting permits to the tourist companies at the LGCA blocks for hun-
ting business. Local people of the area claimed that the process of issuing per-
mits was not transparent and was therefore not accepted. Te lease of the land
within the LGCA to hunting companies created controversy in 1992 between
the Government, the residents of the area and tourism hunting companies,
because the local people were not consulted – despite holding the land title
deeds. Tis controversy led to a confict between the three groups. Essentially,
the confict at the LGCA is that the foreign hunting companies have the right
to conduct various activities without consultation with, or approval from, the
villagers surrounding the hunting block. As a result the companies have come
into confict with local people concerning the reduction of their livestock gra-
zing areas (Alexander 1993; URT 1994; Honey 2008; TNRF 2011).
At the same time, the tourist hunting companies pay an annual revenue to
the Government and help to build and create social services such as hospitals
and schools (Ihucha 2010; TNRF 2011). Some of the hunting companies have
built lodges and constructed airstrips. Local people claim that these activi-
ties reduce grazing land, which leads to confrontation between the pastoralist
community and the tourist companies (Alexander 1993). Tis situation has
been brought to the attention of the policy-maker, media, non-government in-
stitutions and local and international media (TNRF 2011).
Te grazing of domesticated animals is the third main activity practised
within the LGCA. About 80% of the people of Loliondo are pastoralists who
depend upon pastoralism as their main form of livelihood. Te Masai group
practise pastoralism through what is known as transhumance. Tis is the
seasonal movement of the Masai people and their cattle in the Loliondo high-
land and plains between wet and dry seasons (Homewood & Rodgers 1991).
In 2009, Tanzania experienced a serious drought, which caused the reduction
of grazing land and vegetation. Large numbers of livestock died in the nort-
hern part of the country, including the Loliondo area. Te Masai were forced
to graze their cattle within the protected areas, including the Serengeti Na-
tional Park and the LGCA. Tis is against the Wildlife Conservation Act of
2009, whereby human activities are strictly prohibited. Te hunting compa-
nies’ authority at the LGCA restricted pastoralist groups from accessing land
for grazing and from obtaining water for their livestock. Tis situation raised
a series of questions about ownership, which has added confict to the previ-
ous situation of 1992 (TNRF 2011; Kitabu 2013).
160 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
To try and solve the problem which arose between the hunting companies
and the residents of the area in 2009, the Government, through the Minis-
try of Natural Resources and Tourism, promised to overcome the problem
through meeting with local people and discussing issues related to land use
for the beneft of everyone. However, a solution was not obtained between Mi-
nistry ofcers and local people. In a similar manner, in 2010, a Parliamentary
Investigatory Committee was tasked to research the Loliondo matter. No re-
port was announced to the public.
In 2013, the Government of Tanzania, through the Minister of Natural
Resources and Tourism, considered reducing the LGCA from 4,000 square
kilometres to 1,500 square kilometres. Tis, it was hoped, would solve the
problem. According to the Minister, the 1,500 square kilometres of the LGCA
would be controlled by the Wildlife Act of 2009, under the Ministry of Na-
tural Resources and Tourism. Te minister outlined the reasons for protec-
ting the 1,500 square kilometres: it contains a water catchment area, a wildlife
breeding area and a wildlife corridor area. Te remaining 2,500 square kilo-
metres were to be given to the pastoral group, the Masai people, to use for gra-
zing their cattle and for other social and economic activities. Te minister’s
decision was entirely based on wisdom, and was part of the efort to resolve
the existing problem and to create peace between the Government, the local
people and the hunting companies. However, the decision was declined by the
Masai community, leaving 21 years of confict unresolved.
Te local inhabitants, the Masai, claim that the 1,500 square kilometres are
part of the pastureland for their livestock and are not for conservation and
hunting purposes. Te refusal is also supported by non-governmental insti-
tutions working in Loliondo. In May 2013, the representatives from the Masai
group in Loliondo decided to meet the Prime Minister during a parliamentary
meeting in Dodoma, aiming to seek solutions. By the end of the meeting the
Prime Minister hadn’t provided a solution to the on-going confict. It seems
the Prime Minister is probably trying to think and fnd a proper diplomatic
(negotiated) way of solving the problem.
It seems there is no easy way to solve this problem. Perhaps the only soluti-
on is to use a participatory approach, by involving all stakeholders in decision-
making related to the management of the LGCA. Te stakeholders are those
people and institutions involved, who have an interest in the protection of the
LGCA. Tese can include Government institutions (the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Tourism and the Loliondo District Authority), the indigenous
Masai (Masai people living in Loliondo before 1863), tourism companies, ho-
tels and non-government institutions working at Loliondo.
A participatory approach requires all the key stakeholders to work together
and share responsibility related to tourism activities in the Loliondo area (see
also Smith 2006; Taruvinga 2007; Bwasiri 2011a,b). I am using a participatory
approach to address the new framework, which I think will be a solution to
management and conservation of the LGCA. I propose the following recom-
mendations to overcome the problem and bring harmony and peace to all sta-
keholders.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 161
Application of Legislation
In these legislative recommendation policies, the Wildlife Department will
continue to be the government authority responsible for the preservation
and protection of wildlife and its environments at the LGCA. Te minister
responsible for wildlife should declare the boundaries of the protected area
at the LGCA through consultation and agreement with the indigenous peo-
ple and all stakeholders connected with the conservation area. A ‘bottom-up”
approach will be more practical than a ‘top-down’ approach. In this approach,
consultation should start with the local people before reaching a higher level
for fnal decision. Te consultation should be done also before any project or
development activities are approved at the LGCA. Tis is due to the fact that
the LGCA forms an important part of the pastoralists’ grazing area. Recogni-
tion, therefore, of the rights of the associated people through consultation and
negotiation will be an important tool for the management of the LGCA.
Community Involvement
A sufcient mechanism must be adopted to ensure that the indigenous people
(the Masai) and all stakeholders participate in decision-making and become
involved in issues related to the conservation and management of the LGCA.
Tere are rumours that some Masai groups migrated to the LGCA from neigh-
bouring countries and now claim to be indigenous to the area. To solve this
problem, a decision on any confict associated with the origins of the people
should be made by the village authority, comprising elders and Government
staf members. If one group / person does not accept the decision made, the
village authority should refer the matter to the ward authority and eventu-
ally to the district authority if necessary. Te criteria for making the decision
should be based on tracing the history of the ethnic group / person and their
historical links with the LGCA.
Co-governance
A system of co-management must be established with indigenous people at-
tached to the LGCA and interested parties to determine the roles, responsibi-
lities and levels of involvement of each category in the protection and preser-
vation of the LGCA for present and future generations. Tis committee should
oversee all aspects of conservation and management of the LGCA and advise
on how best to protect the area and share the benefts, while at the same time
promoting the continuation of tourism. Tey should determine how best the
LGCA should be used for tourism, awareness, education and research.
In cases where traditional activities such as grazing practices may dama-
ge the physical state of the land (water catchment areas, wildlife breeding si-
tes and wildlife corridor areas), negotiation needs to take place between the
Masai leader / elders and all stakeholders. Te co-management should raise
awareness for the local people and tourist companies about how they can con-
162 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
tinue to use the LGCA for tourism and grazing without afecting wildlife. For
instance, the pastoralist groups should be sensitised to the fact that grazing
cattle in water catchment and wildlife breeding places / corridors might have
negative efects on the environment and wild animals.
Additionally, the tourist companies operating in the LGCA should be sen-
sitised to respect the local people and their sacred places. Tis will bring mu-
tual cooperation to all interested parties working at the LGCA. All these re-
commendations regarding current management practices will help to create
a better relationship between local people and tourism investors, to create a
better experience at the LGCA and to promote better tourism development at
Loliondo and Tanzania in general.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I consider that joint management between all key stakeholders
will balance the interests of the Government authorities responsible for ma-
nagement of the LGCA, the pastoralist groups, the tourism / hunting compa-
nies and the non-government institutions. Te recommendations made can
provide for successful management of the LGCA.
To promote hunting tourism, and to maximise its values within a society,
needs dynamic and visionary management. In this case, I argue that the sur-
vival of the Ngorongoro-Serengeti ecosystem and its wildlife is linked to the
existence and health of the Loliondo corridor and of the indigenous people,
the Masai. Likewise, the survival of the Masai group depends upon the protec-
tion and preservation of their land for economic benefts such as tourism and
pastoralism. It would therefore be a mistake not to involve the Masai commu-
nity in the management of the LGCA when their economy, and indeed their
whole way of life, are centred around the LGCA, where they have lived for
centuries. My vision is one which encourages the management of the LGCA
by including both the local people (the Masai) with their cattle, and also the
hunting tourism companies. Te presence of wildlife at the LGCA should also
play a key role in the present and future of income generation through tou-
rism for local people. Te vision of joint management can assist in resolving
the current confict between stakeholders.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 163
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Part III
Tourism, Democracy and
Confict Resolution
CRAI G WEBSTER, STANI SLAV H. I VANOV
Tourism as a Force for Political
Stability
Introduction
Whilst there is substantial literature investigating the economic benefts of
tourism for countries, less literature delves into the political benefts of tou-
rism. In this paper, the authors investigate the issue of political confict and
the theoretical reasons behind the belief that tourism should lead to peace-
building and political stability. Te authors also explore several case studies in
which tourism has played, or could play, a role in political stability or peace-
building. Tese are illustrated with examples from Cyprus, Korea and Ireland
showing that there are situations in which tourism has played, or could play,
a role in supporting political cooperation and stability. Te authors conclude,
noting general observations regarding the relationship between tourism and
political stability and the related concept of peace-building. In addition, the
authors make comments regarding the concrete and practical measures coun-
tries can take in order to utilise the engine of tourism to bolster political sta-
bility and encourage the building of peace both within and between societies.
Outline
Tere are many diferent ways to view tourism and its relationship with peace
and political stability. In this frst section, we will link the relationship of tou-
rism with peace and political stability to paradigms in international relations.
We will show that the schools of international relations play a key role in un-
derstanding the link between the economic activity of tourism and the social
and political outcome of peace and political stability.
Te issue of the relationship between the two concepts of political stability /
peace-building and tourism is not an entirely new concept to be brought up
in the study of tourism, although there is an indication that it is becoming
increasingly prolifc. For example, in recent years there are a number of edited
books (see for example, Butler and Suntikul 2010, 2013; Moufakkir and Kelly
2010; Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013) and research papers (Askjel-
lerud 2003; D’Amore 1988; Causevic and Lynch 2011; Clements and Georgiou
1998; Higgins-Desbiolles 2006; Higgins-Desbiolles 2007; Kelly 2006; Salazar
2006; Sarkar and George 2010) that concentrate on political conficts / peace-
building and tourism and there is likely to be an increasingly interesting and
hopefully fruitful debate on tourism and political stability / peace. Although
168 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
traditionally tourism was mostly thought of merely as an economic activity, it
seems that it is increasingly viewed as an economic activity with political and
social consequences. Here, we explore tourism and some of its political and
social consequences using approaches taken from International Relations.
We begin with a discussion of the prevailing ideologies of the feld of In-
ternational Relations and attempt to show how tourism can be viewed from
each of these ideologies. We then illustrate that the ideologies of International
Relations have implications for tourism. We focus closely on liberalism and its
perception of tourism as a force for peace and political stability. We then turn
to examples in the world in which the liberal thinking of tourism leading to
peace has been attempted, albeit with varying degrees of success. We conclu-
de, illustrating what the cases of tourism have taught us about the link bet-
ween tourism and the creation of political stability and the building of peace.
International Relations Schools and Tourism
A book by E.H. Carr (2001), written between the two world wars, set the sta-
ge for the division of schools of thought in the growing feld of International
Relations. Te Twenty Years’ Crisis is a key book in the feld of International
Relations because it defnes two diferent ways of looking at international
events – one from the perspective of the idealist and one from the perspective
of the realist. For Carr, there was a division in thinking about how internati-
onal relations could be conceived, from the perspective of state-centred thin-
king and from the perspective of non-state-centred thinking with the intent
to reach an ideal international community that would be inherently peaceful
and cooperative.
Following World War Two and the institutionalisation of International Re-
lations in universities throughout the world, there has been a lot of thinking
and writing about the divisions of perceptions regarding the analysis of in-
ternational events. At present, there are either three or four recognised para-
digms of International Relations and they have been discussed and continue
to be discussed to a great extent (see for example, Guzzini 1998, Guzzini 2013;
Walt 1998). Te prevailing paradigms are realism, liberalism, and neo-Mar-
xism, as outlined by Holsti (1985), although they are referred to by diferent
names at times. While constructivism is also frequently cited as a substantial
paradigm, for our purposes here, we leave it aside, since its application to the
issue of political stability / peace / peace-building and tourism is a bit more
convoluted and indirect than the more established paradigms.
While International Relations scholars generally accept that there is no
longer a dichotomy of schools in the feld but a division among three to four
schools, the major division that persists is the division between realists and
the idealists of diferent sorts. Holsti (1985) divided the prevailing strands of
idealist thinking into the liberals and neo-Marxists. For him and for many
others, the division between the two was natural and needed, since they both
have very diferent views on the desirability of markets and capitalism, with
liberals viewing capitalism and liberal democratic political and legal institu-
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 169
tions as benefcial things, leading to peace and prosperity, while neo-Marxists
view them as tools of exploitation used by the owners of the means of produc-
tion. Table 1 below illustrates the divisions and diferences.
Table 1: Schools of International Relations and Tourism
Dichotomy of schools Realism Idealism
Trichotomy of schools Realism /
Classical Tradition
Liberalism /
Global Society
Neo-Marxism/ Historical
Materialism
Units of analysis States Markets, MNCs, IGOs Socio-economic classes
Assumption regarding
human nature
Humans are self-interested Humans are cooperative Humans are cooperative
Normative end Relative peace Global government, regional
integration
Socio-economic equality
Future trajectory of world Continuation of conficts
between states
Strong international legal
system
Collapse of capitalism,
rise of global socialism
Example of theory from
the school
Balance of power Democratic peace Dependency theory
Role of Tourism Revenue for states. Facilities
and infrastructure to assist
diplomacy
A pathway to mutual
understanding and creation
of greater interaction
between peoples of diferent
countries
Economic exchange
with social and negative
consequences for much of
humanity
Source: Based upon the paradigms Holsti (1985)
Realists largely difer from others as they view humans as self-interested and
value-maximising entities. As an extension of this, there is the notion that sta-
tes are and should be thought of as self-interested value-maximising entities.
Because of this perspective, realists tend to focus upon issues linked with se-
curity, war, and diplomacy. Te realist perspective also views confict as a na-
tural part of the human experience and feels that humans will never outgrow
this behaviour. At best, realists expect humans to use diplomacy and state-
craft in ways to limit confict. Balance of power is a typical approach associ-
ated with realist thinking, whereby states either use or should use their war-
making capacity and diplomacy in ways that create relative peace and stability,
given that war and the state are inherent parts of the social world. Since this is
a state-centred view of the world focussing upon political / military conficts
between states, there is little room for tourism in this view of the world, alt-
hough tourism may be seen as a way for the state to develop economically or
using infrastructure to assist in diplomacy.
Te prevailing schools of idealist thought in international relations, in con-
trast with realism, have much to say about tourism. Liberalism is a market-
oriented view of the world, arguing that liberal markets and liberal democratic
170 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
political institutions are the general organising principles that will assist in
creating a better world. Te ‘Liberal’s’ view difers from that of the neo-Mar-
xists in that neo- marxist view markets and liberal democratic institutions as
institutions that favour the class owning the means of production, and these
institutions (markets and liberal democratic social and political institutions)
create economic, social, and political disruptions and distortions. Tus, while
liberals may view markets, global governance structures (including internati-
onal law) and multinational corporations as means of bringing about wealth,
progress, and democracy, neo-Marxists view these same institutions as vehic-
les of oppression, impoverishment, racism, sexism, and social and economic
exclusion.
Tourism, as an economic, social, and (ultimately) political exercise, is thus
perceived diferently by liberals and neo-Marxists. Liberals, predictably, will
see tourism as a positive thing, as it works largely on market principles, crea-
ting wealth, employment and social encounters that will lead to closer social
relationships between peoples. Te net social and cultural outcome of such
economic and social exchange, for liberals, is mutual understanding. Tus, for
liberals, the market transactions between people for tourism purposes lead to
mutual understanding and peace.
One of the key liberal approaches to the creation of stable and meaning-
ful peace is the notion of the contact hypothesis. Te contact hypothesis
holds that contact between people under certain conditions will lead to an
amicable and cooperative atmosphere in which individuals can work togeth-
er (Tomljenovi? 2010, 19). Essentially, this contact approach holds that when
people are exposed to each other and cooperate, mutual understanding and
cooperation emerges. Tere are several works that look upon this as a realis-
tic way of increasing peace, political stability, and mutual understanding (see
for example, Pizam, Jafari and Milman 1991; Pizam, Uriely, and Reichel 2000;
Kim, Prideaux, and Prideaux 2007; Maoz 2010).
As opposed to a liberal approach, neo-Marxists (and dependency theorists,
as a subset of the neo-Marxists) concentrate on the negative outcomes of the
market processes upon the majority of the world’s population. Tere are many
examples from the literature that explain how neo-Marxists view the mar-
ket system and its relationship to underdevelopment and exclusion and the
role of tourism in the process (see, for example, Akama 2004; Bianchi 2011,
2002; Britton 1981, 1982; Chaperon and Bramwell 2013; Hall 2011; Munt 1994).
Tere are also several works taking this approach to explain specifc case stud-
ies, illustrating the value of the neo-Marxist perspective in terms of creating
social and economic exclusion (see, for example, Akama 1999; Meyer 2011; Bi-
anchi 2004; Mbaiwa 2005).
All in all, the idealist approach to International Relations informs us best of
the relationship between tourism and political stability. For realists, tourism
is an afterthought, since it is an activity outside the realm of the central pur-
poses of the state (security and war). However, the two major diferent strands
of idealism (liberalism and neo-Marxism) illustrate that tourism may play an
important role in either generating peace and stability (liberalism) or under-
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 171
mining them (neo-Marxism), depending upon which strand of idealism is fol-
lowed. Now, we turn to some examples of tourism and political stability to
determine what the most recent literature has to say about the issue and how
the two strands of idealism view their successes and failures.
Case Studies
Ireland
Probably one of the most cited and respected success stories in terms of peace-
building (Power 2011) and the use of tourism as a driver of peace and cross-
border cooperation is the island of Ireland (Greer 2002; McCall and O’Dowd
2008; Tannam 2006; Teague and Henderson 2006). Divided between the Re-
public of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ire-
land, the island was the scene of terrorism / political violence for two-and-a
half decades (1969–1993, sometimes referred to euphemistically as the ‘Trou-
bles’) with profound negative impact on its economic and tourism develop-
ment (Boyd 2000).
After the IRA ceasefre in 1994 and the subsequent Good Friday Agree-
ment on 10 April 1998, hopes for peace in Ireland materialised, capitalising
on the peace dividend for the economy as a whole and tourism in particular
(Leslie 1996, 1999; Muckley 2011). As a result of Strand 2 of the Good Friday
Agreement, the North / South Ministerial Council was established with the
goal ‘to develop consultation, co-operation and action within the island of Ire-
land’ (North / South Ministerial Council 2013) within 12 areas of mutual inte-
rest between both sides of the border. Six of the areas of mutual interest have
joint implementation bodies, while for the other six areas of co-operation –
including tourism – common policies and approaches are agreed in the North
/ South Ministerial Council but implemented separately in each jurisdiction
(the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).
In 2002, under the framework of the Good Friday Agreement, Tourism
Ireland Ltd was formed – a cross-border institution responsible for the mar-
keting of Ireland as one tourist destination. It is jointly funded by the Irish
Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a two-to-one ratio, and
operates under the auspices of the North / South Ministerial Council through
the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and
the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in the South (Tourism Ire-
land 2013). In achieving its objectives, Tourism Ireland works closely with the
two tourist authorities from both sides of the border – Fáilte Ireland (Fáilte
Ireland 2013a) and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB 2013). Tannam
(2006) emphasises that tourism cooperation between the two political enti-
ties of Ireland has not been impeded signifcantly by bureaucratic, business or
political conficts of interest, mostly because Tourism Ireland has successfully
contributed to the dramatic increase of visitor numbers on both sides of the
border – the increased economic benefts of tourism helped partially ofset
the political and bureaucratic obstacles for the cross-border cooperation.
172 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
In its corporate plan, Tourism Ireland has explicitly included the objective
of overcoming consumers’ concerns about safety and security while in Nort-
hern Ireland (Tourism Ireland 2011, 31). Te plan acknowledges that tourists
still hold negative images of the past about the North and these perceptions
should be overcome. With the enduring peace and the pro-active behaviour of
the tourism stakeholders on the island, tourists’ perceptions could be success-
fully reversed in a more positive direction. However, while acknowledging that
cooperation between the two entities on the island increased after the Belfast
agreement, Teague and Henderson (2006) conclude that this has not led to
a radical change in the business or institutional dynamics of the sector on
either side of the border, and that the depth of cooperation is questionable as
it does not always touch the core strategic activities of Fáilte Ireland and the
Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
Table 2: Key tourism indicators for Ireland for 2011–2012
Year
Indicator Entity 2011 2012
Number of visitors from outside the entity
(in thousands)
Northern Ireland 1931 1984
Republic of Ireland 6505 6517
Tourism revenues from visitors
from outside the entity (in millions of pounds for
Northern Ireland and euros for the Republic)
Northern Ireland 463 488
Republic of Ireland 2970.7 n.a.
Total tourism revenues of the entity (in millions
of pounds for Northern Ireland and euros for the
Republic)
Northern Ireland 640 683
Republic of Ireland 5735.8 n.a.
Number of hotels Northern Ireland 135 138
Republic of Ireland 883 856
Sources: Tourism Ireland 2012; NISRA 2013a, 2013b; Fáilte Ireland 2013b
Table 2 presents some key tourism economic indicators for both entities for
the last couple of years. Numbers reveal that the Republic of Ireland has a
more developed tourism industry which partially results, not only from the
sheer size of the Republic of Ireland compared to Northern Ireland, but also
from the hostilities that took place in the North, thereby hindering the deve-
lopment of its tourism industry.
Currently, besides the more conventional cultural, visiting friends and re-
latives, rural, cycling, fshing and other types of tourism, the island is now
developing dark / political tourism (McDowell 2008; Simone-Charteris and
Boyd 2010a, b), concentrated in Northern Ireland and related to the legacy of
the ‘Troubles’. Of course, such portrayal of conficting heritage is not accep-
ted unambiguously – as Simone-Charteris and Boyd (2010b) elaborate, some
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 173
perceive this type of tourism as a positive transformation of the legacy of the
past, while others consider it as a means of deepening the diferences in the
society (McDowell 2008). Considering the political overcharge of this confic-
ting and very recent historical period, such division in people’s perceptions
about ‘Troubles’-related tours and sites is quite understandable [similar divisi-
ons have been reported for communist heritage tourism by Ivanov (2009) and
Poria, Ivanov and Webster (2013)]. Nevertheless, such trips could serve as a
tool for peace as long as the travel guides’ and tourist sites’ narratives present
a balanced view of the history, without giving preference to any sides of the
confict.
In the case of Ireland, it is obvious that the tourism industry has benef-
ted from the peace process. Te decrease of political tension and politically
motivated violence has created a peaceful environment that has contributed
to the increase of tourist fows to both sides of the border, but especially to
Northern Ireland (cf. Boyd 2000). However, the reverse link can also be obser-
ved – the increase in cross-border travel and cooperation between Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the feld of tourism contributes to the
strengthening of the peace process. Paraphrasing one of Marx’s seven basic
forms of commodity trade ‘money => commodity => money prime’ we can say
that for Ireland the formula is ‘peace => tourism => peace prime’.
Cyprus
Cyprus, as a politically divided island and a major tourism destination, has
attracted attention for those interested in the issue of tourism and the ability
of tourism to generate political stability. Cyprus, since the inception of the
Republic of Cyprus in 1960, has sufered from major political clashes based
upon the two major ethnicities on the island (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cy-
priots). In 1974, a Turkish invasion began an occupation of the island that led
to the creation of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in the northern
part of the island. From 1974 until 2003, there was very limited movement of
the populations between these two political entities (the ‘Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus’ and the internationally-recognised Republic of Cyprus).
Starting in 2003, there was a relaxation of the perceived restrictions for
crossing the checkpoints and many Turkish Cypriots were able to visit the
southern parts of the island while many Greek Cypriots crossed to the north.
For the frst time since 2003, signifcant numbers of Greek Cypriots and Tur-
kish Cypriots were interacting and visiting the opposite part of the island. Alt-
hough, from the contact hypothesis point of view, this would ofer opportu-
nities to develop liberal peace or develop liberal peace-building capabilities,
many have chosen not to cross the ‘Green Line’ (Webster and Timothy 2006).
Tere is substantial attention given to the impact of the political and ethnic
division of the island on tourism development in Cyprus, given the impor-
tance of the tourism industry in Cyprus (see, for example Alipour and Kilic
2003; Ekiz, Hussain and Ivanov 2010; Ioannides 1992; Ioannides and Holcomb
2001; Ioannides 2002; Ioannides and Apostolopoulos 1999; Lockhart 1997;
Yasarata et al. 2010). However, the political division and the link with tourism,
174 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
plus the possibilities raised by co-operation on the island via tourism have
attracted a lot of attention (see, for example, Altinay and Bowen 2006; Diko-
mitis 2005; Jacobson et al. 2010; Jacobson et al. 2010; Mehmet et al. 2008; Mu-
syck et al. 2010; Scott 2012; Sonmez and Apostolopoulos 2000; Webster et al.
2009; Webster and Timothy 2006; Yildizian and Ehteshami 2004).
While there are some mixed results suggesting that the tourism industry
on both sides of the ethnic divide may be willing to work together, there is
also some indication of resistance to cooperation within the tourism industry,
illustrating that the conditions under which participants are willing to coope-
rate is limited (Webster, Musyck, Orphanides, and Jacobson 2009). In general,
it seems that even while there is stable peace, there is still enough ethnic re-
sistance to cooperation (at least on the part of Greek Cypriots). Terefore tou-
rism, as a force leading to continued contacts and the building of peace on the
island, seems unlikely. Whilst there is some indication on the part of Greek
Cypriots that they are willing to cooperate with Turkish Cypriots, there is also
evidence that this is not desired by all (Webster 2005).
All in all, there is some indication that tourism may have the potential to
bring about political stability from the contact hypothesis point of view in Cy-
prus. However, there is substantial social resistance and suspicion on the part
of the major ethnicities on the island. Tus, while there is the possibility of
contact and cooperation via tourism, the perceptions of many Cypriots and
the uncertainty as to whether business contacts between Greek Cypriots and
Turkish Cypriots are permitted by the authorities mean that Greek Cypriots,
at least, are wary of exploring more than the most superfcial of business rela-
tionships with their counterparts in the Turkish sector.
While there are few or no real obstacles stopping Greek Cypriots and Tur-
kish Cypriots from crossing the Green Line, many do not do so (Webster and
Timothy 2006; Flynn et al. 2012). Since 2003, only about 65% of Greek Cyp-
riots have crossed the Green Line and a quarter of Greek Cypriots have only
crossed once (Flynn et al. 2012, 32). Only about 55% of Turkish Cypriots have
crossed the Green Line (Flynn et al. 2012, 33). So, while contact could occur,
there is still signifcant social resistance to contact with the ‘other’ ethnicity,
although there are very diferent patterns for the reasons for not crossing the
Green Line for both ethnicities. Greek Cypriots refuse to cross either due to
not wanting to show a passport to a Turkish Cypriot ofcial or out of a matter
of principle, whilst Turkish Cypriots simply display a general lack of interest
in crossing (Webster and Timothy 2006, 174; Flynn et al. 2012, 34).
In addition, it is not clear from the fndings of the literature whether there
is a realistic expectation that tourism between the two political entities on the
island could lead to contacts that would improve the political situation, lea-
ding to a more stable and self-sustaining peace. However, there is continued
hope in many circles that this would be true. One major, remaining obstacle
is the fact that the legal problems of doing business with a state that is not in-
ternationally recognised prevents many in the private sector of Greek Cyprus
from cooperating more with Turkish Cypriots, especially given an environ-
ment where there could be unpleasant legal repercussions for Greek Cypriots
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 175
if business contacts are too visible. In addition, the taboo for Greek Cypriot
authorities regarding ofcial cooperation with the ‘Turkish Republic of Nort-
hern Cyprus’ means that ofcial cooperation remains ‘unworkable’, even if sel-
ling the Cypriot tourism product to the world as one product, based upon the
Irish model, is theoretically possible.
Korea
For many years the two countries on the highly militarised peninsula had few
economic and political interactions. While some attempts have been made
to rectify this in recent years, political occurances have been an impediment.
Tere is a small amount of literature that focuses upon the possibility that
tourism could help Korea to move toward a more peaceful and possibly uni-
fed peninsula (see, for example, Kim and Crompton 1990; Kim, Prideaux and
Prideaux 2007; Park 2011; Shin 2010). One of the key problems in terms of
establishing liberal peace and political stability is the issue of the ability of
people to meet and humanise the ‘other.’ While Koreans may share a cultural
heritage and language, they have few chances for direct face-to-face contact.
Te tourism that has developed with foreigners arriving in North Korea is very
closely managed, for the most part preventing meaningful interactions bet-
ween tourists and hosts. Kim and Crompton (1990) suggested that tourism
could assist in reunifcation, since it allows contacts between citizens, thus
creating room for future interaction.
Apart from some limited interaction, there has been some change starting
in November 1998. In 1998, the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region opened in
North Korea. Tis is an area of 530 sq km
and is designed as a place to enable
South Koreans and others to visit the North. In a way, it is a tourism equivalent
to the Kaes?ng Industrial Region, a region in North Korea in which South Ko-
rean companies employ about 53,000 workers from North Korea and 800 staf
members from South Korea. When tourists visit the Mount Kumgang Tourist
Region, many attractions and amenities (circus, spa, shop etc) are available
for tourists but there are restrictions and limitations upon contacts (Kim, Pri-
deaux and Prideaux 2007). In July 2008, a South Korean in this Tourist Region
was shot to death by North Korean authorities, sparking unpleasant political
rows and the seizure of South Korean property in the region. Since 2011, it has
been managed solely by North Koreans and is an international tourist zone
that largely caters for Chinese tourists, as South Korea has suspended trips to
the resort.
Apart from the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, there are other opportu-
nities to travel in North Korea, but there are many restrictions and all require
escorts by local tour guides. While the political situation remains tense bet-
ween the Koreas, with international journalists and South Koreans being rou-
tinely denied entry into North Korea, very few tourist opportunities remain.
What the political situation in the Koreas means, in terms of building political
stability and peace, is that the state (particularly the North Korean State) still
prevents contacts that could lead to the outcome suggested by the contact hy-
pothesis. It seems that the strong, politically opposed states and the highly li-
176 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
mited contacts between tourists from the Koreas will continue to have almost
negligible impact on the creation of political stability and peace in the Koreas,
as long as tourist fows remain minimal and highly choreographed afairs.
Conclusion
Does tourism lead to political stability and peace, as liberals would suggest?
Do contacts between peoples lead to political stability, mutual understanding
and peace? Te general fndings suggest that there may be some merit to the
liberal approach, although this must be given the ability to function, both by
the state as well as by the citizens.
Governments should put more emphasis on the well-being of local popula-
tions by stimulating (or at least not hindering) both inbound and outbound in-
ternational tourism that leads ultimately to understanding and peace among
peoples. Governments could adopt various activities that would make their
countries more accessible, such as:
• Visa waiving programmes
• Simplifed and fast visa issue procedures
• Free / low fee visas
• Increased access to tourist attractions
• Decreased airport / road / ferry taxes for passengers
Governments could also establish cross-border tourism bodies (as in the ex-
ample of Ireland) to deal with tourism issues in the partitioned states.
Of course, these are difcult decisions as visas and taxes on visitors are
direct budget revenues from levies on non-voters and, as such, are very poli-
tically acceptable. Moreover, ‘national security’, ‘protection of national inte-
rests’, and ‘saving the country’s ideology / culture’ are very high in the political
agenda in many countries. It would be difcult for governments to swallow
the liberalism pill, and this would defnitely not happen overnight. Te poli-
tical history of Europe shows that liberal ideas and cross-border cooperation
among formerly hostile countries has been a gradual and long-term process.
When governments understand the long-term benefts of peace, stability and
tourism for the well-being of local populations, then they will be more prone
to undertake measures to stimulate cross-border cooperation in international
tourism.
Te biggest success story of the liberal tourism and political stability and
peace is the story of Ireland. Once the political forces there were able to co-
ordinate in order to market something that the world would be interested in,
political stability and economic interdependence began to emerge. Whilst in
Ireland tourism is seen as a ‘win / win’ situation by the state, this view is some-
what diferent in the other countries looked at. For example, for the authori-
ties in Cyprus, cooperation with the other political entity on the island is po-
litically taboo, as it is linked with recognition of the other entity as politically
legitimate; also, there is some indication that citizens will not get involved in
cooperating either out of personal beliefs or for fear of retribution by the state.
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 177
In the Koreas, the states still dominate and manage tourist interactions, with
North Korea especially keen to manage tourists and minimise interactions
between North Koreans and South Koreans.
Te interesting political story that emerges, generally, is that liberal ap-
proaches may have some merit. Te only problem is that the state has to per-
mit or perhaps even encourage this, in order for appropriate interactions to
occur, enabling the creation of political stability through tourism. However,
major obstacles still persist, such as physical barriers. For example, the stron-
gest forms of separation – concrete walls in the Middle East and impenetra-
ble boundaries as in the Koreas – hinder contacts. Tere are, of course, other
obstacles that are not physical in nature, such as persisting attitudes. Further
investigations into the success of Ireland relative to the other cases could
help to defne the reasons behind this. Te conditions under which sustained
contacts led to a vision of a ‘win / win’ relationship in tourism development
should be studied to see if they can be replicated successfully in other places,
creating a more peaceful and politically stable world via tourism.
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NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI STI AN BAUMGARTNER
Myanmar on its Way to Responsible
Tourism Management:
The Important Role of Stakeholder
Dialogues
Introduction
Ask yourself this question: ‘How can a country that has been facing calls for
sanctions and boycotts by Western human rights organisations for the past 20
years conceivably be involved in sustainable tourism planning?’
In 2000, Tourism Concern and Burma Campaign designed a postcard to
support their calls to boycott the travel guide publisher Lonely Planet. Te
card showed tourists being warmly welcomed by locals after their plane had
landed. On this same postcard, behind a fence and invisible to the tourists,
one could see various kinds of human rights violations being committed. Tou-
rism, it was argued, would cause severe violations of human rights, such as
forced labour and displacement, so tourists were advised against visiting the
country, and foreign companies were told not to invest there.
Now, however, only one decade later, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
(MoHT) has published a Responsible Tourism Policy and a Policy on Commu-
nity Involvement in Tourism. Te question is, what to make of these measures
– and how exactly were these policies developed? Was it a job for tourism con-
sultants who, behind closed doors, formulated some well-phrased documents
which were then attractively laid out, printed and presented to the public as a
showpiece – but totally unrepresentative of reality? To make it clear from the
start, this was not the way it happened. In fact, the policies were the result of
a stakeholder process which, in this form, has probably never been accomplis-
hed in any other country before at such a level in tourism, and which may be
an important platform, not only for sustainable tourism development in My-
anmar, but also for an important contribution to the internal peace-building
process in the country.
Tis paper presents an overview of this stakeholder process. One of the
authors witnessed the development of these two tourism policies over recent
months as a tourism consultant and co-author; the other did on-site research
during the boycott. Tis paper is therefore not just a review of academic publi-
cations or systematic in-depth feld research but, rather, it refects the authors’
subjective, frst-hand experiences of a country in the process of transition. Te
paper begins with an introduction to the key theoretical concepts used in the
182 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
research on stakeholder dialogues. It then provides a brief overview of tourism
development in Myanmar and background information on the attempted tou-
rism boycott since 1996. Te main part describes the processes, experiences,
and lessons learned in connection with the development of the policies on res-
ponsible tourism and community involvement in tourism as an important tool
for the promotion of democracy and peace in this country of transition. Te f-
nal part discusses the challenges that arise and possible future steps to be taken.
Stakeholder Processes in Tourism:
A Tool for Democratic Development and Peace-Building
Sustainability in all its aspects – social, institutional, economic, and environ-
mental – involves important elements of strategies designed to achieve long-
term peace between countries, regions or ethnic groups. A higher level of sus-
tainability in a society requires a change in the mind-set of those involved,
as well as innovation, inventiveness, and, above all, people who are not only
inspired by the potential of sustainability but are also willing to implement
change at all levels of the society in which they live.
Te same applies for the implementation of responsible and sustainable
tourism. Our globalised world needs innovation to promote sustainability in
tourism, and to do so, people must be able to think together, to cooperate both
across sectors (hotels, transport, restaurants, guides, etc.) and across cultu-
res, and to respect diferences. According to the Collective Leadership Insti-
tute, working towards a more sustainable world makes it necessary to bring
together diferent worldviews and to resolve conficts of interest in order to
promote responsible business activities, people-oriented public services, and
a strong civil society (Kuenkel et al. 2011). Tis also applies to the develop-
ment of responsible tourism. Te key stakeholders in tourism planning are the
private sector, national and international NGOs, government at all levels, lo-
cal communities, development agencies, international organisations such as
UNWTO and the Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA), and of course the
tourists themselves – although it is difcult to integrate ‘the tourists’ into a
stakeholder dialogue, due to lack of representation.
Given this, stakeholder relationships must be based on trust to increase the
ability of those involved to communicate and partner with multi-stakeholders:
‘Te diferent actors […] need to communicate respectfully, in a way that shows
that they appreciate each other, despite serious diferences in opinion’ (Kuen-
kel et al. 2011, 13). Such a collaborative approach can become the norm in the
daily business of dealing with the challenges of sustainable development, such
as peace-building, democratisation, sustainable economic development, and
good governance, all of which are important elements of responsible tourism
development for any destination.
According to the Collective Leadership Institute, at the core of stakeholder
dialogue is the principle of ‘collective leadership’, meaning that a group of lea-
ders contributes to a more sustainable future by assuming joint and fexible
leadership for the beneft of all involved. Leaders do not necessarily have to
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 183
be political or business leaders; more importantly they need the strength, the
willingness, and the ability to contribute to the sustainability of society. In the
case of tourism, leaders can be representatives of ministries, tourism associa-
tions, local communities, destination management organisations, local guides,
and so on.
Stakeholder dialogues are structured conversations about certain issues of
common interest or concern between:
• People from diferent sectors or constituencies
• People with diferent perspectives and points of view
• People with diferent interests.
Tese conversations support planning and decision making, help to resolve
problems, and contribute to fnding innovative solutions or to the design and
implementation of joint interventions for change. Ideally, stakeholder dia-
logues lead to a practical outcome, such as a tourism policy which could other-
wise not have been achieved and which is easier to implement because all the
stakeholders involved have experienced a higher degree of ownership. In high-
quality stakeholder dialogues diferences, sometime even conficts, hold the
potential for innovative solutions and can achieve goals that ultimately beneft
everyone. Tis can lead to:
• Trust-building between diferent stakeholders
• Forward-looking and constructive cooperation between participants
• Innovative solutions to existing economic or social challenges
• A higher quality, and broader acceptance, of decisions
• Ownership of and commitment to implementing agreed-upon results
• Collective responsibility for change
• Sustainable outcomes
• Long-lasting cooperative structures (Kuenkel et al. 2011, 18).
According to Hemmati (2007), the value base of stakeholder dialogues inclu-
des the following elements:
• Being transparent and accountable
• Ensuring equity among all stakeholders
• Focusing on the contribution to the common cause
• Promoting collective leadership
• Ensuring reliable processes
• Being open to iterative learning (participants must adopt a learning atti-
tude which creates a favourable atmosphere for new ideas and solutions to
emerge which otherwise would not have emerged)
• Promoting consensus building
• Ensuring participation and engagement among the participants
• Respecting legitimacy (outcomes must be legitimate).
In order to ensure that stakeholder dialogues can be implemented successfully,
the Collective Leadership Institute has developed a Dialogic Change Model
that is divided into four phases.
184 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
Table 1: Overview: The Four Phases of Stakeholder Dialogue
Phase 1 Exploring and engaging Understanding the context, understanding
stakeholders, diferent viewpoints, engaging
them in preparatory conversations, raising
energy for action, building the case for change
Phase 2 Building and formalising Clarifying goals and commitment, establishing
resources, creating formal agreements, planning
process and joint implementation
Phase 3 Implementing and evaluating Implementing agreed-upon or recommended
activities, creating showcases for change,
evaluating progress and outcomes
Phase 4 Developing further;
replicating and institutionalising
Bringing the dialogue to the next level,
expanding or replicating dialogue activities,
creating long-lasting structures for change
Source: Kuenkel et al. (2011, 53)
Te Collective Leadership Institute uses a snail shell model to illustrate the
four phases as a spiral-like process of cyclical continuity, with the radius of
the shell exponentially increasing in size as the snail develops. Tis is to sig-
nify that the process starts of rather small and becomes more expansive over
time.
Figure 1: The Snail-Shell Model of Stakeholder Dialogue Processes
Source: Kuenkel et al. (2011, 54)
Create
resonance
Understand
the context
Build a container
for change
Clarify common
goals and resources
Plan the
future together
Consolidate agreements
and establish structure
Ensure transprarency
and communication
Create results and
celebrate success
Establish learning
mechanisms
Build next level
container
Create management
structures
Establish governance
and learning systems
THE DIALOGIC CHANGE MODEL:
IMPLEMENTING STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUES IN A RESULT-ORIENTED WAY
DEVELOPING
FURTHER,
REPLICATING OR
INSTITUTIONALISING
IMPLEMENTING
AND
EVALUATING
BUILDING
AND
FORMALISING
EXPLORING
AND
ENGAGING
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 185
Tese processes of the stakeholder dialogues were part of the formulation of
two tourism policies for Myanmar. Te phases are discussed in more detail in
the following sections.
Tourism Development in Myanmar
Myanmar is a country emerging from fve decades of inward-looking policies
and international isolation that have kept the international community, deve-
lopment agencies, global businesses – and the international tourism industry
– at bay. Te second-largest country in the Association of Southeast Asian Na-
tions (ASEAN), Myanmar has much more to ofer as a destination than most
of its neighbouring countries: snow-capped mountains, endless sandy beaches,
the pristine Myeik Archipelago, 36 protected areas, outstanding examples of
religious and secular architecture such as Bagan, a deep-rooted belief in Bud-
dhism, and a youthful population of about 60 million (Häusler, Nicole et al.
2013).
Myanmar is considered to have the richest ethnic diversity in Asia, with
ofcially 135 diferent ethnic groups living in the country, the Burmese being
by far the largest. Other ethnic groups include Shan (9% of the population),
Karen (7%), Mon, Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Karenni, Kayan, Chinese, Indian,
Danu, Akha, Kokang, Lahu, Naga, Palaung, Pao, Rohyinga, Tavoyan, and Wa
(each constituting 5% or less of the population; Ekeh and Smith (2007)). Ar-
med conficts between ethnic minority groups and the military regime were
at one time a serious issue in Myanmar. For decades, embassies, journalists,
travel writers, and tourism pressure groups had asked international visitors to
stay away.
In 2003, the mounting pressure eventually led Burma Campaign to try to
mobilise European media and NGOs to ‘boycott’ tourism after Lauda Air
started ofering the frst direct fight between Europe and Yangon. Te main
argument, besides the condemnation of the human right violations, was the
statement from the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi, clai-
ming that the country was not ready for tourism and that the greater part of
the money spent by the tourists was going directly to the regime.
At that time, most of the tourism businesses in Myanmar were directly ow-
ned by the government or like-minded persons, or were in the hands of foreig-
ners – mostly Chinese, but also some Westerners. Overnight stays in private
accommodation (B&B, community-based tourism, etc.) were prohibited, and
local guides did not dare talk about politics.
On-site analyses (e.g., Baumgartner et al. 2003) showed that, despite the ne-
gative aspects and even within a military regime, tourism development could
nevertheless beneft the population directly in several ways – for example:
• Job creation (albeit with rather low levels of income)
• Direct and indirect fnancial benefts for farmers and craftsmen
• Access to education (e.g. through in-house language training at companies)
• Access to information (e.g. through using the companies’ internet access).
186 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
Furthermore, a boycott as it was originally intended was unlikely to be suc-
cessful. According to Cortright and Lopez (2000, 2002) of the Kroc Institute
for International Peace Studies, fve criteria must be fulflled for sanctions to
be efective:
• Sanctions must cause costs of more than 2% of the target countries’ GDP
• Te most important boycotting country must have an economic power of at
least 10 times that of the target country
• Te target country must have more than 25% of its foreign trade with the
sanctioning countries
• Sanctions must be quick, comprehensive, and with full cooperation of all
trading partners that could eventually bypass the sanctions
• Caused costs for the sanctioning state(s) must be low.
At that time, tourism contributed only 1.6% to the GDP, so not even this crite-
rion would have been fulflled. Te only way was to appeal to the (European)
tour operators’ sense of responsibility to provide their clients with compre-
hensive – and accurate – information and to try to bring as much added value
as possible directly to the population.
Opening of the Country Leads to a Tourism Boom
Te process of political and economic reforms, which has been well underway
since 2011, has led directly to a sudden and rapid increase in the number of
international tourist arrivals. In 2011, encouraged by the changing political si-
tuation, the opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), an-
nounced the abolishment of the total travel boycott. By 2012, the country’s po-
litical opening-up had already resulted in an enormous increase in the number
of tourist arrivals as well as in the number of national and international inves-
tors willing to invest in tourism. Within 20 years, between 1990 and 2009, the
number of international visitor arrivals rose from 8,968 to 762,547. Roughly
one third of these arrivals are believed to have been individuals from neigh-
bouring communities crossing the border, and ‘border tourists’ from Tailand
entering the country for less than 24 hours on ‘visa runs’. By 2012, Myanmar
had recorded 1,058,995 international visitor arrivals, so that for the frst time
in the history of its tourism industry the country had received over one milli-
on international visitors.
In the past ten years, an average annual growth of 6.6% has been recorded;
by 2012, the growth rate had increased to 29.7%. Currently, the majority of in-
ternational tourists who come to Myanmar visit one or more of the following
destinations: Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Kyaiktiyo (‘Golden Rock’),
and Ngapali Beach. Te Master Plan has set a high target of 3.01 million in-
ternational visitors by 2015, and of 7.48 million by 2020. Based on this high
growth scenario, tourism income is projected to increase from a baseline of
$534 million in 2012 to $10.18 billion by 2020, with the corresponding num-
ber of tourism-related jobs rising from 293,700 to 1.49 million (MoHT, 2013b).
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 187
Figure 2: International visitor arrivals in Myanmar 2003–2012
Source: MoHT (2012)
Myanmar is perceived as an unspoiled land. Tis is not only a competitive
advantage, but also an important reason for maintaining Myanmar’s spiritual
values and culture. However, there is a risk that tourism growth may become
unsustainable, and may have massive negative impacts on the environment,
the culture, and the Myanmar society. Although as yet the country has no
mass tourism infrastructure, some negative impacts of tourism can already be
observed in Bagan, at Lake Inle, and at the ‘Golden Rock’ (Kyaiktiyo Pagoda),
particularly with regard to waste and water management.
MoHT and the Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF), an umbrella Orga-
nisation of various tourism associations, recognise that the rapid tourism de-
velopment may succeed in boosting the sector and creating swift economic
development, but may fail to make sustainable tourism development in the
country successful in the long run.
Numerous challenges were identifed in workshops conducted at several
destinations in Myanmar in 2012, which were organised by MoHT and MTF,
in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the German
Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), including:
• A demand for hotels outstripping supply during high season
• Insufcient measures to interpret, protect, and conserve heritage assets
• Poor waste management in all its forms
• Insufcient stakeholder involvement in planning processes
• A lack of tourism-related research
• A lack of human, technical, and fnancial resources.
Existing tourism products in Myanmar have also been found to comply only
partially with the criteria of sustainable tourism. But, with its enormous eco-
nomic power, tourism has the potential to create positive impacts in the fu-
ture – provided that regional value chains are involved, and small and medi-
um-sized tourism businesses and the informal tourism sector are engaged and
supported. Moreover, mechanisms must be identifed to ensure that appropri-
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
597,015
1,058,995
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
188 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
ate prices are paid for the use of natural resources and land by those involved
in tourism to ensure the long-term preservation of these resources.
Paving the Path Towards Responsible Tourism Management
To ensure a coordinated response to the transformation of the country and
the resulting increase in tourist arrivals since the political opening-up of My-
anmar, sustainable tourism development in the country requires new com-
petencies for locally responsible tourism leaders. Change initiatives towards
responsible tourism development must be created which can be supported
collectively by all parties involved. According to the Myanmar government,
conditions for the implementation of sustainable tourism immediately after
the political opening were favourable. Te rationale behind the current eforts
is that ‘the Ministry also recognises that the success of rapid tourism develop-
ment would not only have a boost on the sector and create a swift economic
development, but that it would also have challenges in the long-term success
for sustainable tourism development in the country’ (MoHT 2012, 2).
Since early 2012, MoHT, in collaboration with MTF and HSF, has initiated
coherent processes directed at responsible tourism practices and goals. Te
very frst meeting of the Tourism Working Group on the Greater Mekong
Sub-region (GMS) in Myanmar took place in Bagan over three days in No-
vember 2011. At this meeting, representatives from MoHT, PATA, GMS, and
ADB, international experts, and national tourism stakeholders discussed po-
tential directions for the industry. On one of the days the participants held an
open-minded and level-headed discussion on sustainable tourism planning in
Myanmar – something which just six months earlier would have been incon-
ceivable.
In February 2012 MoHT, in cooperation with MTF and HSF, held a three-
day event called Responsible Tourism Working Days in Nay Pyi Taw. Origi-
nally, MoHT had planned to organise a two-day conference with key speakers
well-known in the area of sustainable tourism, but it was decided that, rather
than just spend the time listening to experts, it would be better to hold an
event which would promote stakeholder dialogue to learn more about the sta-
tus-quo thinking of stakeholders in responsible tourism.
On the frst day representatives of no fewer than 22 ministries and other
public sector institutions hosted plenary sessions and workshops which fo-
cused on the contributions that their institutions would have to make to pro-
mote sustainable tourism development, and the activities that should be given
priority. On the second day, representatives of about 50 tour operators enga-
ged in an equally intensive discussion about the private sector’s contribution
to sustainable tourism development, and on the third day the 150-plus parti-
cipants summarised the results of the two workshops held at the conference,
producing a Joint Declaration on Responsible Tourism.
Despite their long years of professional experience, the international fa-
cilitators were surprised by the willingness of both the government and the
private-sector representatives to contribute and get involved; such an inten-
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 189
sive exchange was something they had rarely seen in any other country. Pro-
bably one of the main reasons why the Burmese were so eager to participate
in the discussions was that after decades of isolation they felt a real urge to
discuss things and engage in open dialogue. It felt as if the energy that had
been bottled up for decades was being released after the cork had fnally been
pulled out. And of course they were also testing the waters, so to speak, to see
how far they could go at a forum such as this.
Te Joint Declaration includes four action points, which must be accom-
plished as soon as possible to promote responsible tourism development:
• Establishment of a Myanmar Tourism Policy to create clear guidelines and
defne the responsibilities of the parties involved
• Creation of formal training and education opportunities for the hospitality
and tourism sector (quality improvement)
• Creation of informal training opportunities for local communities to raise
awareness of tourism benefts and costs, and to encourage local involve-
ment (community-based tourism, supply chain management)
• Implementation of regular stakeholder meetings of the public and private
sectors, with the goal of implementing the frst three action points as efci-
ently as possible through strong networking
Developing Policies: Working in Silence or Open Discussion?
Since the Responsible Tourism Working Days, MoHT and MTF have been
making concerted eforts to implement these four action points, with the pri-
mary focus being on the development of a policy. Why it is so important to
work on a tourism policy while a country is undergoing such a transformation
process is explained by Hall (2011, 39f.):
‘For many people tourism is perhaps the antithesis of politics. Te term
’tourism’ conjures up images of leisure, free time, and play. It is overseen
that tourism and tourism research are inseparably linked to issues of poli-
tics. Decisions afecting the location and character of tourism development
arise out of politics as does, of course, whether an individual is even al-
lowed to travel or whether certain locations, subjects or communities are
available to study. Politics is also closely related to the development of poli-
cies given that politics is concerned with both the exercise of power and in-
fuence in a society and in special decisions over policies. Policies are there-
fore what governments decide to do or not to do about issues and problems
that require government interventions. Policies are therefore more than
just a written document as they are extremely broad concepts that cover
such matters as (a) the purpose of government action; (b) the goals and end
that are to be achieved; (c) the means to achieve goals; usually referred to
as plans, proposals or strategies; (d) the decisions and actions that are taken
with respect to policy, including implementation’.
190 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
In May and June 2012, the development of the Responsible Tourism Policy
was facilitated by a team of three foreign and two local tourism consultants.
Over 350 participants from the public and private sectors attended ten semi-
nars in fve tourist destinations to discuss responsible tourism development in
Myanmar. Stakeholder dialogues often venture into unknown territory. Dife-
rent forms of organisations with diferent internal structures, mandates, pur-
poses, values, and decision-making procedures come together, in many cases
for the frst time, and they must understand and mediate between diferent,
and sometimes contradictory, worldviews. Diferent forms of planning must
be negotiated.
Although quite nervous at the beginning, the facilitators soon started to
feel comfortable in this unknown territory when the discussions during the
workshops became surprisingly open. Te tensions at the beginning were due
to the fact that for many years Myanmar’s national politics had been domina-
ted by the military, which had led to a very quiet society (albeit with disrup-
tions due to uprisings in 1988 and 2007). In interviews with representatives
from the private tourism sector conducted in May 2012, respondents descri-
bed how they perceived cooperation:
• ‘People from Myanmar are not team players; teamwork is only useful in mo-
nasteries, not in business’
• ‘Another thing we don’t understand is synergy: combining the strengths of
diferent aspects’ (Kasüske 2012, 77).
Tese statements show that stakeholder dialogue in general, and in tourism in
particular, had not been of great value to Myanmar society in the past.
Seating order was an interesting and very important element at the frst sta-
keholder workshops. Te setup of a room has a much greater infuence on the
results of a meeting than one would think. Te specifc seating order often de-
termines how people communicate with each other. In the past, the most fre-
quently used setup at meetings in Myanmar was the conference setting, usu-
ally comprising a panel or a speaker’s podium at the front of the room, with
the meeting facilitator standing in front of a row of chairs. Te most powerful
and high-ranking members of the military and government were ofered very
comfortable chairs or sofas in the frst few rows, while the other participants
silently listened to the speakers, with seldom a chance to ask questions.
At the beginning of the workshops on the policies, the facilitators preferred
a U-shape setting because it allowed a smaller number of stakeholders to en-
ter into a livelier exchange of perspectives and positions. However, this setup
also establishes a hierarchy between the ‘important’ people in the front (faci-
litators, resource persons, and politically high-ranking participants). Tis is
the recommended setup for the early stages of a stakeholder dialogue because
it maintains the hierarchy. Te ideal form is a round-table setting because it
allows for input, exchange, and conversation among the stakeholders sitting
around the table. For the afternoon sessions of the workshops, the facilitators
always divided the participants into sub-groups and used the round-table set-
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 191
ting. Te outcomes of the group work were presented to and discussed with all
the participants at the very end of the workshops.
Two fnal workshops were held to analyse and discuss the results of this ex-
change. Te draft of the policy was presented at the concluding national con-
ference in Nay Pyi Taw. Te draft was discussed sentence by sentence by all
participants, and further amendments and modifcations were made. Te po-
licy contains a strategic vision, nine overall aims, and 58 specifc action points
for the implementation of sustainable tourism practices. Te strategic vision
that inspired the guidelines of the policy is aimed at the improvement of living
standards, the economic empowerment of local communities, the conservati-
on of cultural and natural resources, and responsible behaviour of all tourism
stakeholders:
‘We intend to use tourism to make Myanmar a better place to live in – to
provide more employment and greater business opportunities for all our
people, to contribute to the conservation of our natural and cultural herit-
age and to share with us our rich cultural diversity. We warmly welcome
those who appreciate and enjoy our heritage, our way of life and who travel
with respect.’ (MoHT, 2012, 6)
Te policy has nine overall aims:
• To make tourism a national priority sector
• To promote broad-based local socio-economic development
• To maintain cultural diversity and authenticity
• To conserve and enhance the environment
• To compete on product richness, diversity, and quality, not just on price
• To ensure the health, safety, and security of visitors
• To strengthen institutions which manage tourism
• To create a well-trained and well-rewarded workforce
• To minimise unethical practices (MoHT 2012).
In addition, 58 action points were formulated, but it was not yet clear who
would be responsible for their implementation. When, at the fnal conference,
the facilitators asked who among the participants wanted to assume the dif-
ferent roles (leaders, advisors, liaisons) involved in the various action points,
the representatives of more than 25 ministries and MTF raised their hands
according to their areas of interest and responsibility. At conferences, such a
procedure can create an enormous level of ownership, great commitment to
implementing agreed-upon results, and the sense that all of those involved in
such a process share a collective responsibility for change.
Furthermore, the policy provides guidelines on how to evaluate and mo-
nitor tourism development. Surprisingly, terms such as ‘civil society,’ which
played no role in the politics of the former military government, were adopted
as a crucial component of the policy without argument. As the roles and tasks
of every single participant in the implementation of a sustainable tourism
strategy were explained, it became clear that the roles of local communities
and civil society organisations would be just as crucial to the process as the
192 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
roles of the government and the private sector. At the end of the process, the
policy was approved by the cabinet and published in English and the Myan-
mar language.
Tourism and Local-Community Involvement
After the publication of the Responsible Tourism Policy and the debates and
conferences held in the previous months, calls for stronger involvement of
local communities in tourism planning became louder. In response, it was
decided that a Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism with new re-
gulations would be developed, not only to create better opportunities for the
local population to participate in tourism, but also to prevent or minimise the
negative impacts of tourism growth.
Kasüske (2012) notes that the concept of community participation in tou-
rism is still associated primarily with income and employment generation.
Few of the people interviewed during her feld research even considered com-
munity involvement at self-reliant level. Tis may have to do with the prevai-
ling imbalance of power in the country, caused by the former military regime,
which prevented the empowerment of local communities. But there is also an
imbalance of power within the tourism industry. Te constraints identifed
include the dominance of a few major destinations and the small number of
private sector stakeholders. According to Kasüske (2012, 81f), “community
participation has been regarded as a means to achieve this for a long time be-
cause it is associated with fewer power disparities amongst stakeholders and
increased opportunities for economic benefts of local communities – in short,
with social, institutional and economic empowerment.” Given this, the deve-
lopment of the Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism by MoHT and
MTF was a major step towards redressing the imbalance of power in the area
of tourism.
In February 2013 a team of three national and international consultants
organised workshops in various destinations (Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake, Ky-
aing Tong, Loikaw). At a concluding conference in Nay Pyi Taw, the draft of
the policy was again discussed in great detail. During the afternoon session,
minimum and advanced standards for community projects in tourism were
defned in round-table-setting sub-groups, which were then discussed in the
forum at the end of the conference. Subsequently, the draft was also distribu-
ted via email, and the recipients were encouraged to comment. Critical and
important aspects, such as overnight stays of foreigners at local homes, were
discussed in detail with the minister himself and more than 20 employees of
MoHT. In May 2013 the policy was published in English and the Myanmar
language. Roles and responsibilities were defned again for all tourism stake-
holders, including domestic and international visitors. An advisory commit-
tee on community involvement in tourism will soon be set up to promote sta-
keholder dialogue at various levels.
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 193
Figure 3: Communication Process between Stakeholders and Advisory Committee on Community Involvement in Tourism to
review regularly the Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism in Myanmar
Source: MoHT (2013, 7)
Important elements for national peace-building processes in Myanmar inclu-
de, for example, one of the core principles:
‘Local Community Participation in Tourism Must be Informed and Will-
ing – Prior to any involvement in tourism, local communities must be pro-
vided with sufcient information about the tourism industry to be able to
make informed decisions regarding how their future will be impacted. Lo-
cal people should be willing to participate in tourism and be aware of the
potential impacts as well as learn about mechanisms to manage the im-
pacts from the very beginning’ (MoHT 2013a, 14)
Tis ofcially gives communities the opportunity to participate in decision-
making on tourism development in their region.
In response to the high level of ethnic conficts in the past, another core
principle was included which states that the culture, traditions, and beliefs of
every ethnic group must be respected:
‘Te culture, traditions and beliefs of every individual can contribute to a
person’s well-being, in other words: culture shapes and determines how a
person develops and manifests as a human being. Tourists – as well as the
private and public sector – need to respect the cultural heritage, traditions
and beliefs of every individual in Myanmar’ (MoHT 2013a, 14).
Te Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism is perhaps the only policy
of its kind in the world. Adapted to local circumstances, it could be used as a
blueprint in other destinations. In any case, it should be noted again that such
194 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
policies must be developed in a stakeholder dialogue – otherwise, it is unlikely
that they could be implemented successfully.
Finally, it is important to note that both policies must be regarded as ‘living’
documents, meaning that the aims, core principles, and action points they
contain are not ‘carved in stone.’ On the contrary, they should be continuously
adapted to the state of tourism development in Myanmar. In fact, as stated in
the policies, the documents should be continuously reviewed in close collabo-
ration with a wide range of tourism stakeholders. Currently, the plan is to hold
a tourism stakeholder forum every two years to review the action points and
priorities.
Lessons Learned
In the course of the process described in the previous section, the following
points were found to be particularly noticeable:
Seating order
During the Responsible Tourism Policy workshops, local co-ordinators at
some locations were still reluctant to accept the facilitators’ suggestion to ar-
range seats in a U-shape to break up hierarchical structures and to allow eye
contact during discussions. At subsequent workshops in these regions, this
was no longer an issue.
Fear
Te participants of the workshops were actively involved, showed a great in-
terest, and apparently were very eager to discuss the issues at hand. However,
while discussions were surprisingly open during some of the workshops, there
were still some limitations as to what could be said. Although some partici-
pants expressed more general criticism of the planned activities of ‘cronies’,
highly successful businessmen with close relationships to the military, they
did not dare mention names in public because they were afraid that this would
have repercussions for them and their families.
Selection of stakeholders
While invitees to the Responsible Tourism Policy meetings were almost ex-
clusively private- and public-sector representatives who had been selected
by MoHT, MTF, and local authorities, the subsequent workshops were also
attended by representatives of civil society organisations and even represen-
tatives of the communities. Ko Ko Tett (2012) criticises that, although the
workshops were held in major tourist destinations, the decision-making was
not a ‘bottom-up’ process because MoHT and MTF invited only participants
they knew.
However, this has changed very quickly. At a workshop in the ancient temp-
le city of Bagan in April 2013, local tour guides, tourist police, and representa-
tives of local communities (who are increasingly afected by visits of tourists
in their villages) were invited to discuss and decide on rules and regulations
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 195
for visits to local villages. After 50 years of military rule, it was a touching
moment for all involved to see representatives of the private sector (guides),
government (police), and civil society (representatives of communities) sit
around tables and discuss the do’s and don’ts for tourists. Representatives of
ethnic communities near Kyaing Tong (Golden Triangle: village tours are ex-
tremely popular among Tai tourists) were invited to the meetings that led to
the development of the Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism, but
it took a long time to persuade them to attend because they were not used to
being asked for their opinions. Eventually, some of them attended the work-
shop at a 3-star hotel ‘in their natural shoes’ (i.e. barefoot), and were surprised
by the interest shown by others in their opinions. Tis invitation defnitely
broke the ice.
Location
If local communities and representatives of the private and public sectors are
to meet for stakeholder dialogues on an equal footing, more meetings should
take place at communal places such as Buddhist monasteries or other com-
munal public places rather than at 3- or 4-star hotels. Although such events
are often more difcult to organise (catering, sufcient seating, the problem
of power cuts and heat etc.), they are more efcient overall, especially for the
communities.
Participation
Te issue of participation is still debated ‘diferently’. During the discussion
on the level of participation by the local population in tourism planning, most
of the parties involved took a pragmatic view. Tey clearly expressed that they
did not want to be kept out of the decision-making process. Typical state-
ments included, ‘No, we don’t want to go back to those times.’ However, it will
not be possible in the foreseeable future to achieve the (Western?) ideal of My-
anmar as a state that always gives its population good opportunities to parti-
cipate in decision-making. Terefore, they argued that the Buddhist Middle
Path should be taken, meaning that most decisions should still be made by
the government, but that the local communities should become increasingly
involved in decision making.
Phases of stakeholder dialogues
Myanmar has successfully implemented Phases 1 and 2 of the Dialogic Change
Model at the macro-level. During the implementation of Phase 1 (‘Exploring
and engaging’), the participants identifed common goals and resources, such
as the consolidation of common agreements (in this case, the two policies).
Core elements of a successful stakeholder dialogue were applied, such as invi-
ting stakeholders from diferent sectors and constituencies with diferent per-
spectives, points of view, and interests. Tis has clearly contributed to: buil-
ding trust among stakeholders; forward-looking and constructive cooperation
between various participants; a higher quality and broader acceptance of de-
cisions; and ownership of and commitment to implementing agreed-upon re-
196 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
sults. Te next steps (Phases 3 and 4) will be to ensure transparency and com-
munication; achieve the desired results; establish learning mechanisms and
systems; and create management structures.
Outlook and Recommendations
It might be said that very few countries have ever witnessed a debate on res-
ponsible tourism development that had a national scope as broad as the debate
that has taken place in Myanmar, a debate that involved nearly all state minis-
tries and also the private sector. Hopefully, more representatives of civil so-
ciety organisations and (ethnic) communities will be sitting around the table
when the policy is due for review in a few years.
Tere is no doubt that the policies recently developed provide a solid found-
ation, and not only for responsible tourism planning. If Myanmar could achie-
ve only half of the goals in the next few years – after all, the goals set in the po-
licies are demands for the desired maximum – it would already have achieved
more than most other tourist destinations.
Te good news – but also the challenge – is that the Ministry of Hotels
and Tourism, the Myanmar Tourism Federation, the Hanns Seidel Founda-
tion and, perhaps, some other partners are already planning to initiate such
stakeholder dialogues on responsible tourism management at the meso- and
micro-levels in destinations with a rich ethnic diversity. Most of these areas
have been afected by decades of military confict between the Myanmar and
ethnic armies. With ceasefre agreements having been signed in the past few
months, and more due to be signed in the near future, remote areas with a
large number of ethnic groups and nearly untouched biodiversity can become
‘untouched destinations’ for eco-, adventure, and cultural tourism.
Te aim of these stakeholder dialogues will be:
• To introduce responsible tourism to minimise or maximise certain envi-
ronmental, economic, and social impacts
• To teach local stakeholders the value of such dialogues in order to promote
not only sustainable tourism development but also confict resolution, regi-
onal development, and public-private dialogues.
What, then, are some of the ensuing challenges? At the moment, a dynamic
can be observed that is positive and fast-paced, but also (physically) exhaus-
ting for all stakeholders involved. In order to pursue this path, training and
workshops must be conducted to educate local trainers, not only on respon-
sible tourism, but also on how to facilitate stakeholder dialogues, which will
help ensure that tourism can continue to be responsible in the long run. In
the future, stakeholder dialogues in Myanmar will probably also involve more
stakeholders, such as local and international NGOs, development agencies,
and international organisations, which will give new impetus to the dialogue
process. Of course, the success of these eforts will depend largely on Phases
1 and 2.
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 197
It remains to be seen whether Myanmar’s tourism stakeholders will be able
to put these eforts into practice and, if they do, how and to what extent. After
all, the country is still experiencing political, economic, social, and environ-
mental changes, all of which must be dealt with simultaneously. Furthermo-
re, there are high expectations and some pressure coming from international
NGOs who expect the tourism sector to deliver sustainable tourism products
as soon as possible. According to Gössling et al. (2012, 900), long-term thin-
king (at least 25 years) is a necessary framework for shaping short-term policy.
Whilst Myanmar may not need 25 years to deliver the frst successful results,
it should be realised that such a process may need a few more years before suc-
cessful (= sustainable) outcomes can be achieved.
Tis paper has shown that Myanmar’s political situation has had a conside-
rable infuence on national and tourism development. Political and economic
opening and stability are thus critical in the country’s transformation to de-
mocracy, internal peace, the improvement of the well-being of its population,
and the growth of international tourism. Te world is extremely complex, and
so is the situation in Myanmar. Tere is no ‘one-size-fts-all’ solution, but it
is very likely that a process based on transparency, open dialogue, reliability,
mutual understanding, and participation in tourism will make an invaluable
contribution to the process of internal peace-building in Myanmar. In additi-
on, participants in the workshops expressed their interest in, and willingness
to use, this stakeholder process in tourism as a model for dialogue processes
in other sectors of Myanmar’s economy, which will hopefully lead to further
peace-building opportunities in the country.
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Procedures in Promoting Peaceful
Elections in Kenya
Disclaimer: Te views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors
and do not represent the views of the Ministry of East African Afairs, Commer-
ce and Tourism or the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.
Abstract
Peace is one of the most important factors that tourists take into account be-
fore they travel to a destination; they want to enjoy a relaxing stay in a desti-
nation without undue concern for their safety and security. Te relationship
between tourism and peace is one of interdependence whereby they reinforce
each other. However, it is only recently that scholars have started to explore
the relationship between peace and tourism.
In the last four decades, it has been observed that the general elections in
Kenya, which are held every fve years, generate uncertainty and political fe-
ver with far reaching ramifcations on the economy. Given its fragile nature,
tourism is the sector that is most afected when such fevers escalate into vi-
olence between the diferent competing groups. Since the 1980’s, the country
has held elections that were either peaceful or followed by a wave of violence.
Whenever violence occurs, the tourist arrivals in Kenya tend to drop signif-
cantly. Most notably, the 2007 general elections were followed by post election
violence which caught the attention of the international media. In addition,
the key tourist generating countries issued negative travel advisories against
Kenya. Tis led to a signifcant drop in tourist arrivals to Kenya by over 30
percent. Consequently, the Government and private sector stakeholders had
to commit substantial resources for tourism recovery eforts; they normally
take a long time to yield positive results.
Tourism tends to create its own unique conditions under which it thrives. It
can contribute positively towards the overall peace-building process which is
a pre-requisite for its survival.
Since 2002, the tourism sector stakeholders in
Kenya have made serious eforts to promote peace during elections, by taking
200 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
cognizance of past election experiences. Tese eforts are manifested through
a programme referred to as Election Period Tourism Operating Procedures
(EPOP), executed by the private sector umbrella association, Kenya Tourism
Federation (KTF), the National Tourism Administration (Ministry of East
African Afairs, Commerce and Tourism), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
and the Kenya Police Service (KPS).
Tourism contributes signifcantly to the Gross Domestic Product (10 per-
cent), foreign exchange earnings (20 percent) and employment (9 percent)
in Kenya making it a priority sector in the country. Te sector has attracted
numerous investors in all its subsectors such as accommodation, food and
drinks, transport and handicraft among others. Its multiplier efect is quite
remarkable, which is why it requires protection of the sector from any likely
disturbance.
Te aim of this paper is to explore the role of election period operating pro-
cedures in promoting peaceful elections in Kenya. It looks at general elections
that have been conducted since 1980 and their impact on tourism. Additio-
nally, it looks at the role played by election operating procedures in promoting
peaceful elections from 2002, when the programme commenced. A case study
of the successes and failures of the Kenya’s Election Period Tourism Operating
Procedures (EPOP) would be instrumental in designing and possibly replica-
ting a model programme; not only in Kenya but also in other countries that
are negatively infuenced in their tourism sector due to political tensions.
Background
As stated above tourism is a key economic sector in Kenya that has attracted
numerous investors in all its sub-sectors such as accommodation, food and
drinks, transport and handicraft among others, making its multiplier efect
quite remarkable. Tourism has also been acknowledged as a stimulator of
growth in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and construction. Like
in many other developing economies, tourism in Kenya is recognised as a
vehicle for poverty reduction and achievement of the Millennium Develop-
ment Goals (GoK 2010, 1; WTO 2001, 30). Between 2003 and 2007, the sector
witnessed unprecedented annual average growth of about 15 percent and de-
monstrated potential for quick gains. Consequently, tourism was recognised
as one of the sectors to drive economic growth under the national economic
blueprint, Kenya Vision 2030 (GoK 2007, 28; GoK 2011, 10–11).
Te Vision projected the sector to grow from 1.8 million tourist arrivals in
2007 to 3 million by 2012. Correspondingly, tourist earnings were projected
to increase from Kshs 65 billon to Kshs 200 billion over the same period. Te
broader Vision is to make Kenya one of the top long haul destinations (GoK
2007, 28). Tis calls for sustained growth of the sector in terms of tourist ar-
rivals and earnings. In turn, it would be imperative to reinforce the determi-
nants of growth while mitigating the impact of the negative factors.
Te past tourist trends demonstrate that there are periods of intermittent
growth and decline prompted by various factors. One highly evident trend is
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 201
the contemporaneous or lagged decline in tourist arrivals and earnings du-
ring election periods. Figure 1.1 below illustrates the tourism trends in terms
of international arrivals and tourism earnings from 1983 to 2012.
Figure 1: Tourism Trends (Arrivals and Receipts) from 1983 -2012
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Tourist Arrivals Tourism Earnings (Kshs bn)
Sources: Economic Survey (various years)
It is quite evident from the above graph that there was a steady growth in both
arrivals and receipts in the 1980’s. However, there was a 3 percent decline
in terms of tourist arrivals in 1992, which was incidentally an election year
marked by violence in some parts of the country. Te following general elec-
tions were held in 1997, when there was no growth in tourist arrivals, whereas
earnings dipped by 11.6 percent. A major decline of 10.6 percent in tourist
arrivals and 22.7 percent in earnings was registered in the 1998. Furthermore,
this being an election period largely characterised by civil strife, there were
adverse weather conditions (El Niño weather phenomenon) and simultaneous
terrorist attacks of USA Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
Whilst there was a marginal growth of 0.8 percent in tourist arrivals in
2002, which was an election year, a signifcant decrease of 10.4 percent in ear-
nings was recorded. Tis was attributed to both the election fever and ter-
rorism- related attacks at the Kenya Coast, resulting in travel advisories by
several tourist generating countries (GoK 2004, 175). Te most signifcant of
the declines was that of 2008, with tourist arrivals dropping by 33.8 percent
and tourism earnings by 19.4 percent; this was attributed to the post- election
violence that took place earlier that year. Te latest general elections were held
in March 2013; there was a decline of about 6.1 percent in tourist arrivals and
1.9 percent in tourism earnings.
Te above trends indicate a somewhat predictable fve-year cyclical dip in
tourist arrivals and earnings that correspond to general elections held in Ke-
nya. It is important to note that the magnitude of the declines seems to follow
the intensity of electoral violence at the respective time.
202 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
The Problem
General elections in Kenya, marked with electoral violence or apprehension
of the same trend, interrupt the envisioned tourism growth. For instance, the
projected 3 million tourist arrivals and Kshs 200 billion by 2012 were not re-
alised. Tis has been mainly attributed to the post-election violence of 2008,
when arrivals dropped by 33.8 percent and earnings by 19.4 percent. Given
this massive drop, the investments made by the Government and the private
sector towards recovery did not put the tourism sector back to the projected
growth trajectory. It can also be argued that the recovery eforts were also
dampened by the Constitutional referendum of August 2010. Te growth was
8 percent compared to 23.9 percent of the previous year.
Once a decline emanating from electoral violence occurs, the Government
and tourism industry operators have to make huge investments for recovery
even though this was not planned for. Te recovery eforts require a lot of re-
sources due to the fact they involve correcting a damaged image and repositi-
oning the destination in the market. It is also worth noting that the marketing
budget for Kenya as a destination is relatively small compared to its competi-
tors. Terefore, there is a need to ensure efciency in utilisation of available
resources. With frequent recurrence, electoral violence may become embed-
ded in the psyche of the tourism market and be interpreted as a permanent
feature of the destination brand.
Despite the recognition that general elections in Kenya normally lead to ne-
gative impacts on growth of tourism, it was only in 2002 that the Government
and private sector stakeholders frst started to make attempts to mitigate such
impacts. For this purpose, they came up with the Election Period Operating
Procedures (EPOP) for the tourism sector. As little research has been direc-
ted to the impact of elections on tourism, the procedures are yet to be fna-
lised and theoretically grounded. Whilst EPOP is a step in the right direction,
it needs to be built up into a tool that can signifcantly contribute towards
peaceful elections.
Objective Of The Study
Te objective of this paper is to review the Election Period Operating Proce-
dures and their role in stopping violence during elections. Te specifc objec-
tives are:
• Review the evolution and structure of the Election Period Operating Pro-
cedures.
• Assess how the Election Period Operating Procedures have been executed
since 2002 and their successes and failures.
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 203
Peace And Crisis Management Concepts
Despite the fact that peace is a necessary precondition for tourism to thrive
and that tourism contributes to peace in many destinations, literature on
tourism and peace remains rare. Peace creates the optimum environment in
which activities contributing to human growth take place. Peace theorists per-
ceive two diferent types of peace: a positive peace and negative peace (Gal-
tung 1967, 12–13; Upadhayaya 2011, 17). According to Upadhayaya (2011, 17),
a positive peace signifes the presence of justice, harmony and equity within
and between societal groups. On the other hand, Galtung (1967, 12) defnes
negative peace as the “absence of organised violence” between major human
groups, classes, or racial and ethnic groups.
It is a violation of negative peace that normally escalates into crisis and
violence, afecting human activities such as tourism. Tis calls for manage-
ment of the crisis to ensure minimal impact on development. Consequent-
ly, attempts have been made to come up with models on crisis management.
However, most of these models, as observed by Paraskevas and Arendell (2007,
1560–1573) have only managed to explain crises but do not always ofer an
approach to manage them. Tey note that the most referred- to model in the
literature is the one originally proposed by Pauchant and Mitrof (1992), and
later by Mitrof (2005), with the following fve distinct mechanisms:
• Signal Detection, when warning signs can be identifed and acted upon to
prevent a crisis
• Probing and Prevention, where searching for known crisis risk factors and
working to reduce potential harm takes place
• Damage Containment, the onset of crisis when limitation of damage is
done
• Recovery, working to return to normal business operation as soon as pos-
sible
• Learning, Reviewing, Critiquing and Redesigning the crisis management
process.
Tourism and Peace
According to tourism analysts (WTO 1996, 11; Fletcher and Morakabati 2008,
537; Alluri 2009, 11; Upadhayaya et al 2011, 23), one pre-requisite of a suc-
cessful tourism industry is a peaceful environment; international and national
tourists are usually concerned with their personal safety. Tey note that peace
is one of the most important factors that tourists take into account before they
travel to a destination, as tourists want to enjoy a relaxing stay in the destina-
tion without concern for their safety and security.
204 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
As noted by several authors (Neumayer 2004, 5; Chauhan and Khanna
2008, 72; Upadhayaya et al. 2011, 23), the relationship between tourism and
peace is one of interdependence whereby each reinforces the other. Upadhaya-
ya et al. (2011, 23) go further and observe that tourism, confict and peace exist
in a triangular relationship. With this understanding, they have developed the
following conceptual framework that illustrates this relationship.
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework for Inter-relationship Peace, Confict and Tourism
Source: Upadhayaya et al. (2011, 23)
Tey observe that tourism is confict- sensitive and positively responsive to
peace. Confict decelerates growth of tourism if it leads to violence and th-
reatens peace. Tus, peace, confict and tourism are indisputably linked, as a
disturbance in any of the three elements imbalances the other two.
Neumayer (2004,5) observes that events of violence are likely to impact
tourism with both immediate and lagging efects. He further underscores
that as tourists are sensitive towards the negative image of a tourist destinati-
on, events of violence can afect a destination long after the event has passed
and stability has in fact been restored. To tourists, a destination which is not
peaceful due to political unrest becomes less appealing regardless of the abun-
dance of natural or cultural attractions (Upadhayaya et al 2011, 23).
It is apparent from literature that the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks in
the US were the most notable act of violence to have afected tourism world-
wide since World War II (Bohman et al. 2006, 4). Te event has triggered
of renewed interest in research on the impact of violence on the travel and
tourism industry. Tough these attacks were not targeted specifcally at the
tourist industry, their impact on the industry was far-reaching and has signi-
fcantly altered tourists’ behaviour. According to Bennett and Bray (undated),
the total economic impact of 9/11 is realistically immeasurable. However, they
note that the World Travel and Tourism Council estimated the decrease of the
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 205
travel and tourism demand worldwide to have been 10 percent. Tis equates
to the job loss of 8.8 million people globally, afecting airlines, hotels, tour
operators, car rental and credit card companies, creating a 1.7 percent decrea-
se of total GDP for the world economy.
In view of the signifcance of peace as a determinant for sustainable growth
in tourism, it is imperative that all stakeholders in the sector come together
with a common goal and concentrated efort on fostering peace. According
to Wan and Li (2008, 54), such stakeholders should include the government,
local communities, private sector operators and tourists who are all benefci-
aries of a sustainable tourism sector. Te government benefts from tourism
through tax revenue, foreign exchange earnings, employment generation and
wealth creation. Local communities draw benefts, such as local economic de-
velopment and infrastructural development from tourism especially when it is
pro-poor oriented (Etter 2007, 3). Te sector is a source of income to an array
of tourism operators and investors, including hoteliers, tour operators and air-
lines, among others. At the end of the tourism value chain are tourists whose
aspiration is to enjoy uninterrupted experience in a destination. Moreover, the
role of tourists, whether international or domestic, as ambassadors of peace
has been underscored in literature (Kim et al 2007, 294; Chauhan and Khanna
2008, 69–71).
Tourism and Electoral Violence
Besides terrorist- related attacks, other forms of violence have been observed
to afect tourism. For instance, in most developing countries whose demo-
cratic processes are not yet mature, electoral violence is a common feature
(Bekoe 2010, 1-5) and it impacts negatively on economic development (Adol-
fo et al. 2013, 1-4) which includes tourism. Bekoe (2010, 1) further elaborates
confict and tension during elections as being common in Africa’s new demo-
cracies, especially since the 1990’s with the emergence of new clamour for de-
mocratic governance. Tis mainly afects the countries with strong authori-
tarian leadership or deep ethnic cleavages which make it difcult for them to
manage political opposition. Te manner in which such conficts and tensions
are managed determines whether an election will be conducted peacefully or
will collapse into violence. Te elections essentially act as a trigger to violence
whose real causes are largely systematic in nature, such as unfair land tenure
laws, economic and ethnic marginalisation.
Trends in electoral violence in sub-Saharan Africa indicate that intense vi-
olence afects between 19 and 25 percent of elections, while 39 percent are
deemed to be less severe (Bekoe 2010, 1). However, the media has a tendency
to exaggerate and sensationalise incidences of electoral violence leading to ne-
gative perception of the countries involved. Tis mainly emanates from lack of
accurate and timely information, poor media management and lack of adhe-
rence to professional ethics (Fletcher and Morakabati 2008, 546).
Since 1964, Kenya has been a one-party state. However, the situation chan-
ged in the 1990’s. Following intense pressure from the political activists and
206 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
the international community on the Kenyan Government, multi- party elec-
tions were introduced in 1991. Several parties emerged to oppose the ruling
party in the general elections that took place in 1992. Nevertheless, the ruling
party retained power amidst claims of electoral irregularities and pockets of
violence in the country. Much of the violence occurred during the pre-election
period and was ethnically instigated by politicians. Tis scenario was repeated
in the 1997 general elections where the ruling party retained power (Dercon
and Gutierrez-Romero 2012, 6).
Conversely, the 2002 general elections presented a diferent scenario where
the opposition ousted the ruling party and the elections were hailed as ge-
nerally free, fair and peaceful. Analysts observed that the conglomeration of
political parties into one major multi-ethnic coalition, National Rainbow Co-
alition (NARC), played a major role in lessening the ethnic tension and conse-
quently peaceful elections (Dercon and Gutierrez-Romero 2012, 7). A reversal
of this took place in the subsequent general elections of 2007 which have been
widely acknowledged as the most violent in the Kenyan history (Adolfo et al.
2013, 4).
In 2010, a new constitution was passed through a national referendum,
which was peaceful despite tensions between the two major political rivals.
Kenya conducted its frst general elections under this new constitution in
2012. Although the country was deemed highly polarized through intense po-
litical campaigns, the elections were generally peaceful. However, the narrow
winning margin between the two major contestants may have spilt the coun-
try along ethnic lines with simmering tensions which re-afrms the negative
peace theory.
As previously stated, it is apparent that general elections and the tourism
trends are intrinsically linked. All general elections lead either to a decline
or sluggish growth of Kenya’s tourism in terms of both tourist arrivals and
earnings. Te magnitude of the impact depends on the intensity of electoral
violence during a particular electoral period. It can also be argued that even
when a given general election is not marked by electoral violence, the election
fever itself and uncertainties tend to dampen tourism growth.
Methodology
Te approach taken in this paper is desk research, whereby existing literature
on Kenya’s past general elections in relationship to tourism trends is reviewed.
Te paper combines this with a case study of the Election Period Operating
Procedures (EPOP) of the tourism sector in Kenya which was developed in
2002. Te research reviews the diferent components of EPOP and assesses its
success and failures.
Te methodology is, however, faced with a number of limitations. For in-
stance, EPOP is a security- linked system and therefore the researchers could
not access all the intricate details of the system. Tus, the general components
of the system are reviewed, as they are of signifcance to this study. Te fact
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 207
that the system is relatively new and still evolving makes it difcult to empiri-
cally evaluate its impact and efectiveness.
Review of Kenya’s Election Period Operating Procedures: Case Study
In 2002, the tourism stakeholders in Kenya realised that there are normally
pockets of disturbance of peace in the country during election periods, with
adverse efects on tourism safety and security. Tis led to a Public- Private
Partnership initiative referred to as Election Period Operating Procedures.
Tis initiative is carried out before, during and post elections and is aimed at
tourists. Te goal is to ensure that tourists in the country are safe. Terefore,
the purpose of this section is to review the evolution, structure and imple-
mentation of the initiative.
Evolution of EPOP
Te evolution of EPOP can be traced back to the formation of the Kenya Tou-
rism Federation in 1996. Kenya Tourism Federation is an umbrella body that
represents the interests of the private sector in tourism. One of the main func-
tions of the Federation is to advocate for enabling policies and frameworks,
by engaging and lobbying the Government and other stakeholders in order to
grow, protect and sustain the tourism industry.
As part of its mandate, KTF came up with a Tourism Safety and Commu-
nication Centre in 1999. Te purpose of the Centre is managing information
fow and controlling how tourism is afected by the security situation in the
country. Furthermore, it addresses security needs of the sector in partnership
with the Government. It is under this system that EPOP was developed in
2002 to specifcally focus on tourism insecurities emanating from elections.
EPOP was used in the 2002, 2007 and 2013 general elections as well as in the
2010 Constitutional Referendum.
Structure and Operations of EPOP
EPOP was developed through a collaborative efort between the Kenya Tou-
rism Federation, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Ministry of East African Af-
fairs Commerce and Tourism, and the Kenya Police Service. Kenya Wildlife
Service is a state corporation that is mandated to conserve and manage wild-
life in the Country. Te Ministry is the Destination Management Organisa-
tion (National Tourism Administration agency) that is charged with tourism
policy development and regulation of the tourism sector. Te Kenya Police
Service is the Government agency that is responsible for the maintaining of
law and order in the Kenya.
Te Election Period Operating Procedures are a countrywide communica-
tion network that is strategically positioned on all the important routes used
by tourists around the country. Te system uses mobile High Frequency and
Very High Frequency radio systems that are ftted into observation and con-
trol vehicles. Tese units monitor the tourists’ movement routes and report to
208 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
central communication nerve centres. Te centres in turn disseminate up- to-
date, credible and specifc information on diferent tourist routings.
Te system is manned by Communication ofcers located at Fixed Obser-
vation Points (FOP) and Mobile Observation Points (MOP) across the main
tourist circuits. Besides the Communication ofcers, there are Government
security agents, tour operators, hotel operators and other partners stationed at
these points. Following some improvements and expansions, the main tourist
circuits are sub-divided into 12 circuits and each is further subdivided into an
average of three observation units giving a total of about 36 observation units.
Illustrated here below is the schematic fow of the EPOP Communication
System.
Figure 3: Schematic Flow of the EPOP Communication System
13
The system is manned by Communication officers located at Fixed Observation Points (FOP)
and Mobile Observation Points (MOP) across the main tourist circuits. Besides the
Communication officers, there are Government security agents, tour operators, hotel
operators and other partners stationed at these points. Following some improvements and
expansions, the main tourist circuits are sub-divided into 12 circuits and each is further
subdivided into an average of three observation units giving a total of about 36 observation
units.
Illustrated here below is the schematic flow of the EPOP Communication System.
Figure 4.1: Schematic Flow of the EPOP Communication System
Key:
Source: KTF 2010 and author conceptualization
Kenya Tourism Federation Security Communication Centres (KTF-SC) are located in Nairobi
and Mombasa and act as the main terminals for all forms of communication.
Communications received here from the observation points through base stations are
processed and released to the Kenya Police, the Kenya wildlife Service, the media and the
rescue service providers. Each observation point is linked to either a Police Station or a Police
OBSERVATION
POINTS
OBSERVATION
POINTS
OBSERVATION
POINTS
BASE STATIONS KTF-SC
RESCUE OPERATIONS
Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Police
Service, Media
Flow of Communication
Rescue Information
Source: KTF 2010 and author conceptualisation
Kenya Tourism Federation Security Communication Centres (KTF-SC) are lo-
cated in Nairobi and Mombasa and act as the main terminals for all forms of
communication. Communications received here from the observation points
through base stations are processed and released to the Kenya Police, the Ke-
nya wildlife Service, the media and the rescue service providers. Each obser-
vation point is linked to either a Police Station or a Police Post. Te telephone
numbers for each of the police stations and the mobile phone of the ofcer
commanding the station is provided. In addition, there are mobile observation
units where a vehicle moves between diferent observation points. About 103
fxed and mobile telephone lines are dedicated to the system communication
in addition to the VHF and HF ftted at the observation points and at the mo-
bile observation units.
Tis system has three categories of procedures that guide its general opera-
tions. Tese include basic operating procedures, communication procedures
and conduct- of- driver guides. Tese are documented and detailed in the Ke-
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 209
nya Tourism Federation Election Period Operating Procedures manual (KTF
2010, 1-30). Te Basic Operating Procedures, which are outlined in the table
below, are normally circulated to all tourism stakeholders including hoteliers,
tour operators, police and other relevant Government agencies.
Table 1: Basic Operating Procedures
• Tour Operators are to consult KTF-SCC on circuits not covered by the EPOP
• Ferrying of tourists is restricted to daylight hours (06:00 AM to 06:00 PM) apart from city transfers and any vehicle that has
not checked into hotel or lodge by 06:30PM to be reported to the KTF-SCC.
• Activation of any emergency is to be simultaneous by both the operator and the KTF-SCC
• Tourist vehicles are to be advised on particular circuit closures and escape routes at the observations points.
• Tour operators are to ensure that the tour driver guides park entry smart cards pre-loaded in Nairobi or Mombasa
• All agencies, companies, individuals involved in designing the EPOP are to cascade the necessary information and
responsibilities to their staf through briefngs
• All observation vehicles must be clearly marked with sticker “Kenya Tourism Federation Mobile Unit” while feld observers
are issued with KTF identifcation cards
• A debrief of all Committee members must be done the last week before the elections
Source: KTF (2010,4-6)
Field communications ofcers are expected to remain at the exact location
as per the allocated sketches, and report any disturbance that is a threat to
guests. An elaborate logging system with log references provided from the
KTF-SCC Communications Ofcer to Field communication ofcers helps
in the logging of vehicle movements. Signed handover briefngs during shift
changes are mandatory to ensure incoming Communication Personnel are on
the same platform. Te following communication procedures have to be ad-
hered to:
Table 2: Communication Procedures
• All feld observation and mobile watch vehicles are to be ftted with VHF/HF radios that are accessible to Base Stations
and KTF-SC each station with a call sign
• All communications are to be directed to KTF-SCC
• Only KTF-SC in Nairobi and in Mombasa are to be authorised to relay operational reports to Kenya Police or KWS radio room
• Sensitive information is to be passed to KTF-SC by either land line or mobile phone and not on the HF which is considered
not completely secure. However, in case of emergency even the HF can be used
210 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
• All communications are to be short, precise and in the English language
• All communication radios are to be turned on at all times and tuned into the right frequencies
Source: KTF (2010, 6)
All tourist vehicles are expected to stop and brief the feld observers located
at the observation units. Te observation points are located in areas frequen-
ted by tour vehicles such as fuel reflling stations, handicraft shops, and hotel
parking bays. Te whole exchange of information at these points is to be done
discretely to avoid causing apprehension to the tourists. Te driver guides are
provided with the following set of guidelines:
Table 3: Expected Conduct of Driver Guides
P R E - DE PAR T UR E B R I E F
• Driver guides to counter check their essential kits (e.g. frst aid).
• Call to nearest base station to provide details on state of guests, vehicle condition, state of weather, day schedule.
• Travel in convoy .
• Remain calm in event of encountering rowdy crowds and advise guests to enter into spirit of the crowd excitement and
support.
• Advise guests to avoid ostentatious display of valuables like jewellery, cameras.
I T I NE R AR Y
• Strict adherence to prescribed routes and timelines unless authorized by KTF-SC.
• All communication systems to be turned on and driver to listen for trouble spots .
• Avoid any reaction or heroism that could endanger guests.
• Take note of the situation, timing, area location, crowd characteristics, security agents presence and call the Base station to
advise on situation.
• Warn other drivers and stay together.
• On managing to leave the spot immediately report to Filed Observation Points and fle a report for transmission to KTF-SCC.
J OUR NE Y C OMP L E T I ON
• Immediately report to operations department detailing the safety and any problems experienced. Any tour vehicle not
reporting will be assumed missing and a KTF-SCC Search and Rescue procedure is to be activated.
• Elaborate Re- routing and Escape routes are to be provided at the Filed Observation points on a need basis.
Source: KTF (2010, 20–21)
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 211
Analysis, Findings and Discussions
Since the inception of EPOP, no tourist has fallen victim to election-related
violence. Tis can be attributed to the role played by the EPOP by providing
an early warning system that has kept tourists out of electoral violence hot-
spots. Tis was particularly evident during the 2007/2008 post election vio-
lence, which was quite intense, where over 1000 Kenyans lost their lives and
more than 300,000 were displaced.
EPOP provides a platform for the public and private stakeholders; it allows
them to work together in order to promote and maintain peace around the
popular tourism circuits during the period surrounding politically heightened
periods. Te Government and tourism private stakeholders involved contribu-
te their resources to ensure that violence within the tourism areas is avoided.
Tough a small attempt in magnitude, it nevertheless plays a role in stopping
the violence that has in certain instances accompanied political disturbances
in Kenya. In case violence occurs and tourism is afected, EPOP becomes im-
portant as an existing structure for executing tourism recovery eforts. It pro-
vides up-to-date information on general security around the tourist circuits
during the electoral period, and ofers pre-determined alternative courses of
action in case a particular area is afected. Tis plays a crucial role in building
confdence among both the tourism industry and the tourists. Consequently,
this reduces the turnaround time for recovery if violence occurs.
In view of the peace theories and the crisis management cycle, it is evident
that EPOP is highly reactionary as opposed to being pro-active in nature.
EPOP is a short- term measure that is usually activated only a few weeks be-
fore and after the election period. It largely focuses on dealing with the safety
and rescue of tourists in case they are involved in incidences of electoral vio-
lence. Little attention is given to the signal detection and prevention phases of
the crisis management cycle before the elections or to the review and redesi-
gning phase after the elections. Tis implies that there is room for widening
the scope of EPOP from a short- term intervention to a more comprehensive
General Elections Tourism Operating Programme (GETOP) with longer cyc-
les running between elections, as illustrated below:
212 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
Figure 4: Election Tourism Operating Procedures Cycles
Source: Author conceptualisation
Te cycles of EPOP, as currently implemented in Kenya, are illustrated by the
continuous line whereas the dotted line illustrates a more encompassed ge-
neral elections tourism operating programme that could be adopted with the
following additional activities:
• Review and re-design the Programme to commence soon after the
elections
• Education and awareness- creation on the role of tourism on both the
national and local economies
• Continuous monitoring of political environment in the known hotspots.
• Media- education on the need for accurate and objective reporting.
Te expanded programme also applies whenever there are major political
elections, such as general elections in parts of the country, or constitutional
referendums.
Te positive peace theory emphasises the promotion of justice, harmony and
equity between conficting societal groups. Tis could be done, for instance, by
addressing the systematic causes and underlying factors of confict such as eco-
nomic marginalisation. Despite the fact that tourism in general has enormous
potential to help in the alleviation of such problems, EPOP is silent on this.
Where attempts are made under EPOP in terms of sensitisation of communi-
ties and media regarding the need for peaceful elections in order to safeguard
the sector, the focus here is to address negative peace. In this case, the tensions
could already be too high, while underlying factors remain ignored.
EPOP does not have a sustainable funding mechanism either from the pub-
lic or private sector institutions involved; it depends on goodwill contributions
from these institutions. As was realised during the recent general elections,
where an estimated budget of Kshs 11.8 million (US $ 140,000) was proposed
for funding, it is difcult to raise the funds on an ad hoc basis. Proposed ac-
tivities had to be scaled down, hence not achieving their expected outcomes.
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 213
Similarly, EPOP lacks a legal basis despite its security relevance. Te fact that
it is mainly centred on the KTF Safety and Communication system, which is
a private sector- led initiative, its lack of legal basis restricts the enforcement
mechanisms for the procedures.
Tis study reveals that the spatial coverage of the system is confned to the
most- visited tourist circuits. Moreover, most of the private sector stakehol-
ders involved in the system are the big operators, leaving out the small ope-
rators and local communities whose operations are most vulnerable to the
electoral violence. Despite the recognition that tourists are key stakeholders
in the development of a destination according to the stakeholder theory, only
minimal attempt has been made to include them in the EPOP.
It has also been noted that the communication equipment used in the sys-
tem, especially the HF and VHF, is not very secure, and susceptible to the
leakage of sensitive information during transmission. In addition to the HF
and VHF equipment, mobile and fxed telephone lines are used, implying dif-
ferent communication platforms that are not interoperable. Te possibility of
deploying a modern technology based communication system that is more se-
cure should be explored. Tis could include use of Global Information System
and Global Position Remote System and involve mapping of all tourist circuits
in the country, including the less visited ones, to ensure comprehensive spatial
coverage.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Tis study reveals that EPOP plays an important role in shielding tourists
from electoral violence. It provides a platform for public-private partnership
where stakeholders come together to campaign for peaceful elections. How-
ever, it has been observed that EPOP is a short- term initiative that is only
activated a few weeks before and after the elections. EPOP confnes itself to
short-term interventions and mitigation measures that do not fully address
the fundamentals. If widened in scope, both in terms of activities and time,
EPOP could signifcantly contribute to peaceful elections.
Te study recommends that EPOP be made a continuous programme that
runs from one general election to the next covering all the phases of the Crisis
Management cycle. Te activities related to signal detection, prevention, re-
view and redesigning should be deepened. In addition, EPOP should integrate
some activities geared towards addressing the underlying factors for electoral
violence, such as economic marginalisation. Te programme should incorpo-
rate a separate component that is on-going and attempts to highlight the im-
portance of peace as a pre-requisite for sustainable tourism. A capacity and
awareness programme through diferent media should highlight the direct
correlation between violence, country image and tourism performance.
Te proposed Programme should be entrenched in a tourism law
containing relevant regulations. In the case of Kenya, the programme can be
mainstreamed in the Tourism Crisis Management Centre established by the
Kenya Tourism Act 2011. Tis will ensure that it is funded sustainably under
214 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
the Government fnancial mechanism. Te private sector should continue
playing their role in the system under public-private partnership framework.
Under this framework, it is important that the local communities and
tourists are involved in the programme. In this regard, the local authorities
should develop mechanisms for education and public awareness of tourism
as a source of livelihood at the local level, and the need to maintain peace
for its continued growth. Local opinion leaders and representatives of special
groups (e.g. youth, women and religious entities) can be included right from
the planning stages to the observation points where they can work with the
EPOP support teams.
Inclusion of tourists should be through giving them accurate informati-
on and guidelines on how to conduct themselves as stipulated in the EPOP
driver guide procedures. To build meaningful, local, economic linkages, tou-
rists should be sensitised to consume and purchase goods and services that
are sourced from the local communities. Even in instances where conficts
escalate to violence, tourists can create impacts through “parallel diplomacy”
that involve lobbying their governments for peace initiatives. For long-term
impact resulting in positive peace, tourists can engage development agencies
in their countries of origin to intervene; for instance, by fnancing tourism
development programmes that are ‘pro-poor’. Promotion of domestic tourism
can play a signifcant role in easing tensions among ethnic groups during elec-
toral periods through person- to- person contacts.
In spite of its limited scope, the implementation of EPOP since 2002 has
demonstrated that while violence cannot be totally eliminated, tourists’ safety
can be ensured. Expansion of EPOP under a common goal shared by all stake-
holders can transform it into a major political force that fosters peace during
elections, which is a pre-condition for sustained tourism growth. Tis will be
possible when all the stakeholders realise that they stand to gain when they
co-operate to maintain peace but that they would all lose when peace is viola-
ted. Tere is no evidence of the existence of such a model in any other country.
Terefore, the modifed EPOP can be invaluable to many other destinations
that experience politically-related violence.
Areas of Further Research
In recognition of the importance of peace and tourism interplay, which is an
unexplored study area with several knowledge gaps, further research is re-
commended in the following:
• Empirical investigation into the cost of electoral violence to the tourism
sector and wider economy
• Te role of stakeholders, including local communities, small tourism enter-
prises and tourists, within the electoral violence prevention and mitigation
framework.
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 215
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WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
War and Peace – and Tourism in
Southeast Asia
Introduction
Te relationship between tourism and confict, both past and present, is com-
plex and multi-layered (Butler & Suntikul, 2013). Because it both necessitates
and has the potential to facilitate international understanding and cooperati-
on, tourism has been seen as intrinsically promoting peaceful coexistence bet-
ween nations (D’Amore, 1988; Jafari, 1989; Richter, 2000) and supporting an
understanding of foreign cultures and their values (Askjellerud, 2006). Based
on the idea that every tourist is an ‘Ambassador of Peace’, the non-proft In-
ternational Institute of Peace through Tourism (IIPT) was founded in 1986 to
support initiatives in the tourism industry that would contribute to peace in
the world. While such a proposition is understandably attractive, particularly
to tourism promoters such as the UNWTO and other organisations like IIPT,
there is limited evidence at best that such a claim is anything more than wis-
hful thinking. After all, the last two world wars were begun by the invasion of
neighbouring countries with which the protagonist had considerable tourism
and other links and frequent visits by residents of all countries involved. On
the other hand, it can be argued convincingly that the relationship between
tourism and war can in many ways be benefcial to tourism and that the re-
turn of peace after confict often results in new or increased tourism between
former antagonists.
Proponents of the contribution of tourism to peace suggest a number of
ways in which tourism has helped avoid confict. It has been proposed that
the exchange of tourists contributed to the normalisation of relations between
former enemies such as the USA and the Soviet Union (Pizam et al., 1991) and
Israel and Egypt (Milman et al., 1990), and that tourism between North and
South Korea shows promise of encouraging a relaxing of tensions between the
two countries (Kim et al., 2007; Lee, 2006; Prideaux et al., 2010), though this
promise has yet to achieve any demonstrable and lasting progress towards
peace on the peninsula (Lee & Kang, 2013). However, despite several decades
of visits by western tourists to Russia, peace agreements between Egypt and
Israel, and many attempts at building bridges between North and South Ko-
rea, one can argue that friendly relations in all three of these examples are no
further advanced in 2013 than they were in 1973. Relations between Russia
and the USA are becoming increasingly cool, the relationship between Egypt
and Israel is at best uncertain, and North Korea has resumed a more bellige-
Tourism in Southeast Asia 217
rent approach to South Korea and its western allies in recent years. None of
these negative attitudes is due to tourism but, more pertinently, decades of
tourism links and tourist visits appear to have made little lasting contribution
towards permanent peace, particularly in the case of the Korean peninsula.
While the tenability of claims that tourism can make a substantial contribu-
tion to peace may be unproven, the role of peace as a prerequisite for tourism
is more directly apparent (Litvin 1998). A sense of security has been shown
to be of overriding importance in tourists’ decisions to visit a place (Hall &
O’Sullivan, 1996; Sönmez et al. 1999). Safety is the ‘frst and central require-
ment of tourism’ (Richter & Waugh, 1986), a view also argued by Crotts (2003)
in commenting on the need for peace to exist for tourism take place. However,
safety for tourists in a country does not always correspond to peace in that
country, especially when peace is defned as more than the absence of war. In
Myanmar, under the military junta, tourists have enjoyed a safe environment
for their leisure, even as tourism dollars support the oppressive regime and
its violent suppression of its own people (Salazar, 2005). In the past two ye-
ars tourism has grown considerably in Myanmar, generally with the support
of residents who, understandably, often place a higher emphasis on economic
growth and general economic improvement than on western protests.
Confict can of course exist within a country as well as between countries.
Robinson (1999: 20) notes that “tourism retains a capacity for catalysing host
cultural disputes … because of its ability to contribute to the marginalisation
and trivialisation of cultural groups, its innate selectivity and its capability to
shape the economic, environmental and political agendas of destinations”. It
can also generate opposition or induce confict for the reasons noted by Ryan
et al (1991), namely the fact that tourism symbolises capitalism, tourists gene-
rally come from rich (capitalist) countries and because it is often supported
by the state, thus becoming symbolic of the ‘powers that be’ in a country. In
contrast, as Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) point out, tourism may aid the cessa-
tion of confict by contributing to development, alleviating poverty, dispersing
growth to remoter areas, providing considerable employment (particularly for
women), integrating well with other economic activities, encouraging com-
munity pride and assisting the protection of natural resources. In reality, in
many cases, tourism is both a blessing and a curse because of its greatly va-
rying nature, and what may be highly suitable and benefcial in one situation
may be unwelcome and problematic in another.
Tourism and the Aftermath of War
While the presence of war and unrest at a destination is a deterrent to most
tourists, there are many examples of tourism destinations built on the heri-
tage of past conficts (Smith 1996). Sites such as battlefelds and cemeteries
are associated with personal memories for those who may have participated
in or been otherwise afected by the confict, and can also be sites represen-
ting poignant universal messages for humanity in general (Ryan, 2007, Winter,
2011). In Vietnam, for example, places associated with the Vietnam-US War,
218 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
such as the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Hoa Lo Prison, are popular attractions
on the country’s tourism circuit (Suntikul et al., 2010; Lema & Agrusa, 2013).
Tough based on reminders of wars, many of these destinations are consi-
dered as sites of ‘peace tourism’, defned by Lollis (2013) as “travelling to expe-
rience the places and activities that authentically represent peace stories and
peacemakers of the past and present” (see also Lollis and van den Dungen in
this volume). Tis type of tourism encompasses a wide range of places / acti-
vities, such as peace monuments, peace memorials, peace museums and peace
studies programmes. One can distinguish between sites celebrating ‘negati-
ve’ themes of peace (the absence or cessation of violence) and those promo-
ting ‘positive’ themes of peace (reconciliation and promotion of human rights)
(Lollis, 2013). Te forthcoming ‘commemorations’ of the centenary of the frst
World War (1914) illustrate clearly the divergent views about the nature of the
themes to be associated with such events (Jansen-Verbeke and George 2013;
Vanneste and Foote 2013). A newspaper article (Sage 2012), entitled ‘Village
starts a battle over enemy dead for Great War centenary’ showed that some
events take more than a century for forgiveness, let alone forgetting, to take
place. Te sensitive natures of confict and peace mean that tourism can be
found in locations as varied as the location of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a
dream’ speech, and the site of his assassination, the site of Nelson Mandela’s
imprisonment (Robben Island), the site of John F Kennedy’s murder in Texas,
the Amsterdam hotel where ‘Give Peace a Chance’ was recorded, and also at
the Dakota Building in New York where John Lennon was murdered. Whether
tourism to sites such as these has any real efect on the subsequent percep-
tions and behaviour of the visitors and is driven by a deep desire to share in
the message being sent by the person involved, or is simply symbolic of wan-
ting a vicarious thrill by being in a well known location, is unclear (Poria et al.
2004).
Tough battlefelds and other sites of violence provide opportunities for the
powerful presentation of messages of peace, such places may not be intrinsi-
cally considered sites of ‘peace tourism’. Indeed, they also lend themselves to
the glorifcation of militarism and the heroics of violence. Te message that is
conveyed at such sites hinges on the way the site is presented to the visitor and
how site interpretation is applied to give a particular perspective on the part
of history that the site represents – and how that message is interpreted by
tourists (Poria et al. 2005). Te aftermath of the relatively recent conficts in
South East Asia provides evidence of how tourism can help to heal the legacies
of war and promote development and stability through economic growth, as
shown below.
Confict Issues in South East Asia:
The Examples of Preah Vihear and Viengxay
Disputes over territory and property are often one of the causes of confict
between and within nations, with disputed ownership of resources frequent-
ly being at the core of disagreements. As tourism has grown greatly in value
Tourism in Southeast Asia 219
with accompanying economic benefts, sites of potential tourist interest have
gained in value and are seen as major economic resources. Tus places which
may have had little signifcance earlier can become locations of disagreement,
as their potential value to attract tourists is suddenly appreciated. Where such
sites are located in border areas or in already disputed territory, the potential
for confict is often high and can easily escalate to involve neighbouring coun-
tries and their allies. Te demarcation of national boundaries is tied up with
processes of negotiation between nations and legitimisation of rights to given
pieces of territory based on logics of common history, geographical proprie-
ty, and cultural afnities (Timothy, 2013). Te regulation of the movement of
people and goods across national borders is one of the mechanisms by which
governments assert their sovereignty (Hall, 2005). Borders are also often sites
of confict and confrontation between nations, as witnessed by the deaths of
eastern Europeans attempting to cross the Berlin Wall from east to west, and
indeed by the Wall itself. Te few remaining segments of that structure, parti-
cularly the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, are now tourist attractions, despite
the desire of many Berlin residents to obliterate all traces of the Wall (Sunti-
kul, 2010: 30). Sites of past border conficts can become tourism attractions,
which can serve to validate and memorialise battles won, or to lament and
protest battles lost (Wallerstein, 1990).
Many contemporary developments in tourism, though, are concerned with
the negation or spanning of borders, rather than their memorialisation (Ti-
mothy, 1999). To illustrate this point, discussion now focuses on South East
Asia in particular and two specifc examples of the relationship between tou-
rism and confict. In this spirit, based on the model of the European Union,
the six countries along Southeast Asia’s Mekong River (Myanmar, Tailand,
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan Province) formed the Greater
Mekong Subregion (GMS) in 2001 to promote policies, cooperation and lin-
kages that would enable the nations to work together, especially in achieving
the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of poverty reduction and
biodiversity development (Maekawa, 2001).
Within this context, Vietnam, Tailand, Laos and Cambodia signed an ag-
reement to allow the free transport and exchange of people and goods. Te
Greater Mekong Tourism Strategy of 2005 addressed the integration of tou-
rism in the GMS, including ‘Te Mekong Heritage Necklace Circuit’ incor-
porating all of the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Mekong countries,
as well as the integration and augmentation of transport networks to create
north-south and east-west tourism corridors spanning the region. Tis area in
general is one which has sufered greatly from confict, both in the form of in-
ternational war (in particular what is known as the Vietnam War in the west,
or the War of Independence in Vietnam) and in terms of internal ideological
conficts such as that which took place in Cambodia, infamous for the ‘Killing
Fields’ in the 1980s. One of the implied goals of the strategy discussed above
was to increase cooperation between participating countries and reduce the
risk of future confict, as is one of the goals of the European Union, the model
on which the GMS is based. A clear example of a potential confict site is Pre-
220 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
ah Vihear on the border between Tailand and Cambodia, which has conside-
rable tourism potential.
Preah Vihear and the Thai-Cambodian Border Dispute
Te Khmer Empire was one of the great pre-modern civilisations of Southeast
Asia. Its territory incorporated all of present-day Cambodia as well as parts
of what are now Tailand, Laos and Vietnam. Te Empire endured from 802
A.D. to the early 15th century, when it was conquered by the Tai kingdom of
Ayutthaya. It was a French colony from 1863 until 1953, when it gained inde-
pendence as the nation of Cambodia.
Te primary surviving relics of the Khmer civilisation are the many temp-
les in the distinctive Khmer architectural style. Whilst Cambodia’s Angkor
Wat, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, is the most famous, ela-
borate and signifcant of these temple complexes, there are hundreds of others
located across Southeast Asia. Aside from Angkor, the most signifcant of
these temples are clustered near the border between Cambodia and Tailand.
Among these is the Khmer temple complex of Preah Vihear, spectacularly si-
ted on the edge of the Dangrek Mountains overlooking the Cambodian plain,
just a few hundred meters from the country’s border with Tailand (Timothy,
2013).
Te location of the border between Tailand and Cambodia has fuctua-
ted over the years. Te current boundary between the two countries emerged
incrementally through a series of Franco-Siamese treaties between 1867 and
1907. Te mapping of the present boundary in 1907 set Preah Vihear within
what was then the French colony of Cambodia.
Claiming that the path of the border at Preah Vihear did not follow the
watershed, and thus violated the declared principle of the 1907 agreement as
shown on the map of that date, Tailand demanded in 1934 that Preah Vi-
hear should rightly be considered as Tai territory and should be handed over
to Tailand. During the Second World War, Tailand occupied Preah Vihear,
among other parts of Cambodia, but was forced to return the territory to
Cambodia after the war. Tailand again occupied the site in 1954, in the wake
of the French colonial power’s withdrawal. In 1962, however, the International
Court of Justice decided in Cambodia’s favour on the question of ownership of
the Preah Vihear Temple (without explicitly deciding on the ownership of 4.6
square kilometres surrounding the temple). Tis decision was based largely
on Tailand’s long delay in appealing the 1907 map and on other signals of
Siamese / Tai tacit acceptance of the map over the years (Osborne, 2008).
Silverman (2010) has proposed that Cambodia’s 2002 submission reques-
ting World Heritage listing of Preah Vihear was motivated less by a concern
for heritage as such and more with achieving a symbolic fnal victory over the
Khmer Rouge – the Communist group that killed nearly 2 million Cambodi-
ans while it ruled the country from 1975 until it was deposed by Vietnamese
forces in 1979, but which continued to operate from bases in remote areas of
the country until the fnal stand at Preah Vihear in 1998. Another motive was
the re-assertion of Cambodia’s dominion over the temple and the afrmation
Tourism in Southeast Asia 221
of Cambodia’s national identity as heir and descendant of the Khmer Empire.
Te two nations agreed to jointly develop the site with tourism in mind.
Preah Vihear is seen as having the potential to become an important tou-
rism site in Cambodia, second only to Angkor (Soeun, 2011). However, the
temple location is far from Angkor and Cambodia’s other centres of tourism.
Te main axial approach and entrance to the temple is from the Tai side, with
access from the Cambodian side approaching along a dangerous and underde-
veloped road. Silverman (2010) has suggested that Preah Vihear belongs to the
array of Khmer sites distributed across the Khorat Plateau in the Isan region
of eastern Tailand, indeed constituting the ‘ jewel in the crown’ of this region,
and could be easily integrated into a circuit taking in the other main Khmer
temples in Isan. Te establishment of such a circuit, and Tai-Cambodian
cooperation in the development of Preah Vihear as suggested by both Saikia
(2012) and Silverman (2010), would give the two countries an opportunity to
demonstrate a shared commitment to the GMS ethos.
On 8 July 2008, UNESCO ratifed Cambodia’s application for World Heri-
tage Listing for the Preah Vihear Temple. Street protests took place in Bang-
kok and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva objected to the listing, fearing that it
could lend legitimacy to Cambodian claims on the site. One week later, three
Tai protesters were arrested while climbing a fence to enter the temple site,
sparking an escalating series of military engagements between the two coun-
tries at or near the temple site in 2009 and 2010. Te most intense and deadly
hostilities in this confrontation broke out between 4 and 7 February 2011, du-
ring which a number of local houses were damaged and local people killed and
injured, while others were fnancially ruined.
As would be expected, tourist numbers declined steeply with the outbreak
of confict, with not a single tourist visiting the site in February 2011 (Makara,
2011). In the frst six months of 2011 only 27,980 tourists visited the site, as
compared to 46,400 in the same period of the previous year (Say, 2011). A 30%
increase in foreign tourists was primarily attributable to the infux of archaeo-
logists and other specialists involved with assessing the damage to the temple
(Reuy, 2012).
Tourism to Preah Vihear has been quick to rebound. By the third quarter of
2012, the number of domestic tourists had increased 57.7% from the previous
year, to 142,910. Te number of foreign tourists had increased by over 77%, to
13,140. Tis was the greatest gain of any province of the country during this
period, and well over the countrywide increase of 23.6% (Reuy, 2012). While
the number of foreign visitors to Preah Vihear continued to increase into the
following year, with a growth of 56% for the frst half of 2013 as compared to
the same period of 2012, the number of domestic tourists fell by 36% (Kunt-
hear, 2013).
An ofcial of the Preah Vihear tourism department explained that foreig-
ners were motivated by curiosity to see how the confict had afected the site
after the area had once again become ‘safe’, while domestic tourists were more
motivated to visit the site ‘out of a sense of solidarity when tensions with Tai-
land were greater’ (Kunthear, 2013). Te same ofcial also saw improvements
222 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
in infrastructure and accessibility as promoting the feeling of safety and en-
couraging tourists to come.
Te hostility between the two national governments involved in this dis-
pute is contrasted by the attitude of the local people most directly afected by
the fghting, and whose local economy benefted from tourism. Te primary
concern of the headman of one local Tambon (group of villages) was to re-
establish relations with local people on the Cambodian side of the border and
to perform a joint religious ceremony to ‘improve the atmosphere’ (Kanparit,
2013). As in many cases, the views of local participants in such issues is often
more appropriate than ofcial political positions taken in capital cities unaf-
fected by such local conficts. Te sharing of tourism-generated revenues and
employment is seen as being of greater local beneft by residents on opposite
sides of the border than continued hostilities at the national level.
Viengxay, Laos
Te second example of the problems and potential arising from confict can
be illustrated by the case of Viengxay in Laos. Viengxay is a district within the
remote, mountainous and forested province of Houaphanh in north eastern
Laos, the poorest province in that country, with 74.6% of the population living
below the poverty line in 2004 (Rogers et al., 2004: 6). Houaphanh in gene-
ral is characterised by its unspoilt nature, the presence of several local ethnic
groups including the Hmong and Khmu, and its landscape of limestone karst
formations. At Viengxay, these formations are riddled with a network of caves.
Viengxay was the Laotian communist headquarters during the ‘secret war’
that paralleled the 1963–1973 confict in Vietnam, and was thus a key US
bombing target. To escape the bombardment, more than 23,000 people took
up residence in the around 480 caves in Viengxay from 1964 until the end of
the war in 1973, creating a complete ‘hidden city’ containing political, milita-
ry, educational, commercial and residential functions (Pontin, 2005: 5) as well
as a hospital to care for the sick and injured. Beyond a place of refuge for local
people, the caves served as the headquarters from which the nationalist Com-
munist Pathet Lao was able to coordinate the resistance to the US and the
Western-aligned royal Laotian government, eventually taking over the coun-
try and abolishing the monarchy in 1975. Te Viengxay caves are therefore
considered the birthplace of the Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) and
a place of high nationalist signifcance. Te caves were abandoned at the end
of the war, but some of them were re-opened for visitors starting in the late
1990s, refecting the growing international interest, particularly in the Ameri-
can market, in the areas afected by the conficts of the 1960s and 1970s.
As a result of this growing interest in South East Asia, tourism has become
Laos’ second largest economic sector after mining, earning USD514 million
in 2012, with 3.3 million tourists entering the country during that year as
compared to 1.2 million fve years earlier (Vientiane Times, 2013). Tourism
has contributed to the development of Laos and to the reduction of poverty in
host communities (ibid). Te Asian Development Bank (ADB) envisions that
Houaphanh will become one of the Lao PDR’s top three most visited provin-
Tourism in Southeast Asia 223
ces, proposing that, with careful planning, an increase of tourist arrivals by
about 100,000 per year could be achieved, bringing a yearly increase in tou-
rism revenues of USD10–18 million yearly (ADB, 2005: 261–262).
Tourism development in Viengxay has received ample attention, support
and advice from NGOs and academic institutions. Te SNV saw highly sig-
nifcant potential for the application of tourism for poverty alleviation in Vi-
engxay (SNV, 2005), and also aspired to develop Viengxay as a ‘World Peace
Site’. Te Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA), the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Dutch Development Orga-
nisation SNV were also collaborating on the implementation of two focused
Sustainable Tourism Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) projects in Viengxay and
Houaphanh Province (SNV, 2005), comprising tasks such as: the drafting of a
master plan for the town; a heritage interpretation plan for the caves; training
on issues such as site interpretation, tourism development and English lan-
guage communication; and organising media visits that led to reports by the
New York Times, the BBC and other news media outlets (Leijzer, 2009). Te
Australian landscape design frm Hansen Partners won an Australian Insti-
tute of Landscape Architects Award in 2010 for the master plan for Viengxay
town that was drafted as a part of the ST-EP project.
Te involvement of a number of major international organisations in hel-
ping the development of such sites refects both the importance of tourism as
a development tool to help alleviate poverty and the desire of such groups to
mitigate the efects of past conficts on afected areas and populations. Te
fact that much of the harm and damage of this confict was inficted by a Wes-
tern industrialised nation on an impoverished, under-developed country may
contribute to a sense of duty and urgency for NGOs to redress past wrongs.
Aside from the ethical dimensions of tourism development assistance, this ex-
ample also illustrates the vivid appeal of war-related artefacts and structures
from the point of view of the tourist experience. Tis is reconfrmed by the
international interest and attention that the caves have been receiving, with,
for example, a Lonely Planet article listing the Viengxay caves among the ‘top
10 underground experiences in the world’ (Lonely Planet, 2010).
In 2007, the Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA) awarded a grant to the
Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial Tour Cave Ofce to develop an audio tour
and associated materials in Lao, Vietnamese and English, based on the perso-
nal stories of those who endured life in the caves during the ‘secret war’ (PATA,
2007). Tis ‘Voices of Viengxay’ audio tour was produced under the UNWTO
/ SNV ST-EP project with the collaboration of researchers from Australia’s
Deakin University, and features interviews with people who lived in the caves
throughout the intensive US bombings, recounting their frst-hand experien-
ces of that harrowing time (UNWTO, 2007). Te tour has been praised by Lo-
nely Planet as being balanced in perspective and very professional in quality.
In its personalisation of the stories of war, the interpretation ofered through
the audio tour encourages the visitor to experience the site as a peace destina-
tion (Bush, et al., 2010). However, the symbolism of peace remains entangled
with the still-present scars and reminders of war. Te recording ends with an
224 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
explanation of the on-going danger of unexploded ordnance (UXO), infor-
ming the visitor that “It is estimated that UXO kills and injures one person
a day, every day in Laos, and that it will take another 20 years to clear them”
(Mekong Responsible Tourism, N.D.). Such a comment demonstrates very
dramatically the problems generated by war and the fact that such problems
do not automatically disappear when the confict itself ceases. Whilst tourists
may wish to see the aftermath of war, such dangers should usefully alert them
to the fact that the aftermath of wars often remain for a long period and pre-
sent particular problems to the development of such sites for tourist purposes
(or indeed, for any other activities).
As the above-mentioned development projects fulfl their remit and phase-
out, however, Viengxay is faced with difculties in raising funds to continue
progress in the development of the site according to these plans and initiatives,
and is increasingly turning to private funding. Several of the caves may now
be rented out for private functions (Latsaphao, 2013). A Viengxay Revolutio-
nary Museum is currently under construction, to commemorate the patriotic
signifcance of the site, funded by the Lao-Viet Bank, which will recoup its
costs over the following years in the form of tax deductions. Te provincial
Deputy Governor admits, though, that they still have no source of funds with
which to provide exhibits to fll the building (Times Reporters, 2013). A recent
article cited the Houaphanh Provincial Planning and Investment Department
Deputy Director, Mr Khonthong Manivone, as stating that a local construc-
tion company, PVP Construction, had been contracted to conduct a study,
produce a design and carry out construction to convert Viengxay into ‘an im-
portant historical tourist attraction’, citing a lack of funding sources as the
inspiration for turning this project over to a private sector company (Times
Reporters, 2013).
Discussion and Recommendations
In Southeast Asia, as envisioned by the GMS, there is no place in the future
for the xenophobic nationalism and petty politics that led to the disruptions
and confrontations discussed in the cases above. Te Preah Vihear case de-
picts the consequences, losses and missed opportunities associated with the
re-enforcement, rather than dissolution, of the divisive and contentious na-
ture of boundaries. A jointly managed, spectacularly sited Khmer temple at
the border between Tailand and Cambodia would be an ideal site to embody
the bonds between these two countries linked by a shared cultural heritage as
well as a common vision of a more integrated future. Where the logic of bor-
ders fails to ofer up a satisfactory resolution, the integrative logic of the regio-
nal network reveals potentials that could not be discerned within the frame of
reference of exclusive sovereignty.
Te case of Viengxay demonstrates the power of peace sites as rallying
points for international attention and funding, which can be of great help
to developing countries, but also shows that the infusion of expertise and
knowledge brought by these projects has limited efect without a fnancially
Tourism in Southeast Asia 225
and socially sustainable mechanism to maintain the requisite principles and
practices for a peace site. As in the discussion of Preah Vihear above, regional
networks will also be the key to the sustainability of tourism at Viengxay. A
new regional airport due to open in 2015, and the on-going construction of
new roads, will greatly increase the accessibility of this remote location and
help raise tourism numbers. Te promise of a quantum increase in visitors
may inspire a sense of urgency for the development outlined in the current
projects discussed above, but it is hoped that Viengxay will take a measured
and gradual approach to development of the site to accommodate more vi-
sitors, which would require less reliance on large infusions of ready private
capital.
Tourism contributes to the economic sustenance of the local communities
around Preah Vihear, and the better accessibility and increased tourism fows
that would be brought by peaceful collaboration could increase the potential
of income gain from tourism. Te efectiveness of Preah Vihear as a peace site
would be bolstered by its real-time demonstration of the fnancial, political
and social dividends of peaceful cooperation between nations. Te greater the
economic beneft brought by tourism, the greater the incentive for continued
peace, cooperation and dialogue. In terms of the distinction made by Lollis
(2013), the site would lend itself to demonstrating ‘negative’ themes of peace in
marking the suspension of hostilities, as well as ‘positive’ themes of peace in
the human benefts of cross-border integration and cooperation.
Preah Vihear’s recent history of confict brings another layer of meaning
to the site that may be difcult to ‘read’ from the physical structures of the
site (in contrast to Viengxay) but which is important to visitors’ appreciation
of the site’s message. Development of tour products like the Viengxay Story
would allow visitors to understand the geography of confict on the site and
the experiences of those whose lives were directly impacted by the hostilities.
With appropriate interpretation, as has been achieved to such acclaim in Vi-
engxay, Preah Vihear as a confict site could present visitors not with a celeb-
ration of victory or a lamentation of defeat, but rather with a shared statement
of commitment never again to resort to violence to address diferences. Te
site could demonstrate the follies of the past with creative tours and site inter-
pretation through which visitors could experience, in a visceral way, the con-
trast between the fading signifcance of borders in the GMS and the growing
integration between people and nations in the Sub-region.
Whilst both the tourism asset and the site interpretation of the caves at
Viengxay have been lauded internationally, there are two aspects of current
tourism development at the site that, if not carefully and correctly monitored
and controlled, could be very detrimental to its integrity as a peace site. Te
frst trend is the increasing infuence of private fnancial interests, for whom
proft and expedience can be expected to take precedence over ideological is-
sues and sensitivity to the unique nature of the site. Te second issue is the
construction of the Viengxay Revolutionary Museum on the site, which could
indicate a shift to a nationalism-centred message in site interpretation that
contradicts the very lessons in peace revealed in the analysis of the Preah Vi-
226 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
hear case. Whilst acknowledging the need to identify practicable ways of fun-
ding development, it is hoped that the rich and multifaceted learning and re-
commendations produced by the years of research by various NGOs and other
institutions will form the basis upon which future development is founded.
Conclusion
Te specifc cases discussed above are only two of many such examples of the
way that confict has impacted upon tourism and potential tourism develop-
ment. If the negative efects of war and confict in general are to be overcome,
then it is clear that peace is required. In the present day almost no visitors
travel for pleasure to zones of war or confict, unlike the situation some cen-
turies ago when people would fock to watch battles take place (Seaton, 1999).
Dark tourism (Lennon and Foley, 2000) is now generally confned to visiting
places of tragedy and atrocity such as concentration camps, battlefeld sites
and cemeteries and, even then, the motivation of visitors may not be dark in
the pejorative sense, but more for recognition of sacrifce, of personal heritage,
or for greater understanding of how such events came to take place (Winter,
2009). Locations that have sufered because of conficts, not only such as war,
but also through internal strife and cultural and religious bigotry, often be-
come major tourist attractions when peace ensues. Te most vivid example of
this in recent times is probably that of Vietnam, which has seen major growth
as a tourist destination with both internal and external investment and de-
velopment of facilities, often using artefacts and structures related to the Vi-
etnam War as tourist attractions. Air force bases, rest and relaxation centres
and even surfboards left over from a war flm (Te Times, 2013) become im-
portant elements in the development of tourism in the post-war era. Tis is a
pattern that has been seen throughout the world, whereby both participants
in, and victims of, confict return to scenes and features of violence and atro-
city, perhaps to remember and by remembering, to gain personal peace and
forgiveness.
If tourism is to have a role to play in easing confict and encouraging peace,
both between hostile neighbours and also between hostile groups within
the same state, then it is more likely to come about because of the benefts of
tourism in terms of its development potential than because people become
friends with residents of other countries by travelling abroad. As noted ear-
lier, such interchange did not prevent the two world wars of the 20th century.
Even if individual people do change their opinions about the residents of other
countries because they have visited those countries, it is naïve to imagine that
such a change in attitude would prevent confict, which is generally between
governments and armies under their control rather than the general populati-
ons involved. Te difering opinions at the local and national levels in the case
of Preah Vihear illustrate this problem clearly. It is much more likely that the
potential value of tourism as a force for peace in the wider sense of the term
(beyond absence of confict that is) lies in the way that it can transform the
economic and social structure of places and populations.
Tourism in Southeast Asia 227
In this sense the benefts of tourism, as described by Moufakkir and Kelly
(2010) and noted earlier, are likely to increase the general well-being of local
populations, perhaps reducing inequalities and injustices because of a general
improvement in economic conditions, and perhaps lowering the likelihood of
civil unrest and even international confict. While tourism may not always be
seen as benefcial, particularly to those who view it as a form of colonialism
or neo-conservatism, continuing the domination of the western capitalistic
countries, for many residents of tourist destination countries, it is one of what
is often a very limited range of development options. Tis is even more true
in those countries that have been blighted by wars and internal conficts and
have limited resources. It is a sad irony that while war deters tourism, the re-
lics and memories of war serve to attract tourists in ever increasing numbers.
Te appropriate development of tourism at specifc locations in South East
Asia and other parts of the world, utilising the relics of confict in particular,
holds considerable potential to improve the lot of residents of often blighted
regions, who have sufered heavily in past conficts. While tourism is not al-
ways the perfect solution for development problems, it does hold very conside-
rable potential in specifc areas and can perhaps, in some manner, compensate
residents of former confict areas for past mistakes by the international com-
munity at large.
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PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
Peace Sensitivity in Tourism Codes of
Conduct at Destinations in Confict:
A Case Study of Partnership Actions
in Pokhara, Western Nepal
Introduction
Peace and prosperity are the most cherished aspirations for tourist destina-
tions in confict. Te reason is that tourism in these destinations is both sensi-
tive to confict and responsive to peace. Te potential of tourism for mitigating
confict and strengthening peace is not only signifcant but also challenging,
especially for those tourist destinations which are bound towards growth and
maturity. However, peace sensitivity in tourism in growth-bound destinations
that are also confict areas can be promoted by making tourism responsible
and sustainable. An ethical foundation and a commitment to responsibility
are important to ensure that tourism’s enormous potential to do well is har-
nessed, and any negative impact curtailed (Lea 1993; UNWTO 2011). Te ap-
plication of ethical codes of conduct in tourism is fundamental in making tou-
rism responsible, sustainable and peace-promoting. A peace-sensitive Code of
Conduct (CoC) in tourism includes strategic actions, policies, and adaptations
related to the tourism sector that minimise the negative efects of confict and
promote peace (Sharma et al. 2011). Te CoC of tourism undeniably demands
voluntary, disciplinary and moral commitments of multiple stakeholders of
tourism for their responsible tourism management and practices.
With unique nature and age-old culture, Nepal is a destination with tre-
mendous potential for tourism. Te arrival of international tourists to Nepal
had been more or less continuously growing since the time Nepal opened to
the outside world in mid 20
th
century. However, the country saw a number of
persistent conficts in the history of the formation of modern Nepal. Amidst
these conficts, a decade (1996–2006) of Maoist armed confict was the most
challenging for the tourism sector. It caused the fuctuation in arrival of tou-
rists. Tourism in Nepal has rebounded since peace agreements were reached
in 2006 after the Maoist armed confict. However, structural conficts even
within the tourism sector itself persist and continue to compromise its res-
ponsible growth and sustainability and pose a challenge to rediscovery of the
potential of tourism for socio-economic prosperity and peace.
Pokhara, the second most popular tourist destination in western Nepal, is
no exception and serves as a solid case study. Tere are apparent direct con-
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 231
ficts within this sector as well as indirect disagreements between tourism and
non-tourism sectors. Pokhara has recently produced and applied a CoC ma-
nual at the destination level in partnership actions. Te partnership actions
not only succeeded in formulating the CoC manual and applying it, but also in
bringing various key players in tourism such as practitioners, researchers, local
government and non-tourism protagonists together. Tis approach has secu-
red all relevant protagonists to a responsible tourism pathway on a voluntary
basis and institutionalised and strengthened the peace potential of tourism.
In the context of the unavoidable relationship of tourism with peace and con-
fict, this chapter frst attempts to generate knowledge at this level and then
highlights the strong link between peace responsive tourism and the issue of
its CoC at destination level. In particular, this chapter gives an overview of the
ethical aspects of tourism in Pokhara and addresses the following questions.
• What are the potentials of tourism for peace-building in Pokhara?
• Why and how have conficts arisen in the context of the development of
tourism in Pokhara?
• How has tourism in Pokhara become responsive to peace through its CoC-
related responsible tourism strategy at the destination level?
Tis article concludes with thoughts on the understanding of peace-building
through ethical aspects of tourism. It recommends a CoC as a vital strate-
gy at destinations for strengthening and increasing their potential for peace
through tourism. It particularly remarks on the fact that tourism is not only
negatively afected by and sensitive to confict, but also responsive to peace if
protagonists in tourism collectively act to identify problems and build respon-
sible strategies in the form of CoC guidelines and their application.
Methodological approach
Te information in the article is mostly qualitative data, which has been coll-
ected from both secondary and primary sources. Te secondary information
consists mainly of the conceptual aspects of the codes of conduct for tourism.
Te information has been derived from books and internet sources. Te prima-
ry information makes up most of the information, which was acquired largely
through face-to-face interactions during the process of implementation of a
Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS) project titled “Meeting
the challenges of Peace-building in Tourism in Pokhara – Strengthening the
Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Business Operation” in the years
2011–12. Te PAMS project was conceptualised on the basis of the knowledge
fndings of the PhD research on the thematic area of ‘Tourism, Confict and
Peace’. PAMS was based on transdisciplinary approach, which pulled scienti-
fc researchers [e.g. this author, as the PhD researcher and senior scientist of
Kathmandu University and the South Asia Regional Ofce of the Swiss Natio-
nal Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South], tourism indus-
try practitioners (e.g. 22 varied tourism and non-tourism professional associa-
232 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
tions under the umbrella Organisation – Pokhara Tourism Council) and local
governmental actors in the action research in integrated approaches.
PAMS was endorsed by Kaski District Tourism Development Committee
(KDTDC) before its commencement. KDTDC is headed by the Chief District
Ofcer and represented by all key stakeholders of tourism. With the com-
mencement of the PAMS project, the platform served as a space that bridged
the gap between the local community and researchers to allow the start of
dialogue and knowledge exchange. Conceptualisation of the experience (good
and best practices) of various destinations in Nepal (as applicable) and in
other countries is one of the methodological processes in the formulation of
the CoC manual.
Te project had previously carried out SWOT analysis and thus identifed
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a total of 22 tourism and
semi-tourism professions under their respective professional associations
through the continuous bilateral consultations. Te refned outcomes of the
SWOT analysis were published under the title ‘Proceedings of a regional con-
ference on facing the challenges of sustainable peace and prosperity in tou-
rism’ [In Nepali] (Upadhayaya and Khatiwada 2012). Tis publication came
prior to starting the formulation of the draft of the CoC. Te information
from the SWOT analysis was signifcant for the proper implementation of the
project in formulating codes of conduct for a total of 13 stakeholders of tou-
rism including tourists in Pokhara.
Overview of tourism from the perspective of peace and confict
Te exponential growth of international tourism both in terms of internati-
onal tourist arrivals and their reception is astonishing in the present peace
time. Tis trend of continuous growth of the modern tourism industry has
not only ofered restorative holidays to tourists of developing regions but also
created wide- ranging, positive benefts in socio-cultural, economic and envi-
ronmental spheres in receiving (host) regions.
Tourism is established today as one of the largest and fastest growing in-
dustries in the world. Te international tourists’ arrivals grew from 25 million
in 1950 to 1.035 billion in 2012 with a 39.14 fold increase. Tis counted for the
growth of 2.318 percent per annum in the last 62 years. Likewise, the revenue
has gone from a mere few million to 1.3 trillion US$ in 2012 (UNWTO 2013).
Tis fashion of modern tourism indicates that it is not only a leading industry
as well as a social force of the 21st century, but also one with various socio-
economic benefts.
Tourism and Peace
Tourism is related to both peace and confict as these three elements are inter-
woven. Tere is increased attention and continuing discussions on the interre-
lationships of these components (Upadhayaya 2013).
Te peace potential through tourism has recently received increased attention
in a number of works (Alluri 2009; Askjellerud 2010; D’Amore 2007; Hall et al.
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 233
2009; Higgins-Desbiolles and Blanchard 2010; Honey and Gilpin 2009; Joras
2009; Kelly 2012, 32–49; Leong 2008; Levy and Hawkins 2010, 570; Moufak-
kir and Kelly 2010; Salazar 2006; Tarlow 2011; Tomljenovi? 2010; UNWTO
2012). Tere are discussions on the socio-cultural, economic and environmen-
tal wellness of tourism in these documents. Furthermore, there are positive
outlooks on the peace potential of tourism in countries in the post-confict
period. Tourism is resilient in nature and is the frst category of the business
sector to recommence trading in the aftermath of violence once the violent
confict ends and reconstruction phase starts in post-confict settings. (Bray
2009). Furthermore, numerous wishes and desires are expressed by several
tourism experts, world leaders, policy-makers, institutions, associations, in-
ternational summits, declarations, charters, protocols and conventions on the
peace sensitivity of tourism (Kunwar 2010).
Te positive relationship between tourism and peace is guided by the be-
lief that responsible tourism can make a meaningful contribution to people’s
lives and our planet, and support for inviting peace and prosperity (Respon-
sible Tourism 2012). UNWTO states that ‘tourism represents a vital force for
peace and a factor of friendship and understanding among the peoples of the
world’ (UNWTO 2012, 1). However, it is observable that the role of tourism for
peace-building is often narrow, indirect and focused. For example, Sharma et
al. (2011, 1) reveal that ‘a broad shift from mainstream conventional tourism
to community-based rural tourism with local participation and ownership is
crucial to fulfl Nepal’s tourism potential for peace-building’. In this context,
Hall et al. (2009) precisely state that peace through tourism is feasible, parti-
cularly at a micro-level as the appropriate tourism development may serve as a
means to ward of potential confict over resource and environmental security.
Such feasibility of peace through tourism at a micro-level is brought about lar-
gely due to the compliance of voluntary and disciplinary standards and ethical
‘road map’.
Tourism and confict
Tourism not only has potential for peace but is also contributory to confict.
Tese negative consequences are visible mainly on the social, cultural, phy-
sical and natural environments in which tourism operates (Castaneda 2012;
Eriksson et al. 2009; Günnemann 2006; Leong 2008; McKercher 1993). As the
traditional holiday destinations are gradually becoming oversaturated (Gün-
nemann 2006), tourism is also a contributing factor in damaging environ-
ments, stressing societies, eroding culture, undermining moral values, weake-
ning collective traditional lifestyles, manifesting confict and also heightening
it. Te more the global tourism industry grows at an ever-faster pace, the more
chances there are of generating confict due to the weak notion of sustainable
tourism practices.
Tere are a number of examples to verify this view on the difcult relation-
ship between tourism and peace. Confict and the closure of tourist resorts at
Chitwan National Park in 2009 (Upadhayaya 2011), confict with the ‘light-a-
fre’ movement of political opposition to Marcos-owned luxury hotels in the
234 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
Philippines in 2006 (Richter 1997), tourism-induced confict on Lombok, an
island east of Bali in Indonesia (Fallon 1992) and tourism-led confict in Kullu
(Himachal Pradesh) and Lavasa (Maharashtra) in India in 2008 (Chanchani
2009) are some prominent examples. A review of these case studies reveals
that tourism, apart from being a cause of confict and impunity, can also exa-
cerbate other underlying conficts and tensions in society.
Conficts continue to occur in the tourism sector regardless of the eforts
made by tourism practitioners to prevent and solve them. However, its proper
management with the concerted eforts of local stakeholders for responsib-
le tourism guidelines can persuade people as to the peace responsiveness of
tourism. In this context, Kelly (2006, 1) clearly states on the thorough peace
tourism propositions that ‘with appropriate management, tourism has greater
potential than any other human activity’ and there is a need for tourism to be
purposefully managed if it is to help meet the peace objective. A CoC, which
is the focus of this article, is considered a vital tool for the proper management
of tourism.
Peace sensitivity of tourism codes of conduct at destinations in confict:
A conceptual overview
Te potential of codes of conduct for peace-sensitivity of tourism have been
intensely discussed and are highly necessary in the context of the multiface-
ted, diverse, and highly unregulated trends of the modern tourism industry
(Budeanu 2005; Cleverdon and Kalisch 2000; Dodds and Joppe 2005; Fennel
2010; Goodwin and Francis 2003; Harrison and Husbands 1996; Malloy and
Fennel 1998; UNWTO 2011). Tis literature highlights the essence of codes of
conduct (ethical aspects) for sustainable and responsible tourism management
and interdependence of sustainable tourism practices and characteristics and
peace-building. Earlier scholars, such as Ahmed et al. (1994) describe ethi-
cal problems within the tourism industry in third-world countries, and raise
questions about the ethics for quality tourism products, services and marke-
ting, which are prerequisites for peace- promoting tourism. In their discus-
sion of the conceptual framework for linking tourism with confict and peace,
Upreti et al. (2013) show the necessity of the compliance of a CoC for local
voluntary and disciplinary standards and argue for the application of additio-
nal confict-sensitive measurements to the activities in post-confict societies.
Te codes of conduct- related voluntary and moral interventions are appa-
rently important for the responsible and sustainable development of tourism.
Te tourism codes of conduct are defned as an “Ethical Road Map” to guide
the sector’s key-players through the tourism landscape in minimising the ne-
gative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage, while
maximising the benefts for residents of tourist destinations. Te term “ethics”
refers to a set of standards and values that an individual or a group follows to
identify what is right and what is wrong. Te objective of responsible tourism
is to create better places for people to live in and to visit where CoC guidelines
emerge as the blueprint for their voluntary contributions (UNWTO 2011).
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 235
Dawid de Villiers (2010), the former Chairman of the World Committee
of Tourism Ethics, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and former Tourism Minister under
Nelson Mandela alludes to the immense value of tourism CoC in his state-
ment as “Tourism without moral and ethical principles is like a ship without
radar; it can cause great harm to the industry, people, and the environment“. A
number of such moral issues in the tourism industry are clearly stated in the
United Nations (UN) 10- point principles of "Global Code of Ethics for Tou-
rism (GCET)".
Te UNWTO (2012, 1) defnes the GCET for tourism as a ‘frame of refe-
rence for the responsible and sustainable development of tourism. It is a com-
prehensive set of principles designed to guide and address key-players in tou-
rism development like governments, the travel industry, communities, and
tourists alike’. Te GCET provides guidelines for the morally responsible de-
velopment of tourism. It has been instrumental in promoting and developing
sustainable forms of tourism based on ethical principles. However, UNWTO
focuses on the implementation of the GCET mainly at the central government
level. Te adaptation of the principles of CoC by the private sector and their
implementation at the destination level is still to be realised.
Tere are increasing ideological and practical opinions on the need and va-
lue of the ethical codes of conduct for responsible tourism, occupation and
business, not only at global but also at national and local levels (MoTCA 2012;
NCCR North-South 2013; Shrestha 2009; UNWTO 2012; Upadhayaya 2012;
Upadhayaya and Upreti 2009). Te Paryatan Niti 2065 (Tourism Policy 2009)
gives importance to the need of tourism codes of conduct at the national level.
(MoTCA 2009, 12). Such statements refer to situations such as that in Pokha-
ra. Te Home-stay Sanchalan Karyabidhi 2067 (Home-stay Operation Work
Procedure 2010) has clearly stated the CoC for tourists in all destinations, in-
cluding Pokhara, under its Annex 4 (MoTCA 2010). Furthermore, the concept
paper of the National Planning Commission also clearly states that ‘Codes of
Conduct for tourism business will be implemented through their own associa-
tions’ (NPC 2010, 98). Nonetheless, the visions of these documents were previ-
ously left without being addressed and without materialising them in practice
in the context of Nepalese tourism. Tese initiations are largely confned to
macro level. Te policy thrusts have very little impact on practical applica-
tions of codes of conduct at micro level tourist destinations like Pokhara.
Tourism in Pokhara:
Setting context of peace and confict through tourism
Te picturesque town of Pokhara lies at the base of the snow-capped moun-
tains of the Himalayan range. It is one of the most attractive tourist desti-
nations and second biggest tourist hub for both domestic and international
tourists in Nepal. As shown in fgure 1, Pokhara is geographically located in
the central part of Nepal at an altitude of 827m and in an area of 123 sq km. It
is popular as the headquarters of the Western development region from the
236 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
perspective of the national development plan of Nepal. Tis plan has divided
the entire nation into a total of fve development regions.
Figure 1: Central location of Pokhara on the map of Nepal
Source: Developed by author
Te abundance of tourism resources, pleasant weather conditions all year
round, non-stop tourism- related events and activities and well-established
service and hospitality standards are strengths and opportunities which make
Pokhara a popular tourist destination (Fort 2010; NTB 2011). Today, Pokhara
is the main starting and fnishing point for trekking to Annapurna Conserva-
tion Area, Mt. Annapurna Base Camp (4090 m) and Mt. Machhapuchhre Base
Camp (3700 m) and the main resting and relaxation point on the aftermath
of trekking (NCCR North-South and TAAN WRC 2010; Tripathi 2007). Te
number of tourists visiting Pokhara has been increasing steadily since 1970.
Tending towards volume tourism, it has observed the growth in the number of
tourists from 6,179 in 1962 to 500,000 in 2012 (MoTCA 2012). Tese trends of
growth in the last three and half decades have ofered both opportunities for
prosperity and peace, and challenges for conficts in its tourism sector (Tripa-
thi 2007; Upadhyaya and Khatiwada 2012).
Peace inclination of tourism in Pokhara
Tere has been continuous growth in tourist arrivals since the 1980s when the
commercialisation of tourism started in Pokhara. Tis growth is notable in
the sense that it has not only ofered restorative holidays for incoming tourists
with the increased activities and events of tourism, but also created opportu-
nities for unlimited tourism entrepreneurs, workers, suppliers, and contrac-
tors. As a result, there has been tremendous growth in the tourism- service
providing industry for various professions. Altogether 673 accommodation
units (hotels, resorts, lodges, and guesthouses), 21 tourist restaurants, 116
travel agencies, 81 trekking agencies, 18 paragliding companies, 59 trekking
equipment shops, 75 embroidery and garment services, 750 boat services, 52
money changers, 62 tourist cyber cafés, 12 tourist shopping complexes, 2154
Rara National
Park
Chitwan
National Park
Bardiya
National Park
Sukla Phanta
Wildlife Reserve
Dhorpatan
Hunting Reserve
Lumbini
Mustang
Manang
Kathmandu
Shey-Phoksundo
National Park
Khaptad
National Park
Pokhara
E ASTERN
WE STERN
I NDI A
CHI NA
N
CENTRAL
MI D WE STERN
FAR WE STERN
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 237
taxis and micro bus services, and 3 home-stays in Pokhara (PTO 2011) are
available for tourists. With this growth comes an expansion of the tourism-
related infrastructure, amenities, occupational skills and hospitality services,
and land and air accessibility.
Te increase in tourist facilities and services amidst the excellent natural,
cultural and bio-diverse attractions has also increased the satisfaction of the
tourists. Furthermore, it has also rendered enormous benefts to host commu-
nities by creating thousands of tourism-based jobs, income, foreign exchange
earnings, local supply linkages, increased local absorptive capacities, and so
on. Tere have also been some developments in linking tourism with rural
areas, strengthening local supply linkages, enhancing absorptive capacity, and
up-scaling cross-cultural interaction and learning between guests and hosts.
Tese elements are seen as helpful in building economic prosperity and peace
in the local society in Pokhara. Even various non tourism-related practices are
also indirectly benefting from tourism (Upreti et al. 2013). With, and also bey-
ond, these opportunities, tourism-related growth has simultaneously brought
enormous challenges and with it, ultimately, various resulting conficts.
Tourism-led confict in Pokhara
As a multifaceted industry comprising its own diferent dimensions and
functionally interdependent sub-sectors, Pokhara’s tourism constitutes the
overlapping roles of various protagonists in developing and managing. Te
growing tourism industry with almost 500,000 tourist (domestic and interna-
tional) arrivals in 2012 is countered with a number of challenges in transfor-
ming its tourism as a responsible industry and social force (Upadhayaya and
Khatiwada 2012). Tere are various negative implications for the environment
with environmental degradation, for society with acculturation and trivialisa-
tion of local culture, and the economy with export and import leakages. Te-
re are observable sporadic shortages of responsible and sustainable tourism
practices of multiple tourism participants. Tese challenges appear precisely
in following two forms: (a) challenges emerging from the immediate environ-
ment (within the tourism sector at local level) and (b) challenges emerging
from the wider (external) environment (outside of tourism) (Upadhayaya and
Khatiwada 2012). Te development of such challenges has ultimately resulted
in conficts within and outside of the tourism sector in Pokhara.
Te fast and unmanaged developments brought about by tourism (e.g. con-
struction works without proper permission and guidelines, etc.) are problema-
tic in generating conficts. Such socio-cultural impacts and impressions are
largely visible in Fewa Lakeside, the major tourist area in Pokhara (Sharma
2010). Moreover, there is lack of common goals and understanding in various
tourism associations. Te lack of amicable labour-management relationships,
increased labour unionisation and its politicisation are identical amidst large
numbers of small and medium tourism enterprises. Te internal challenges
emerging from immediate or local environment of tourism have resulted in
structural conficts within the tourism sector. Such structural conficts also
238 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
included the inter-organisational conficts (e.g. unhealthy competition on
price and management) between similar categories of tourism enterprises in
the tourism sector. All these internal challenges showing a lack of responsible
tourism practices in the corporate business sector, are bitter truths in tourism
(NCCR North-South 2013).
As well as internal, there are also some external challenges. Nepal has seen
a number of conficts (e.g. political movements in 1950, 1980, 1990, 1996–
2006, and 2006) on a backdrop of unitary and centralised political system,
socio-political exclusion, age-old feudal socio-economic system, political fai-
lures and bad governance. Te tourism sector could not remain untouched
by this structural change. Amidst a number of persistent conficts, a decade
(1996–2006) of Maoist armed confict was the most challenging in the history
of tourism. Te confict, which was less destructive till 1999, became violent
and destructive in the year 2000. Tourism was vulnerable, with fuctuations in
tourist arrivals due to the highly unstable and sensitive character of tourism
(Bhattarai, Conway and Shrestha 2005; Tapa 2009). Nepal entered a post-
confict stage after a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between
the Government of Nepal and Maoist rebels on 21 November 2006. Although
the tourism sector has been gradually recovering since the CPA during the
current transition phase, the nation has been confronted with some new forms
of conficts: a plethora of strikes, banda (closures), vandalism, transportation
strikes, as well as social and political unrest led by political parties and social
institutions (KC 2007). In addition to these, there are various other external
challenges such as encroachments into open spaces and cultural and natural
heritage sites (lake, river, religious sites etc.), whose presence and timely pro-
tection are prerequisites for the development of tourism. Te tourism sector
could not grow as fast as expected because of the “fuid” political situation
(Bhattarai and Dahal 2007; Grandon 2007). As the second biggest tourist des-
tination, Pokhara is not free from the efects of these external challenges. Te-
se issues are triggers of confict in Pokhara’s tourism sector.
Table 1 in more detail depicts a mix of these internal and external challenges
for tourism in Pokhara, which have perpetuated the conficts.
Table 1: Apparent conficts in context of tourism development in Pokhara
S. N. Pertaining issues Apparent confict Tangible and intangible
repercussions
1. Absence of commonly accepted
organisational codes of conduct
Sporadic disputes between labourers
and management
Lack of coordination and sensitivity
on the destination image
2. Lack of proper manners in receiving
guests and recommending them to
particular hotels by the members of
the hotel representatives society
Observable confict among the
representatives of hotels and
between hoteliers and hotel
representatives. Inconvenience and
bad impression to tourists at the
destination
Possibility of the low rating of the
standard of services of the tourist
destination
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 239
S. N. Pertaining issues Apparent confict Tangible and intangible
repercussions
3. Reservations and sales being made
by various diferent intermediary
tourism entrepreneurs going beyond
the scope of their professional areas
Apparent confict among travel
agencies, small hoteliers, trekking
agencies, rafting agencies,
communications centres, etc.
Degradation of quality on customer
care (e.g. efcient communications,
dominance of irresponsible trends,
and possibility of price cutting) and
deterioration of quality service
4. Lack of minimum rates in majority
of Small and Medium tourism
Enterprises
Confusion among tourists due to the
lack of credibility at the destination,
and apparent psychological confict
among tourists
Lack of attention to humans and
social and environmental aspects
5. Inability to gain optimum utilisation
of natural resources and heritages
for tourism
Confnement of benefts to limited
stakeholders that appear as the
source of future conficts
Limitation to expand the prospect of
inclusion and participation on a large
(holistic) scale
6. Unhealthy inter-organisational
competitions (among
entrepreneurships like restaurants,
tour agencies, trekking agencies, etc.)
and lack of coordination
Lack of professionalism and confict
among each other
Tourist restaurants run by families
without being registered, which are
also not monitored for service quality
and professionalism
7. Apathy and defciency in proper
management of rubbish
Sporadic confict due to the
inappropriate dumping of rubbish
Negative implication on the healthy
appearance and work environment
of the Fewa Lake side and its
surroundings
8. Occasional use of drugs and ear-
phones by trekking guides while
on duty
Inconvenience and observable
dissatisfaction with service level
Possible unfriendly image with
regard to the standard of service in
the long run
Source: Compiled by author
Te accumulation of these internal and external challenges has even resulted
in the bad manners and occasional disagreements between the tourism and
non-tourism sectors. In this context, the PAMS research project identifed
the needs of tourism entrepreneurships, their operations and management in
such a way, which not only ensured economic success, but also optimised the
level of its environmental and social compatibility. Meeting such needs is even
more vital in a context where a vast number of tourists want to visit an area
that has the recreational possibilities that they want but with no efect or with
minimum negative efects on the environmental resources and socio-cultural
heritages. Te lack of codes of conduct related guidelines and practices are at-
tributed as major factors that result in conficts in the tourism sector. Te lack
of proper awareness, knowledge, extensive debates, social dialogues, social in-
teractions, confdence, common agendas, cooperation, concerted institutional
actions, training skills, institutional eforts and social learning are related de-
240 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
fciencies, which have caused the tourism sector to be unenthusiastic in apply-
ing codes of conduct as ethical practices.
Codes of conduct for peace responsive tourism in Pokhara:
Empirical evidence
Pokhara has recently entered into the category of responsible tourism through
the introduction of codes of conduct in its planning, management and opera-
tion at the destination level. Te guidelines for responsible tourism in Pokhara
come in the form of ‘Codes of Conduct (CoC) for Peace Responsive Tourism
in Pokhara: A Manual’ at destination level, which take efect from 20
th
April
2013. Tis manual has been released and brought into operation by the Mi-
nister of Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal as part of a grand programme
entitled ‘Pokhara Tourism Declaration 2013’. Te manual consists of the state-
ment of declaration in which there is a public announcement on its production
through joint participation and the consent of members of PTC at destination
level in Pokhara. It also states the names of all 15 tourism and semi-tourism
associations with ofcial stamps, names and the posts of the ofciating chiefs
of these associations, their signatures, and the joint endorsements and full
commitments on the application of all provisions.
Te guidelines in this manual are formulated for 13 diferent sub-sectors
of tourism by joint efort of Pokhara Tourism Council, Nepal Tourism Board,
and Switzerland-based National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR)
North-South in association with 15 tourism-related professional associations
in Pokhara. Tese sub-sectors of tourism for which such conducts are formu-
lated in this manual include hotels, trekking agencies, tour and travel agents,
tourist restaurants and bars, tourism-related media, trekking equipment
shops, embroidery and garments, paragliding companies, workers in all cate-
gories of tourism enterprises, general stakeholders of tourism (including non-
tourist sectors), tourists, taxi operators, and bus entrepreneurs. Te guidelines
in this manual are conceptually and theoretically based on the 10-point Glo-
bal Code of Ethics for Tourism laid down by United Nations World Tourism
Organization for the sustainability of tourism in the world.
Tis partnership, action-based manual aims to strengthen the peace poten-
tial of tourism through mitigating the development of irresponsible tourism
and by bringing the intra- and inter-organisational coordination and harmony
into the tourism sector in Pokhara. For example, the codes of conduct ma-
nual highlights the CoC for the media sector by stating the agreement and
commitments of ‘media houses’ to follow Do’s (guidelines as to what is desi-
rable) and Don’ts (guidelines as to what is not desirable) in their work (news
collection, editing, disseminating, etc.) for the sustainable development and
promotion of tourism. It clearly states the media’s responsibility to give higher
priority to news on responsible tourism products, awareness and sensitivity of
hosts and guests regarding responsible tourism practices, support for tourists
on their right to information, increasing awareness of local civil society on
the value of tourism, responsible reporting on sustainable news, highlighting
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 241
of successful stories, exercise of caution on reporting the sensitive news on
the destination's image, prohibition of negative media exaggeration, and avoi-
dance of media hype of legally and socially unacceptable news.
One of the CoC related guidelines of Paschimanchal Hotel Association
(PHA) in Pokhara states that ‘all members of PHA will necessarily avoid the
use of child labour, women, elderly and physically challenged people for work,
which is risky and unsafe for them in tourist accommodation’ (Upadhayaya
et. al 2013, 24). Te manual on the responsibility of tourists states that they
must respect local cultures, customs, social structures, norms, values and
beliefs; be sensitively aware of the feelings of local people and host cultures
and do not do anything that might be ofensive on their part. One other
provision for the general stakeholders of tourism in Pokhara states that ‘all
general participants in Pokhara will give priority and encouragement to
the forms of tourism development, which are conducive to saving rare and
precious resources, in particular water and energy, as well as avoiding waste
production and disposal’ (Upadhayaya et. al 2013, 58). For the tourism
workers’ unions, irrespective of their afliations to any political party, the
manual states that no labourer or worker will drink alcohol, smoke or use
earphones while on duty or with their guests so that they can perform to
their level best and can prevent guests’ dissatisfaction, complaints and other
unexpected weak job performances. In summary, the manual clearly refects
the roles and responsibilities (with Do’s and Don’ts) of all tourism enterprises
towards their employees, local environments, tourists and local non-tourist
practitioners. It states the responsibilities of tourism workers towards their
employers, service-receiving tourists, and local environment. Furthermore,
it asks local non-tourist practitioners to be responsible towards the tourism
industry and the media towards responsible tourism. Finally, it stresses
incoming tourists’ responsibility to save local traditions, norms and cultural
values and environmental resources in Pokhara.
Te collaborative efort in formulating these guidelines has not only
opened the avenue for peace but also strengthened the mutual relationships
between responsible tourism and sustainable peace and prosperity through
tourism in greater Pokhara valley. Te whole process of the PAMS project,
from the beginning of proposal formulation till the end in formulating these
CoC guidelines, was largely based on continuous interactions, dialogues,
exchange of knowledge, and networking. Such careful steps were crucial
in achieving operational unity, forming common understanding, building
confict mitigation strategy, efectuating collective and concerted actions
between tourism practitioners and researchers, and gaining societal learning.
Tese eforts have supported the institutionalisation of peace responsive
tourism at destination level. Te bottom- up approach in the process of PAMS
has brought some remarkable changes to the existing confict situations
in the tourism sector. It has helped in generating mutual understanding,
appreciating diferences, fostering knowledge, enhancing societal learning
and boosting concerted actions on the various aspects of codes of conduct for
responsible tourism management.
242 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
At the ‘Pokhara Tourism Declaration 2013’ event, the Presidents (as heads)
of a total of 12 tourism associations showed their public commitment by ta-
king an oath to apply tourism codes of conduct in their planning, manage-
ment and operations for the sustainability of tourism in Pokhara.
Te oath stated:
“We, as responsible tourism enterprises give full consent and endorsement
on Codes of Conduct for Peace Responsive Tourism in Pokhara: A Manual’.
We publicly commit to abide by it in our operation and management at des-
tination level, which is produced jointly by the tourism industry of Pokhara
in association with Nepal Tourism Board and NCCR North-South under
the banner of Pokhara Tourism Council and efectuated from 20 April
2013.”
Te declaration has particularly urged all concerned, including tourism ent-
repreneurs, workers, owners, management, governmental bodies, NGOs and
foreign tourism promotional agencies, to comply with the voluntary standard
measures of CoC. Tough these ethics difer according to the nature of pro-
fessions, there has a been collective commitment to its application through
‘Pokhara Tourism Declaration 2013’.
Tis CoC endeavour of Pokhara tourism has succeeded in sensitising, brin-
ging awareness, building confdence and allowing lessons to be learned regar-
ding the peace-promoting aspects of tourism. It has opened a new opportunity
to beneft the local people by promoting, protecting and sustaining the value
of peace and harmony in a responsible approach. After the ofcial launch and
application of commonly agreed CoC; PTC is all set to formulate “CoC Imple-
mentation and Monitoring Sub-Committee” under the Kaski district Tourism
Development Committee very soon, according to Surya Bahadur Bhujel (per-
sonal communication, 17 July 2013).
Conclusions
Tourism can be responsive to peace even in destinations in confict if it (tou-
rism) is responsible and sustainable in its practices. Responsible tourism with
purposeful management can be the source of common good, prosperity, har-
mony and peace. Te institutionalisation of responsible tourism awareness
and practices, apart from increasing the number of tourists and their average
stays, is an undeniable necessity in making tourist destinations responsive to
peace. On the other hand, tourism is also unstable and sensitive to confict
due to various political, socio-cultural, economic, and environmental related
internal and external factors. As such, tourism can itself become the trigger
that exacerbates the other underlying conficts and tensions in a tourism-
based society.
Achieving lasting peace and prosperity through tourism is largely depen-
dent on crafting a peace-building or peace-sensitive tourism strategy. Te
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 243
ethical codes of conduct, apart from legal or regulatory framework, can be
efective intervention on this strategy for making tourism responsible. In this
context, it is the integrated approach, which is infuential in formulating such
conducts at the destination level for achieving peace and prosperity and so-
cietal stability in tourist destinations. Referring to the connection between
tourism and peace, Honey (2009, 1) correctly states that ‘there is a natural link
between tourism and peace. However, tourism must be appropriately mana-
ged so that it truly benefts local communities and the environment’
As illustrated in this article, Pokhara ofers a case study of one such tourist
destination in Nepal, which has entered the mainstream responsible tourism
pathway through crafting and applying codes of conduct at the destination
level. Te process of the formulation of codes of conduct for the tourism
industry was based on partnerships and a transdisciplinary approach. Te
whole process in this integrated efort has taught us that there are some
prerequisites in the process of the formulation and application of codes of
conduct. Such basics include insight, visualisation, awareness, collective
(integrated) commitment, continual mutual dialogues, mutual consent,
training and capacity buildings, learning from the satisfaction level of tourists
(service users), mutual feedback on positive and challenging experiences
among similar entrepreneurs, documentations, publications and so on. Te
transdisciplinary approach, due to mutual cooperation of science and society,
generally supports the transformation of tourist destinations into peace-
builders. Such an integrated approach in the process of codes of conduct
formulation can itself help to bring about common attitudes, unifcation
and integration among the diverse practitioners (e.g. tourism practitioners,
researchers, community organisations, community service centre and so on)
involved in tourism sector.
To conclude, the commonly agreed codes of conduct can generate peace-
sensitivity and sustainability in tourist destinations in times of confict. It
is particularly important to formulate and apply voluntary and disciplinary
codes of conduct in tourist destinations, which are growing but on the verge
of conficts in their lifecycles. Tis chapter also stresses the fundamental need
for the codes of conduct in tourism to be widely read, circulated and adop-
ted for the beneft of all forms and levels of tourism, all kinds of tourists, all
levels of tourism enterprises, all kinds of workers in tourism and entire host
communities (including non-tourist communities) and their environments in
other growing destinations in Nepal and elsewhere.
244 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
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ROSALI ND NEWL ANDS
The Role of the Tourist Guide in
Promotion of Dialogue between
Civilisations: South Caucasus
Introduction
In this article it is intended to showcase that the role of tourist guides is es-
sential in the promotion of dialogue between civilisations and in the neutral
interpretation of cultural diferences. Te World Federation of Tourist Gui-
des (WFTGA) was founded to foster good relations between tourist guides
worldwide and to promote cooperation and professional standards. In addi-
tion, WFTGA provides practical training for tourist guides and tourist guide
trainers. Tis article focuses on the South Caucasus, an area with a history
of confict and it highlights the successes and challenges that WFTGA faces
when working in such a complex setting.
World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA)
WFTGA was founded in 1985. It is a non-political not-for-proft NGO in
Ofcial Relations with UNESCO and is an Afliate Member of UNWTO.
WFTGA’s members are independent tourist guide associations in 79 countries
worldwide and WFTGA represents more than 200,000 Area Specifc Tourist
Guides.
WFTGA has had experience with holding training courses, attended by
guides from countries that have had a history of confict e.g. Greek and Tur-
kish Cypriots attended courses together in Cyprus. WFTGA is a member of
the UNWTO Silk Road Task Force and as such is aware of the UNESCO /
UNWTO initiative to develop a cultural corridor in the Silk Road, which of
course included the area we were working with. WFTGA believes strongly in
the infuence of cultural exchange through tourism in the fostering of peace
and cultural understanding.
In some countries the tourist guide profession is regulated but in others it is
not. WFTGA works within the laws or accepted practice within the member
countries and encourages professional training and recognition of Area Spe-
cifc Tourist Guides. To be members of WFTGA, tourist guide associations
must be independent of governments or other authorities but at the same time
be recognised by those authorities if they exist in the country concerned.
248 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
Defnition of a Tourist Guide
It is important to understand the defnition of a tourist guide as a separate
profession from a tour manager as defned by the European Committee for
Standardisation in the Tourism Services – Travel Agencies and Tour Opera-
tors – Terminology (EN 13809 2003 / ENISO 18513 2003)
• Tourist Guide: A person who guides visitors in the language of their choice
and interprets the cultural and natural heritage of an area which person
normally possesses an area-specifc qualifcation usually issued and / or re-
cognised by the appropriate authority.
• Tour Manager / Tour Director or Escort: A person who manages an itinera-
ry on behalf of the tour operator ensuring the programme is carried out as
described in the tour operator's literature and sold to the traveller / consu-
mer and who gives local practical information.
Te Area Specifcity of the tourist guide profession is an essential component
of their ability to interpret the cultural and natural heritage of the area for
which they are trained. WFTGA’s training programme gives them the skills to
do this in a neutral way.
Role of Tourist Guides
Tourist guides are ambassadors for their city, region or country and are the
people that visitors engage with and relate to. Visitors listen to tourist guides,
trust them and follow their example. Tourist guides create memories for visi-
tors and infuence their behaviour and opinions. Professional tourist guides
follow a Code of Practice and members of WFTGA also adhere to the UN-
WTO Code of Ethics, which means they must avoid any prejudice or politi-
cal statements. Tey also support sustainability, a worldwide efort to ensure
the survival of our planet. Te WFTGA Training Division organises practical
training for tourist guides which includes an understanding of cultural and
religious diferences and how to interpret in a non-judgemental manner. Tis
is particularly important when working in areas of former confict.
Non-prejudicial interpretation by properly trained tourist guides contribu-
tes to peace and inter-cultural understanding because it afects the understan-
ding and behaviour of visitors from various cultures and religions and encou-
rages interaction between visitors and local communities. Being an advocate
and example for neutral facts helps to reconsider misconceptions and open
the mind of listeners for new ideas. WFTGA practical training courses Hands
On Tourist Guiding (HOT) and Train the Trainer (TtT) help tourist guides
and trainers to understand the importance of neutral cultural interpretation
and teach them how to avoid creating misunderstandings and how to dispel
prejudice. Tey learn how to interpret without allowing their own personal
opinions to impinge on the commentary but still bringing their local experi-
ence and understanding to the visitors.
Tourist guides are in a unique position to promote the understanding of
culture and to promote peace in that they are experts in their own culture and
history and can communicate it in a neutral way to visitors from other cul-
Promotion of Dialogue between Civilisations: South Caucasus 249
tures. All members of WFTGA adhere to the WFTGA Code of Professional
Practice:
• To provide a professional service to visitors, professional in care and com-
mitment, and professional in providing an objective understanding of the
place visited, free from prejudice or propaganda.
• To ensure that as far as possible what is presented as fact is true, and that a
clear distinction is made between this truth and stories, legends, traditions,
or opinions.
• To act fairly and reasonably in all dealings with all those who engage the
services of guides and with colleagues working in all aspects of tourism.
• To protect the reputation of tourism in our country by making every en-
deavour to ensure that guided groups treat with respect the environment,
wildlife, sights and monuments, and also local customs and sensitivities.
• As representatives of the host country to welcome visitors and act in such
a way as to bring credit to the country visited and promote it as a tourist
destination.
Te requirement that tourist guides who adhere to this Code of Practice must
interpret in a neutral way without prejudice or propaganda will promote real
understanding of cultural diferences and allow visitors to understand the cul-
tures they are visiting.
Tourist guides are often the only people that visitors actually speak to and
their infuence has been shown to be very efective in changing visitors under-
standing and perception of the places they are in (Ham & Weiler 2007).
WFTGA Training Division
WFTGA set up its training division to meet the need for practical training
for tourist guides around the world. WFTGA has a network of International
and National Trainers who have been trained to WFTGA standards and can
deliver WFTGA training internationally or to guides in their own countries.
Te Training Division is led by the Head of Training (a member of the WFT-
GA Executive Board) and the Training Committee (appointed by EXBO). Te
courses currently ofered by the WFTGA Training Division are as follows:
• Hands on Tourist Guiding (HOT) – a 7-day course which teaches practical
guiding skills, best practice and WFTGA ethics for tourist guides.
• Train the Trainer (TtT) – a 10-day course which trains guides to deliver
WFTGA training, using the skills gained in HOT courses. Tis course
can be taken as a 3- day add- on to a HOT course or incorporate the HOT
course within the 10 days. Successful completion of this course qualifes
trainers as WFTGA National Trainers and if they are also members of
WFTGA allows them to use WFTGA materials to train guides in their own
countries.
• International Train the Trainer (ITtT) – a 10-day course for experienced
tourist guide trainers, who have already completed the WFTGA Train the
250 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
Trainer course and conducted a minimum of 100 hours practical training
of tourist guides in their own countries. Tis qualifcation is only open to
members of member associations of WFTGA. Successful candidates are
appointed as WFTGA International Trainers and are permitted to use
WFTGA materials to train guides internationally. Experienced WFTGA
International Trainers are appointed as Lead International Trainers at the
discretion of the WFTGA Executive Board.
HOT and TtT courses are ofered at the WFTGA International Training Cen-
tres (currently Armenia, Cyprus and Malaysia) as well as on request around
the world. ITtT courses are only ofered at the WFTGA International Trai-
ning Centres.
WFTGA has clear policies and procedures for the delivery of its training
courses, setting, marking and moderation of examinations and awarding of
certifcates. Te training team includes Lead International Trainers as well as
other International or National Trainers, who are appointed by the Head of
Training.
Case-Study:
South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia: 2010–2013
Te South Caucasus region comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and
has a rich diversity of cultural and natural heritage, within relatively short
distances. Te region has sufered from confict and governmental changes,
which can hinder cross-border tourism development and travel. In December
2010 the frst cross-border meeting for tourist guides, in the region, was held
in Georgia for participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
Tis was initiated by the Georgian Association of Tourist Guides, with the
support and encouragement of WFTGA and was attended by representatives
of WFTGA and USAID as well as representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey. WFTGA saw this as an opportunity to strengthen links
with members in the area and to develop new contacts with non-member
countries. WFTGA was, of course, aware of historical conficts between Ar-
menia and Turkey as well as more recently between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Georgia was a good neutral location for the frst meeting.
At the time of the meeting, the tourist guide situation in the region was as
follows:
• Te Turkish Tourist Guide Association (TUREB) is a long-term member of
WFTGA with more than 3000 members and the former President, Serif Ye-
nen is a former member of WFTGA EXBO. Turkey also has a long history
of professional tourist guide training and is the only regulated country for
tourist guides in the region. TUREB showed interest in helping but they
were not yet active in the region. At the meeting, Serif Yenen explained the
current system in Turkey and was concerned with regard to cross-border
guiding, which was against their regulations.
Promotion of Dialogue between Civilisations: South Caucasus 251
• Te Georgia Association of Guides (GAG) was newly formed and had 27
members. Tere was no professional training or regulation in Georgia but
GAG had just joined WFTGA during 2010. WFTGA gave advice about pro-
moting the association and how to include tourism partners. Tere was a
request by GAG to have Georgian Tourist Guides permitted to work in the
N-E of Turkey. Tis would be against Turkish regulations and also against
the principles of Area Specifc Tourist Guiding. Special training would
have to be introduced and agreement would have to be made with regard to
current regulations in Turkey. Any such proposal was opposed by TUREB.
• Te Armenian Guild of Tourist Guides has been a member of WFTGA for
several years. Te Guild already had three members qualifed as WFTGA
International Trainers and they were running voluntary tourist guide cour-
ses. Te Guild supports the introduction of regulation of tourist guides in
Armenia. WFTGA HOT courses had been held in 2006 in Yerevan.
• Azerbaijan has a tourism authority and a tourism association, which was
interested in working on professional acceptance for tourist guides. Te
guides present would like to join WFTGA but need to form a separate and
independent association for tourist guides.
During the meeting, the Armenian Guild ofered Armenia as a site for cross-
border training but this was not acceptable to the Azeri delegation. It was
suggested that the frst course be held in Turkey and this was agreed. In No-
vember 2010, the WFTGA President met members of the Azerbaijan Tourism
Authority at the World Travel Market and further information was requested.
Discussions continued with all four countries.
Te suggested courses in Turkey did not materialise. Te Georgian Tourist
Guides Association was very keen to develop as well as foster cooperation with
the neighbouring countries. Tere was further discussion and negotiation and
funding became available through GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internati-
onale Zusammenarbeit – the German Society for International Cooperation)
and it was agreed that joint WFTGA HOT and TtT courses would be held and
funded by GIZ. A course was planned for May 2011 in Azerbaijan but it was
unable to take place because the WFTGA Lead International Trainer was una-
ble to get a visa. Te course was re-located to Georgia. During 2011 successful
courses were held: in Armenia (attended by participants from Armenia and
Georgia); in Georgia (attended by participants from Azerbaijan and Georgia);
and in Armenia (attended by participants from Armenia and Georgia). Tis
resulted in a total of 47 guides being trained, including 12 from Armenia and
Georgia who met the WFTGA standard to become National Trainers.
WFTGA was very aware of the political sensitivities in the region and alt-
hough participants were invited to join all the courses from all the countries
involved, it was not surprising that this joint approach was not fully realised.
After the frst stages of training, WFTGA had new WFTGA National Trai-
ners qualifed in Armenia and Georgia allowing further courses to take place –
thus spreading the WFTGA ethics and standards further across the region.
Further discussion took place and funding issues were eventually resolved.
252 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
Azerbaijan was still keen to host a course prior to the Eurovision Song Contest,
being held in Baku, and it was agreed this would be conducted in April 2012.
In September 2012, the WFTGA President attended the UNWTO Silk Road
meeting in Baku and conducted negotiations with the tourism authorities for
further training in Azerbaijan. Tere was governmental concern that some
candidates had not been successful in Georgia but agreement was reached for
further training in Azerbaijan, jointly funded by GIZ and the Azeri Tourism
Authorities.
As a result further courses were held during 2012 in Azerbaijan (with 31
participants from Azerbaijan) and in Georgia (with 12 participants from Geor-
gia). Tis resulted in a further 12 meeting the WFTGA standard as National
Trainers. Tis meant that there were now guide trainers in all three countries
trained to WFTGA standards, although until the Azeri tourist guides form
an independent association in membership of WFTGA, they will be unable to
train using WFTGA materials.
Conclusions
Tere were a number of challenges in delivering the training to WFTGA stan-
dards in the region of the South Caucasus. Tere was of course a history of a
diferent type of guiding, related to government policy in some of the coun-
tries whereas WFTGA operates very clear standards for the accreditation of
its training courses and strict guidelines on the moderation of the training.
WFTGA had to negotiate with the authorities, who were new to this type of
tourist guide training – especially in Azerbaijan – so as to help them under-
stand the advantages of having independent, well-trained tourist guides with
a good understanding not only of their own history and culture but also of
the needs of the visitors. It was also important to emphasise the non-political
nature of WFTGA and the requirement for member tourist guides to adhere
to the WFTGA Code of Conduct and avoid political statements or prejudicial
comments on colleagues or visitors from other countries.
Tere were some funding issues, with courses being arranged at the last
minute when funding was fnalised, which made it difcult to organise the
training at times due to short notice for the WFTGA Lead International Trai-
ner. WFTGA hopes this work will continue but as the main sponsor GIZ- has
now withdrawn due to budget limitations – new funders will have to be found
for the training to continue.
Tere were also visa issues, particularly in Azerbaijan, as the government
was insisting that visas were collected in person at the appropriate embassy.
Tis situation has now been resolved as visas can be ordered by post and the
government can expedite their issue.
It was necessary to conduct some of the training in Russian. WFTGA has
Russian-speaking International Trainers in Armenia.
Some governments fnd it hard to understand the need for independent
tourist guides and that it is not possible to compromise WFTGA standards
to meet requirements for guides in the country. If candidates do not meet
Promotion of Dialogue between Civilisations: South Caucasus 253
the standard, they will not receive a WFTGA certifcate of completion. Tis
caused some confict, which has now been resolved through continued discus-
sion. Te fact that WFTGA is part of the Silk Road project has aided this be-
cause several meetings took place and good contacts were made with govern-
ment ofcials.
In January 2013 the Armenian Guild of Tourist Guides proposed that WFT-
GA open an International Training Centre in Armenia, which would enable
further cross-border cooperation. Tis work is continuing although WFTGA
is aware that there may be some resistance from participants to attend from
all the countries involved. Armenia are currently in the best position to obtain
funding for a WFTGA Training Centre – they also have the only WFTGA
International Trainers in the region, speaking Russian, German and English
and they have the support of their government, authorities and university as
well as several years of membership of WFTGA and international exposure.
Te need for a new sponsor may ofer opportunities in the region for the ITC
Armenia which could allow guides from Azerbaijan and Georgia to attend the
training courses as well as from Central Asian countries.
It is hoped that the frst courses at the new International Training Centre
will take place in 2014 and that they will also be able to welcome guides from
Central Asia.
Tere are also issues of ‘cross-border’ guiding and lack of overall knowledge
of the region which is particularly important for visitors who are, for examp-
le, travelling part of the Silk Road, where appropriate connections can and
should be made. Some of the issues for visitors include poor interpretation
and understanding of cultural issues and history. Te solution is not to have
cross-border guides but rather to train all-area specifc guides in the overall
knowledge of the region. In Europe there is already a standard for the Training
and Qualifcation of Tourist Guides (EN15565) and this includes the provision
that guides study overall European issues, even though they are qualifed for
their own city, region or country.
Tis model could be used for the Silk Road countries as well as in the South
Caucasus.
General Recommendations
WFTGA must continue to make and extend contacts with local tourist guides
in the region with the objective of helping to form new Tourist Guide Associ-
ations. When there is an Association the request for upgrading and improving
professional skills by training is seen as a prerequisite for developing and in-
creasing tourism. Tourist Guide Associations play a key role in the continued
organisation of WFTGA training courses and their local expertise is necessa-
ry for organisation and marketing of the training courses. Tis is the case in
Cyprus (where the frst WFTGA International Training Centre was establis-
hed in 2005) and will be the case in the new WFTGA International Training
Centres in Armenia. Te lack of independent tourist guide associations in
several countries including Azerbaijan is a limiting factor on future training
254 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
and development of standards. It is important that any such association is in-
dependent to avoid potential conficts of interest with government, tourism
authorities or tour operators. Instead it should work with these organisations
for the overall beneft of tourism in the country.
Tourist guides must be involved in planning for national and international
interpretation especially in issues of sustainability and cultural understan-
ding. Tourist boards and ministries should help to improve and upgrade the
status and position of professional tourist guides and to recognise that they
are a valued profession, often the only people that visitors really speak to.
It is important that tourist guides are trained to take account of political
and cultural sensitivities in a region but to then interpret them in a neutral
way to visitors. Tis helps in the visitors understanding and promotes dia-
logue between cultures and civilisations.
As can be seen from the South Caucasus Case Study, and future develop-
ment plans, tourist guides have a strong role in the promotion of cultural di-
alogue and cooperation between cultures and regions, but this is dependent
on training as well as cooperation with governments and other authorities.
Tourist Guides are the strongest infuencers of visitor behaviour and attitudes
and can really afect the impression that visitors take back of a region, coun-
try or culture. Tere are good opportunities to use the model from the South
Caucasus to further international cooperation and understanding as well as
to spread best practice and professionalism. Te fact that it was possible to
have representatives from various countries and for them to work together is
a positive omen for the future. However, work will continue to be required to
overcome historic conficts and challenges and to promote peaceful coopera-
tion. Tis will require the support of international bodies such as UNWTO
and UNESCO as well as governments.
WFTGA experience shows that the tourist guides themselves are very
keen to work in an intra-cultural way but this has limitations if funding is not
available for training and / or if there are implicit or explicit restrictions on
the formation and maintenance of independent tourist guides associations. If
tourist guides are to be able to interpret cultural issues in a neutral and sen-
sitive way they must be free of any governmental interference in the material
they present and the way in which it is presented. Tey must be non-political
and free of religious or other prejudice and for this to happen training to in-
ternational standards is necessary.
References
Ham, Sam. H., Betty Weiler, Michael Hughes, Terry
Brown, Jim Curtis and Mark Poll. 2007. Asking Visi-
tors to Help: Research to Guide Strategic Communi-
cation in Protected Area Management. Brisbane:
STCRC Report.
CEN: EN 13809 2003 -/ ENISO 18513 2003 Tourism Servic-
es: Travel Agencies and Tour Operators Terminology
CEN: EN 15565 2005 Training and Qualifcation of Tour-
ist Guides
GORDON SI LLENCE
Mainstreaming Sustainability
through Peace-Building at Large-
Scale Tourism Events – The Case of
the Olympic Games
Introduction
Tis article links the peace and sustainability eforts over the Agenda 21 deca-
des from Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to the 20-year review process known as Rio+20,
including the parallel development of the quadrennial United Nations-sup-
ported Olympic Truce process. It weighs up how far large-scale events, such as
the Olympics, can really contribute to sustainability and poverty alleviation,
especially when the organising institutions and countries have value systems
that support and conceal a highly militarised global economy in which war is
a constant feature.
Te frst part of the article looks at the policy regarding the process of main-
streaming sustainability at the Olympic Games, describing the relevance of
contemporary Agenda 21 processes, then at the stakeholder interest groups
that were in evidence in the planning and execution of the London Games, and
their policies and programmes dealing with the Truce issue. Tere is a specifc
focus on the tourism and sports stakeholders who control and infuence the
world’s largest sports tourism event, i.e. the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), the host country, the United Nations (UN) and the corporate sponsors.
It highlights the eforts of NGOs and concerned individuals to build the Truce
in confict areas in practice, and in doing so to found the Olympic Truce Youth
Peace Ambassador network as a legacy of the London 2012 Games.
Te second section examines challenges to implementing the Truce, show-
ing that a value system dominated by narrow government and corporate com-
mercial interests led to the lack of a practical strategy to implement the UN
resolution at the London Games. Looking behind the rhetoric of each of the
key responsible stakeholders, it is clear that the economic and political im-
plications of truly standing up for peace at this level threatens those arms-
manufacturing countries and job-conscious ofcials who prefer to maintain
an economic status quo, supported by a culture of violence, rather than take
up the challenge of truly implementing Agenda 21 and its culture of peace.
Te fnal section, based on the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 experien-
ces, explores how we can move the global economy from a state of tolerating
low-level warfare and violence to a peace-based, green economy using larger
scale Olympic tourism events to make the necessary impact in the future. It
256 GORDON SI LLENCE
presents a strategy to work on the Truce for Brazil 2016 that has been formu-
lated as the work programme of the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors
International Network. Issues of capacity-building and development of this
network are considered in practical terms to improve tourism, sports, and cul-
ture stakeholder participation in – and benefts from – the Brazil 2016 Games.
Importantly, there is a set of 16 recommendations, introducing international
as well as national level strategic actions, targeted at the key stakeholders re-
sponsible for the Truce in the modern Games, and focused on the major con-
fict areas and cities of violence across the world.
Background – Linking Peace and Tourism
Whenever the word sustainable is linked to the word tourism, we could discuss
the development of sustainable tourism activities, or the contribution of travel
and tourism activities to the overall process of sustainable development. If we
then add the word peace, we recognise that peace is a precondition of sustai-
nable tourism development whilst being simultaneously an objective of those
using tourism to implement sustainable development. To articulate how tou-
rism activities could be designed to promote sustainability by fostering peace is
a key objective of this article. It is based on the hypothesis that these two fun-
damental contemporary development processes can be successfully combined
to fashion a just, equitable, and prosperous planet in line with the objectives of
Agenda 21, the Millennium Declaration and other global sustainable develop-
ment policy lines, and manifested in the global, peace-based, green economy.
Te contemporary, globalised, socio-economic growth of society has
reached a stage where violence dominates the lives of billions throughout the
world, wars ravage country after country on the African continent, mega-city
street life is marred by systemic and random violence, and even domestic vi-
olence is generationally transferred, making the issue of personal and societal
peace the most urgent priority of modern civilisation. Tis violence is both
subjectively and objectively experienced, and has been statistically captured
and analysed by the work of the organisation Vision of Humanity in collabora-
tion with the Institute of Economics and Peace in Sydney, and expressed in the
Global Peace Index. Te Index is a landmark online tool, released in May 2011,
graphically showing 22 indicators of violence, mapped by country. It shows
how far we have come in measuring the violence of our world, and also in
realising the socio-economic and environmental benefts of reducing violence,
with studies revealing that the total economic impact of containing violence is
estimated to be a staggering US$9.46 trillion (in 2012) (GPI 2013), more than
enough to fund the global green economic transformation we see in UN poli-
cy but not in government or corporate practice.
On the other hand, the travel and tourism industry has come to dominate
development patterns as much as the new technology that enables us to travel
and tour on an unprecedented international scale. Travel and tourism acti-
vities now shape whole landscapes with travel, accommodation and service
infrastructure, channelling billions of dollars and supporting millions of jobs.
The Case of the Olympic Games 257
Te global scale of the economic, environmental and socio-cultural impact of
travel and tourism promotes both positive and negative inter-cultural exchan-
ges, and clearly stands out over other sectors as a means of promoting civil
society and global awareness in all countries.
Travel and tourism can only fourish in conditions of peace, and thereby the
interests of both peace and tourism stakeholders can be inextricably linked to
ensure mutual benefcial exchanges wherever the need for peace and the op-
portunity for travel and tourism coincide. Tere is nothing more damaging to
the industry as a whole than violence and war and, in contrast, travel and tou-
rism can ofer many regions an economically, environmentally and socially be-
nefcial – as well as practical – means of replacing confict and restoring harm-
ony. A country example such as Mozambique (Wikipedia 2013) would be a case
in point, where it is only in the last few years that tourism has recovered to its
pre-confict levels of the 1970s, and is set to fourish under conditions of peace.
Te move from a culture of violence to a culture of peace requires that we
develop international multi-stakeholder involvement. It is a logical progression
that, to work at this scale, sustainable development stakeholders working with
the processes of peace and tourism development will be attracted to use large
scale travel and tourism events such as international level sporting, cultural
and political gatherings as vehicles for mainstreaming sustainability. Tis is in
fact the stated policy of the UN in relation to the Olympic Games (UN Olym-
pic Truce Commitment in the Millennium Declaration 2000), a process which
we can now examine in detail to shed light on the challenges and opportuni-
ties these large-scale actions can have in terms of addressing our current eco-
nomic, environmental, social and institutional challenges. Also, in Marrakesh
in 2009 (UNEP 2009), the former UN Task Force on Sustainable Tourism
committed itself to mainstreaming sustainability at large scale events as part
of the overall UN sustainable consumption and production efort. Te deve-
lopment of an event-related communication strategy should be encouraged in
order to mainstream the sustainability message, particularly encouraging the
use of the media in major sports events to promote sustainable tourism.
Mainstreaming Sustainability Through Tourism and Peace at the Olympics
Using the Rio+20 Process
Felix Dodds, who led the civil society UN dialogue at the Agenda 21 10-year
follow up conference (known as the World Summit on Sustainable Develop-
ment) as chair of the Stakeholder Forum, said “the prerequisite for sustainable
development is peace – without that we will never be able to address the major
challenges we face of eradicating poverty and moving to a more sustainab-
le way of life.“ (Felix Dodds, former Chair of the Stakeholder Forum for the
WSSD and Rio+20 events, personal interview 7 June 2013.)
Global crises and challenges get bigger by the day, and the human capability
to meet these challenges must similarly develop in scale. Te UN Agenda for
the 21st Century – Agenda 21 – is the policy framework at this level, and had
its 20-year review just a month before the Olympics started in August 2012.
258 GORDON SI LLENCE
Te potential combination of the Rio+20 Agenda 21 review and the London
Olympic Games provided an opportunity to use these two large-scale events
synergistically, not only to shape a longer-term positive future vision for all glo-
bal citizens, but also to focus on those who need sustainable development most
by providing an immediate and pragmatic window of peace in confict zones.
The Olympic Tradition – A Pause for Peace
For the ancient Greeks the Olympics were a Holy Games, during which war was
stopped and nations competed together in the spirit of friendship. Te Olympic
Truce aspect of Olympic competitions was characterised in the sacred traditi-
on of the original spirit of the Games by the Greek word ‘Ekecheiria’ – meaning
a period of time-limited peace in all competing nations, including safe passage
for athletes and visitors for the duration of the Games. Te Olympic Games, as
a large-scale event that symbolises human excellence and inter-cultural har-
mony, has accordingly been singled out by the UN as a signifcant opportuni-
ty to address worldwide challenges of violence and poverty. Te UN recalled
this means of achieving peace on earth in the 90s and, even in the Millenni-
um Declaration, as part of the means to achieve the stated poverty eradication,
environmental stability and social equality targets. Furthermore, the policy is
embedded in a protocol whereby the Host country submits a UN Resolution
in the build-up to each Olympics (UN Declaration on Sport and Peace 2012).
However, it should be immediately noted that the IOC and UN have adopted
the position that the Truce is one ‘that is inspired, rather than enforced’, and
the task of the inspiration is left to the UN, the IOC’s International Olympic
Truce Centre, and the host country. Te Truce Resolution was formally sub-
mitted to the General Assembly by the Chair of the London Organising Com-
mittee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Lord Sebastian Coe, on behalf
of the United Kingdom (UN General Assembly 2011). On 17 October 2011 it
was passed by the most co-sponsoring states in the history of the UN, with all
193 member states signing up to the Resolution. Te Resolution called for an
ambitious six-week period of peace, and was achieved after great diplomatic
efort. Te text did not really provide guidance on how the Truce would be im-
plemented, and there is a large credibility gap to be flled between UN resolu-
tions and ‘on-the-ground’ actions. Yet from this basis, each country had a man-
date to defne and implement national programmes to make the Truce a reality.
Interested / Responsible Parties Regarding Achievement of The Olympic
Truce Linked to Sustainable Tourism Development
Key Global Organisations
• Te Host Nation and its organising committee
• International Olympic Committee
• UN bodies (UNESCO, UNICEF, UNEP, UN-WTO, UNDP)
• Main peace NGOs
• Sub-global regional organisations (e.g. European Union, ASEAN, Arab
League / ALESCO, British Commonwealth)
The Case of the Olympic Games 259
National Government Stakeholders
• Ministries of Foreign Afairs, Youth, Sport, Culture, Tourism, Education
• National Olympic Committee – Olympic Academy
• UNESCO national commissions
Businesses
• Olympic sponsors
• Multi-nationals with sustainable development programmes (e.g. Rio+20 si-
gnatories, WBCSD members, companies with CSR programmes)
• Travel & tourism – airlines, hotel chains
• Sportswear & equipment manufacturers
• Sports clubs / football clubs
• Chambers of commerce
• Local businesses
Academic Bodies
• Universities working on peace / tourism / sports / culture
• Students & High schools
• Individual academics working on peace
Media
• TV stations / Radio / Newspapers
• Internet – social media
NGOs
• NGOs working on peace / tourism / sports / culture
• Faith groups from the spectrum of beliefs in each country
• Individuals working for peace
The London 2012 Olympic Peace Campaign:
Building a Common Truce Realisation Strategy
Te London 2102 Olympic Peace Campaign was formulated to defne and ma-
nage a strategy to implement the Olympic Truce. Tis was developed at the
end of the Beijing Olympics of 2008, in the ‘Olympic Rings of Light Project’,
within the Janela Aberta 21 Education for Sustainable Development Centre’s
‘Global Citizenship Programme’. It was promoted by the Ecotrans Network for
Sustainable Tourism Development, with input from the International Institu-
te for Peace through Tourism. An Olympic peace support team was set up to
back the Campaign, focusing on:
• One Minute Silence for Global Peace
at the Olympic opening ceremony to mark and honour the state of global
peace on earth, and to remember those places and people who may have not
been able to achieve the Truce.
260 GORDON SI LLENCE
• Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors Campaign
in which one Youth from each of the 40-plus confict zones / areas of violence
is sponsored to attend the Olympics as youth peace ambassadors, and share
the camaraderie and support of the world for those days.
• Building the Green Economy through Showcasing Sustainable Tourism
under the heading ‘Taking Sustainable Tourism to the Global Stage – A Mo-
saic of the Global Green Economy’, a map of international certifed and awar-
ded tourism destinations, products and services can be developed and then
showcased at Rio+20 and the London Olympics as a global ofering of peace-
ful, green tourism destinations.
• The Global Peace Index
All stakeholders can refer to the Global Peace Index to objectively assess the
move from a culture of violence to a culture of peace. A snapshot of society
at the time of the Olympics would provide the most comprehensive objective
overview of this process.
Te London 2012 Olympic Truce Campaign succeeded in building a global co-
alition of organisations that represented the largest single London 2012 efort
to implement the Truce. Tis efort was spearheaded by Lord Michael Bates,
a Conservative MP sitting in the House of Lords, who personally showed the
Olympic efort necessary to implement the Truce by walking from Athens to
London to raise awareness of the importance of the issue. Te coalition inclu-
ded (Sillence 2012):
• Walk for Truce
• UNESCO Regional Unit for Social and Human Sciences in Asia and the
Pacifc
• UNEP -Youth Exchange
• UNEP – DTIE SCP Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism
• Global Sports Partners
• International Institute of Peace through Tourism (IIPT)
• Te Ecotrans Network for Sustainable Tourism Development
• Peace Support Network
• Wonders of Egypt
• Vision on Sustainable Tourism
• ETurbo News
• Association of Travel Writers
• TravelVideo TV
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• Ecoism
• Eubios Ethics Institute Youth Peace Ambassadors International
• UK Green Party
• Sri Guru Singh Gurdwara, with the blessing of Yogachayra Sri BKS Iyengar
and patronage of Lord Bates, Conservative MP in the UK House of Lords
Tree fnancing scenarios were envisaged to support the Campaign, involving:
The Case of the Olympic Games 261
• A key corporate or government sponsor emerging to fund the overall pro-
gramme
• Individual elements of the programme to be covered by specifc organisa-
tions and companies donating fnancial resources or their services
• Several small-scale funding initiatives undertaken to sponsor individual
youths to attend the training event.
Te estimated cost was in the region of €500,000 over 2 years, though the
Campaign only eventually received a tenth of that sum through ad hoc dona-
tions of time and money.
Seeing the UN Agenda 21 Rio+20 process as a unifying stepping stone, a
part of the London 2012 Olympic Peace strategy was that the June 2012
Rio+20 International gathering was to be a key milestone on the way to im-
plementation of the Truce Campaign. But by the time Rio+20 happened, the
Campaign was far from implementing all of its plans. Tough the coalition
team had worked as much on the strategy as resources and time permitted,
the Campaign failed to receive any signifcant fnancial support, and largely
relied on voluntary efort, whilst meeting resistance to implementation sup-
port by all the key Olympic organisers.
However, by the time of the London Olympic event itself the coalition had
managed to successfully establish a core group of the Olympic Truce Youth
Peace Ambassadors network (9 people), with the support of the broader Youth
Peace Ambassadors International (YPA) of the Eubios Ethics Institute, and of
UNESCO.
Logistical, fnancial and visa difculties reduced the number to a group
of seven Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors (from Iran, Israel, France,
Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tailand) who were trained to be UN-
recognised Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors. As a key legacy of the
2012 Games, the network provides the foundation to continue the Olympic
Truce work of the 2012 coalition and work directly on the Brazil 2016 Truce,
and its strategic approach is presented later in this article.
The London 2012 Olympic Spectacle
Meanwhile, as the Olympics kicked of in London, the confict in Syria grab-
bed the headlines. Britain had its armed forces actively engaged in combat in
Afghanistan and Iraq. In Africa, a genocide was taking place again in Sudan,
this time by the Sudanese Government against the Nuer, and war raged in
the Congo; the Middle East was experiencing the violence of the Arab Spring
Revolutions; in Mexico the army was fghting a public war with drug gangs. In
Asia, Tibet was still under occupation by the Chinese, and the Burmese peo-
ple were still sufering under the state violence of the Generals. Te UN had
active peace-keeping missions in 16 countries, with an estimated forty confict
zones active around the world (Nobel Media AB 2013) . As such the Truce by-
passed those who needed it most, whilst the western media made a consumer
feast of distracting and eye-catching publicity in a classic ‘Panem e Circen-
sis’ (‘give them bread & games’) London 2012 entertainment spectacle, with
262 GORDON SI LLENCE
the single opening event costing £27 million, mixing fairy-tale Britain with
A-grade celebrities and a populist pop music back-catalogue designed to sell
Great Britain to the estimated 1 billion global TV audience. Six weeks and 27
UK Gold medal superhuman performances later, another celebrity circus clo-
sing ceremony in September was held to sell London as an international party
town, whose residents and visitors had just experienced all the social highs of
carefully manipulated mass stimulation. Te global public had been duped by
the Olympic propaganda extravaganza on a grand scale.
Of the traditional call for peace not one word was mentioned; in fact it must
have been proactively erased from the Hollywood rhetoric that concealed the
complete lack of meaningful action on making the Olympic peace a reality.
Tat a host nation should conduct deceit on a grand scale alongside the IOC at
the Olympic Games has many historic precedents, the most recent being the
Beijing 2008 state power display and media cover-up of the Chinese role in the
Darfur genocide, and the most famous being, of course, the Berlin Olympics
of 1936, which set the standard for state manipulation of the masses through
large-scale events.
From Policy to Strategy to Implementation:
Why the Truce Never Happens …
2012 was a historic opportunity to use the two large-scale events to main-
stream sustainability, as the London 2012 Games coincided with the Rio+20
event, with only one month separating the two events. Unfortunately, the
Atlantic was not the only gulf in between the two processes – a policy gap
of similar size was in full evidence, as these two world-wide events remained
unlinked, three Olympics since the Millennium Declaration and a decade af-
ter the WSSD plan of Implementation. In stark contrast to the Truce rhetoric
around the London Games, a meaningful Truce did not materialise. Conse-
quently, there was no boost for responsible tourism, and an inconsequential
contribution to the poverty eradication programme linked to the Olympics by
the UN. A brief look at the preceding World Peace Day reveals the viewpoints
and actions of diferent stakeholders.
World Peace Day:
A Snapshot of Stakeholder Actions for Developing a Global Peace
With the British UN Truce Resolution being endorsed in October 2012, the
last International Peace Day before the Olympics on 21 September 2011 show-
ed that UN bodies reacting to this UN Peace Day were efectively dysfunc-
tional on this issue. Just looking at the two peace and tourism directorates in
the UN – UNESCO and the UNWTO (tourism) – responsible respectively
for communicating the Truce mandate and for implementing sustainable tou-
rism development, and therefore also responsible for joining the two issues
in a horizontal inter-directorate fle – we see institutional inadequacies from
the level of member countries and Secretary-Generals downward. No policies,
no programmes, no projects and no resources were made available for Truce
The Case of the Olympic Games 263
implementation, whether by the Secretary General of the UN, or by UNEP, or
by UNWTO, or, for that matter, by any other UN body. Tere were just state-
ments at best, not even a focused conference. What one would expect at the
heart of the world’s peace keeping organisation is that the process of peace be
made transparent – by mapping the wars and violence, then by exposing the
corporations and nations of war, and fnally by steering the development of
a clear strategy to bring peace in our generation. It is the tall order that goes
with the height of the institutional ofce, but it was not in evidence even at
this late stage of preparations for the Truce.
Tis left the Peace Day eforts up to NGOs and concerned individuals, with
the consequent lack of resources to run efective campaigns. ‘PeaceOneDay’
received the headline attention. Tis NGO action was media friendly and has
a good general message, calling on people to focus on achieving a single day
of peace on this day next year. However, there was no mention of the massive
Olympic opportunity for peace in 2012, which PeaceOneDay was supporting
and was also actively promoting. Several other NGO actions were also noted,
including those of the ‘Peace Day Global Broadcast’, and the ‘International In-
stitute of Peace Trough Tourism’. In this process, there was more sentiment
than strategy presented by the NGO stakeholders contributions, yet still the
NGO efort was more apt in vision and content with regard to the Truce im-
plementation, borne out at the Olympics themselves by the United Nations
Association UK efort, Lord Michael Bates ‘Walk for Truce’ and a ‘Moments
Peace’ action, all reaching the heart of the issue, from the heart.
Behind the Institutional Rhetoric and Policy Gaps
Te main reasons for the lack of UN action are to do with the processes and
value systems outside the UN, as well as with the value systems and policies of
its administrators and member states. Te most accurate of all the 21 Septem-
ber UN Peace Day websites was found in a (satirical) journalistic investigation
of the values and activities of the dominant nation state – the USA – which to
a large extent sets the UN agenda on this issue:
“Since International Peace Day was frst established by the United Nations
in 1981, this September 21 represents its 30th anniversary and another at-
tempt to undermine the value of war, especially for the extraordinary US.
Peace on earth needs to stay where it belongs (on holiday cards). Otherwise,
Americans might muster the spirit to develop a sustainable, green, peace-
based economy, and who wants that when our vibrant military-industrial
complex thrives so well on war?” (Turner)
After International Peace Day there was no mainstream coverage of UN ac-
tivities, but PeaceOneDay made headlines briefy, overshadowing any ofcial
administrative web hits. In short, the internet site analysis of key stakeholder
activity showed how the new knowledge economy / internet media age enab-
les individuals and NGOs to match and exceed the institutional machinery of
national and global administrations in their power to send out a clear message
of what reality is out there.
264 GORDON SI LLENCE
Institutional Stakeholder Failure on a Grand Scale
We can now see that, in the build-up to the Olympics itself, these UN orga-
nisations were not only doing a poor job of linking Agenda 21 to a large-scale
event, but then were also marginalised, as the key event players – the IOC,
the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), and the
corporate partners – shaped their Olympic power play. Teir blatantly com-
mercial agenda could not have been further from the socially-concerned value
system of Agenda 21.
As indicated by the weakness of their World Peace Day eforts, the UN as a
whole did not manage to play any pragmatic role in development of the Tru-
ce, despite the resolution and media statements from the Secretary General
urging action – but then not following through with strategy and resources.
UNESCO, as the responsible UN agency, had been made inefective by its bud-
get cuts over its stance on Palestine, and although some other member states
contributed extra funds to make up the budget defcit, it remained insufcient.
In addition other UN agencies failed to pick up the issue. Even UN-CSD and
UN-DESA were similarly incapable of making the link to peace, travel and
tourism from their Rio+20 overview. Te lack of any joined-up policy linkages
to the Rio+20 process – which took place at the same time – showed further
gaps between UN words and actions, underlined by a lack of any clear policy,
vision and value system to match the occasions.
However, it should be mentioned that certain UN ofcers made the neces-
sary personal commitments that enabled the London 2012 Campaign to run
its fagship training event, even though they were unable to mobilise high-le-
vel institutional political commitment and resources. More clearly still, there
is a long way to go before the sum total of peace actions focused through UN
declarations have a tangible efect, and fnding a way to make the UN Reso-
lution process bridge the policy-implementation gap must remain a ‘work in
progress’. Te same actions over successive Olympics by the UN bodies regar-
ding the peace issue continue to refect a conservatism that favours the status
quo, favours rhetoric rather than action, and is complicit in playing the issue
down – complicit, that is, with nationalist and corporate interests, as visibly
demonstrated at the Olympics to a global audience.
Behind the pomp and circumstance, the IOC failed to put any resources
into the Truce-building efort at the country level, choosing just a few super-
fcial actions via the International Olympic Truce Centre (IOTC) – belatedly
renewing the Olympic Truce website, building a peace wall in the Olympic
Village, hosting an academic discussion, and working with some children on
peace issues. Te IOTC is responsible for promoting peace as part of the work
of the IOC. Tis is where one would expect to see the main coordination ef-
fort. However, when looking at the practical actions being taken by the IOTC,
it boils down to a token partnership agreement focused on sports, which has
no public strategy or resources to mainstream the Truce through either inspi-
ration or enforcement.
Te UK, as host country, managed the Truce through the London Organis-
ing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the Foreign Ofce. LO-
The Case of the Olympic Games 265
COG addressed the issue with their London 2012 Olympic Truce programme,
which ofered young people the chance to learn about the Olympic Truce and
to take part in sporting and cultural activities. Tis LOCOG initiative was wel-
comed for building inter-cultural understanding amongst youth, and belonged
to the Games organisers’ INSPIRE legacy programme. More than 70 worldwi-
de events marking the Truce took place. However, none of these eforts were
designed to meet the challenges of creating peace in practice during the time of
the Games, but rather were cultural, artistic or school level activities.
Even Lord Bates considered that, despite being a member of the ruling par-
ty in the UK and sitting in the highest political institution, his eforts were
inefective in making the issue mainstream. Tis shows how deeply entren-
ched are the values and lobbies that keep the issue of genuine peace-building
of the agenda. It was noted in the build-up to the Olympics during the 2011
International Peace Day that no politicians or institutions were willing or able
to disturb the workings of the international low-level war economy that has
been in place since 1945. With the host Government currently at war, a politi-
cal spin process was conceived to cleverly manipulate the diplomatic process
and media messages by passing the historic UN resolution to hold the Truce,
and then claiming the country was not technically at war despite its presence
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tellingly, there was not one single mainstream media mention of the Truce
during the entire 6-week Olympic competition period, and the opening and
closing ceremonies notably omitted any signifcant peace message. Between
the Ministry of Sports and Culture, the Foreign Ofce and LOCOG, the plan
to neutralise the Truce was completed, fnally hidden in a blaze of pop culture.
LOCOG efectively became the marketing face of Great Britain PLC, and the
mention of war or peace would have spoiled their media-friendly messaging.
Te call for a one-minute silence at the opening or closing ceremonies to mark
the Truce was left unheard, and the Truce was buried for another 4 years.
Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Control
Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, there has been a corporate sponsor-
ship model in place for the Olympics and, over the years, we have witnessed
the commodifcation of the Games by these companies to an unprecedented
level in history. Te success of the Los Angeles Olympic fnancial model in
delivering the IOC event has meant that the corporates have not only bought
themselves a seat at the table, but they have bought the restaurant the table is
in. Te Olympic sponsorship deals are very lucrative, and money abounds for
developing the Olympic ideal. As such, the corporate sponsors – such as Visa
and Coca-Cola – have an enormous potential to use the Games to support
peace, but the IOC self-regulatory policy of not supporting anything ‘politi-
cal’ makes their support difcult if not impossible. Te corporate marketing
machine ultimately combined with and shaped government spin to give no
oxygen of publicity to the Truce process whatsoever.
Tis stakeholder behaviour should be viewed in the light of the agenda of
Rio+20, which focused on the two key themes of the ‘Green Economy’ and
266 GORDON SI LLENCE
‘Institutional Change’. Looking behind the rhetoric of each of the key respon-
sible stakeholders, lack of action was covered up by the usual media spin and
tokenism done more to protect institutional or professional reputation than
to work towards a genuine peace, and the green economy and institutional
change remained as paper concepts.
Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors Survey
Te lack of awareness of the Truce, even in Olympic venues, was revealed by
the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors London 2012 survey, taken
during Olympic and Para-Olympic competitions, asking over 1000 people
if they knew about the Olympic Truce. Te results showed that fewer than
5% had heard about it, a poor indictment of the UN, the IOC and the Host
Government communications strategy – which, when reported by UNESCO
in the press, led to a formal complaint by the British Ambassador in Paris to
UNESCO, and to the Olympic Truce site being removed from the ofcial pa-
ges of UNESCO for 3 days.
Table 1: Breakdown of Face-to-Face Interview Survey Results Among Adults Aged 18 Years and Above, Asked ‘Have You Heard of
The Olympic Truce?’
Visitors by Nationality Total Yes % Yes
Africa 27 6 22
Oceania 26 1 3.8
Asia 136 3 2.2
Europe (excluding UK) 162 18 11
Middle East 17 3 18
UK total 610 26 4.3
76 cou 1034 57 5.5
Male 528 29 5.5
Female 506 28 5.5
Overall non-UK 424 31 7.3
Te survey can be seen as one of the successes of the Campaign. It was con-
ducted by the Truce Ambassador Trainees themselves at the Olympic venue.
In reality, most of the 5.5% who had heard of the Truce had heard of it in histo-
ry lessons, and not through current media.
The Need for Coherence
Although we rely on governments to create peace, civil society needs to be a
driving force. Te Olympic Truce is tied to the Millennium Goals Develop-
ment approach and, as with all large-scale events, has the possibility of main-
The Case of the Olympic Games 267
streaming sustainable development. However, altogether, the sum total of
government, business and civil society eforts are in need of greater coherence,
and the lack of a clear global will or strategy to make the Truce happen in
reality means that well-intentioned but uncoordinated and piecemeal eforts
are frustrated.
What Can be Done:
Mainstreaming Peace and Sustainability during the Brazil 2016 Olympics
Te concept of a peace-based, knowledge-driven, green global economy will
need to be a strong feature of post Rio+20 peace and security development
actions, well embedded in the institutional value systems as good governance
(See Post Rio+20 Peace and Security Development Agenda.). Tese themes
need to be practically addressed in volatile states if the Truce is to be use-
ful, using sectoral interventions in policy synchrony with territorial needs and
opportunities e.g. a tourism and agricultural development programme in a
post-confict area. For the Truce to become reality, the next steps need to in-
clude the establishment of a support network that brings together experienced
peace-building organisations and individuals to shape the institutional value
system and to assist the youth peace ambassadors in implementing the Truce
on a country-by-country basis.
Figure 1: Time-Line of Truce-Building Activities 2004–2016
Key events on the road to Brazil 2016 include Sochi (Russia) 2014, and the
China Youth Olympics in 2015. Tere will be a global Truce-building process
developed by the core Olympic Truce YPAs and supporters group, which will
Olympic Truce 2016 – A New World Value System
behind a multi-stakeholder strategy for peace and
tourism in 21 countries who need it most?
Save Darfur Campaign calls for a
Truce in South Sudan, exposing the
Corporate & Government co-option
of the Olympics
Change of Greek Government leads to
scrapping of global Truce planning
China complicit in genocide in Dafur,
Russia-Georgia confict on Opening Day
Britain at war in Iraq and
Afghanistan
National and continental
issues of war, poverty,
inequality, social unrest and
streetviolence
2004 2008 2012 2016
Athens,
Greece
Beijing,
China
Time Line for the
Brazil 2016 Olympic Truce
London
UK
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil Lord Michael Bates walks from Athens to London
to highlight the Truce, Olympic Peace Campaign sets up
global Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors Network
Demos Think-tank
produces
Handbook on
implementing the
Truce
268 GORDON SI LLENCE
continue to identify and link to existing international Truce-building proces-
ses. Some of the other sports-related action plans of the YPA network are also
being linked to the Olympic Truce YPA network, and other sporting events
may also be great occasions for peace. Tese peace-building and Olympic pre-
paration processes will be identifed and co-ordinated by Olympic Truce YPAs
as both national level processes and sector processes (Peace though Tourism,
Peace though Sport, Peace through the Arts, etc.), and a series of global / re-
gional and national events should be timetabled and resourced, in line with
the IOC and corporate build-up to the 2016 games in Brazil. National Olym-
pic committees and corporate interests working in these same countries need
to be aligned with the Truce efort and supportive of the peace development
work programme.
The Tourism Sector Contribution to Peace-Building
With global peace in mind, tourism policy developers, together with destina-
tions and businesses, can develop programmes to build the mosaic of the sus-
tainable tourism supply chain, including businesses, destinations and travel-
lers market-place to facilitate sustainable global cultural and environmental
progress, and economic equity. Te aim would be to invite governments to
shape this model in post Rio+20 development actions, and then mainstream
the message at the Brazil Olympics in 2016, bringing tourism stakeholders
and the dimension of the need for a peace-based global economy together.
In making the link with tourism activities, showcasing community-based
responsible and sustainable tourism best practice next to a country’s Olympic
icons ofers the chance to boost sustainable travel and tourism business inter-
nationally. Responsible tourism programmes can be developed by appropriate
ministries and experts, then targeted at the poorest nations to give a boost for
local communities to beneft from Olympic exposure. In the spirit of making
the national contribution to tourism activity and development more respon-
sible, sustainable and competitive, each participating country can profle its
responsible / sustainable tourism ofers in an Olympic showcase of the best
that country has to ofer on a safe and welcoming global tourism trail. Te
UN Type II DestiNet Partnerships’ ‘Sustainable & Responsible Tourism Por-
tal’
(See DestiNet Site to promote Sustainable & Responsible Tourism. http://
www.destinet.eu) has created the tools to develop good practice transfer and
make these national maps in the post Rio+20 linkage to the Olympics. Te
aim is to show how the Agenda 21 / WSSD sustainable tourism process is de-
veloping globally, and then take it to mainstream markets via the events’ large-
scale publicity machinery to boost that development process.
Recommendations for the Olympic Truce Brazil 2016
Based on the London 2012 experience, the following 16 recommendations for
successive Olympics – and especially for Brazil 2016 – can be made:
The Case of the Olympic Games 269
International level
• Tere is a need for an updated institutional value system in the UN that
places the interests of global civil society above the narrow, nationalistic
and corporate interests that dominate its current policy making, immedi-
ately prioritising the Truce process across, as well as with, its Directorates
• Te IOC should make a stronger commitment and emphasis to the imple-
mentation of the Truce, making peace-building eforts in the country a con-
dition of participation and part of a country’s strategic preparation, using
both inspiration and UN enforcement as a means of achieving the Truce
• At each successive Olympics, the host nation traditionally presents a UN re-
solution afrming the Truce as part of the Games. Tis resolution, signed by
foreign ministers / ambassadors, should include a statement that each coun-
try will implement a national strategy to realise the Truce in their country
• Te Global Peace Index should be adopted as a measurement index of peace
during the Olympics
• A time-tabled global peace awareness-raising campaign should be run
jointly by the IOC, the UN and the host country, starting at the Winter
Olympics in Sochi up to Brazil 2016, and focusing on the key confict zones,
linking to the g7+ UN post-2015 peace and security initiative pilot coun-
tries as well as ofcially-recognised UN confict areas
• Te IOTC should be re-developed as the central coordination system of the
action, establishing and overseeing a monitoring system to be put in place
showing which countries are making genuine Truce-building eforts, with a
prize being given to the country which does the most to implement peace-
building activities
• Te corporate Olympic sponsors should collaborate with governments and
NGOs to fund the process
• Te UN should improve the commitment and collaborative working of its
various agencies, giving more resources to UNESCO specifcally for peace
and youth activities, assisting UN confict zone feld agencies such as
UNICEF, UNHCR and UNDP to follow up the Truce-building processes. It
should also ensure full commitment of the UNWTO to support promotion
and implementation of the Truce, given its link to the world’s biggest sports
travel and tourism event, and the dependence of travel and tourism on the
absence of confict. Also UNEP, in recognition of the impacts of confict
on the environment, and UN-DESA / UN-CSD, in preparation for the 2015
adoption of peace and security as part of the Agenda 21 sustainable deve-
lopment process, should be given resources to mainstream peace-building
implementation according to the Olympic preparation time table
• Public-private partnerships and NGOs should form a broad coalition and
work with governments to raise awareness and mobilise grassroots support
270 GORDON SI LLENCE
for the Truce, as well as to assist the development of the Olympic Truce
Campaign Network
• Sector initiatives should be developed, particularly in the felds of sports,
tourism and culture.
National Level
• Each country should defne and resource a national peace-building strategy,
again starting at the Winter Olympics in 2014. An example of such a stra-
tegy can be found in the Olympic Youth Peace Ambassadors Truce imple-
mentation programme
• Te National Olympic Committee in collaboration with government de-
partments such as the foreign afairs / sports / culture ministries should
allocate resources to appoint a National Olympic Truce Coordinator and
fund the workings of a national coordination committee
• Te coordination committee should run a multi-stakeholder countrywide
networking process in collaboration with the media to promote awareness
of the Truce and to create participative opportunities for citizens to celeb-
rate peace
• A national monitoring system based on the Global Peace Index should be
used to report on the reduction of in-country violence during the period of
the Truce
• Olympic athletic competitors, politicians and media celebrities should be
selected to promote the Truce-building process
• More Youth Peace Ambassadors (YPA) and in particular Olympic Truce
Youth Peace Ambassadors should be trained to assist national and interna-
tional networking processes.
Conclusions
Although the London 2012 Olympic Peace Campaign did not make a substan-
tial contribution to achieving real peace on the ground in confict zones during
the 2012 Games, it became clear that this urgent objective requires individual
eforts from thousands of YPAs and greater support from more powerful of-
fces. Multi-stakeholder actions, demanded by civil society and led by the key
Olympic stakeholders – including the IOC, the host country, the UN and the
corporate sponsors – could be appropriate, long-lasting ways to establish efec-
tive peace in the worlds’ confict areas. Also, stakeholders need to act in a time-
ly manner with a clear value system, policy and strategy – linked to the UN
commitments and properly resourced in those countries which need it most.
Once again it was shown that the committed eforts of a few individuals
working together with a common purpose and timetable can make a dife-
rence. Te London 2012 Campaign succeeded in laying a fragile but potenti-
The Case of the Olympic Games 271
ally lasting foundation for focused and coherent international Truce-building
eforts at future Olympics in the establishment of the Olympic Truce Youth
Peace Ambassadors Network, and has a strong argument and networking
tools to make the links between tourism, peace and sustainable development.
Irony has it that we need now the cohesive power of the United Nations
more then ever, yet its lack of policy follow-through needs to be urgently
addressed, by ensuring that the next Olympics is backed by a strategic plan
and the resources to implement it. Te UN value system is overly shaped by
governments and corporates at a time when it must balance this by accept-
ing and adopting wider civil society’s vision of sustainable development – one
where peace, education, travel, and cultural understanding is put at the fore-
front of policy-making. Tis can be applied to those countries now recognised
as pilots for the post-2015 peace and security development in the G7+, a group
of so-called ‘fragile’ states who will pilot the UN’s peace and security agenda
in the New Deal Peace-Building Initiative (Afghanistan, CAR, Congo, Sierra
Leone and East Timor). It is clear the Olympic Truce is an ideal implementati-
on vehicle for this new policy round in these and other confict zones.
Regrettably, as a demonstration of the spirit of the UN’s real commitment
to Olympic peace-building, UNESCO terminated its support for the success-
ful Youth Peace Ambassador (YPA) Programme and its founder, Dr. Darryl
Macer; however, he has continued this through Eubios Ethics Institute with
youth from around the world. Te YPA training programmes continue to ex-
pand, and these will also support the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassa-
dors network. Te YPA network includes 500 individuals plus the 10 trained
in the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassador workshop and these youth
peace ambassadors will continue to remind the UN of the youth mandate of
the UN.
When the Youth Peace Ambassadors were informed of the details of the
removal of support by UNESCO, they reacted positively to build a strong and
unifed apolitical group of ‘youth united for peace through action’, which is
the hope of youth that needs to be harnessed. Instead of using a UN logo they
have made their own logo, and hold workshops almost every month in difer-
ent countries of the world. (See http://www.eubios.info/youth_peace_ambas-
sadors_international)
Te failure to mainstream either peace or tourism in the UN’s own Rio+20
discussion should lead to a complete policy review of how it conducts its remit
to link tourism to peace. Te diplomatic but largely symbolic eforts of the
UN and its peace rhetoric without substance has worn thin with the new in-
ternet-bred youth generations, whose diminishing belief in – and then respect
for – government administration has created a credibility gap that nowadays
is being flled by more internet-informed interactive audiences.
A concluding message would urge those seeking to move the world from a
culture of violence to a culture of peace to combine tourism and peace pro-
cesses, and in particular to use large-scale events to cultivate this most basic
premise of sustainability. Te work should be undertaken with urgency and
priority, given the seriousness of confict and violence, with awareness of tho-
272 GORDON SI LLENCE
se in powerful institutions who maintain the status quo of fear and confict.
Learning from the history of the Games, especially the most recent Beijing
2008 and London 2012 experiences, a strategy to work on peace every year
until the Truce in Brazil 2016 has been formulated in the work programme of
the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors International Network. Issues
of capacity-building and development of this network should be given prio-
rity, as part of the wider efort to bring about a change in the institutional
value system of the key stakeholders – the IOC, the host country, the UN and
its member states, and the Olympic corporate sponsors. For the Truce imple-
mentation to be a transparent process, the Global Peace Index can provide an
objective measurement of peace during the Olympics, focused on those coun-
tries and cities hardest hit by low-level warfare and violence. Ten, with the
growth of peace, travel and tourism can prosper in place of confict.
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pdf
Part IV
Culture, Heritage and Education
OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
Tourism as Peace Education:
A Role for Interpretation
Introduction
Troughout history, humankind has sought a path to sustainable peace
through the perspectives of religion, political science, geography, economics
and sociology, and too often, by resorting to war. More recently, tourism has
been explored as a strategy able to contribute to a more harmonious world.
Tere are two major elements in the peace and tourism proposition – tourism
and peace – and academics have struggled to fnd universally accepted def-
nitions for both. Tourism may be simply defned as all behaviours associated
with travel for leisure purposes, a practice which has become particularly per-
vasive in afuent societies and increasingly adopted in developing economies.
It should be noted that this defnition allows for the inclusion of industrial
activities directed to facilitating leisure travel. Tere are also two sub-pro-
positions in the peace and tourism proposition: peace through tourism and
peace in tourism. Tourism has the potential to contribute to world peace, but
tourism would be detrimental to peace if it is not itself conducted in peaceful
ways. Te tourism and peace proposition frst starts within tourism. Terefo-
re, the major questions scholars writing about peace and tourism face revolve
around how tourism can be responsible, and how tourism can contribute to a
wider peace.
Te uncertainty about tourism as an agent of peace might have arisen from
a defnitional problem with the term ‘peace’ (Litvin, 1998; Moufakkir and Kel-
ly, 2010; Var et al, 1998). It is commonly suggested that ‘peace’ should be un-
derstood as the absence of war (organised lethal confict between sovereign
groups). However, such a limited defnition is contrary to the way peace is un-
derstood by many in the discipline of Peace and Confict Studies (PACS) and
much energy has been invested in expanding the concept of peace and, con-
currently, the concepts of violence and confict.
Haessly (2010) questions the common defnition of peace as the absence of
war and confict. She argues that peace is best defned in terms of presence
rather than absence, maintaining that peace as presence needs to be mani-
fested in all the daily activities of an individual’s personal, professional and
political life. She suggests fve thematic expressions of peace as presence: ju-
stice in relationships, respect for human rights, caring for the common good,
protection of global security, and engagement in actions which promote peace.
With respect to the ffth theme, she notes the extent to which peacemaking is
276 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
apparent in everyday household, community and employment activities, and
in the work of international organisations.
Galtung (1996) distinguishes between negative peace (nothing more than
the absence of physical violence) and positive peace (which exists where in-
dividuals and states are purposefully working together to promote harmony
and mutual beneft). Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) submit that negative peace
may involve the presence of peacelessness; a situation in which, while there
is no violence, there is discord between and within communities, and a situ-
ation in which confict is likely to emerge. Tey have conceptualised peace as
a hierarchy in which the highest level, mostly neglected but highly desired, is
participatory peace. In participatory peace, peace becomes a way of life rather
than merely a condition for a harmonious environment. Just as participati-
on is essential to the success of democracy, participation is what makes peace
work in a sustainable way. Participatory peace is simply defned as a situation
in which ordinary people as world citizens work independently and with each
other to the extent that peace becomes integrated into their way of life.
Te United Nations (1998) defnes a culture of peace “as a set of values, at-
titudes, modes of behavior and ways of life that reject violence and prevent
conficts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and
negotiation among individuals, groups and nations … For peace and non-vi-
olence to prevail, we need to foster a culture of peace through education”. It
is submitted here that tourism, as an increasingly common activity with an
important element of informal learning, provides a platform for the establish-
ment of a culture of peace.
Tourism as peace education
Te world in general cannot be seen as peaceful, and the more restricted world
of tourism also has its share of confict. UNESCO (2002) has identifed eight
action areas to foster a culture of peace; the frst of these is fostering a culture
of peace through education. As noted above, peace, with its multifaceted na-
ture, needs participation by all people at all levels of society. Likewise, peace
education through tourism needs to be incorporated at all levels of tourism
activity, including planning, management, marketing, vacationing, and in the
classroom, the workplace, the destination and the street.
As stated previously, there are two aspects to the tourism and peace pro-
position: (a) maintaining peace in tourism; and (b) making, promoting and
contributing to peace through tourism. While the latter is concerned with
tourism as an agent of peace, the former’s focus relates more to the impacts
of tourism. Tis chapter ofers examples of both approaches. In the frst ap-
proach we discuss tourism education designed to pursue peace through tou-
rism. In the second, inspired by Galtung’s arguments on peace, environmental
interpretation and peace journalism, we discuss the incorporation of peace
education in the various modes of information provision and interpretation to
which tourists may be exposed, including a critical examination of the role of
peace tours.
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 277
It is recognised that while tourism does not automatically contribute to
peace, it has the potential to do so in many ways. Academics and policy ma-
kers aiming to position tourism as a facilitator of peace have sought to distin-
guish the myths and realities of the peace through tourism proposition, and to
efectively promote strategies and examples of practice that qualify tourism as
an agent of peace. Te peace through tourism proposition is a positive respon-
se which links tourism to the concept of participatory peace. Te issue now
is how tourism can be used to mitigate confict and contribute to peaceful
solutions and harmonious relations among people, communities and nations.
Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) contend that just as there is a variety of conficts
there must also be a variety of ameliorative approaches.
Tourism as a peacemaker
Te authors of this chapter depart from the question of whether or not tou-
rism contributes to peace to the more pragmatic one of how we can use tou-
rism to contribute to peace. Haessly (2010, p.14) suggests that, among other
contributions, people pursuing peace through their association with tourism:
• respect and work for the development, protection and support of traditions,
cultural heritage sites and sacred places;
• acknowledge and protect cultural diversity, and encourage travel for all (in-
cluding those with disabilities);
• reduce poverty by favouring local communities in employment and busi-
ness development;
• eliminate the conditions which lead to acts of violence and work to restore
damaged areas;
• plan carefully and adopt sustainable practices with respect to the environ-
ment;
• involve local people in decision-making; and
• develop visible symbols such as peace poles, peace parks and peace gardens.
Relevant literature (e.g., Mowforth and Munt, 1998. Higgings-Desbiolles,
2006; Moufakkir and Kelly, 2010) suggests that where tourism can contribute
to peace it will do so primarily by:
1. helping to raise living standards in destination communities;
2. respecting and helping to protect community biophysical and sociocultural
environments;
3. encouraging the development of favourable attitudes among visitors and
destination residents; and
4. cultivating, adopting and promoting a culture of peace among world citi-
zens.
It is important to distinguish between what might be termed the solid ele-
ments and the liquid elements of tourism-related confict. Te former, the
more visible issues, relate to the widely recognised social, cultural, economic,
and environmental impacts of tourism planning, development and practices,
278 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and the responses associated with sustainable and responsible tourism. Te
latter, less visible issues are concerned with impacts stemming from attitudi-
nal dispositions such as stereotyping, prejudice, hatred, xenophobia, racism,
religious extremism and bigotry.
Although the above approaches are inter-related, the primary focus of this
chapter is on the achievement of more harmonious relationships through mo-
difcation of attitudes by those involved in tourism, an objective regarded as
primarily educational. Sampson (1991, p.182) refers to the persuasion model
of attitude change, which argues that change may be brought about through
communication. Te efectiveness of communication aimed at changing an
attitude relates to three major factors:
• credibility of the source – based on expertise, trustworthiness, attractive-
ness, legitimacy, perceived objectivity, authority and closeness to the recei-
ver;
• attributes of the message – the type of appeal (positive or negative, use of
fear), the salience of the related group norm, and the evidence used to sup-
port conclusions; and
• attributes of the receiver – persuadability, level of self-esteem, the impor-
tance of group conformity, relevance of the issue, and mindful involvement.
Each problem emanating from tourism engenders peacelessness, but tou-
rism has the potential to contribute to a culture of peace beyond its frontiers.
Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) ofered the following fgure providing an example
of areas to advance research into and understanding of the macroscopic re-
lationship between tourism and peace (Figure 1). According to the authors:
“Since the pursuit of peace is a continuing endeavor, progress through tourism
appears to be a never-ending story. Tourism has the potential to contribute to
peace in many ways and these must be appropriately investigated and assessed
… As new forms of tourism emerge, there are new challenges and opportunities
…” (p. xxv). Such a view recognises that the potential of tourism to contribute
to peace is not limited to economic considerations. For example, how does/
can volunteer, pro- poor or community-based tourism contribute to peace?
Tese forms of tourism have the potential to contribute to poverty alleviati-
on in poor communities (Pro-poor Tourism, 2013) and foster hope (e.g., Isaac,
2010). Tourism has also the potential to contribute to confict resolution bet-
ween communities through the mechanisms of reconciliation and dialogue
(e.g., Kelly and Nkabahona, 2010), or the building of peace parks (Gelbman,
2010) or peace trails to bring people together and commemorate peace (Lash,
Kay Smith and Smith, 2010). Tourism education and education for responsible
tourism can be used as strategies to combat irresponsible tourism actions and
promote examples of good conduct (e.g., Fennell, 2006; Moufakkir, 2011). As
an agent of peace, tourism has the potential to promote democracy, reduce
confict, promote cross-cultural understanding, eradicate poverty, mitigate
global warming, and work for equality and against prejudice. Te goodness of
tourism must come to overweigh its negative impacts and genuinely overth-
row its dark side. Te benefts of tourism are too important to humanity, and
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 279
the ways to beneft from these benefts need to be systematically studied more
in relation to the peace proposition in all its facets. Broadly speaking, tourism
has the potential to respond to UNESCO’s call for action for a culture of peace
by: fostering a culture of peace through education, promoting sustainable eco-
nomic and social development, promoting respect for all human rights, en-
suring equality between women and men, fostering democratic participation,
advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity, supporting participatory
communication and the free fow of information and knowledge, and promo-
ting international peace and security (UNESCO, 2002).
Fig. I. The peace through tourism circle
Fig. I. The peace through tourism circle (Source: Moufakkir and Kelly, 2010, p. xxv)
The peace through tourism concept, insofar as it is concerned with attitude change, is primarily
based on the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) which argues that prejudice and stereotyping
stem largely from ignorance, and that intercultural relationships can become more harmonious if
there is sufficient contact between different groups. It is further argued that positive outcomes
are more likely if these contacts incorporate equality of status among participants; intergroup
cooperation; common goals; and support by authorities, law or custom. Later additions include
opportunities for personal acquaintance and the development of intergroup friendships. It follows
that tourism education designed to pursue peace through tourism should make use of strategies
and content which facilitate the provision of tourism experiences involving appropriate contact
situations.
The elements of the peace proposition in which they may play a part are listed in Table 1 and
include measures directed to awareness-raising and mindfulness among visitors and hosts,
encouragement of positive attitudes through appropriate intercultural contacts, recognition of
ethical concerns such as respect for the host community environment and human rights, and
assistance with community development and empowerment.
Source: Moufakkir and Kelly, 2010, p. xxv
Te peace through tourism concept, insofar as it is concerned with attitude
change, is primarily based on the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) which
argues that prejudice and stereotyping stem largely from ignorance, and that
intercultural relationships can become more harmonious if there is sufcient
contact between diferent groups. It is further argued that positive outcomes
are more likely if these contacts incorporate equality of status among partici-
pants; intergroup cooperation; common goals; and support by authorities, law
or custom. Later additions include opportunities for personal acquaintance
280 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and the development of intergroup friendships. It follows that tourism educa-
tion designed to pursue peace through tourism should make use of strategies
and content which facilitate the provision of tourism experiences involving
appropriate contact situations.
Te elements of the peace proposition in which they may play a part are lis-
ted in Table 1 and include measures directed to awareness-raising and mind-
fulness among visitors and hosts, encouragement of positive attitudes through
appropriate intercultural contacts, recognition of ethical concerns such as re-
spect for the host community environment and human rights, and assistance
with community development and empowerment.
Table 1: Peace through tourism implementation tools
To be included To be avoided
Peace content in tourism education
Pre-trip information (for hosts and guests)
Education on community culture
Reminders of peace ethic
Skillful mediation
Shared interests (hosts and tourists)
Planned experiential learning
Pervasive hospitality
Rejection of peace consideration
Superfciality, bias and misinformation
Contamination of community culture
Dismissal of peace ethic
Lack of or inefective mediation
Focus on diferences (‘othering’)
No learning element
Hostility and poor service
Community consultation and involvement
Delivery of benefts to community
Mutual respect (hosts and guests)
Limits to resource exploitation
Right to travel (with social inclusion)
Support for democratic regimes
Appropriate regulation
Consultative confict management
Supplier collaboration/partnerships
Traveller security
Community exclusion from decision-making
Benefts to a privileged few
Patronization, lack of respect
Uncontrolled or over-exploitation
Barriers to travel (and social exclusion)
Collusion with undemocratic regimes
A laissez-faire approach
Confict management by decree
Unbridled competition
Threats to traveller safety
Expansion of local/domestic markets
Distinctive products
Local access to training and credit
Over-dependence on international markets
Complete product standardisation
Lack of access to training and credit
Poverty/volunteer tourism, contacts
Adherence to codes of practice
Exclusive tourist enclaves
Ignorance/disregard of codes of practice
Source: Kelly (2012)
Arguing for the incorporation of the peace through tourism proposition into
tourism education , Kelly (2006) refers to conscientization, a term coined by
Paolo Freire (Galtung, 1996) for a process in which both consciousness and
conscience are aroused, refected in an awareness of how the world might be
improved and a willingness to work towards that end. Tis section focuses on
the role of potential contributors to peace through their educative role in tou-
rism – tourism educators, travel guides, travel literature and tour guides – and
on how they may make this contribution.
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 281
The role of formal education
According to Ring et al (2009, p.106), ‘Te design of a curriculum involves
many decisions on what to include and exclude and to what extent regional,
local and institutional contexts should be integrated.’ Questions to be con-
sidered in constructing a peace through tourism curriculum include: How
should it be designed? Is there room to accommodate signifcant diferences
of opinion? Is there a core knowledge element? What other content should be
included? What elements of tourism should be discouraged?
It has been argued that a major reason for the inclusion of the peace pro-
position in mainstream tourism courses is the opportunities thereby ofered
for the development in students of skills in critical thinking, analysis, prob-
lem-solving, creativity and coping with change. Processes for including peace
through tourism in tourism education courses were reviewed by Kelly (2006).
It may be achieved through development of one or more units presenting tou-
rism as a peace industry incorporating instruction in, for example, codes of
conduct, responsible tourism practices, volunteer contributions, the need for
regulation and responses to globalisation.
However, a more efective approach would integrate the peace message into
all units at all levels of study. Appropriate mindfulness can be encouraged by
intensive student involvement in Socratic-type discussion of issues contri-
buting to peacelessness, including, for example: the use of sex to promote a
destination; the development of tourist enclaves; group tours; sporting com-
petitions; sex tourism; visits to religious festivals, sacred sites and places of
worship; requirements for visas and passports; classes of accommodation on
trains and ships and in hotels; encouraging overindulgence in food and drink
consumption; tipping; refusal to give money to beggars; haggling over the
price of merchandise; taking photographs; rejecting the host community’s
dress standards; promotion of extreme sports; mass production of souvenirs;
and use of indigenous motifs in advertising. Case studies should be chosen
for their utility in illustrating subject content and encouraging interest in and
empathy with other people, pride in the role of tourism in bringing people to-
gether, and consciousness of the responsibilities associated with employment
in the industry (Kelly, 2006).
It should be noted that, for many problematic topics, there is no universally
accepted solution. Student involvement in discussion of these topics facilitates
transperceptual learning (Crews, 1989), developing an ability to perceive rea-
lity through the eyes of others. It will also encourage a dynamic multicultural
approach in which dualism is avoided, similarities and diferences are viewed
as relative, the inevitability of change is recognised and individuals question
their own neutrality (Moufakkir, 2010). Tese desirable outcomes can be en-
hanced by the provision of foreign language studies, even at an elementary
level. Tere are also distinct advantages in the inclusion of exchange arran-
gements or units of study which enable students to study in another country
(Askjellerud, 2003).
282 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
The role of the tour operator
Many of the elements of peace through tourism are apparent in the practices
of responsible tourism, a term which has been widely adopted in the industry.
For example, in 1990, Community Aid Abroad issued a booklet, Travel wise
and be welcome: A guide to responsible travel in the 90s. It draws attention to
the hidden (and not so hidden) social and environmental costs associated with
tourism, and provides advice on how these may be alleviated. Travellers are
encouraged to learn about the destination to be visited, learn a few words of
the local language, respect local customs, use locally owned accommodation
and services, deal fairly when shopping, avoid ofensive behaviour and mini-
mise waste.
Te aim of the booklet is consistent with those of other tourism suppliers
including those promoting sustainability. For example, there is the work of
Hostelling International (formerly the International Youth Hostels Federation
(IYHF), a global body representing associations in 85 countries. Its concerns
now go well beyond the provision of inexpensive backpacker accommodation
and incorporate the aim of fostering peace and understanding throughout the
world. Te mission statement refers to ‘youth hostelling for peace and under-
standing’ and ‘building bridges’, and some hostels have become learning cen-
tres for peace (Community Aid Abroad, 1990).
Blanchard (2004) describes the operations of the Peace Boat (Japan), a
cruise liner whose visits and on-board activities are designed to inform and
encourage travellers wishing to acquire clearer understanding of the world’s
problems and possible solutions. She commends the Peace Boat for its reco-
gnition of the tourist as someone who wants to learn. Te UK Federation of
Tour Operators (FTO), through its Responsible Tourism Committee, confrms
a commitment to practices which prevent economic, environmental, social
and cultural degradation and make a positive contribution to the livelihood of
the local people. Another British-based organisation, Tourism Concern, seeks
‘to efect change in the tourism industry by campaigning for fair and ethically
traded tourism.’ Te organisation works with the tourism industry to elimina-
te social and environmental problems associated with tourism, and a central
concern is the reduction of poverty, especially in developing countries. Edu-
cational campaigns have focused on the injustices generated by forcible dis-
placement without compensation for the development of resorts and conser-
vation areas in East Africa; the use of forced labour for infrastructure projects
in Myanmar (Burma); and the conditions which porters endure in providing
services for Himalayan trekkers. Tourism Concern makes available a range of
resource materials on:
• fair trade in tourism (and how the individual traveller can contribute);
• development of community tourism (and enhancement of local benefts);
and
• raising public awareness (and support for ethical travel).
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 283
The role of the travel writer
It is submitted that host community sensitivities and environments are bet-
ter protected if visitors are pre-informed of potential problems and ways of
avoiding them. Tere must be recognition of the value of planning, and of the
need to involve the local community in order to gain their support.
Travel writing includes brochures, whose primary purpose is to sell tou-
rism products or destinations, and guidebooks mainly concerned with the
provision of useful information. Tere are also products of travel journalism
which incorporate short reports published in newspaper travel supplements
(often sponsored and of an advertorial nature), articles in magazines (some of
which specialise in travel), and television travelogues (some of a highly infor-
mative documentary nature but often produced primarily to encouraging visi-
tation). Travel literature comprises lengthy and detailed descriptions of travel
or residence experiences in foreign environments, usually in book format, and
intended to entertain and inform readers.
Travel guides
In Anne Tyler’s novel, Te Accidental Tourist, her central character earns his
living by writing guidebooks for business travellers who wish to avoid dealing
with the unfamiliar surroundings. He identifes and recommends accommo-
dation, dining and other establishments whose facilities and services match as
closely as possible those available in metropolitan USA. Clearly there is little
potential in these for the mind-broadening, attitude-changing intercultural
experiences on which the peace proposition is based.
According to Weaver and Opperman (2000, p.163) ‘Travel guides are a par-
ticularly intriguing item of origin region merchandise since they exercise an
enormous infuence over the destination decision and tourist behavior once
in the destination.’ Terkelson and Sorensen (2005) note that guidebooks in
the past tended to focus on practicalities such as accommodation, transpor-
tation, food and dining, currency exchange and attractions, but have evolved
to include cultural and historical information, contributing some depth to the
visitor’s understanding. Te authors refer to an increase in user satisfaction
with a guidebook when ‘it surveys the atmosphere of the place.’ (p.55). More
recent travel guides, in addition to an abundance of practical information, in-
clude sections on history, geography, the economy, politics, education, the arts,
responsible tourism, social graces, legal matters and advice to disabled, gay
and lesbian, and senior travellers and those with children. Much of this mate-
rial is aimed at reducing or avoiding clashes attributable to cultural diferen-
ces. Travellers are invited to contribute amendments and updates for subse-
quent editions.
In general, travel guides may be seen as helping to meet the recognised
need for travellers to have some knowledge about and understanding of desti-
nation communities and cultures and of appropriate behaviour when visiting
them.
284 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
Travel journalism
Shinar and Kempe (2007, p.136) maintain that, “Journalists do not simply re-
port on the world, they also assign meaning to the facts they report and in-
terpret them according to a particular cognitive framework.“ Te authors ad-
vocate peace journalism which encourages a professional ethic incorporating
a commitment to accuracy, veracity, fairness, respect for human rights and a
peace activist role in building bridges of understanding.
Te products of travel journalism include television documentaries and the
relatively short articles contained in newspaper and magazine travel supple-
ments. Tese can be enjoyable, enlivened by lyrical styles, personal percep-
tions and the use of anecdotes. However, while some provide background his-
torical and cultural information, many are sponsored and of an advertorial
nature, focusing on the attributes of hotels and resorts, and tips on where to
go, what to do, what to buy and where to dine. Information on host cultures
often focuses on the more exotic elements, thereby emphasising diferences
rather than similarities between hosts and guests. It may be argued that even
those recognise the value of inner peace (freedom from tension and trouble-
some distractions) with frequent references to relaxation, recreation, escape
and getting away and the use of phrases such as ‘time to linger’, ‘strolling’, ‘a
carefree manner’, ‘watching the world go by’, ‘places to chill out’, ‘places to
recharge your batteries’, ‘space to be oneself’, ‘liberation from pressure’, and
‘opportunities to sit and contemplate.’
Te more conscientious travel journalist aims to convey a ‘sense of place’
(Farewell, 1992) by going beyond mere description and, in efect, presenting
the reader with a vicarious travel experience about whose impacts it is pos-
sible to speculate. A survey of travelogues (Kelly, 1998) identifed examples of
travelogue writing aimed at increasing the reader’s awareness of the potential
for environmental damage associated with travel; the vulnerability of people
in some Tird World communities to exploitation by tourism interests; the
processes of dependence, commodifcation and trivialisation which may ac-
company tourism development; and some approaches used in the search for
solutions to these problems.
Teir primary aim is to take readers on a vicarious journey which will at
least entertain and inform them. For the ‘armchair traveller’, this may be
enough, but the real objective is to encourage readers to undertake such jour-
neys themselves and to use such reports as sources of information on places
they plan to visit. Travelogues, if subjected by the reader to critical analysis,
can contribute to what Horne (1992) calls intelligent tourism, conducted by
travellers able to recognise the superfciality of much of what they see, aware
of the limitations of their knowledge, eager to seek opportunities for deeper
understanding and sensitive to the fragility of what they enjoy in the places
they visit.
Travel literature
Travel books are more substantial products which may even provide an al-
ternative to travel. Armstrong (2004) describes a tourism education module
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 285
which, as an alternative to feld trips, required students to identify in travel
writing the benefts and problems arising from tourism-related cultural in-
teraction. Benefts included the revival of local cultures and traditions, de-
mand for local products, and the preservation of historic artifacts while the
problems included the degradation of cultures through commercialisation
and bogus authenticity, segregation and opposition to tourism initiatives. It
is claimed that students acquired insights into cultural stereotyping, racism,
prejudice and preconceptions, the role of cultural go-betweens, guides and
mediators, and the relevance to tourism of Plog’s Psychographic Continuum.
Voysey (2006, pp.9-10), referring to the role of travel literature in peace
through tourism, laments the extent to which Western travel writers are guil-
ty of demeaning and patronising attitudes to other cultures, emphasising the
romantic and exotic, and maintains that, like good tour guides, good travel
writers are mediators, able to ‘negotiate the border regions between what we
think of as one culture and another.’ Te starting point is the writer’s aware-
ness of their culturally infuenced perceptions and judgments, and the process
involves rigorous research into the cultural, political and historic context of
what is being observed, or of that in which the writer has participated. Tere
is a need to recognise the tensions relating to authenticity and the ongoing
process of culture change.
The role of the tourist
Reporting to tour supplier Community Aid Abroad, Kelly (1995, p.22) referred
to the value of information sessions conducted by returned travellers in pro-
moting responsible tourism. It is submitted here that returned travellers with
an appropriate message to deliver could similarly contribute to the outcomes
sought under the peace proposition.
Tere is a specifc form of tourist reporting which does not ft into the abo-
ve categories, but could be seen as potentially instrumental in the pursuit of
peace. An example of this is given by Schwartz (1991), who describes eforts
by groups of travellers to ensure that events in Tibet in the late 1980s did not
remain hidden from the rest of the world. Te programme commenced with
travellers present in Lhasa during the nationalist demonstrations of 1987 and
the imposition of order by armed police. Tere were some fatalities among
the Tibetans, arrests, and confscation of flm and photographs taken by for-
eign observers. A number of these observers decided to prepare an accurate
account of the event, to be passed on to Western journalists. Although the
participants changed, these eforts continued until the declaration of martial
law in Lhasa in 1989.
Tose involved were individual travellers who, unlike group travellers, were
relatively free to move about and mingle with the Tibetan community. Tey
stayed in the country for extended periods, using locally- owned accommoda-
tion, made their own transport arrangements, and pursued engagement and
‘grassroots’ experiences. Tey included some with backgrounds (mainly Euro-
pean) in journalism, photography, human rights, law, languages, and medicine,
286 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and often with useful contacts in their home countries. Tere was some dis-
agreement over the level of activism deemed appropriate, the desire for per-
ceived objectivity and the need to protect the identities of Tibetan dissidents.
Nonetheless, specifc tasks were allocated and channels developed for delivery
of the reports to foreign correspondents in other countries.
Schwartz (1991) identifes a number of factors contributing to involvement.
Tese include:
• a view that status as foreigners provided some protection from the excesses
of the security forces;
• attributes such as self-confdence and independence;
• the desire to be a traveller rather than a tourist; and
• the opportunities presented to experience a ‘real-life adventure’.
Te author concludes by submitting that
“Individual travellers may have increasingly important roles to play in
closed societies that limit access to information and deal with unrest by
expelling professional information gatherers such as journalists … Tese
governments may fnd it far more difcult and costly to restrict the move-
ments of travellers than to restrict the movement of journalists. It may turn
out in the future that travellers, as a mobile international community, will
once again come to play socially signifcant roles as observers, witnesses,
and gatherers of information (p.603).”
The role of the tour guide
Te tour guide may be regarded as a front-line implementer of the peace
through tourism proposition. Tour-guiding is the core component of the vari-
ous services ofered by tour operators. According to the International Associ-
ation of Tour Managers (IATM), a tour guide is a person who “interprets in an
inspiring and entertaining manner, in the language of the visitors’ choice, the
cultural and natural heritage and environment“ (Reisinger and Steiner, 2006,
p.482).
Generally, “Tour guides are frontline employees in the tourism industry who
play an important role in shaping tourists’ experience in a destination. Whe-
ther tour guides can deliver quality service to tourists is not only essential to
the business success of the tour operators they are afliated with, but is also
critical to the overall image of the destination they represent” (Huang et al,
2010, p.3). It is clear that tour guides can be leaders in the practice and promo-
tion of peace through tourism and in tourism.
Examples of peace in tourism at the macro level have been discussed in the
relationship between tourists, tourism development and nature stewardship
(eg,Weiler et al, 1991). Haig and McIntyre (2002, p.40) refer to the two ele-
ments of interpretation and education as essential in motivating clients to pro-
tect the environment. Weiler et al (1991) note that environmental interpretati-
on is best delivered with high level communicative skills, enthusiasm, a sense
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 287
of humour and perspective, self-confdence and credibility, attributes likely to
be of value in encouraging positive attitude change. Tey also point to the
importance of the tour guide as a role model exhibiting appropriate attitudes.
Carmody et al (2010) emphasise a need for the nature guide to be able to moti-
vate the tourist emotionally and intellectually.
In their review of the literature on tour guiding, Chan and Baum (2004)
identify three roles for the tour guide. Te instrumental role is concerned with
leadership, communication and organisational tasks; the expressive role with
motivation, entertainment and encouraging bonding among participants; and
the needs-meeting role with a customer-oriented demonstration of empathy
and concern. All of these attributes have relevance in the pursuit of harmo-
nious relationships.
Tis may be seen as a somewhat daunting list of guide responsibilities. No-
netheless, the importance of the tour guide cannot be underestimated. It is
submitted here that the signifcance of the tour guide to the peace proposition
lies mainly in his or her role as mediator between visitors and hosts. Bartos
and Wehr (2002, p.166) defne mediation, in a confict management context,
as ‘negotiation facilitated by third, presumably impartial, parties.’ Te authors
refer to the practice of encouraging participants to ‘reform their reality’ – to
recognise that what they perceive as objective facts may merely refect dife-
ring perceptions.
Issue in focus: Peace tours
Tours can be diversionary, recreational, educational or inspirational (Suzuki,
2012) and may incorporate all these elements. However, it might be that the
expectations reviewed above would be most apparent in the educational role
of the peace tour guide, a role which has not attracted the attention of acade-
mics despite its importance. Below is an example of a ‘peace’ tour as experi-
enced by one of the authors of this chapter:
The peace tour experience: an illustrative example
During an academic tourism conference, one part of its social schedule was a
peace tour. What would one expect from a peace tour? From the start of the
tour until its end, there was practically nothing about peace. Te entire dis-
course of the tour guide and discussion with the tour participants was about
war. For about half a day, our tour guide, a well-mannered gentleman, seemed
to take his task seriously. For him, it seemed like it was the ultimate moment
to perform his skills of interpretation, and convince us about his interpretati-
on of the confict that took place in his country a few years ago. He was emo-
tional, giving us vivid details of a situation that he had personally experienced.
He was describing the atrocities of the war. He was very good in describing
the war. He could make it almost real. He took us to the exact places where
the war canons of the enemy were observing the moves of the locals. We visi-
ted the tunnels which his heroic local people dug to hide women and children,
and smuggle food and ammunition. He told us stories about the people killed
288 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and how they got killed. We saw houses half standing with walls still bearing
the wounds of bullets. Certainly, some of us were moved by his stories and his
description of the atrocities of that war. I was not.
… And I kept thinking to myself: where is the peace tour and where is peace
in all this? Is the peace tour all about war? Te tour guide and his interpretati-
on had in fact hijacked the peace tour. His tour was all about stirring emotions.
I am still wondering how peaceful these emotions were. Tour participants in-
dicated their confusion as to “whether the tour was a peace tour or a war ‘me-
morial’ tour”; “Where is peace in all this?”; “Tis is not what I expected from a
peace tour”; “It’s all about the war and the confict”; “I already know the story
of the massacre”; “What has been done about it now?”; “What happened to the
women who survived the tragedy?”; “What programmes have been developed
for them?”; “how do people live together now despite the past and the diferen-
ces?”, or “How do people live with the past?”.
Te tour and its guide were giving voices to the voiceless dead, but tour
participants wanted to also hear the voices of the living. A peace tour which
focuses only on violence does not deserve to be called a peace tour. Despite its
‘peace tour’ designation, this one did not contribute to the search for peace.
Peace tours are mostly related to political activism and political tourism (Bel-
hassen and Santos, 2006; Brin, 2006). Tey are predominantly used to pro-
mote political agendas and interpretation is imbued with politics and ideolo-
gy (Belhassen and Santos, 2006; Brin, 2006). Moufakkir (2010) criticised the
subjectivity of peace tours, arguing that their objectives are often contradic-
tory and their goals counterproductive in the pursuit of peace. He cautioned
against acceptance of ‘political tours’, ‘solidarity tours’ and ‘ justice tours’ as
peace tours and suggested that while these focus on one side of a confict or
issue that divides people, genuine peace tours should transcend the notion
of side-taking and put the emphasis more on bridging gaps between groups
through empathy and understanding of the multiple realities involved. Te
interpretation delivered by the guides of political, solidarity and justice tours
is deliberately myopically constructed and orientated to serve the purpose
of one side. To arouse compassion in their audience, they use dramaturgical
elements and discourse focusing on violent examples and sites of tragedy. In
other words, they create a ‘spatiotemporal bubble’ (Edensor, 2000) that direct-
ly or indirectly invites tour participants to remain locked in the past and that
leads them to consider only the atrocities associated with war and confict. In-
terestingly, writing about peace guiding in Japan, Suzuki (2012) relates peace
tours to ‘dark tourism’.
Citing Hughes (2008), Suzuki (2012, p. 6) explains that visits to dark tou-
rism sites aim to “(re)construct the moral geographies with big events of the
past into proximity“. Te peace tour he analysed brings students to sites of tra-
gedy to learn about historical atrocities, with tour guides exclusively focusing
on military violence as the main feature of peace-building. Te observation
that follows is that this type of peace tour, although intended to develop a cul-
ture of peace in the participants, moves them more towards confict and war
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 289
and less towards peace and harmony, more oriented towards confict and con-
fict resolution than to peace, peace-building, peacemaking and peacekeeping.
According to Galtung, the search for peace should focus on the conditions
for moving closer to peace or at least not drifting closer to violence (1964, p.
2). While the theory of peace has undergone changes since 1964, some peace
tours today continue to emphasise the uglier aspects of confict resolution.
Discussing confict and war has always been easier than talking about peace
and harmony. Kof Anan, former Secretary General for the United Nations
noted that at any moment in contemporary history, the people of as many as
40 nations are engaged in armed confict or warfare. A failure to contemplate
peaceful possibilities for living with others in the world today results when
leaders and peoples of these countries engage in escalating acts of aggression,
violence, retaliation, terrorism, counter-terrorism, armed confict and warfa-
re instead of seeking peaceful alternatives to resolving conficts. However, he
then reminded us that this means that people of more than 160 nations not
engaged in armed confict do exhibit the values, knowledge and skills neces-
sary to resolve potential conficts peacefully; he lamented that these stories
receive so little public attention” (Haessly, 2010, p. 2). Te same observation
could be made about many so-called peace tours. What added value does such
a tour bring to a participant’s vision about peace?
In the “propaganda infected landscape” of today’s daily news and media
reporting, people often get frst impressions about a confict from the media,
and a peace tour that is focused on confict twists peace activism into a form
of advocacy journalism, where propaganda and public relations (PR) dominate.
Indeed, the locational elements of a tour, its carefully planned itinerary and
the immediacy of interpretation by the tour guide provide, for the tour parti-
cipants, an experience which may have even more damaging impact than an
unbalanced media report.
It is clear that guided tours have the power to transform the perceptions,
attitudes and behaviors of participants. However, a tour which is too heavily
focused on violence may transform participants into becoming more rather
than less angry; negatively sensitised rather than positively oriented towards
peace and peaceful solutions to a confict; and apathetic about the current si-
tuation rather than engaged in it. A tour guide who is interpreting on such a
tour does not deserve to be called a peace tour guide if his or her interpre-
tation does not incorporate elements of objectivity, mediation, empathy and
concern.
It is acknowledged in the work of Galtung (1964; 1966; 1988; 1973) on peace,
confict and war that an adequate understanding of violence is required in or-
der to understand and defne peace. Terefore, an efective peace tour should
include both peace and confict elements. However, peace tour participants
are involved in a search for peace, not violence, and a peace tour guide should
adapt the vocabulary of violence and confict to that of peace, harmony and
hope. Peace tour guides have, in addition to their classic interpretation job, a
duty to bridge cultural gaps, mediate between belligerent groups and cultivate
a continuing commitment to peace in tour participants.
290 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
A need for change in mainstream peace tour guiding is apparent. Visits
to tragic sites contextualise storytelling about confict while visits to sites of
hope contextualise storytelling about peace. A successful peace tour guide is
the guide who has left his audience with a sense of optimism and hope.
Based on this discussion, what elements should a peace tour aimed at de-
veloping a culture of peace possess in diferentiating itself from a mainstream,
confict or war tour? Te following are regarded as essential:
• A comprehensive presentation of valid facts about the history of the confict
or issue;
• Involvement of and participant interaction with the local community;
• Awareness and encouragement of peace initiatives in the community;
• Opportunities to hear and discuss the complete range of views on the con-
fict or issue; and
• Opportunities to experience community social, cultural, environmental
and political events.
Conclusions and recommendations
Leisure scholars of the 20th Century lamented the disregard of ethics in leisu-
re education, and not much has changed. “In the eras of the First and Second
World Wars, the focus of academic programmes was on war, confict and in-
ternational relations. During, and immediately following the Vietnam era, the
focus changed to a study of causes and prevention of regional and low-inten-
sity warfare” (Haessly, 2010, p. 2-3). In the 21st century, the focus of academic
programmes needs to shift towards the values, strategies and skills required
for making and sustaining peace.
Peace, with its comprehensive repertoire, is the business of us all, but peace
in tourism education remains largely ignored for the reasons discussed above.
Tere is an argument that tourism education should remain vocational; prepa-
ring students for a job and a career. Instructors fnd it difcult to incorporate
peace through tourism in their course work as a causal relationship between
the two is not always evident, especially if we continue to associate peace and
successful tourism industry programmes only with the absence of armed con-
fict. To advance the contribution of tourism to peace, tourism educators need
to recognise the difering implications for tourism of negative peace, positive
peace, and participatory peace.
It is acknowledged that, despite the tolerance mandated by cultural rela-
tivism, there are likely to be aspects of a host or guest culture (eg, treatment
of animals, gender and ethnic discrimination) seen as dysfunctional by some
travellers. It is not suggested that these should be avoided or ignored. Tese
may, in fact, provide opportunities for tourism to make a positive diference.
Voysey (2006) notes the challenges contained in what has become known
as poverty tourism. While accepting that the tourist should come into contact
with everyday life in the host community, he is critical of the approach which
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 291
idealises poverty, presenting it as somehow more fulflling than afuence.
However, understanding and compassion can be stimulated by a realistic exa-
mination of the political and economic forces which create poverty and other
social problems.
According to UNESCO, the youth of the world want to create a culture of
peace. Tourism education should aim to develop tourism and hospitality lea-
ders of tomorrow who have a positive attitude, demonstrate strong work va-
lues, lead by example, encourage tolerance, celebrate diversity and promote
peace around the world. Tourism and hospitality providers have a responsibi-
lity to make the world a better place for all.
Peace Studies scholars have extended research to include community, raci-
al, ethnic, tribal and religious conficts, and intra- and inter-regional violence
and terrorism. Despite a few articles, chapters in edited volumes (Tourism,
Progress and Peace, 2010; Peace through tourism: Promoting Human Security
Trough International Citizenship, 2013), and the launching of an open access
journal (Te Journal of Tourism and Peace Research -www.icptr.com), schol-
arly writing about tourism and peace is still in its infancy. Tere is a tendency
among some tourism academics to defame the tourism and peace propositi-
on as unrealistic and impractical. Te reluctance to write about tourism and
peace also resonates in the difculty of publishing in established journals and
those with positivistic research anchorages. Tese observations not only limit
research on the tourism and peace proposition, but also discourage scholar-
ship in this area of study. Certainly, tourism is not a magic wand nor is it a
panacea for solving the world’s problems. However, tourism is not alone in
the pursuit of peace and can, along with other human activities, contribute in
many ways.
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EDWARD W. LOLLI S
Peace as a Destination: Peace
Tourism around the World
Summary
Peace tourism is travelling to experience the places and activities that au-
thentically represent peace stories and peacemakers of the past and present.
Peace activities require varying degrees of planning and preparation but peace
places, primarily monuments and museums, are static and available to the
tourist most of the time.
Public awareness has not caught up with peace scholarship which increa-
singly defnes ‘peace’ as having both positive and negative themes, only one of
which is the end of war. Te vast number of peace themes with 86 examples
being named here, confuses the public and prevents peace tourism from com-
peting with simpler tourism ‘brands’ like golf, beach resorts, U.S. Civil War
history, African safaris, and theme parks.
Peace tourism nevertheless already exists in places like New York City and
Hiroshima, which have concentrations of peace monuments and museums.
On a national level, an abundance of peace monuments and museums indica-
tes that the ten countries most likely to beneft from peace tourism develop-
ment (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Switzer-
land, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Canada, and Belgium
– in that order.
A case study is presented to demonstrate that peace tourism can also take
place on a regional scale. A 360 mile (583 kilometer) highway corridor in the
United States of America and Canada contains one hundred peace monu-
ments (including 15 ‘museums for peace’) and ‘authentically represents’ ten
diferent peace stories and at least 36 notable historic peacemakers. Similar
corridors also exist elsewhere.
Tis paper concludes that many cities and corridors with concentrations
of peace monuments are of sufcient interest to sustain peace tourism, pro-
vided that visitors appreciate the variety of peace themes which exist in any
given city or region. To increase visitors’ appreciation, the artists, city fathers,
and museum curators responsible for peace monuments and museums should
work together to promote peace tourism. Collectively, they could tell stories of
peace and justice which are far greater than the sum of the individual parts.
***
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 295
What is peace tourism?
If tourism is travel for pleasure or education, what does it mean to travel to
seek ‘peace’ as a destination? Granted, some tourists travel to fnd peace in the
sense of rest, repose, or enlightenment (‘getting away from it all’). But I wish
to consider travelling to see and experience peace in the same way that others
travel to see and experience, for example, sports, nature, music, art, and so
forth, even war. How does the tourist travel to see or experience war? Unless
he or she is a mercenary, the answer is vicariously, i.e. by visiting battlefelds,
re-enactments, and war museums. Can tourists not travel to see and experi-
ence peace in the same way?
Te National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States defnes
heritage tourism as “travelling to experience the places and activities that au-
thentically represent the stories and people of the past” and defnes cultural
heritage tourism as “travelling to experience the places and activities that au-
thentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.” (National
Trust for Historic Preservation 2011)
By modifying the latter defnition only slightly, we can say:
”Peace tourism is travelling to experience the places and activities that
authentically represent peace stories and peacemakers of the past and
present.”
One might wonder exactly how peace tourists can travel to experience peace
places and activities of the past and present. Based on the defnition of peace
tourism, this table suggests examples of some of the things a tourist might do
during a peace tourism excursion:
By defnition, peace tourism is travelling ...
... to experience PLACES ... ... to experience ACTIVITIES ...
... that authentically
represent peace stories
& peacemakers of the
PAST (i.e. Peace History)
Visit peace monuments
Visit museums for peace
Visit the sites of historic peace events
Visit peace art in galleries & museums
Celebrate peace holidays
Celebrate peace anniversaries
Study historic peacemakers
Attend peace history events
Attend lectures & seminars
... that authentically
represent peace stories
& peacemakers of the
PRESENT (i.e. Peace Issues)
Attend peace studies programmes
Visit places where injustice occurs
Visit UN & other ofcial agencies
Visit projects of non-govt. organisations
Meet with peace activists
Stay in peace activists’ homes
Attend peace workshops & festivals
Take part in peace actions & protests
Lobby government ofcials
Peace activities require varying degrees of planning and preparation. Tey are
events comparable to theatre performances and sports events in that the tou-
rist must plan to be at the right place at the right time. Anniversaries occur
only once a year; meetings with individuals or local organisations usually re-
quire pre-arrangement. Nevertheless, some tourists travel as part of well orga-
nised groups, and many local organisations advertise their activities and wel-
296 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
come out-of-town participants. So it is not inconceivable that a day or week of
‘peace tourism’ might include several of the time specifc activities suggested
by the foregoing table.
Trongs of tourists visit Berlin, Geneva, Hiroshima, and UN Headquarters
in New York City, but how many call themselves ‘peace tourists‘? Most like-
ly not very many. Te public visits battlefelds, golf courses, cathedrals, ope-
ra houses, and football stadia, and doing so in organised groups has created
commercial opportunities for tourism operators. But ‘peace’ is simply not a
‘brand’ that the public recognises today.
Peace places are static and available to the tourist most of the time. Tis
paper focuses on monuments and museums which exist in public space and
can be visited almost any day of the year without prearrangement.
What are peace monuments and museums?
Tere are several answers to this question.
Te frst answer is easy – almost any monument or museum named for
‘peace’. But this answer is deceptive. ‘Peace’ is a concept and ideal recognised
by many diferent cultures, and the word ‘peace’ has been used for many dif-
ferent meanings. What Ronald Dworkin said about “religion” applied equally
well to ‘peace‘: “[It is] an interpretive concept. Tat is, people who use the con-
cept do not agree about precisely what it means: When they use it they are
taking a stand about what it should mean.” (Dworkin 2013) Does the tranquil
Japanese ‘Peace Garden’ at UNESCO headquarters in Paris have the same me-
aning as the aggressive ‘Goddess of Peace’ (who is breaking a sword and stom-
ping on the head of a soldier) in Karlstad, Sweden?
Even though the aspiration for ‘peace’ may be universal, peace tourists soon
learn to encounter a wide variation in the many meanings and interpretations
of the word ‘peace’. And this accounts for some of the fascination of peace tou-
rism.
Te second answer is to include monuments and museums which represent
the same values as ‘peace’ but, for one reason or another, do not happen to
include ‘peace’ in their names. In 1913, the ‘Peace Palace’ was dedicated in Te
Hague to be the home of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. In 1952, Uni-
ted Nations headquarters opened in New York City without being named for
‘peace’ but is certainly no less a peace place than the palace in Te Hague. In
Hiroshima, many monuments and museums related to nuclear destruction in
1945 are named for ‘peace’ (heiwa), but in Europe, the many monuments and
museums related to the Holocaust are not specifcally named for ‘peace’ but
represent ‘peace’ in the very same way as ‘peace’ monuments in Japan.
Te third answer is to consider some of the various meanings of the word
‘peace’, the most obvious being the absence of war. Many peace monuments
have been constructed to celebrate the cessation of hostilities and the promise
of prosperity and progress after war. Te phrase ‘peace museum’ traditionally
connotes an ‘anti-war’ museum which exhibits the evils of war and the bene-
fts of ‘non-war’.
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 297
But modern scholarship has tended to defne ‘peace’ ever more broadly. As
noted by Professor Ikuro Anzai (the long- serving director of the Kyoto Muse-
um for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University in Japan), “‘peace’ is no longer
defned as the ‘absence of war’ but as the ‘absence of violence‘“; violence in this
context is understood as “causes to prevent people from making full use of
their ability.”(Anzai 2011)
‘Peace monuments’ represent this expanded defnition in two diferent
ways. Some peace monuments decry not only war but genocide, colonialism,
racism, or any of the many other evils which prevent the attainment of human
potential. To simplify, we might say that these monuments emphasise nega-
tive themes of peace. Tey deplore the tragedies of the past, warn about the
causes of the tragedies, and project the powerful message of ‘never again’. Te
other kind of peace monument celebrates the positive themes of peace: human
rights, reconciliation, the acts of individual peacemakers (or peace heroes),
and so forth.
Te following table lists 43 examples of each of the two kinds of peace mo-
numents. Te two lists are long but incomplete. Tey refect Johan Galtung’s
1964 defnitions of negative peace (“absence of violence, absence of war”) and
positive peace (“the integration of human society”). (Galtung 1964)
Some Positive & Negative Themes
Examples of Positive Peace
“Integration of Human Society”
Examples of Negative Peace
“Absence of Violence, Absence of War”
Abolition
Arbitration
Civil Rights
Democracy
Disarmament
Economic Development
Education
Emancipation
Environmentalism
Food & Shelter
Gay Rights
Golden Rule
Human Rights
Indigenous Peoples
Integration
International Friendship
International Law
Job Training
Justice
Liberation
Marriage Equality
Nobel Peace Prize
Non-Violence
Pacifsm
Peace After War
Peace Philanthropy
Peace Poles
Peace Treaties
Peacemakers / Heroes
Public Health
Quakers / Mennonites
Racial Diversity
Reconciliation
Red Cross / Red Crescent
Religious Freedom
Resistance
Sister Cities
Social Justice
Tolerance
UN Agencies
Women’s Rights
Workers’ Rights
World Peace
Abuse of Power
Aggression
Apartheid
Arms Race
Berlin Wall
Atrocity
Chemical Warfare
Child Abuse
Climate Change
Colonialism
Communism
Corruption
Crime & Gangs
Discrimination
Disease
Drug Trade
Eugenics
Fascism / Nazism
Genocide / Removal
Holocaust / Shoah
Hunger
Inequality
Injustice
Intolerance
Lack of Water
Landmines
Nuclear Weapons
National Occupation
9/11 Attack
Pollution
Poverty
Racism
Repression
Slavery
Species Extinction
Terrorism
Totalitarianism
Torture
Unemployment
Unfair Prosecution
Violence
War
War Crimes
Like all other monuments, museums are physical, permanent, and symbo-
lic. But they are also living institutions with complexity, multiple programmes,
and the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. In 2005, the Internati-
298 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
onal Network of Peace Museums changed its name to International Network
of Museums for Peace. Although INMP’s institutional membership and out-
reach programmes have not yet greatly expanded in keeping with the broader
defnition, the concept of ‘museum for peace’ nevertheless brings hundreds of
museums not specifcally named for “peace” (but related to any of the negative
or positive themes listed in the foregoing table) under the broad embrace of
peace tourism.
What cities are most likely for peace tourism?
Peace tourism is already happening in cities which have numerous peace mo-
numents and museums for peace: Atlanta, Belfast, Berlin, Chicago, Geneva,
Hiroshima, Jerusalem, London, Nagasaki, New Delhi, New York City, Ottawa,
Philadelphia, Te Hague, Tokyo, and Vienna.
More than a dozen cities in fve countries have recently created peace trails
by listing peace monuments and museums in a brochure or website for the
information of tourists: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge,
Christchurch, Coventry, Geneva, Indianapolis, Leeds, London, Manchester,
Montgomery, Rotterdam, and Wellington.
In the United States, long-distance motor or bicycle trails have been esta-
blished to trace the routes of the 1838–1839 Cherokee ‘Trail of Tears’, the cir-
ca 1850 ‘Underground Railroad’ of escaping slaves, and the 1965 voting rights
march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Michelin guides have ranked principal sights with three, two, or one stars.
Here are a dozen peace tourism destinations (cities) which, in the author’s opi-
nion, deserve three stars (‘Worth a journey’):
Top Dozen
Peace Tourism
Destinations
(Cities)
44 Examples of Notable
Peace Monuments & Museums for Peace
(with year of creation)
Approx.
# of Peace
Monu-
ments
Including
this # of
Museums
London, England 1945 – Housmans Bookshop, Peace House
1968 – Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Tavistock Square
2012 – “Peace Trails Through London”
92 2
Washington, DC, USA 1910 – Organisation of American States (Carnegie)
1993 – US Holocaust Memorial Museum
2011 – Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial
2012 – US Institute of Peace (USIP)
74 13
Hiroshima, Japan 1954 – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
1955 – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
2002 – National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
73 4
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 299
Top Dozen
Peace Tourism
Destinations
(Cities)
44 Examples of Notable
Peace Monuments & Museums for Peace
(with year of creation)
Approx.
# of Peace
Monu-
ments
Including
this # of
Museums
Jerusalem, Israel &
Bethlehem, West Bank
1953 – Yad Vashem Historical Memorial
2000 – “Tent of Nations,” Daher’s Vineyard
2001 – Bethlehem Peace Centre
2005 – Holocaust History Museum, Yad Vashem
2008 – Tolerance Park & Monument
2014? – Museum of Tolerance (Simon Wiesenthal Centre)
65 4
New York City, NY, USA 1952 – United Nations Headquarters
1997 – Museum of Jewish Heritage – Living Memorial to the Holocaust
2004 – Museum of Tolerance New York (Simon Wiesenthal Ctr)
64 20
Berlin & Potsdam,
Germany
1793 – “Goddess of Peace,” Brandenburger Tor
1962 – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
1982 – Anti-Kriegs Musuem / Anti-War Museum
2001 – Judisches Museum / Jewish Museum Berlin
2005 – Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
62 9
Nagasaki, Japan 1955 – Nagasaki Peace Park
1955 – Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
2002 – National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
51 3
Atlanta & Decatur, GA,
USA
1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change
1980 – Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site
1982 – Jimmy Carter Library & Museum
50 8
Chicago, Illinois, USA 1931 – Baha’i House of Worship for North America
1957 – DuSable Museum of African American History
1967? – Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
31 7
Tokyo & Yokohama, Japan 1976 – Display House of the Daigo Fukuryu-Maru
1983 – “Peace Boat” (SS Topaz), Yokohama
1992 – Kawasaki Peace Museum, Kawasaki
1993 – Peace Museum of Saitama, Saitama
2002 – Centre of the Tokyo Raid & War Damage
29 10
The Hague, Netherlands 1913 – Vredespaleis / Peace Palace (Carnegie)
1995 – Yi Jun Peace Museum
2012 – Peace Palace Visitors Centre
24 5
Geneva, Switzerland 1936 – Palais des Nations / Palace of Nations
1946 – League of Nations Museum
1988 – International Red Cross & Red Crescent Museum
18 2
Te 44 examples in the foregoing table (personal table) represent nine po-
sitive peace themes (civil rights, international law, indigenous peoples, No-
bel Peace Prize, peacemakers, Red Cross, tolerance, UN agencies, and world
peace) and eight negative peace themes (Berlin Wall, discrimination, Fascism/
Nazism, Holocaust, nuclear weapons, national occupation, 9/11, and racism).
Four of the 12 cities in the foregoing table (Geneva, New York City, Te
Hague, and Washington) host multiple international organisations. Four of
the cities (Berlin, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Tokyo) are the sites of hor-
300 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
rendous tragedy. And four (Atlanta, Chicago, Jerusalem, and London) make
the list largely as the result of notable peacemakers who lived or worked there.
What countries are most likely for peace tourism?
Peace places and peace activities are not evenly distributed around the world.
Te following table attempts to estimate the potential for peace tourism in 30
selected countries. Te data presented are extracted from on-line data sets
(http://www.peacepartnersintl.net/tourism.htm). Each source is presumed to
be reliable, but the results are inconsistent because defnitions are imprecise
and because researchers have sought information in diferent ways.
Te table contains data for the number of peace museums, museums for
peace, human rights museums, ‘sites of conscience’, peace monuments, Holo-
caust memorials and museums, and peace studies programmes in each of the
30 countries. Te totals at the right side of the table estimate of the number of
‘places and activities that authentically represent peace stories and peacema-
kers of the past and present’.
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Israel - - 4 - - 158 7 1 170 8,002 47,070 Yad Vashem
New Zealand - - - 2 - 36 - - 38 4,467 117,553 Nuclear Free Zone
Netherlands 5 9 18 1 - 65 5 - 103 16,784 162,951 Peace Palace
Switzerland - 4 5 - - 40 - - 49 8,037 164,020 UNO Geneva
Austria 1 3 5 - - 35 3 1 48 8,489 176,854 UNO Vienna
UK 2 3 14 16 1+4 266 4 5 315 63,182 200,578 Reformers
Norway 1 3 3 2 0+1 12 - 1 23 5,051 219,609 Morokulien
USA 5 18 227 2 6+67 958 35 82 1,400 315,779 225,556 UN Headquareters
Canada - - 13 - 0+3 126 3 6 151 35,056 232,159 UN Peacekeeping
Belgium 2 3 6 - 0+2 25 1 - 39 11,151 285,923 Edith Cavell
Sweden 3 2 4 - 0+1 13 1 2 26 9,567 367,962 Morokulien
Ireland - - - - - 9 - 3 12 4,585 382,083 Reconciliation
Japan 20 34 29 - 0+1 201 - - 285 127,340 446,807 Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Costa Rica - 1 1 - - 7 - 1 10 4,667 466,700 UN University
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 301
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France 1 4 20 2 0+1 52 54 ?! 2 136 65,619 482,493 UNESCO
Germany 5 12 27 1 0+1 114 3 1 164 82,029 500,177 Nazi desertions
Lebanon - - - - 0+1 5 - 1 7 4,324 617,714 Sabra & Shatilla
Australia - - 1 2 0+1 26 2 4 37 23,009 621,865 Nobel Peace Walk
Poland - 5 13 1 0+3 12 7 - 41 38,534 939,854 Holocaust
Greece - - 1 - - 7 1 - 9 10,815 1,201,667 Olympic Games
Spain 2 2 4 - 0+4 24 - 1 37 47,060 1,271,892 Guernika
South Africa - 1 10 - 2+5 18 3 - 39 51,771 1,327,462 Apartheid
South Korea 1 6 5 - 0+1 24 - - 37 50,004 1,351,459 Demilitarised Zone
Italy 2 2 8 1 1+4 23 3 - 44 59,500 1,352,272 Pax Romana
India 2 3 11 - 0+2 52 - - 70 1,210,193 1,728,847 Mahatma Gandhi
Mexico - - 1 2 0+3 24 - - 30 112,337 3,744,567 Amistad/Friendship
Russia - - 5 - 2+4 24 - - 35 143,370 4,096,286 Gulags
Turkey - - - - - 10 - 1 11 75,627 6,875,181 Atatürk’s “Peace at home”
Brazil - - 3 - 0+2 11 1 - 17 193,947 11,408,647 Tortura Nunca Mais
China 1 12 4 - - 19 - - 46 1,354,040 29,435,652 Japanese Aggression
30 Country
Total
53 127 442 32 122 2,396 133 112 3,417 4,144,336
30 Country
Average
1.8 4.2 14.7 1.1 4.1 79.9 4.4 3.7 113.9 138,145 1,212,862
212 Country
Total
- 27 49 14 52 many 14 - 2,869,080
242 = World
Total
53 154 491 46 174 2,396
many
147 112 7,013,416
Te table indicates that the ten countries most likely to beneft from peace
tourism development (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA,
Canada, and Belgium – in that order.
Can peace tourism thrive on a regional scale?
Te foregoing sections have named a number of cities and entire countries
where peace tourism takes place (or could take place) because of peace monu-
ment and museum concentration. But peace monuments and museums also
exist in small places, and indeed they are sometimes scattered over wide areas.
302 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
A case study is now presented to explore if peace tourism can also take
place on a regional scale. Tis study explores a hypothetical example of peace
tourism where “peace tourists” (travelling independently or as part of organi-
sed groups) would forego visiting a city of peace monument concentration and
would move (by car or bus) from town to town over a period of several days or
even a week at a time. Tis case study is hypothetical. Te author and his wife
are probably the only persons to have followed the itinerary outlined here.
As shown on the adjacent map, the study area is a 360 mile (583 kilometer)
highway corridor in the United States of America and Canada. Te area con-
tains 100 peace monuments (including 15 museums for peace) that ‘authen-
tically represents ten diferent peace stories and at least 36 notable historic
peacemakers. If a peace tourist were to stop at each and every monument, he
or she would be stopping, on average, every 3.6 miles (5.8 km).
Te southern edge of the study area borders the Ohio River, and its northern
edge borders the Detroit River. Ever since the American Revolution, the latter
river has been part of the international border. Before the American Civil War,
the former river was the boundary between slave and free states. Could these
geographic facts infuence what the ‘peace tourist’ would see when travelling
from one river to the other?
M Windsor, Ontario
--- Detroit River ---
L Detroit, Michigan
K Dearborn, Michigan
J Toledo, Ohio
I Blufton, Ohio
H Wapakoneta, Ohio
G Greenville, Ohio
F Dayton, Ohio
E Yellow Springs, Ohio
D Wilberforce, Ohio
C Wilmington, Ohio
B Cincinnati, Ohio
-- Ohio River ---
A Newtown, Kentucky
Source: Google Maps
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
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J
K
L
M
OHI O
L AK E E R I E
MI C HI G AN
Detroit
Toledo
Dayton
Cincinnati
Columbus
Ford Wayne
Cleveland
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 303
Te study area has never been ravaged by war (except for “Indian Wars” in
the late 18th century when settlements were few and far between). Te area
contains no huge city, no national park, no “world class” tourist attraction like
Disneyland or Las Vegas. Its largest cities – Detroit, Cincinnati, and Toledo –
are only the 18th, 64th, and 67th largest cities in the United States. Windsor is
only the 16th largest metropolitan area in Canada.
Yet the study area is not without many points of ‘peace tourism’ interest. It
contains the world’s largest Western style peace bell, the only peace museum
in North America, the only display of Hiroshima artifacts outside Japan, the
site of an important 1795 peace treaty, the frst mosque in North America to
use classic Islamic architecture, not one but three nationally recognised mu-
seums – the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the National
Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, and the Arab American Natio-
nal Museum – the B-29 bomber which destroyed Nagasaki, a town named for
British abolitionist William Wilberforce, and a small Mennonite university
(Blufton) which arguably has the highest per capita concentration of peace
monuments of any place on earth.
To some extent, therefore, the study area was chosen because it contains
some important points of peace interest. But it is not unique. Comparable areas
certainly exist, for example Civil Rights sites in the American South and Holo-
caust sites in Germany, Poland, and other countries of Eastern Europe. And the
author is confdent that he could identify many more corridors in California,
eastern North America, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, New Zeal-
and, India, Israel/Palestine, and Japan which would contain an equal (or even
greater) number of sites which could interest the hypothetical ‘peace tourist’.
One of the ‘problems’ identifed by the case study is that the travelling pu-
blic probably does not recognise that so many peace themes have something
in common – the ‘interpretive concept’ of ‘peace’. Monuments use symbols,
inscriptions, and physical presence to preserve an idea or event as interpreted
by someone in the more or less distant past. Te stories monuments tell are
never complete and – as vividly demonstrated in the study area – are scatte-
red geographically. So it takes some efort on the part of the peace traveller to
keep track of diferent peace stories.
Te study area’s 100 peace monuments and museums represent the fol-
lowing ten peace stories (listed here in historic order):
• Native Americans, peace treaties, and removal.
• Slavery, abolition, and emancipation.
• Education and institutional development.
• US-Canadian friendship and unfortifed boundary.
• Holocaust and World War II.
• Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the atomic bomb.
• Labour movement and workers’ rights.
• Afro-American emancipation and civil rights movement.
• Immigration and ethnic diversity.
• Recent conficts: Vietnam, Iraq, and the “9/11” terrorist attack
304 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
Here, from south to north, is a summary of peace places in the study area:
• At the southern end of the corridor, there are several monuments about sla-
very and emancipation from slavery, including an immense museum, the
National Underground Railway Freedom Center (NURFC). Indeed, the so-
called ‘underground railway’ (an indistinct network of farms and safe hou-
ses through which escaped slaves found their way to freedom in Canada) is
the single most important peace story in the study area, and 15 of the area’s
100 monuments are related to the underground railway. To the right and
left of the corridor (but not exactly on the route shown here) are historic
properties preserved to interpret the underground railroad. Near Windsor,
Ontario, at the north end of the corridor, are two or more farmsteads pre-
served as outdoor museums to represent the goal of the slaves feeing from
bondage south of the Ohio River to freedom on the Canadian side of the
Detroit River.
• Part way up the corridor are three cities (Wilberforce, Yellow Springs, and
Dayton) which made important contributions to civil rights and to the ad-
vancement of Afro-Americans.
• A little farther north are two cities (Greenville and Wapakoneta) associated
with Native American (Indoamerican) history and US Government remo-
vals of Native Americans to the West. In Wapakoneta, a private citizen has
gathered glacial boulders to construct an immense “Temple of Tolerance.”
• Tree cities at the northern end of the corridor (Toledo, Detroit, and Wind-
sor) are heavily industrialised, and some of their monuments refect the
struggle for workers’ rights.
• On the Detroit River are three monuments constructed between 1930 and
1941 in celebration of peace since 1814 along what is recognised as the
world’s longest unfortifed boundary. Alas, the remarkable record of the
USA and Canada to coexist in harmony and with a minimum number of
border restrictions is no longer the object of monument construction (with
the exception of some ‘Gardens for Peace’ further East occasioned by the
recent bicentennial of the War of 1812).
• Te remaining peace monuments along the corridor from the Ohio River
to the Detroit River represent a variety of peace themes and physical forms:
World peace (9), peace art (9), individual peacemakers (9), civil rights (7),
Martin Luther King, Jr. (6), personal peace (5), notable peace poles (5), Holo-
caust and anti-Semitism (3), atomic weapons (3), native Americans (3), paci-
fsm (3), peace bells (3), peace trails (3), sister cities (3), Islam (2), Berlin Wall
(2), labor movement (2), Mahatma Gandhi (2), peace parks and gardens (2),
environmentalism (2), the 9/11 attack (2), and women’s rights (2). Temes
represented by a single monument (until more are identifed) include Abra-
ham Lincoln, the war in Iraq, the Vietnam War, and peace fountains.
Te atomic bomb and peace art are represented here by more monuments
than one would expect in Europe and elsewhere in North America. Otherwise,
the list of themes noted above is typical of many other regions.
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 305
Te study area also shows a typical variety of physical forms. As already
noted, it boasts North America’s one and only anti-war “peace museum” (the
Dayton International Peace Museum) whose original raison d’etre is the Day-
ton Peace Accords which brought peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.
But the study area also has six other ‘museums for peace’, three peace art gal-
leries, two museum exhibits about peace themes, six historic houses which are
open to the public and operate as museums, and two historic farmsteads open
to the public.
Te seven museums for peace are in Cincinnati (holocaust and under-
ground railway), Dayton (peace), Dearborn (Arab-American culture and
history), Detroit (Afro-American history and holocaust), and Wilberforce
(Afro-American history). Te three peace art galleries are in Blufton, Dayton
and Detroit. Te two museum exhibits about peace themes are in Greenville
(Peace Treaty of 1795) and Wilmington (Hiroshima). Te four historic houses
which are open to the public and operate as museums are in Dayton (Afro-
American history), Cincinnati (emancipation), Waynesville (Quaker history),
and Wilberforce (Afro-American history). And the two farmsteads are both
near Windsor (and both related to the underground railway).
Te 100 monuments include six imports – cherry trees from Japan, an anci-
ent Roman column, a segment of the Berlin Wall from Germany, a peace bell
cast in France in 1999, and original French paintings from 1654 and 1840. One
of the French paintings depicts the slave trade and is complemented by Ame-
rican paintings of 1845 and 1893 showing the same injustice.
Except for the paintings, the oldest peace monument in the entire stu-
dy area was erectred in 1928, and the bulk of the monuments date from the
1980’s (22), 1990’s (11), and frst decade of the 21st century (28). But Asian and
European readers of this case history would be wrong to assume that the mo-
numents are relatively new because everything is new in the “New World.” In-
sofar as peace monuments are concerned, the very concept is relatively new,
and the bulk of peace monuments in Asia and Europe are similarly dated.
Te defnition of peace tourism includes places and activities that authen-
tically represent peacemakers of the past and present. Te study area has mo-
numents and/or museum displays preserving the memories of at least these 36
peacemakers (listed here in birth order):
Name Dates Peace Achievement
Cincinnatus 519–430 BC Resigned Roman dictatorship
BORN I N T HE 18T H C E NT URY
Black Hoof c1740–1831 Advised other Indians to avoid “Tecumseh’s War”
Little Turtle c1747–1812 Ended 40 years of war by signing Greenville peace treaty
William Wilberforce 1759–1833 Led British efort to end slavery in 1833. Member of Parliament.
Lyman Beecher 1775–1863 Famous minister & abolitionist. Father of accomplished family.
306 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
Name Dates Peace Achievement
Sir Thomas Buxton 1786–1845 Brewer, abolitionist & reformer. Member of Parliament.
Josiah Henson 1789–1883 Former slave. Settled in Ontario, Canada.
Frances Wright 1795–1852 Abolitionist & newspaper editor. Born in Scotland.
Horace Mann 1796–1859 “Father of the American public school system”
Levi Cofn 1798–1877 Quaker abolitionist. Ran Underground RR “Grand Central Station”
BORN I N T HE 19T H C E NT URY
James Bradley c1800-? Former slave. Captured in Africa. He bought his own freedom.
Abraham Lincoln 1809–1865 President of USA. Issued Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Isaac Harvey 1809–1883 Quaker farmer. Visited President Lincoln to end slavery.
Daniel Alexander Payne 1811–1893 Methodist bishop & educator. Founded Wilberforce College.
Harriet Beecher Stowe 1811–1896 Abolitionist. Wrote infuential novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Martin Robinson Delaney 1812–1885 Physician. Ofcer in US Army. “Father of Black Nationalism.”
John Freeman Walls 1813–1911 Former slave. Settled in Ontario, Canada.
Elizabeth Blackwell 1821–1910 Born in England. First female medical graduate in USA.
Charles Young 1864–1922 West Point graduate. 1st Black national park superintendent.
Mahatma Gandhi 1869–1948 Led nonviolence in South Africa & India. Later sculpted in Ohio.
Nancy Brown 1870–1948 Newspaper columnist. Celebrated US-Canadian friendship.
Paul Lawrence Dunbar 1872–1906 Black poet & playwright. Built house in Dayton, Ohio.
Arthur Ernest Morgan 1878–1975 Engineer & educator. Founded Community Service Inc. (CSI).
BORN I N T HE 20T H C E NT URY
Theodore (Ted) Berry 1905–2000 First African-American mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio
Charles Brooks 1915–1977 Labour leader in Windsor, Ontario. Assassinated by opponent.
Barbara Leonard Reynolds 1915–1990 Quaker. Founded World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan.
Masahisa Goi 1916–1980 Philosopher. Started peace poles (“May Peace Prevail on Earth”).
Charles Howard Wright 1918–2002 Physician. Opened Museum of African-American Hist. in Detroit.
James W. Bristah 1919–2008 Minister. Opened Swords into Plowshares Peace Center in Detroit.
Charles H. Rosenzveig 1920–2008 Polish Rabbi. Opened Holocaust Memorial Center in Detroit.
Coretta Scott King 1927–2006 Wife of MLK, Jr. Attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs.
Martin Luther King. Jr. 1929–1968 Minister & civil rights leader. Assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
Richard Holbrooke 1941–2010 Diplomat. Negotiated Dayton Peace Accords to end war in Bosnia.
Wayne Carlisle 1941- Businessman. Erected 1999 World Peace Bell in Newport, KY
Sadako Sasaki 1943–1955 Hiroshima victim. Tried to fold 1,000 peace cranes before death.
A. Zziz Chowdhury ?- Librarian from Bangladesh. Donated Peace Clock to Windsor, ON
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 307
Conclusions
• Tourists travel to play golf, to take adventure tours, and to visit battlefelds,
but relatively few tourists currently seek peace as a destination. An obvious
reason is that the public is largely unaware of the tourism value of peace
places and peace activities.
• Te public is in fact largely unaware of ‘peace’ as a category of tourism in-
terest and of the many diferent meanings and themes of ‘peace’ ; to create
‘peace tourism’ the public needs to become increasingly aware of the many
meanings of “peace” and of the many interesting ‘peace tourism’ options.
• Tere is virtually no peace tourism industry today. Te existing tourism
industry (airlines, hotels, tourism promotion agencies, and travel writers)
overlooks ‘peace’ as a tourism destination. Peace places and activities are
rarely advertised or shown in popular guide books.
• University peace studies departments, peace activist associations, and
other Organisations which make a conscious efort to promote peace and
justice do so largely within their own boundaries and in isolation from the
travelling public.
• Public awareness has not caught up with peace scholarship which increa-
singly defnes ‘peace’ as having both positive and negative themes, only one
of which is the end of war. Te vast number of peace themes confuses the
public and prevents peace tourism from competing with simpler tourism
‘brands’ like golf, beach resorts, U.S. Civil War history, African safaris, and
theme parks.
• Peace tourism nevertheless already exists (knowingly or unknowingly) in
places like New York City and Hiroshima which have concentrations of
peace monuments and museums.
• On a national level, an abundance of peace monuments and museums in-
dicates that the ten countries most likely to beneft from peace tourism de-
velopment (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Canada, and
Belgium – in that order.
• Te case study proves that there are enough peace monuments and muse-
ums in one short (360 mile) stretch of highway to occupy a serious ‘peace
tourist’ for several days. Similar corridors exist elsewhere.
• Te 18 museums and 82 other peace monuments in the study area collec-
tively illustrate the history of mankind’s striving in multiple ways to bring
about peace and justice for all, and the peace stories they tell contribute to
an overall appreciation of ‘peace’ which is far greater than the sum of their
individual stories.
• Te study area is not unique. Doubtlessly, there are many other areas in
the USA and abroad where other peace monuments and museums (repre-
senting diferent peace stories) could also become the foundation of peace
tourism.
• Especially when interpreted by an experienced facilitator or guide, these
‘peace places’ could instruct, inspire, and/or entertain a variety of diferent
308 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
age and interest groups: children, students, history bufs, church groups,
peace activists, retirees, and others.
• Until peace tourism becomes established, tourists will continue to use the
same roads and hotels to seek and fnd forms of tourism with which they
are familiar (or which have been sold to them by professional marketers),
such as beaches, boating, theme parks, music festivals, competitive sports,
gun shows, the Civil War, military re-enactments, air shows, and battle-
felds. Te overall efect of such forms of tourism is to help perpetuate the
culture of war or violence.
Recommendations
• Find ways for stakeholders of the tourism industry and of peace organisa-
tions to interface and create innovative ways to market peace tourism to
the travelling public of all countries.
• Strengthen the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), the
Federation of International Human Rights Museums (FIHRM), the Inter-
national Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC), and other non-govern-
mental organisations which are trying to bring about cooperation and co-
ordination among museums for peace and other peace places.
• Encourage peace activist organisations and university peace studies depart-
ments to reach out to peace tourists and to welcome them into local peace
activities.
• Publish directories (in print and on-line) of peace places, peace sites, and
peace destinations. Create a multilingual, searchable on-line directory of
peace activities taking place in all countries throughout the year.
• Ensure that the public learns the peace stories (and peace tourism possibi-
lities) of cities with peace monument and museum concentration, for ex-
ample (in alphabetical order) Ahmedabad, Atlanta, Belfast, Berlin, Geneva,
Hiroshima, Jerusalem, Kyoto/Osaka, London, Nagasaki, New Delhi, New
York City, Philadelphia, Te Hague, San Juan (Costa Rica), Tokyo, Vienna,
and Washington, DC.
• Encourage the artists, city fathers, and museum curators responsible for
existing peace monuments and museums for peace to become acquainted
with each other and to promote themselves under a common theme, peace-
perhaps establishing a new brand to market themselves to potential peace
tourists.
• Create a peace tourism ‘brand’ or logo which could be used to identify or-
ganisations sponsoring study tours and workshops, peace studies depart-
ments and peace activists willing to meet with the public, the sites of peace
achievements, and of course peace monuments and museums for peace.
• Perhaps redefne and reinstate the ‘Banner of Peace’ originally promoted by
Russian artist Nicholas Roerich to identify and protect places of important
cultural heritage (Roerich 2013).
• Conduct research to identify additional peace places adding to the world’s
already impressive number of peace stories. (Te case study suggests that
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 309
places related, in particular, to the removal of Native Americans, to the
Underground Railroad, to women’s sufrage, to pacifsm and the anti-war
movement, and to the civil rights and labour movements are yet to be iden-
tifed).
• Encourage local colleges, universities, churches, and other institutions inte-
rested in ‘peace’ to become aware of their regions’ potential for peace tou-
rism (both near and far) and to adapt their programmes to help tell their
regions’ many peace stories to the public (residents and tourists alike).
• Create regional peace tourism associations to help bring about self-awa-
reness and public awareness of regional peace tourism potential. Advise
such associations to limit their initial actions (for example, a brochure and
website describing the region’s peace monuments and explaining what they
have in common) until information is obtained on further steps which
could be taken.
• Advise peace tourism advocates to reach out and form partnerships with
like-minded advocates in other areas in order to help bring about an appre-
ciation of peace tourism nationally and internationally, perhaps in concert
with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
References
National Trust for Historic Preservation. 2011. “Get-
ting Started: How to Succeed in Cultural Heritage
Tourism.” In Cultural heritage Tourism. Partners in
Tourism: Culture and Comerce. Available on http://
www.culturalheritagetourism.org/howtogetstart-
ed.htm
Dworkin, Ronald. 2013. “Religion Without God”. In
The New York Review of Books. Available on http://
www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/apr/04/
religion-without-god/?pagination=false
Anzai, Ikuro. 2011. “An Agenda for Peace Research in
Japan after 3/11”. In The Peace and Confict Review.
Volume 6, Issue 1 – ISSN: 1659–3995
Galtung, Johan. 1964. “An Editorial”. Journal of Peace
Research. doi:10.1177/002234336400100101
Roerich, Nicholas. 2013. “Where there is Peace, there
is Culture; Where is Culture, there is Peace.” The
banner of peace. SkyTime (503) 293 6460
GEERT BOURGEOI S
*
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–
2018: Commemorating the Past and
Inspiring the Future
Introduction
Te First World War (1914–1918) had a tremendous impact on the territory of
Belgium, most notoriously because of the infamous trench war which stret-
ched for four long years in the south-western part of Flanders, but also as a re-
sult of the senseless attacks against the civilian population and the deliberate
destruction of cities and cultural heritage by invading German troops. Up to
this day, the landscape of Flanders is still littered with the physical remnants
of this huge confict, both above and under the ground. Te upcoming cente-
nary of the First World War provides Flanders with a tremendous opportunity
to refect on the past and to draw lessons for the future. As the vice minister-
president of the Government of Flanders, I have been entrusted by my colle-
agues with the overall co-ordination of the commemoration eforts within the
government.
With this contribution, I want to share the Flemish experience and exper-
tise in gearing up for this momentous event, and I wish to present some ideas
to the international community to act upon in ensuring a lasting legacy of
the centenary period. Although I will primarily focus on the activities organi-
sed or fnanced by the Government of Flanders, it must be stressed that many
other groups and participants are in full preparation for the centenary. Speci-
fc reference should be made to the provinces, the cities and municipalities, lo-
cal historical societies, cultural groups and individuals. One good example is
the network of the so-called ‘martyr cities’, i.e. the Flemish cities of Aarschot,
Dendermonde and Leuven; these cities are preparing a joint programme in
collaboration with the Walloon martyr cities of Andenne, Dinant, Sambre-
ville and Visé. Te provinces are also very active, with the province of West-
Flanders taking the lead with an impressive calendar of events and substantial
funding. Te contributions of these local and regional stakeholders will obvi-
ously enrich the governmental calendar.
* The author is Vice-Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, and Flemish Minister for
Public Governance, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse
Rand.
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 311
Preparing for the Centenary of the First World War in Flanders Fields
Te First World War, or ‘the seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century’, as
the American historian and diplomat George F. Kennan labelled it, “was the
frst international confict on a global scale” (Kennan 1981, 3). Te territory of
Belgium was heavily impacted by the ‘‘Great War’. Te infamous trench war,
with the associated blood-drenched names of Ypres, Messines or Passchenda-
ele, was part of the long western front in Europe. Within Belgium the war was
mainly fought in the south-western region of Flanders, behind the river Yser.
Tis area is known worldwide as ‘Flanders Fields’, after the title of the famous
poem which was written in December 1915 by Canadian army physician John
McCrae (Poem 1915):
In Flanders felds the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
Tat mark our place; and in the sky
Te larks, still bravely singing, fy
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders felds.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
Te torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders felds.
Flanders Fields saw the killing of more than 500,000 soldiers, men assembled
there from the four corners of the globe, representing ffty actual nationalities.
We can, we must, and we will never forget them. On the contrary, indelibly,
we carry the memory of them, and of all the countless other victims of the
Great War, with us in our hearts and minds. Today, everywhere in the world
‘Flanders Fields’ is still considered synonymous with unprecedented human
sufering and utter material destruction.
Te efects of World War I on our society have been immense and can still
be felt to this present day. Families were ripped apart, cities were destroyed
and buildings had to be rebuilt; the horizon is lined with memorial sites and
war cemeteries, and still every year people are killed when they encounter un-
exploded ammunition from almost a hundred years ago.
Flanders wishes to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World
War in a ftting and serene manner, raising awareness of the events of almost
a century ago with the public at large and the younger generations as speci-
312 GEERT BOURGEOI S
fc target groups. Making this centenary a success requires paying adequate
attention to the needs of the actual visitor economy, but at the same time en-
suring that the core messages of the Great War are not getting lost, with due
respect for the ultimate sacrifce of its many victims.
In our eforts to develop the visitor economy, ‘tourism+’ (‘tourismPLUS’) is
the concept of reference, with Flanders wishing to pass on the core message
of the First World War to current and future generations: ‘no more senseless
war’. For tourism this means that we need to tell the story of the war in all
its versatility and that we provide room for meaning and refection. We open
up our heritage with respect for and protection of the intrinsic value of sites,
stories and personal memories. We give room to contemporary interpretation
and to innovative concepts and products. Our aim is to touch hearts and to
elicit emotions. We wish to show the magnitude of this war to people so that
they can understand it, to commemorate those who died, so those who com-
memorate them may learn from it.
Te lengthy time span of the commemoration period, the involvement of all
levels of governance within Belgium, the increasing planning of other coun-
tries to commemorate their involvement in the Great War, and the relevance
of the centenary to almost all policy competencies of the Government of Flan-
ders, present the commemoration as a huge challenge, but at the same time as
a unique opportunity for our region.
Te Government of Flanders wants to create amongst the present and
future generations, both in Flanders and abroad, a structural awareness on
themes such as tolerance, intercultural dialogue, and international under-
standing, with a view to fostering an open and tolerant society and an active
international orientation. Te centenary presents us with a unique opportuni-
ty to ensure the sustainable preservation of the war heritage relics for future
generations and to make them more accessible today to our own citizens and
foreign visitors alike.
For all of the strategic reasons mentioned above, the Government of Flan-
ders started preparations for the Great War centenary in 2007, an efort which
was – and continues to be - strongly supported across diferent political party
lines.
2008 saw the publication of a scientifc study by the Flemish Foreign Poli-
cy Research Centre on the diferences in commemorative traditions in ffty
present-day countries that had regular or auxiliary troops in Flanders Fields
(Van der Auwera 2007; 2008). Tis ‘multi-ethnic’ dimension of the Great War
wasn’t very well known with the public until a couple of years ago. In the same
year a joint study was published by Westtoer, Tourism Flanders-Brussels and
the province of West-Flanders on the development of a tourist visitor strategy
for Flanders Fields, stressing the important link between tourism and heritage
(Valorisatie 2009). Tis study served as the reference document for the call to
submit proposals for infrastructure projects (cf. infra).
In 2009 the Government of Flanders decided to set up a project ofce for
the Great War Centenary, stafed with four ofcers and operationally embed-
ded within the Flemish Department of Foreign Afairs (2). It serves as a one-
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 313
stop shop for the Government for the preparation, coordination and follow-up
of the project, and it operates at the international, the Flemish and the local
level (liaising with provinces, cities and municipalities). Te ofce also acts as
the central point of reference for an inter-ministerial working group, which
consists of liaison ofcers for the project in all Flemish ministries. It is entrus-
ted with the drafting of an inter-ministerial action plan, and it reports on its
execution every six months.
In 2009 the Flemish Parliament passed a resolution, urging the Govern-
ment to take all necessary measures to develop a coherent and strategic ap-
proach in building up to the centenary period (Verstreken, De Coene, and
De Klerck 2009). Tis appeal was adopted by the current Government, which
came into power in July 2009 and which has made the commemoration of the
Great War one of the central priorities for its term of ofce. Since 2009 the
centenary project has become a government-wide endeavour, involving all po-
licy areas of the Flemish administration. An action plan has been adopted by
the Government of Flanders. Te action plan groups together the initiatives
from several policy areas, such as tourism, foreign policy, culture, media, im-
movable heritage, agriculture, scientifc research and education. In this con-
tribution for the ‘International Handbook on Tourism and Peace’, I want to
present the reader with an overview of the most striking initiatives.
Tourism
Te First World War has left a great many visible scars in the landscape of
Flanders Fields. Te numerous military cemeteries, war memorials, visitor
centres, museums and a host of other landmarks remind people of the events
that happened almost a hundred years ago. Te Government of Flanders con-
siders it important that relics of the war be suitably preserved and maintained,
since they are the physical points of reference for explaining history. To achie-
ve that aim, investments are made to assist in the refurbishing, restoration
and maintenance of war-related sites. Further eforts are devoted to facilitate
access to such sites, unlocking them to visitors from home and abroad.
Given the predictable huge increase in the number of domestic and interna-
tional visitors to Flanders Fields, and acknowledging the need for substantial
funding, the Government decided to set up a Great War Centenary Impulse
Programme under the political supervision of the Minister of Tourism. Te
programme has allocated substantial funding for both infrastructure projects
and international events. Te operational management of the programme, in-
cluding the practical organisation of the calls for proposals and the evaluati-
on of the proposals submitted, has been entrusted to the government agency
Tourism Flanders-Brussels.
A budget of 15 million euros has been earmarked for the infrastructure
projects, which need to lead into as many attractive and high-quality tourism
products. A call for proposals was issued in June 2010, and it generated 69
proposals, 44 of which have been selected for funding. Tese include fve so-
called strategic projects:
314 GEERT BOURGEOI S
• the ‘In Flanders Fields Museum’ and the opening-up of the ‘Belfry Tower’
in Ypres
• the ‘Museum Garden and the Memorial Museum’ Passchendaele 1917 in
Zonnebeke
• the ‘Poperinge Centenary behind the Front Line’ with the ‘Lijssenthoek Ce-
metery’ and ‘Talbot House’ in Poperinge
• the modernisation of the ‘Yser Tower Museum’ and the ‘Yser Tower site’ in
Diksmuide
• the construction of a new visitor centre at the lock complex of the Ganze-
poot in Nieuwpoort.
Te Government’s investment has been topped up with another 35 million eu-
ros, made available by other participants, including local authorities and for-
eign governments.
In June 2012 a call for proposals was launched for international events to
take place in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Tis gives event managers ample time for
preparation. A second call will be launched later for events scheduled in 2017–
2018. Although events will be taking place in Flanders, they must be linked
to the historical time line of the Great War and they will have to generate the
necessary international exposure. Te frst call generated 75 proposals, 16 of
them receiving funding for a total amount of 6.7 million euros.
Heritage Sites and Territories
Te Heritage of the Great War project occupies a key position within the cen-
tenary programme. Because the last eyewitnesses have now all died, this heri-
tage constitutes our last link between past and present. Tangible traces, such
as military cemeteries, war memorials and (underground) defence works can
still be found all over Flanders. But the landscape itself is the most impor-
tant last witness, even more so than all these material relics. Tis landscape
in efect created the conditions and circumstances in which the battles of the
First World War were fought. Te project encompasses the whole territory of
Flanders, but its point of gravity, for obvious reasons, is to be found in the
Westhoek region.
In order to embed the Great War’s heritage in a sustainable and perma-
nent manner we have developed a four-track strategy. Te frst track concerns
research into the architectural, landscape and archaeological war heritage as
a scientifc basis for the next tracks. Te second track deals with the traditi-
onal protection and spatial integration of a selection of the war heritage. A
third track comprises the development of a management vision in terms of the
restoration, maintenance and opening up of the heritage. Te fourth track un-
derscores the importance of our war heritage by actively pursuing UNESCO
World Heritage recognition for the most important relics. Te synergy bet-
ween the four tracks (research, protection, management, and recognition) will
enable us to pass on the heritage of the First World War, under the best of
circumstances, to future generations.
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 315
As part of the frst track (research), the Flanders Heritage Agency is esta-
blishing an inventory of the material witnesses of the First World War in the
front line area, from Nieuwpoort to Messines. Although the architectural he-
ritage there has been mapped, this is less so in the case of the war landscape
and the archaeological remains within this landscape. From 2010 to 2012 a
multidisciplinary study was carried out to determine which landscapes still
bear testimony to the war landscape and the events from the 1914–1918 peri-
od; which valuable sections of land can be demarcated as heritage landscape;
and fnally how these landscapes can be translated in spatial terms.
Te study area has a surface of 560 km² and the research methodology
encompassed a combination of a thorough geographical information sys-
tem (GIS) analysis of trench maps from the 1914–1918 period, a comparison
with present-day GIS layers, the development of the historical knowledge of
the war landscape, site visits, and an archaeological evaluation study based
on fndings from test trenches. Te results of this research were presented at
the colloquium ‘Te heritage of the First World War in a spatial perspective’
which took place in Ypres on 1 and 2 March 2012.
Te third track (management) saw the development of the ‘Remembrance
Park 2014–18’ project in 2011. Te aim of this project was “to realise a master
plan for an integrated and comprehensive cultural-tourism project for the for-
mer frontline in the Westhoek” (Geurst 2012). Te Remembrance Park 2014–18
aims to highlight the war landscape as a determining and connecting factor,
so that both visitors and residents can (re)discover it. Te winner of the call
for tenders is the temporary association of companies ‘Park 14–18’; they will
further elaborate their winning design. Based on a very thorough analysis of the
historic and the existing context, they have developed a simple, yet powerful
overarching concept. Important landscape sites will be consolidated and incor-
porated in a network, thus contributing to the narration of the many storylines
about the relationship between the landscape and the war that unfolded in it.
As the fourth track (recognition) of the Heritage of the Great War project,
Flanders actively pursues the recognition of the ‘lieux de mémoire’ of the First
World War as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Te commemorative and re-
membrance landscape which has been created on the historic battlefelds is a
unique and valuable testimony. To explain and underscore the universal value
of the UNESCO candidacy, Flanders has chosen to develop this project in col-
laboration with Wallonia and France. Together with the World Heritage Tou-
rism Research Network, an international network of academics and experts, a
multilingual internet survey was launched in the spring of 2012 to examine
what initiatives are being taken worldwide to commemorate World War I.
Foreign Policy
Over the years Belgium has witnessed several phases of state reform, leading
to a gradual shift of political power from the national federal level to the regi-
ons and communities (devolution). According to the Belgian constitution, the
regions and communities of the country exert their domestic competencies
316 GEERT BOURGEOI S
also on the international level (‘in foro interno, in foro externo’). So it should
come as no surprise that foreign policy is also one of the areas of great rele-
vance to the centenary project.
It is the intention of the Government of Flanders to structurally anchor the
commemoration of the Great War in an international declaration. Geographi-
cally, emphasis is put on the 50 or so present-day nations that dispatched sol-
diers to fght in Flanders Fields. Te international declaration of universal mo-
ral appeal has the ambition to structurally anchor the commemoration of the
Great War at the international level. It testifes to the realisation that war and
human misery have not yet been banished, and that respect for international
law and human rights, cooperation amongst peoples, disarmament and regio-
nal integration remain the key towards unlocking the door to a better future.
Future signatories are expected to commit to cooperate on the commemorati-
on of the victims, the promotion of remembrance education and scientifc re-
search, the unlocking, preservation and interpretation of archives, documents
and materials, and the protection and access to war heritage sites.
Te draft version of the International Declaration on the Commemoration
of the First World War was presented ofcially on 6 November 2012 to the
countries that deployed regular or auxiliary troops on Belgian territory. Alt-
hough the initiative was taken by the Government of Flanders, the draft text
enjoys the support of all governments in Belgium. International negotiations
are currently in full swing, with the actual signing scheduled to take place
between 2014 and 2018.
On 4 November 2013 the Government of Flanders organised an internatio-
nal symposium in Brussels under the theme ‘Science for Peace’. Te symposium
brought together several Nobel Peace Prize winners with decision makers, sci-
entists and feld experts. Te event put the contribution of science as a catalyst
for peace frmly on the international agenda, both by formulating policy recom-
mendations for intergovernmental organisations and institutions, and at the
same time strengthening the links between policy-making, science and practice.
From a thematic point of view, the symposium focused on the contribu-
tions science can make towards trauma treatment and transformation. In this
context, the term ‘trauma’ is used to cover psychological traumas and post-
traumatic disorders associated with confict and disasters. Scientifc litera-
ture teaches us that the trauma of confict victims requires urgent and goal-
oriented treatment so as to prevent the sufered psychological damage from
becoming irreversible. ‘Transformation’ is to be understood as the variety of
multidisciplinary interventions which contribute to the structural redevelop-
ment or re-orientation of societies that have gone through periods of intense
confict. In practice, this implies the input of our economic, legal, adminis-
trative, cultural and social capacity. On the eve of the actual remembrance
period, this symposium provided an excellent opportunity to send a universal
message of peace around the world.
June 2012 marked the beginning of the project of the memorial gardens.
Te frst garden, to be established in London with soil from the battlefelds
of Flanders, is scheduled for ofcial inauguration in November 2014. Each of
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 317
these memorial gardens will be laid out in symbolically important locations
abroad, in order to honour and commemorate anyone who fought and died
during the war in Flanders Fields. It goes without saying that the physical han-
ding over of this sacred soil to the countries that sent their soldiers to fght in
Flanders Fields will carry a highly emotional and symbolic weight.
In 2007 and 2009 the Government of Flanders concluded specifc arran-
gements (‘memoranda of understanding’) with Australia and New Zealand,
providing a reference framework for bilateral cooperation in the feld of the
shared history of the world wars of the twentieth century. Talks are also on-
going with other countries, including Canada, Germany, France, South Africa,
India, Ireland and the United Kingdom, to identify areas for joint cooperation.
Education
One of the main goals of the centenary project is to raise awareness about the
First World War amongst youngsters and students. Flemish schools will de-
vote particular attention to the First World War and not only in their history
curriculum. Special attention will be given to tolerance and gaining insight
into the role of conficts, hence contributing to what is commonly known as
‘peace education’ or ‘remembrance education’. Flanders has a lot of expertise in
this feld, which however has traditionally been more oriented towards World
War II and the Holocaust. Taking on board the First World War will comple-
ment and deepen this scope.
To understand the full dimension and meaning of the events that took
place between 1914 and 1918, the Government of Flanders encourages school
trips to World War I related sites for secondary schools. Te Flemish Parlia-
ment passed a resolution in this regard on 23 January 2013. Te information
and atmosphere of the cemeteries, sites and museums will allow young people
to gain additional insight in the history of our region and country, and the
importance of peace-building and international cooperation.
To achieve these goals, the Flemish Department of Education has establis-
hed a task force to prepare concrete activities and events, including the crea-
tion of an overview of all educational project and content material on World
War I for schools and teachers.
Cultural Heritage
Te commemoration initiatives relating to cultural heritage are closely moni-
tored by the Department of Culture, Youth, Sport and Media and the Agency
for Arts and Heritage. In this context, in 2012, the Agency started the map-
ping of the planned actions of the cultural heritage participants and groups.
A number of ofcially recognised museums, such as the In Flanders Fields
Museum in Ypres, the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke,
the Talbot House in Poperinge, and the Yser Tower in Diksmuide are all located
in the historic front line area. Obviously, the Great War will continue to be key
in their programme of public and educational activities for the coming years.
318 GEERT BOURGEOI S
Te Centre for Flemish Architectural Archives, in collaboration with the
province of West Flanders and the Flemish Community, started a project that,
based on archival research, aims at studying and disseminating information
on the post-war reconstruction works in the Westhoek.
In cooperation with the Great War Centenary project ofce, the Flemish In-
terface Centre for Cultural Heritage, FARO, organised a number of provincial
workshops on daily life during the First World War. Te audience consisted of
professionals working in the local, cultural, heritage and tourism sectors. In
addition, FARO also organised a project around daily life in 1913, on the eve of
the Great War.
April 2012 witnessed the submission of the nomination fle for the Last Post
Ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, City of Peace, to be included
on the Register of Best Practices of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Sa-
feguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Scientifc Research
Te academic community in the Flemish universities will also be paying ade-
quate attention to the commemoration. Te strong tradition of historical re-
search in our region will ensure that a range of scientifc initiatives, including
projects, publications and conferences will be rolled out. Te topic is also high
on the agenda of the Fund for Scientifc Research, which acts as the central
funding agency for basic research at the universities in Flanders.
Special reference should be made to the so-called ‘Historikerdialog’, a series
of workshops which bring together historians from Flanders, Wallonia and
Germany to discuss the history of the war. Te series was launched in October
2012 at the Catholic University of Leuven. It enjoys strong support from the
German embassy in Brussels.
Media
For many years, the public broadcasting company of Flanders, VRT, has con-
tributed actively to the commemoration eforts. Each year during the month
of November, VRT devotes special attention to the theme, on radio, television
and through online communication media. For instance, the ceremonies in
commemoration of Armistice Day are broadcast directly from Ypres. In ad-
dition, one of the VRT’s channels will annually broadcast two episodes of the
documentary series ‘Niets is Zwart-Wit’ (‘Nothing is Black or White’), high-
lighting diferent aspects of the First World War.
Many other radio and television programmes also intend to provide broad
coverage of the commemoration. Tus VRT took part in the production of
‘Parade’s End’, a BBC/HBO series, which is set during the First World War and
which has to a large extent been flmed in Flanders.
2013 saw the airing of a new human interest programme ‘Ten Oorlog’ (‘Of
To War’), which takes viewers on a 1,500 kilometre- long walking voyage of
discovery along the Western front lines.
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 319
Special attention is being paid to the digital archiving and the release of
historical interviews with war veterans and other direct witnesses. In addition
to the interviews already recorded, the project ‘De Allerlaatste Getuigen’ (‘Te
Very Last Witnesses’) has been able to collect more than one hundred inter-
views with centenarians who, as children, experienced the First World War at
frst hand.
Also during the period 2014–2018, the public broadcasting company will
continue to pay close attention to the commemoration of the First World War
with several thematic radio and TV programmes. For example, a ten-episode
fctional series is to be produced, entitled ‘In Vlaamse Velden’ (‘In Flanders
Fields’).
Agriculture
Te Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Policy, in collaboration with the
Interfaculty Centre for Agrarian History at the Catholic University of Leuven,
started an innovative research study on the subject of agriculture, fsheries
and the provision of food supplies before, during, and shortly after the First
World War. Specifc themes include the evolution of agricultural policy during
this period and the impact of the war on it (also on the question of the inter-
national food situation), the state of the Belgian fshing feet, the war’s impact
on the (farming) landscape and the farmsteads in the front line area, and their
reconstruction.
Te fndings of the scientifc study will be used to initiate a number of pu-
blic outreach activities in collaboration with diverse partners. End products
will include lectures, publications, a biking and walking tour, and educational
packages for distribution in secondary schools.
An Appeal for International Action
With commemoration eforts for the centenary of the First World War well
underway in many countries, regions, provinces and cities across the globe,
and taking stock of our highly inspirational experiences of the last 7 years, we
consider it our duty to make sure that the centenary eforts generate a legacy
for generations to come. Tourism and heritage can play a crucial role in that
regard, as we all come to understand that, if used in an intelligent way, these
are policy areas with a huge potential of promoting intercultural understan-
ding, bridging societal gaps and contributing to the transformation of post-
confict societies. Specifc initiatives are needed to raise awareness and to de-
velop further this societal added value of tourism and heritage, on top of the
well-established common understanding of the economic return generated by
the tourism and heritage visitor economy.
We urge the international community to establish guidelines for a sound
policy framework in order to develop this societal added value. In particular,
the Government of Flanders strongly advocates studying the feasibility of de-
veloping a code of conduct for tourism to both historic confict-related sites,
320 GEERT BOURGEOI S
and to actual confict areas. Te United Nations World Tourism Organizati-
on is well placed to take the lead with this initiative. Te promotion of peace
through tourism is at the very heart of its mandate as stated in Article 3 of the
statutes: “Te fundamental aim of the Organisation shall be the promotion
and development of tourism with a view to contributing to economic deve-
lopment, international understanding, peace, prosperity…” (World Tourism
Organization 2012).
In recent years, UNWTO has already taken several steps in the feld of tou-
rism and peace. Te UNWTO Global Code of Ethics recognises the relation-
ship between tourism and peace. Te 14th session of the UNWTO General
Assembly adopted a Declaration on Peace and Tourism. Peace has been cho-
sen as the theme for World Tourism Days on several occasions. And as this
publication illustrates, UNWTO supports the ‘Tourism and Peace’ project in
collaboration with the Austrian Government and the University of Klagenfurt,
Austria.
Te Government of Flanders believes that UNWTO should place tourism
and peace high on its agenda. Peace is not only a basic prerequisite for the
development of safe and comfortable tourism activities, but tourism itself can
undeniably act as a driving force for building and maintaining peace. As a spe-
cialised agency of the United Nations, UNWTO should take up a leading role
in further investigating the relationship between peace and tourism and in
promoting global peace through tourism. Te Government of Flanders would
be delighted to support such an initiative, since it will ensure that the comme-
moration of the Great War of almost one hundred years ago is actively used as
a source of inspiration for present and future generations.
References
Kennan, George F. 1981. The decline of Bismarck’s Eu-
ropean order. Franco-Russian relations 1875–1890.
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Geurst, Jeroen. 2012. Masterplan herinneringspark
2014–18. Brussel: Onroerend erfgoed.
McCrae, John. 1915. “In Flanders felds”. Poem. Avail-
able on http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-
mccrae-in-fanders-felds.htm
Verstreken, Johan, Philippe De Coene, and Patrick
De Klerck. 2009. “Resolutie betrefende het Vlaam-
se beleid voor een levende herinnering aan de
Eerste Wereldoorlog”. Available on http://docs.
vlaamsparlement.be/docs/stukken/2008–2009/
g2205-6.pdf
World Tourism Organization. 2012. “Statutes of the
World Tourism Organization”. Available on http://
dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront. net/sites/all/files/
docpdf/statutesweba5.pdf
Valorisatie. 2009. Toeristische valorisatie van erfgoed
uit de Eerste Wereldoorlog in de Westhoek met het
oog op 100 jaar Groote Oorlog (2014–18). Vlaamsec-
Regering: VIA en Regeerakkoord.
Van der Auwera, Sigrid. 2007. De herdenking van de
Grote Oorlog en Flanders Fields. Een beknopt over-
zicht in 25 staten. Rapport vooronderzoek. Antwer-
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Van der Auwera, Sigrid. 2008. De herdenking van de
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CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER,
MI RA WAGNER
*
Connected by the Trails that used to
Divide Us: Peace Trails in the Alps-
Adriatic Region
Introduction
Te following article explores the potential of using ‘mountain’ tourism as
an instrument for peace-building eforts in the Alps-Adriatic Region. During
World War I, this border region between Austria and Italy (and later Yugosla-
via, nowadays Slovenia) was the theatre of long-lasting, bloody battles, com-
parable to those of Verdun and the Flanders Fields at the German-Belgian-
French front (see Bourgeois in this volume). After World War I, and again
after World War II, the inhabitants of the Alps-Adriatic Region had to face
many signifcant realignments of borders which led to mass displacement and
created new minorities and endless struggles about minority rights, even until
recent times. Tis article will outline the development of reconciliation and
cooperation after 1945, including examples of tourism-based cooperation in
the region. Te focus will be on the so-called ‘Peace Trails’ in the Alps-Adri-
atic Region, which aim to foster benefcial interaction, mutual dialogue, coop-
eration and the building of positive relations between the formerly conficting
groups. Tis paper is based on the frst results of a bigger research project on
‘Tourism in the Alps- Adriatic region and its role in peace-building’, carried
out by the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education of the University of
Klagenfurt, Austria. Tis research project falls within the framework of the
project on ‘Tourism and Peace, an Initiative by the Austrian University of Kla-
genfurt and the World Tourism Organization’.
The Alps-Adriatic Region – a Violent Heritage
It is quite challenging to defne the exact geographical dimensions of the Alps-
Adriatic Region accurately. Tis difculty stems from several realignments of
borders in the region, which took place in the last century and geographically
transformed the area as a whole several times. However, the core (‘small’) of
the Alps-Adriatic Region, that is used in this chapter, can be located in the so-
called ‘three-country corner’, which spreads to cover distances of 20–50 km
* in cooperation with MARJETA SCHWARZ and VALERIE WOOP
322 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
from the point at which – since 1918 – the countries of Austria, Italy and Slo-
venia (until 1991, the former Yugoslavia) have converged (Moritsch 2006, 12).
In a wider defnition the region encompasses the Austrian provinces of Carin-
thia and Styria, the Italian autonomous regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and
Veneto, the Republic of Slovenia and the northern parts of the Croatian coast.
The ‘small’ Alps-Adriatic Region
Source: d.maps.com
In the last four decades there has at last been a growing interest in attempts
at using the potential of the Alps-Adriatic Region to create a trans-national
and interregional conurbation based on cross-border cooperation. However,
the history of the region – which has been strongly characterised by violent
confict, war and repression of minorities – still afects the relations between
the states and the peoples.
During World War I, the region acted as a highly controversial front and
the setting for several ofensives and battles – the so-called ‘Isonzo’ or ‘So?a’
Front. Te twelve ‘Battles of the Isonzo’ between the Austro-Hungarian and
Italian armies took place mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, be-
tween 1915 and 1917. After the end of World War I, with the Treaty of Saint-
Germain, huge parts of German-speaking (South Tyrol) and Slovenian-speak-
ing (mainly the coastal area and the So?a Valley) regions were given to Italy,
as a victor country. Te borders between Austria and the newborn kingdom
Vienna
Ljubljana
Trieste
Klagenfurt
Rome
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 323
of Yugoslavia were, after violent struggles, defned according to the results of
a referendum in 1920. Te whole region was signifcantly transformed. People
who had been living in common neighbourhoods, for centuries, suddenly be-
longed to diferent, ofcially antagonistic and separate states. Flourishing cit-
ies – like Trieste, once the most important harbour of the Austro-Hungarian
monarchy – declined under Italian rule. ‘All these towns and areas, once the
heart of hundreds of years of long growing territory, were now transforming
into remote border regions, converted into entrenchments of the defence of
the nation state rather than valued as factors of economic and human integra-
tion.’ (Pirjevec 2001, 452)
Te interwar period in the Alps-Adriatic Region was characterised not only
by the attempts of Italian Fascists forcefully to ‘italianise’ the German and
Slovenian population, but also by the suppression of the respective minorities
in Austria and Yugoslavia.
During World War II, Slovenia was divided into two parts, one under Ger-
man and one under Italian administration (Provincia di Lubiana). Te Nazis
systematically tried to ‘germanise’ the whole Slovenian population, which
caused people to join Tito’s partisan movement; this also happened in Carin-
thia, Austria, in the area with a Slovenian population. In Italy as well, there
was an anti-fascist resistance, sometimes in cooperation and often in com-
petition with the Yugoslav partisans. Tis led, after the war, to long-lasting
border disputes between Italy and Yugoslavia, especially about the fate of the
Trieste region. Another case is the city Gorizia/Nova Gorica, which was di-
vided territorially into Italian and Yugoslavian sections in 1945.
During the Cold War the Alps-Adriatic Region was signifcantly afected as
well, despite Austria’s neutrality and Yugoslavia’s non-alignment. Te Eastern
part of Italy was used for large military base areas for both the US and NATO.
However, family ties, tourism and the need for economic cooperation led to
many initiatives aimed at improving neighbourly relations. In the 1990s, after
years of cooperation and rapprochement from the late 1960s to the 1980s, the
Alps-Adriatic Region was once again touched by violent confict: it was (more
or less directly) afected by the consequences of the Yugoslavian Wars.
Even nowadays, the regional borders are not just territorial divisions; they
also strongly infuence the identity of the local inhabitants. It seems that it is
not so much the idea of communality and similarity, but rather the separation
from ‘the other’ that defnes the national identity in these three neighbouring
countries. Despite many eforts (Wintersteiner 2012), the concept of an inte-
grated Alps-Adriatic Region identity has not really taken of; instead, we see
numerous identities based upon diferences from ‘the other’.
For this reason, the Alps-Adriatic Region is still in real need of specifc
transforming projects and cooperations that focus not only on economic col-
laboration but also on social and emotional dialogue and exchange, as well
as specifc reconciliation and peace-building eforts. A culture of peace and a
common Alps-Adriatic identity – not replacing, but complementing and su-
perimposing upon the existing national identities – should be the main goal;
this is the way to replace the mental and emotional barriers with positive rela-
324 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
tions, mutual dialogue and understanding. In recent years, several reconcilia-
tion and peace initiatives have emerged (Petritsch et al. 2012). Te fact that all
states are now members of the European Union (Italy as a founder, Austria in
1995, Slovenia in 2004 and Croatia in 2013) has fundamentally improved the
conditions for cooperation and understanding.
Cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic Region
Despite its long history of confict, the Alps-Adriatic Region nevertheless in-
volves huge – and sometimes still untapped – potential for mutual coopera-
tion and with it the opportunity for building positive relations. Te mixture
of Romanic, Slavic and Germanic culture in the region ofers a unique possi-
bility for mutual enrichment and benefcial exchange and inspiration. In the
middle of last century the frst attempts at collaboration had already begun.
Initially, the main focus was on cultural encounters and sporting events but
soon the issues of economy, including tourism, and politics were also invol-
ved. Early on, ‘Alps-Adriatic’ was chosen as a sort of umbrella term for the
three-country cooperation. In 1978, the Alps-Adriatic Working Community
was founded – an ofcial network of provinces, regions and districts, and an
important step against the still dominant cold war mentality. In the founding
year, the Working Community consisted of 9 participants: 2 countries; and
provinces from 4 other countries (Croatia, Slovenia; Bavaria, Carinthia, Friuli-
Venezia Giulia, Salzburg, Styria, Upper Austria and Veneto). Nowadays, after
the split of the Italian regions in 2012, there are still six actively participating
partners involved, covering an area with a population of about 9 million.
Since its establishment, the Alps-Adriatic Working Community has facilita-
ted over 600 projects, all of which include political and pedagogic objectives
rather then just focusing on economic benefts (important as these are). Te
projects and collaborations aspire throughout to secure peace, to guarantee
mutual understanding between the diverse participating people, to provide
national equality, and to support the linguistic and cultural diversity and re-
gional identities that exist in the region, as Hellwig Valentin, former general
secretary of the Working Community, argues (Valentin 2011, 162–163). With
reference to the Italian scholar Claudio Magris, Valentin presents the vision of
the Alps-Adriatic Region as a kind of a ‘laboratory’, where the people work on
the new essence of a Europe that is based on peace and the ability to ofer the
inhabitants a good and happy life (ibid., 166). However, the reality is very dife-
rent. By the end of 2012, the Italian regions had left the Working Community.
And in practice, old prejudices between the majorities and the minorities, as
well as between all three countries, still play an important role.
Nevertheless, the ambitious tasks defned by the Alps-Adriatic Working
Community (ARGE 2013) are inspired by the idea of peace and cooperation,
aiming to:
• Facilitate activities that support the development of a peaceful, common,
democratic, pluralistic Europe
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 325
• Demonstrate the importance of positive relation- building and diverse co-
operations in the region
• Use the advantages of the geographical position and the economical and
cultural potential and function as a bridge between the countries and pro-
vinces
• Support integration and abolish the real and virtual barriers between the
inhabitants of the region
• Develop and support the quality of life of, and exchanges between, the peo-
ple concerned.
According to Hellwig Valentin, cooperation between countries should not aim
to abolish the existing borders; these barriers function as a symbol of respect
and acceptance, and not just as a mechanism of segregation. Instead of trying
to destroy the borders themselves, the overall intention should be to tackle
the negative aspects related to the borders (Valentin 2011, 158). But how are
all these concepts to be put into practice, in particular in the feld of tourism?
Tourism Cooperation: Achievements and Challenges
For all countries involved, tourism plays a major role in their economies. Te
Austrian and Slovenian Alps, Italian cities and coastal regions, as well as the
capital cities and the Croatian coast are popular tourist destinations for peo-
ple from all over Europe. Within a very small geographical space, visitors can
fnd a wide variety of diferent landscapes, ranging from mountains with high-
alpine character to the sandy beaches of the Adriatic Sea. Tis, in combinati-
on with the diferent cultures, languages, traditions, gastronomy and climates,
ofers attractive elements for the creation of any tourism product.
Te idea of positioning this region as one single destination on the world
tourism map has been a point of discussion for many years amongst politici-
ans and tourism experts but, for a variety of reasons, this vision has not been
realised and remains as an idea only. Only once was it put into action when,
in 1998, the three countries applied for the Olympic Winter Games of 2006
under the slogan ‘Senza confni’ (without borders). Although this application
was rejected by the International Olympic Committee in favour of Torino, the
‘senza confni’ idea survived and was revived when the countries applied to
hold the World Skiing Cups in the area. In addition, remnants of this phrase
can be found with the ‘senza confni biking trail’ that goes from the Alps to
the sea, as well as with various sporting events. One outcome resulting from
this ‘senza confni’ project was the establishment, in 2002, of a joint online
platform under the name ‘playing together’ (Maurer 2008, 88). In this plat-
form the three countries represent themselves within certain thematic areas
(water, golf, culture, hiking, gastronomy and winter) but without any speci-
fc cooperation activities. In comparison the yearly tourism fair, the ‘Tourism
and Leisure Show’ in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, represents the central
tourism event of the Alps-Adriatic Region. It also awards the ‘Jakob Prize’, the
regional prize for quality and excellence in tourism. Another interesting event
326 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
in the framework of this annual fair is the international meeting of the tour
guides of the Alps- Adriatic area, a forum in which the representatives of each
part share their experiences and know- how.
Furthermore, for many years, locals from each part of the Region would
visit the others on a regular basis, often for gastronomy, shopping or cultural
reasons. Tus the Austrians and Slovenians would go to Italy for shopping and
dining, while the Austrians and Italians would go to Slovenia for their casinos
and gastronomy, and the Italians and Slovenians would come to Austria for
cultural reasons and shopping. Tis is on-going and now even easier for all
concerned, with all three countries within the Schengen region.
Te frst project that involved all countries in realising a common goal was
the recent creation of the long-distance ‘Alps-Adriatic Trail’ that was ofcially
launched in 2012. Tis trekking trail runs from the highest mountain in Aus-
tria – the Grossglockner – to the Adriatic Sea, in 46 stages, and goes through
all three countries. In this joint project, the relevant national or regional tou-
rism ofces were involved and met on a regular basis for this purpose. Specifc
cooperation agreements and fnancial plans were developed in order to ensure
its proper functioning. Some eforts are to be found in European Union fun-
ded projects, such as the initiative of holidays on farms in Carinthia and Slove-
nia. Apart from these undertakings, only limited concrete cooperation in the
feld of tourism in the Region is to be found. Te question as to why there are
limited eforts in the cooperation area of tourism might be explained by the
statement of an ofcial of the Austrian Marketing Agency that “the peoples
here in the region do not live the region, thus joint marketing strategies are
not sustainable“(Maurer 2008, 88). In addition, as argued by tourism profes-
sionals, the countries are in competition with each other, and this can be dif-
fcult to reconcile with increased cooperation.
In summary, for such a long period of understanding and organised con-
tacts in the Region, concrete results of cooperation in tourism remain rather
poor. Apart from some beacon projects, such as the Alps-Adriatic Trail, most
of the tourism is organised within the framework of the respective nation sta-
te. Tis is not only due to ‘ideological’ or historical reasons. A recent study
about Italian-Austrian cooperation to explore the Slovenian tourism market
comes to a rather disillusioning conclusion: “Te development of the coopera-
tion with Italian project partners shows how difcult it is to string together
shared packages despite geographic proximity and afliation with the same
ethnic group. Te cultural diferences are not insurmountable, but bigger than
assumed.” (Einspieler- Siegert 2010, 28). Te same is true for the presentation
of the socio-cultural heritage of each country. Interestingly enough, a keynote
speaker of an Alps-Adriatic tourism conference in 2010 still feels the need to
stress the necessity of “cultural openness throughout the Alps-Adriatic area.
Te guest no longer sees a blocked border, but rather a cross-border cultural
zone and interplay between various infuences of the last centuries. […] Tis
will be a particular challenge in the next ten years.“(Kresse 2010, 14)
Te need for cross-border cooperation is more obvious for city and moun-
tain tourism, where culture and history are more relevant issues, than for the
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 327
beach tourism, which focuses only on water, sun and fun. Mountain tourism
and its respective literature (tourism guides, popular history books, leafets
for tourists, small museums, war memorials and monuments) are still noti-
ceably afected by traces of the historic traumas of World Wars I and II. It is
still possible to fnd mountain huts named after fascists in the Italian Alps,
or Austrian guidebooks for hiking full of nationalist prejudices against the
‘enemy’. Te common history, though not actually experienced as a ‘common’
one, is still waiting to be discussed and worked through by the general public
in the three core countries. One should therefore particularly appreciate the
few initiatives which have succeeded, in which mountain tourism has been
used as an opportunity to deal with the violent past, and history as a warning
for national hatred and military solutions.
The Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails
Tere have been a few attempts at using tourism-based activities as an instru-
ment for dealing specifcally with the Region’s past history of confict, namely
the so-called ‘Peace Trails’. Te following section will frstly ofer a presentati-
on of three Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails that are located in the area of Carinthia,
Italy and Slovenia and will then go on to discuss the potential peace-building
eforts of these projects. But we start with a brief characterisation of the term
‘Peace Trail’ in general.
A ‘Peace Trail’ in the mountains (in contrast to peace trails in cities, see
van den Dungen and Lollis in this volume) can be defned as a particular hi-
king trail which ofers a specifc historical approach to a violent confict that
used to take place at this location. In most cases, Peace Trails are labelled and
equipped with information boards that guide visitors through the most cru-
cial historical events by providing information on the site of confict, the par-
ticular battles or the victims of the war. From time to time, museums which
focus on confict-related exhibitions are additionally located nearby, or on the
Peace Trail itself. By making the cruel parts of history accessible to the vi-
sitors, a Peace Trail tries to transform a former location of war and confict
into a setting in which the past can be reconsidered. Interaction and mutual
dialogue between the (formerly antagonised and sometimes still conficting)
neighbours is also an issue behind the purpose of a Peace Trail, as a specifc
historical method of dealing with the past. Te trail attempts in addition to
strengthen the visitor’s awareness of the importance of peace and reconcili-
ation in the Alps-Adriatic Region. Te construction of the trails was mostly
a multi-national endeavour, carried out by volunteers and therefore in itself a
contribution to peace.
Tese Peace Trail projects can be found in South Tyrol (where the initial
idea came from) and in the Alps-Adriatic Region. Tis goes back to the fact
that during World War I the South-West Front was erected across the whole
region – six hundred kilometres long, running from the Alps on the Swiss-
Italian-Austrian border across Tyrol, the Carnic Alps, and through the So?a
Region to the Adriatic Sea. Formerly functioning as a means of segregation,
328 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
some parts of the South-West Front now serve as the starting points for the
Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails. Some sections of the former front have been com-
pletely restored in the course of Peace Trail projects and can nowadays be vis-
ited by interested hikers and tourists.
Te invention and realisation of the Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails was main-
ly the work of Austrian alpinist, army ofcer and military historian Walther
Schaumann. As long ago as 1973, he had already started to evolve his ‘life-
work’ – the restoration of relicts from World War I and the ambition to make
them accessible for interested visitors, beginning with the front in the South
Tyrolean mountains (Schaumann and Schaumann 2006, 249). Several associa-
tions and projects within the Alps-Adriatic Region were directly infuenced
by Schaumann’s work, which paved the way for this specifc approach of the
restoration of mountain paths whilst at the same time providing relevant his-
torical information for visitors and tourists. Inspired by Schaumann’s work,
several hiking trails that are dedicated to mediating the history of confict to
the visitors and, in addition, creating peace awareness were installed along the
former South-West Front. Only a few of them are awarded with Schaumann’s
label ‘Peace Trail’. Tree of them will now be presented and discussed in the
following section: the Peace Trail of the association ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ (Aus-
tria), the Peace Trail ‘Itinerari di Pace sul Carso della Grande Guerra’ (Italy)
and the Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’ (Slovenia).
The ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ Peace Trails in Austria
Te frst project presented is the Peace Trails venture launched by the Aus-
trian association ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ (Friends of the Dolomite Mountains) in
Austria. Tis association was founded by Walther Schaumann in 1973 and is
dedicated to supporting international understanding and exchange between
the former enemies of World War I, ‘through historical research and docu-
mentation of the former area of war and confict, and by reducing prejudices
between the inhabitants of the neighbouring countries’ (Dolomitenfreunde
2013). Te main focus of the work is on transforming former ‘front’ trails,
which were the theatre of various battles and violent conficts, into Peace
Trails. Te ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ Peace Trails cover the geographical area of
the former Dolomites and Carnic Alps front at the Austrian-Italian border.
Tey attempt to highlight this historically crucial chapter of European history
while, at the same time, functioning as a concrete appeal for the importance
of a peaceful neighbourhood in the region. Te trails stand under the motto
‘Trails that used to separate the fronts are nowadays supposed to connect us.’
Tis statement also led to the symbolic naming of the trails: Peace Trails – le
vie della pace (ibid.).
Te association ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ defnes itself as a platform for active
and participatory peace work. Every summer, several international volunteers
from more than 20 countries around the world support the project by restor-
ing destroyed parts of the former front and making them accessible for visitors.
As soon as a section is completely restored and equipped, the new alpine trails
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 329
are ofcially handed over to other regional associations which, from then on,
are responsible for their maintenance. Trough this approach several collabo-
rations and cross-cultural projects between Austria and Italy have been set up
and nowadays function as an example for the strategic connection of former
enemies through tourism cooperation. An important point to mention is that
the summer volunteers are responsible not only for restoring the trails but
also for researching and documenting historically important aspects of the
region. Since its founding in 1973, the ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ association has not
only created about 300 km of Peace Trails but has also established some out-
door museums in South Tyrol (Monte Piana) as well as a World War I Muse-
um in Kötschach-Mauthen, Austria, supplemented by two outdoor museums.
Whilst the Peace Trails themselves aim to provide an opportunity for visi-
tors to actively experience the historical events of the region, the museums
allow for deeper insight, explaining the broader context and events in a more
systematic way. Both the Peace Trails and the museums ofer crucial informa-
tion on the conficts of the past, thereby making the cruelty of war accessible
to the post-war generation and, at the same time, highlighting the fact that
war is the most inappropriate way of dealing with conficts.
According to the association, the summer volunteer project itself functions
as a form of concrete peace-building event. Trough the work of transform-
ing the former frontiers into places for positive encounters, the participants
experience the concept of international cooperation at frst hand. Te fact that
so many people from diferent countries of origin all aim for a common peace-
building efort and mutual dialogue symbolises the fact that peaceful interac-
tion can indeed overcome physical and mental barriers of nationality, ethnic-
ity, language, religion and ideology. Te culmination of the cooperative work
is expected to be ‘mutual exchange and positive relationships that are called
‘Dolomite friendships’’ (ibid).
The Peace Trail ‘Itinerari di Pace sul Carso della Grande Guerra’ in Italy
Te Italian province of Gorizia was greatly afected by the events of World
War I, being as it was the centre of violent conficts and disputes from May
1915 to October 1917. Nowadays the local development association ‘Pro Loco
Fogliano-Redipuglia’ is located here and ofers diverse historical tourism
events in cooperation with the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the province
Gorizia. Since 1995 this collaboration has organised historical re-enactments
of war events, which are supposed to provide an insight into the events that
took place during World War I, including both the Italian and the Austrian
narratives of the war. Te aim is to demonstrate that the soldiers and the civil-
ian population sufered equally on both sides. Tese historical re-enactments
are performed at actual former sites of war in the region and in particular
are visited by local school classes. Moreover, the association annually facili-
tates steam engine rides from Redipuglia (Italy) to Kobarid (Slovenia) in the
so-called ‘Treno della Memoria’ (Train of Memory) with visits to the essential
sites of World War I. Tis is all in stark contrast to the huge ofcial World War
330 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
I memorial in Redipuglia, constructed in the spirit of revenge and with the
aesthetics of fascism.
In addition to these historical tourism oferings, ‘Pro Loco Fogliano-Redi-
puglia’ focuses on the regional project Peace Trails (Sentieri di Pace). With the
support of volunteers, several former sites of war were restored and are now
fnally accessible to visitors. Experts on World War I guide interested tourists
and visitors around the Peace Trail and provide an outline of the historical
events. Another possibility of gaining insight into the regional past is by book-
ing a Peace Trail tour led by historical actors. Te project ‘Itinerari di Pace sul
Carso della Grande Guerra’ in addition ofers diverse excursions to other his-
torical sites in the region, related to World War I. In doing this, the association
is attempting to use tourism as a way of promoting the regional history and to
emphasise the importance of reconciliation between the former enemies that
were involved in the confict (personal interview Franco Visintin and Roberto
Todero). Te so called ‘Path of Peace in the Karst’ is characterised by focus-
ing on a special form of commemorative work that deals openly with both the
Italian and the Austrian historical narratives related to World War I. Tis ap-
proach is intended to trigger the process of critically questioning political di-
mensions of social commemoration and gaining a broader horizon on this issue.
According to ‘Pro Loco Fogliano-Redipuglia’, the tourism related to the
Peace Trails not only attracts visitors and tourists to the sites of former con-
fict in order to develop the tourism in the region, but also aims to trigger a
positive shift in society by using tourism as a tool for mutual understanding
and dialogue. Te associated building of positive relations can be considered
as the basis for a benefcial connection of the nations. By emphasising the dark
sides of each country’s own history, the projects related to the Peace Trail are
aimed at educating the visitors by triggering a sensitivity and awareness for
peace. Tis can contribute to reconciliation between the former enemies of
the region. As the ofcial website of ‘Pro Loco’ puts it: ‘Te new Europe needs
to be based on solidarity and connectivity, also in the own region that once
used to be shaped by war, separation and national diferentiation for a long
time.’ (www.prolocofoglianoredipuglia.it/)
The Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’ in Slovenia
Te Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’ in Slovenia was set up by the foundation ‘Walk of
Peace in the So?a Valley’ in 2000. At this former site of cruel war and death,
the Foundation is nowadays creating several projects that aim to protect and
enrich the cultural and historical heritage of the region. In the course of this
plan, six outdoor museums were established in the surrounding area of the
So?a Valley. Te Foundation focuses on the combination of history, education
and tourism. Te overall aim is to create a positive and long-lasting legacy for
the region by establishing peace-sensitive tourism as a tool for positive devel-
opment and relation-building. In addition, another main focus is on specifc
regional research activities and historical documentation (personal interview
with Zdravko Likar and Tadej Koren).
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 331
Te Peace Trail foundation managed to restore a 100 km long hiking trail
across the So?a Valley in Slovenia and this connects several important loca-
tions related to World War I, commemoration sites and an established out-
door museum. Moreover, the Foundation set up an ofcial information centre
dealing with the project Peace Trails, which also includes a historical library
and ofers a guide service for tourists. Te information centre is situated in
front of the Kobarid Museum, which provides a unique insight into the histo-
ry of the Isonzo Front events. Te Trail, ofcially dedicated to the victims of
World War I, can be visited in 5 stages and aims to raise awareness regarding
the importance of peace in the region (Pot Miru).
As well as focusing on historical regional research activities and ofering
an educational hiking experience in the course of the Peace Trail walks, the
Foundation also facilitates several projects fostering peace in the region. Te
overall aim is to stimulate the visitors to critically question, and refect upon,
the regional history and to learn about the signifcance of regional peace (Ko-
ren 2007, 5). Currently the Peace Trail is being developed in the course of a
cross-cultural project that is trying to create a Peace Trail from the Alps to
the Adriatic Sea, by expanding the Peace Trail into the South until it reaches
Sistiana, Italy. In addition, there are ambitions for further developments, such
as a plan to set up a Peace Park at the mountain of Sabotin and the idea of
establishing a World War I theme park in Monfalcone, Italy – which should
both be integrated in the Peace Trail. Trough working closely with the neigh-
bouring state of Italy, the Peace Trail project actively uses tourism for mutu-
al cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic Region (personal interview with Zdravko
Likar and Tadej Koren). Tis aspect of cross-border peace tourism is probably
the most interesting one.
The Peace Trails in the Framework of a Movement of the Culture of
Remembrance, Reconciliation and Peace: a Critical Review
Te current situation in the Alps-Adriatic Region is characterised by a more
or less functional neighbourliness between the border nations (Winterstei-
ner 2011, 81). Initiatives like the three aforementioned Peace Trails in Austria,
Italy and Slovenia all claim to actively attempt the transformation of these
‘more or less functioning relations’ into a sustainable and peacefully connec-
ted neighbourhood. What impact do the Peace Trails have (or could they have)
in promoting this aim?
A path or a trail is always a central symbol for mutual dialogue. Created
and established by human beings, they have always connected villages, regi-
ons and societies and lead to economic and cultural exchange and enrichment.
To start along a path also means to be willing to get involved in something
new, sometimes even in something unknown. For this reason, the concept of
using trails for the systematic peaceful connection of the formerly antagoni-
stic and still segregated societies of bordering nations seems to ofer a chan-
ce for a new beginning in the Alps-Adriatic Region. All three projects clearly
announce their motivation with their names: ‘Friedensweg’, Itinerari di Pace’
332 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
and ‘Pot Miru’ all mean ‘peace walk’ in their respective language. But interes-
tingly, they all try to achieve this goal using diferent approaches.
Whereas the ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ Peace Trail focuses on historical comme-
moration eforts on the trail itself and on specifc cross-cultural encounters
in the course of the volunteer work, the Peace Trail ‘Itinerari di Pace sul Car-
so della Grande Guerra’ in Italy merely tries to overcome one-sided histori-
cal myths relating to World War I by dealing with both narratives, from the
Austrian and the Italian points of view. Te Slovenian Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’
in turn provides possibly the best level of information, focusing on a ‘neutral’
historical presentation of the region and aiming at strengthening a cultural
commemoration dimension through the project.
Obviously, there are some limitations to the impact of the Peace Trails, lea-
ding to critical questions about the very aims of these projects. We will there-
fore discuss these criticisms in detail.
In general, it is questionable as to whether visiting the Peace Trails can ac-
tually infuence established border perceptions and trigger a peace-sensitive
awareness of the past. In reality, it seems a little doubtful that deeply-rooted
(mis)perceptions and stereotypes formed as a consequence of decades of con-
fict and national segregation can be positively changed just by a visit to a
Peace Trail, dealing with the past conficts of that region. One answer to this
objection, however, is that even the fact that the Peace Trails have been estab-
lished is a signifcant step forward: volunteers, tourism managers and guides
are now referring to this new view on the region. A piece of the puzzle formed
by political activities, educational strategies, the work of numerous NGOs and
individuals has been put into place. It is in this context that peace-sensitive
tourism appears as a natural complement to other initiatives.
Secondly, many of the hikers who walk one of the Peace Trails are not spe-
cifcally aware of the peace-building eforts behind the trail. Some tourism ex-
perts argue that it is quite unrealistic to assume that tourists who come from
abroad decide to visit the Alps-Adriatic Region merely due to the Peace trails.
*
Terefore the Peace Trails are visited not only by people who are willing to
deal with peace-building eforts in the Region, but also by ‘normal’ hikers who
are attracted by the beauty of the mountains in the area – a fact that superf-
cially seems to diminish the efectiveness of the projects. Tis is true as well.
However, one can argue that although Peace Trails may not be so important
in attracting people from far away, nonetheless they gain their importance by
providing the regional population (of almost 10 million people) with a refe-
rence point for dealing with their past – and sometimes, probably, the frst
push towards seeing from a diferent side those events which are so deeply
rooted in the collective memory.
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 333
Conclusion
It is very challenging to fnd clear evidence to show whether or not the aim
of triggering positive relation-building and peace between the formerly an-
tagonistic nations can really be achieved with the Peace Trail projects. Te
success of the projects could be questioned on the grounds that they do not
directly provide specifc strategies to abolish mental and emotional barriers
between the inhabitants of the Alps-Adriatic Region. On their own, good so-
cial relations and many tourism contacts do not sufce; of course, this cannot
be denied. Nevertheless, it is crucial to stress that the concept of Peace Trails
in the Alps-Adriatic Region is a step in the right direction. An overall strategy
cannot be established by the tourism sector alone; it needs, as argued, more
partners and allies working on what we can call the ‘culture of peace’. Te
good news is that Peace Trails are not the only initiative working towards such
aims (Gruber/ Rippitsch 2011, Wintersteiner 2012, Gombos 2013).
Despite the known limitations of the projects, the Peace Trails still provi-
de huge further potential for improvement and development of the region. In
this context the Peace Trails should be frst theoretically, and then practically,
extended in order to be able to achieve the aim of mutual dialogue and under-
standing in the region. We suggest the following measures:
• Te establishment of regular mutual cooperation between the Peace Trails
in Austria, Italy and Slovenia, aiming for regular, cooperative peace-foste-
ring projects.
• Te involvement of experts in peace research and confict transformation
so as to provide international encounters between former enemies under
expert supervision.
• Te cooperation of tourism, politics, academia and education is most like-
ly to make the Peace Trails an important piece of an Alps-Adriatic ‘peace
puzzle’.
References
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July 2013.
HARALD A. FRI EDL
“I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy!”
Systemic Confict Training in Tourism
Education as a Paradigmatic
Approach to Stimulating Peace
Competence
Introduction
Beautiful people, smiling and sitting happily in the shade of a palm tree on a
picturesque sandy beach… Tis is surely one of the most widespread images
used in holiday brochures and also one of the most common ideas people have
when visualising their next holiday. Te vision behind tourism, according to
authors like Cohen (1995) and Connell (2003), suggests travelling as a means
to happiness and peace in a world free of problems, fears and conficts: in
other words, ‘a paradise on earth...’ If this were true, then we would be living
in the most peaceful time ever in history, as there have never been so many
people travelling as there are nowadays, and according to the UNWTO (2012)
prediction, international tourism is just going to keep on growing.
Reality, however, looks diferent, as the data shows. Whilst the numbers of
national and international travellers are growing, there are still many violent
conficts around the world. According to the German Institute of Global and
Area Studies (2013):
“organised violent conficts outside of Europe and North America will be-
come increasingly relevant since they involve a growing number of diferent
types of actors, they often display a transnational dimension, and in the
context of globalisation they have repercussions that go well beyond the
actual battlefelds.”
Many of these conficts are about natural resources like oil in Sudan, Iran, Iraq
and Kuwait, or uranium in Niger, while other violent conficts are about stra-
tegic positions like in Afghanistan; and, more recently, many violent conficts
have occurred as a result of a population demanding more civil rights, like the
civil war in Algeria or the ‘Arab Spring’ in some Arabian countries since 2012.
Violent conficts not only occur in spite of growing tourism, but some cur-
rent wars have actually started in order to afect important conditions for tou-
rism development, e.g. those related to the supply of the tourism and transport
industry with oil as in Iraq and Libya, and also in the ‘war against terrorism’
336 HARALD A. FRI EDL
in North and West Africa (Friedl 2010; Larsen and Urry 2011, 222). In the case
of the informal war over coltan in the Congo region, it is the communication
industry which takes the proft (Munn, 2007). Finally, some violent conficts
are even instrumental in causing the deliberate changes in regional tourism,
like the displacement of locals as a consequence of the declaration of protec-
ted areas in order to develop nature tourism attractions (Redford and Fearn,
2007), with examples in Tanzania (Hogan, 2011; Sirima and Backman, 2013),
Cameroon (Tazoacha, 2010) or Kenya, Tailand and Burma (Tourism Con-
cern, 2013).
Personal experience shows that to meet a local person for a very short time,
as is typical on a tourist trip, can never be enough to understand their life,
their motives, needs and problems, their determining circumstances and their
way of thinking. No holiday brochure or travel guide can ever present the ‘full’
or ‘true’ picture. Terefore the aim of this paper is to discuss, on the one hand,
the interrelation between conficts amongst tourist stakeholders and, on the
other hand, the way in which tourist stakeholders perceive their personal ‘re-
ality’. From this it is hoped to fnd out how tourist stakeholders could be sup-
ported by communication and perception training, in order to improve their
ability to communicate constructively, respectfully and willingly.
In order to achieve this aim, four important assumptions have been made:
• From a systemic perspective, conficts are the necessary expression of dif-
ferent perceptions, resulting from diferent life conditions and needs of the
involved stakeholders. As a consequence, the growing complexity of previ-
ously traditional societies, characterised by individualisation, is necessarily
leading to the diversity of styles of perception and therefore to a rise in po-
tential conficts.
• An important reason for the escalation of a confict is the lack of mutual
understanding or empathy, which is related to the widely-spread epistemo-
logical paradigm of positivism in our culture, both in daily life as well as in
many scientifc disciplines. According to this conviction, reality can be per-
ceived and recognised in an ‘objective’ manner as ‘it really is’. Te crucial
consequence of this conviction is the logical conclusion of a stakeholder
to be on the ‘right side’, while the opposition or counterpart only can be
‘wrong’ due to an error or to immoral reasons. As a consequence, stakehol-
ders ‘knowing themselves to be right’ only have the choice between enfor-
cing ‘their truth’, surrendering or – in the best case – fnding a compromise.
All of those solutions are unsatisfactory as one or both of the stakeholders
always has to lose in some way, either the weaker one, or in the best case
both of them equally – which could lead, sooner or later, into the resur-
gence of the confict.
• In contrast to this approach, the alternative epistemological paradigm of
constructivism can ofer a loophole. According to this paradigm, percepti-
on is determined by the individual personality of a human being, resulting
from individual environmental conditioning, specifc life circumstances
and personal experiences, always leading to a personal and necessarily sub-
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 337
jective view of ‘reality’. Terefore, experience, perception, knowledge and
judgements can never be ‘objective’ and ‘neutral’, but are always related to
a personal observer. Te price for this approach is the loss of the illusion
of certainty, but its main value is to open the loophole – away from the
question about who or what might be ‘right’ – to the question of which view
could be the most compatible to best satisfy the needs of all stakeholders.
As a consequence, the constructivist approach forces the stakeholders to
confront themselves and to attempt to understand the specifc situation
of their opponent. Opponents are thereby not perceived as ‘stupid’ or ‘bad’
persons anymore, but rather just as diferent human beings with diferent
needs. Tis more respectful approach provides an easier path to negotia-
tions in order to develop better solutions, which are fair and satisfying for
all stakeholders.
• Te ability to understand each other in a constructivist way is a cultural
competence which has to be learnt. As mentioned above, this approach is
unfortunately still not very widespread, since the positivist approach, re-
lated to natural science and technical disciplines, was very successful for
many decades. In more recent years, however, constructivist ideas have be-
come more popular. Tis is due to the incredible results of neurosciences
and their infuence on sciences in the feld of human behaviour which, in
turn, have led to the development of new disciplines like neuropsychology
(Prigatano 2003), neuroeducation (Battro 2011), neuromarketing (Lee, Bro-
derick and Chamberlain 2007; Lawton, Wilson and 2010) and neuroleader-
ship (Waldman, Balthazard and Peterson 2011; Ghadiri, Habermacher and
Peters 2012).
If tourism is planned and practised with the adequate integration of all stake-
holders, it can lead to mutual understanding and peace. In contrast, without
integration it can even lead to the emergence of additional conficts. Tus in
order to explain how stakeholders can be trained to think and communicate
in a constructive, respectful and fexible manner, it is necessary to discuss the
main problems of integration and participation. Due to the increasing com-
plexity of communication processes and the associated problems of time and
patience, many tourism managers carry out their tourism projects without
stakeholder participation.
In the last section of this paper, an example of a course used to teach and
train confict management in complex tourism settings is presented and ana-
lysed.
Tourism: The Industry of Conficts?
Te idea of international tourism as a tool of economic and social development
is as old as the idea of international development itself. It started in the late
1960s when airfares dropped to allow a broader access to international travel.
According to the former paradigm of ‘modernisation’, there was at that time
the belief that the local people in the tourist destination would more or less
338 HARALD A. FRI EDL
automatically proft from tourism, which itself was perceived as a strong pro-
moter of growth by stimulating industrialisation, developing a tertiary sector
and with it, many jobs. Te reality, however, was something else altogether.
Compared to local entrepreneurs, it was the strong international stakeholders
like hotel chains, airlines and tour operators in cooperation with the national
elites who had the know-how and the assets necessary to invest in tourism inf-
rastructure. Locals, in general with little or no qualifcation, got low-paid jobs.
Te national costs for the development of infrastructure, plus the costs of the
unwanted efects of the development of tourism, such as air and water polluti-
on, changes in local climate, loss of soil, extra water and energy consumption
and so on had to be paid for by the local population (Fennell, 2006, 174).
In summary, from the early development of international tourism, the idea
of tourism as the ‘white industry’ – so-called by national elites and the in-
ternational tourism industry – being promoted as the creator of wealth for
everybody with no negative environmental and social efects, was a myth (Op-
permann and Chon 1997, 1; Bundesamt für Umweltschutz, 1997, 3; Opaschow-
ski, Pries and Reinhardt, 2006, 32; Opaschowski, 2008, 16). Fennell (2006, 175)
explains the phenomenon of shifting the burden, e.g. pollution, from indust-
rial states or economic, powerful centres with more stringent environmental
regulations to poor states or to the peripheral, poorer and powerless regions
with more relaxed legal frameworks, as the expression of the modern econo-
mic paradigm realising ‘economic efciency’.
Te most important international tourism organisations nowadays, the
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Trav-
el and Tourism Council (WTTC) (Eckervogt 2009), along with many authors
and researchers (Freyer 2009, 31; Bieger 2006, 211, Smeral 2003, 181; Yeoman
2008, 41) describe the international tourism economy as a crucial promoter of
the global economy, supporting the creation of jobs and stability by enforcing
growth. Tis is not surprising, as in times of fnancial and other crises people
tend to turn to traditional solutions, promising security, stability and continu-
ity without mentioning the risks, even though the current global fnancial and
economic system in itself has caused the present crises, according to many
authors (Rademacher 2005; Solte 2007; Blundell-Wignall and Atkinson 2009).
Tourism, by its very nature, can only happen for populations rich enough to
spend money, time and energy on activities needing no economic reason. Tis
fact can contribute to or provoke confict, when the difering needs of tourists
and locals come together. On the one hand, tourists need and want a safe and
peaceful destination allowing the unhindered consumption of goods and en-
joyment of facilities and attractions; they perceive the visited destination like
the front stage of a theatre, where they want to consume and experience what
they have ‘paid for’. For them, locals are a part of the ‘play’, like background
actors. On the other hand, locals perceive tourists as a source of income, as do
all other stakeholders of the tourism system.
As long as everybody in this ‘play’ gets what he needs, it will be fne (Friedl
2005, 70–74). But as soon as the expectations of any of the stakeholders – be
it the tourist with his emotional needs, the locals with their desire for income,
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 339
or the big international tourism corporation looking to maximise its proft
(Petermann 1999) – are not met, then there will be a growing risk of confict
which could lead, in the long run, to a potential collapse of the local or re-
gional tourism system (Kozak and Baloglu 2010; Friedl 2002, 67).
Fennell (2006, 107) emphasises that:
“the very nature of tourism is defned by transnational corporations that
operate from the world’s most developed countries. Tey have both the re-
sources and power to radically transform the markets of any region. Tis
was the case in Sri Lanka … where the local soft drink market was taken
over by Coca Cola, and the sweet potato market was abandoned in favour of
chips (forcing the import of potatoes that cannot be grown there).”
For a long period this system of ‘exporting’ the social, economic and ecologi-
cal costs to marginal countries, former colonial states, and peripheral regions
in wealthy states worked quite well, by cooperation between governments and
investors with the particular political elites in the ‘Tird World’ tourism des-
tination, as well as in the poorer rural areas of rich countries where democrat-
ic traditions are often underdeveloped. Tis kind of cooperation was widely
criticised as post colonialism (Mäder 1987; Palmer 1994; Osagie and Buzinde
2011).
Fennell (2006, 102) underlines that tourism:
“is very much a justice issue … It is fraught with disparities, racism and
corporate power, which might in practice be the antithesis of what Rawls
would advocate in his theory of justice. It is also a place where essential
principles are shelved and community rights ignored. Te lack of respect
for the rights and autonomy of local people is often secondary to the con-
cern over the preservation of wildlife.”
In the meantime, the socio-political system in many peripheral regions of the
world is changing dramatically, as a result of fast-developing technology. Te
widespread distribution of mobile phones, the internet, Facebook and other
kinds of social media, especially amongst the younger population, has enabled
this formerly marginalised group of stakeholders to become more empowered
than ever before. In the case of the ‘Arab Spring’, Howard and Hussain (2013)
cite this as the main driving force behind this uprising. Tese widespread so-
cial unrests can be interpreted as a reaction to the lack of perspective and poor
integration into the social system of the state. Tese stakeholders have previ-
ously been marginalised but, with their new methods of communication, they
can now fght for their participation in the political system for the very frst
time. Similar phenomena can be observed amongst consumers, who are gain-
ing power to speak up against big industries e.g. through the boycotting of
unfair conditions of production.
Tis new development has crucial consequences for the tourism system:
formerly powerful participants and groups, as well as national, regional and
local elites, have to learn to accept previously ‘marginalised’ stakeholders as
equal partners in tourism development, in order to reach a certain level of
340 HARALD A. FRI EDL
sustainability in tourism development. If they choose to ignore the population
of a tourist destination, the government concerned, as well as the global tour-
ism players involved, risk losing that particular destination as a consequence
of social unrest – which can lead in turn to a travel warning, to a general loss
of bookings and ultimately to the disappearance of the destination from the
global tourism map. Tis happened with Yemen, Algeria, Libya, Niger, Mali
(Friedl 2012) and during the ‘Arab Spring’ with Tunisia and Egypt.
In other words, tourism can only support a proftable and peaceful develop-
ment if the stakeholders are involved in the search for answers to questions
such as the following:
• As there is no general defnition of ‘sustainable (tourism) development’
which is accurate enough to be understood, accepted and used by every
(tourism) stakeholder, what kind of (tourism) development then is best?
Saarinen (2006, 1127–1129) was able to show very clearly that there are
quite diferent and distinct traditions with diferent focuses behind the var-
ying levels of understanding of ‘sustainability’. He distinguishes in terms
of resource-, activity-, and community-based traditions of sustainability,
the distinction depending upon the focus of whom it is that profts from
the development. Today, the meaning of ‘sustainable tourism development’
should be the result of a fair, participative discourse, involving every stake-
holder in order to integrate each individual perspective of a sustainable
lifestyle or living culture into a common long-term perspective, e.g. like an
overall concept of regional policy.
• Which should be the ‘right’ priorities from the possible, but often confic-
ting, goals of tourism development? Such conficting goals could involve
short and long term proft, productivity, low prices for tourism products,
high employment rates, environmental protection, reliable energy supply,
development of new tourism attractions and so on, in order to satisfy the
demands of diferent stakeholders.
Just as stakeholders are defned by their specifc social, environmental and
economic circumstances, so also they expect diferent benefts from tour-
ism development in order to ft with their specifc needs; thus stakehold-
ers favour diferent priorities. As a result, regulations have to be decided
which are compatible with local realities regarding environmental, social
and tourism entities, and states and municipalities (Fennell, 2008, 145).
• Every decision in the process of tourism development has consequences for
every stakeholder, related to both wanted and unwanted efects. How, then,
can it be guaranteed that it is the stakeholders who beneft the most, who
are also required to meet the ever-increasing costs of the negative impacts
of tourism development? (E.g. those of climate change causing droughts,
fooding, hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena, often dama-
ging the livelihood of people in regions where they proft very little from
tourism.)
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 341
In summary, the tourism system has changed as a consequence of the empo-
werment of important but previously marginalised stakeholders, obliging the
former powerful stakeholders to learn to integrate so as to avoid the unwan-
ted costs of unresolved or escalating conficts. Te new challenge for these
many stakeholders is to learn how to solve complex confict scenarios in order
to reach a social, economic and environmental balance. It seems to be quite
challenging to managers, however, that such complex questions should have
to be discussed with locals – who probably understand very little about tou-
rism management, tourist behaviour and other important aspects of the tou-
rism industry. Could this participative approach perhaps even go so far as to
put the tourism development process as such in danger?
How Can Complex Confict Scenarios be Solved?
Peace – the ‘Homoeostasis’ of a Social System
Tourism can be conceptualised as a complex system like any other social sys-
tem (Walker, Greiner, McDonald and Lyne 1998; Cheong and Miller 2000;
Richards 2002; Mayaka and Akama 2007; Zahra and Ryan 2007). A system can
be defned as a complex accumulation of a “large number of simple elements,
or ‘intelligent’ agents, interacting with each other and the environment” (Lam,
cited in Fennell, 2006, 33). Fennell explains this approach as the ‘antithesis of
the traditional deterministic view of science, which was based on the notion
that, if we know all the initial components of a system, then we might be able
to predict the future state of that system’. Due to the large number of variables
in such complex environments, growing exponentially, systems are difcult to
understand and to change. Tat’s why Fennell recommends “to learn how to
live within systems rather than control them.”
Social systems tend to a relative balance (‘homoeostasis’) between their in-
ner parts on the one hand and their environment on the other hand. A system
starts to change by becoming dynamic as soon as either its environment, or
the number of its parts, changes in order to re-establish a ‘new’ homeostasis
ftting to the new structure of the system (Meadows 2008). From this perspec-
tive a system is ‘sustainable’ if it reaches its homeostasis. Tis relative balance
could also be called ‘peace’: whereby the ‘parts’ of the system, i.e. the stakehol-
ders, have reached their personal or inner relative balance which can be called
personal satisfaction. When all the concerned parties of a tourism region are
able to take part in the process of developing and deciding a strategy and spe-
cifc measures, and they are able, through this participative process, to learn
more about the difering needs of their counterparts, then they can learn to
understand each other better. If such participative opinion-building and de-
cision-making processes are successful, they could be measures of the degree
of subjective satisfaction. Te stakeholders feel integrated and respected; they
feel that they are an important part of the whole process; they feel peaceful…
Tis is the theoretical concept, but the way to such a peaceful, constructive
tourism development is long. Present tourism managers as well as (local) po-
342 HARALD A. FRI EDL
liticians have been educated in the tradition of positivism, economic growth
and economic liberalism, where managers have had to be economic experts
in order to maximise a company’s short- term proft; politicians have had to
be powerful in order to maximise their infuence. Employees are identifed as
‘human resources’, and the environment as cheap common property.
Nowadays managers and politicians have to learn new competences and
approaches. Tey have to learn to recognise their employees or their (potenti-
al) electors as well as other stakeholders as partners; they have to learn about
communicating with stakeholders in a caring and respectful manner. Whe-
reas managers and politicians have been single, lonely heroes in former times,
nowadays they have to be facilitators of teamwork. Tey need to learn that
their personal view, and the other stakeholder’s view, are equally important.
Tey must accept that power is the result of their acceptance by stakeholders.
To be accepted by those stakeholders means that the leaders have reached a
relative balance amongst the stakeholders; to stay in peace with them …
• Why, however, is it so important that a manager or any other powerful per-
son communicates with stakeholders in a respectful manner?
• Why is it so important for them to understand what the stakeholders are
thinking and how they are feeling about their point of view?
• Wouldn’t it be enough just to read about their concerns?
• Is there any diference between informing and communicating?
Respectful Communication and Peace-Building:
The Process of Creating a Relative Balance
In order to answer the last four questions, it is necessary to explain the theo-
retical background to some of the connections between communication and
perception. According to the epistemological paradigm of constructivism, our
biological instruments of perception and cognition don’t allow us to see the
world (‘reality’) as it is, but only as our brain constructs it. To recognise or to
‘understand’ something means – from the perspective of the human brain – to
connect an external stimulus with the emotional confguration of the percei-
ving brain (Maturana and Varela 1987; Roth 1987, Roth 1997; Foerster 2002;
Friedl 2006).
Whilst it is impossible to be certain about the way we perceive the world,
we still have a good chance of controlling the quality of our ‘knowledge’ ac-
cording to its ‘viability’, i.e. its ftness to the demands of the environment, by
comparing it to feedback (stimuli). As long as we are perceiving stimuli from
the ‘world outside’ which seem to ft with our ‘models of the world’ (our ex-
pectation or our view of the world) then they seem to be sufciently useful or
viable. When the brain perceives strong stimuli which don’t ft anymore, then
this could mean either that there is something wrong with the ‘world outside’
(e.g. an unsatisfed stakeholder?) or that there is something wrong with the
world inside (e.g. a wrong impression about the state of satisfaction of a stake-
holder?).
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 343
Overall, the resulting diference is not very big, as the brain can’t fnd out
the ‘real truth’ anyway, but the brain is now forced to modify its model in
order to re-establish its balance of consistency. Tis must be done by getting
into a feedback process with the stakeholders, in order to allow the coordi-
nation of the points of view of all stakeholders. Observed from outside, this
communication process allows every stakeholder to fnd a common balance
by getting connected to each other. For the brain, this process of modifying
its model in order to re-establish its balance of consistency in relation to the
external stimuli can be conceptualised as ‘learning’, as is increasingly recog-
nised in the feld of educational science (Shell et al. 2009).
What has all this to do with peace and tourism?
As long as a tourist destination manager believes he ‘knows things better’
than the other stakeholders, he will be perceived as arrogant, with the con-
sequence that pretty soon he will no longer fnd anyone willing to cooperate
with him. Tis would be the end of any development. If, instead, a manager
understands communication in a respectful manner as a way of ‘keeping in
contact’ with the stakeholders, then they would feel respected, would build up
confdence and would be willing to cooperate with the manager on new pro-
jects.
Te practical consequence of this constructivist model of cognition and
communication, further developed by Watzlawick, Bavelas and Jackson (2011),
is crucial: in the context of sustainable tourism, the constructivist concept
confrms the necessity of participation by all stakeholders as a fundamental
principle of sustainability. Only by integrating all stakeholders, e.g. tourists
and locals, into a communication process, can a critical situation be avoided
or defused in order to reach a certain balance of consistency, in which tourism
development can support the good life of all stakeholders, instead of undermi-
ning it.
As a consequence, a tourism manager really has no choice other than
to learn to communicate with the stakeholders. But on its own, this is not
enough: he also needs some skills in confict management.
Confict Management from a Constructivist Perspective
Within the context of a constructivist concept of communication, confict
management is conceptualised as a holistic and integrative approach to con-
fict resolution used by local, national and international organisations as an
important strategic tool to support an efective peace-building process and
lasting outcome in order to allow and promote sustainable development.
Te lack of balanced dynamics between ecosystems, social modes of be-
haviour, economic interests and the lack of participation, caused by demo-
graphic change, natural resources competition, developmental pressures and
structural injustices, is often the basis of unsustainable conditions. Tese can
lead to non-violent conficts and disputes which are a fundamental constraint
to natural resource management and sustainable regional development at the
community level. Te holistic systems perspective and the decision-making
framework of confict management help to identify causes and drivers of the
344 HARALD A. FRI EDL
confict in order to develop a consensus among all stakeholders. Te fnal goal
of such a process should be to help strengthen the capacity of the stakeholders
to manage confict without violence, thus creating a foundation for sustainab-
le development and an integral part of peace.
As the contexts of complex conficts are manifold, there is no perfect stra-
tegy for managing confict. Adopted strategies must be at least highly usable
according to the available resources and capabilities of the conficting parties
and local implementing agencies, determining the availability of viable con-
fict mitigation options. Finally, issues of safety and security have to be inte-
grated. As an alternative to adversarial forms of stakeholder negotiation, of-
ten determined by structural inequalities, consensus-building is seen as a key
strategy in building the capacity of stakeholders to develop a dialogue with
each other, transforming former conficting positions into mutual gains for
all parties with the minimum of compromise and trade-of (‘win-win’). Tis
process can be facilitated by an impartial third-party mediator, playing an ac-
tive part in the process as intermediary by advising all groups involved and
suggesting possible solutions.
Important milestones of confict management are:
• Confict analysis, including the identifcation of involved stakeholders with
their underlying fears and needs, leading to a draft document outlining
areas of confict
• Prioritisation of confict aspects, leading to a confict management plan
• Measures to build confdence in order to build capacity
• Negotiations
• Implementation of negotiated results.
A Confict Training Tool for Future Tourism Managers
Te aforementioned model of confict management may sound conclusive in
theory, but in practice people immediately become ‘prisoners’ of their perso-
nal position, their perception and established patterns of reactions. Te theory
of constructivism is especially hard to accept if there is no chance of learning
this model with the help of practical exercises, as any learning process leads
into a restructuring of the learner’s brain model.
Te author has developed a role-play for a group of 12 to 25 students, simu-
lating the complex process of local or regional development. Tis is to help
students ‘experience’ the various ‘realities’ of diferent stakeholders as well
as allowing them to observe themselves reacting within a complex confict
scenario and from that, to be able to refect on, and develop, confict solution
strategies. Using a ‘realistic’ scenario for a village or other tourist destination,
e.g. the hometown of the tourism school or the university, the role-play activi-
ty includes 12 to 25 diferent roles of potential local and regional stakeholders
(e.g. the manager of a hotel, the mayor, the president of the university, the ma-
nager of a brothel, a priest etc.)
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 345
Tese roles should equally represent four main types of stakeholder:
• Entrepreneurs representing the ‘economy’
• Stakeholders with environmental concerns
• Stakeholders with social concerns (e.g. a student representative, a pensio-
ners’ club representative etc.)
• Stakeholders representing political or ofcial institutions (e.g. the mayor,
the chief of the local police, the priest etc.).
Each of these stakeholders must have both an ofcial interest, in order to re-
present their specifc political group, and a personal target, so that each role is
represented realistically, with plenty of potential confict built in – as would
be found in real life.
Before starting the role-play, the students have to choose their favourite
role in order to defne it more precisely. A certain degree of identifcation with
the role is a crucial precondition, needed to encourage the students’ engage-
ment in the later confict simulation. To maximise the efect of identifcation,
students may also invent and develop new roles.
Further preparation of the role comprises the development of a personal
project, which must be related to the specifc role, e.g. the restoration of the
priest’s church, the permission for the pimp’s operation of a brothel within the
community, the construction of a party room for the student representative
etc. Terefore the project has to be designed according to the basic rules of
project management including a simple business plan, roughly calculating the
required resources, the expected economic outcome as well as the environ-
mental and social costs. In this way, the students also learn to practice the
evaluation of a project according to the criteria of sustainability. In addition,
this work is intended to make students more competent in using data and the-
oretical models. Te scientifc inquiry is an important part of the role-play to
help the students understand that even though their idea of the ‘reality’ may
be a theoretical model, they nevertheless have to ‘test’ their model by compa-
ring it with actual data according to the basic principles of scientifc research.
Any project, whether environmental, cultural, social, political or economic,
takes place within a specifc environment. In order to learn how the socio-
cultural, -political and -economic environment could infuence their project,
the students have to refect on the situation and present development of their
community:
• What are the most important problems of this community according to
their personal perception and inquiry?
• What could happen to their community within the next fve to ten years if
nothing were to be done to deal with those problems e.g. a high unemploy-
ment rate, the efects of climate change, heavy trafc etc?
• What are the consequences of these problems for the development of their
‘proper’ project?
Tis is a very important exercise in order to understand possible systemic
feedback efects of the environment on the system’s development.
346 HARALD A. FRI EDL
In order to improve the conditions of the ‘environment’ of the students’
projects (the community) the students have to design their own personal
mission statement. Tis consists of defning the direction in which they want
their community to develop, in order to maximise the chances of their per-
sonal project unfolding. Te next step is to develop auxiliary projects to sol-
ve the most important problems previously defned, as well as to support the
community’s development according to the mission statement. Again the so-
cial, environmental and economic costs and returns have to be calculated in
order to be better prepared for the later discussion. Te better the students
prepare their role though accurate inquiry, the more successful they will be in
convincing the other stakeholders in later discussions.
Te last point of their preparation concerns the simulation itself: the stu-
dents have to consider potential partners for possible cooperation, either on
a political or an economic level. By doing this, they learn to identify potential
synergy efects through cooperation in order to economise on resources and
to maximise political infuence.
The Confict Simulation
Up to this point, the students have been asked to develop and to evaluate their
projects according to their personal standards by refecting on them alone.
Translated into the ‘constructivist language’, this means that they have deve-
loped their personal model of their ideal hometown ftting only to their own
personal needs and visions. Te next stage of the role-play – the confict simu-
lation – allows the students to confront their ‘balanced system’ of positions,
perspectives, visions and activities with those of other stakeholders.
In this communication stage of the role-play, the main tasks for the whole
group are:
• To defne together the most important problems of their community
• To design a common mission statement on the basis of their former decis-
ion
• To defne the measures which should be taken in order to solve the main
problems
• To decide on the community’s small budget in order to fnance a selected
range of the stakeholders’ personal projects.
Te main task for every student is – according to the ofcial information – to
realise their personal projects as far as possible, even though there is only the
budget to fnance a small percentage of all stakeholders’ projects. Te reason
for that ofcial order is clear: the students have to learn about the relativity
of their own perspectives and convictions by fnding out about the conficts
and contradictions between their own projects and those of the other stu-
dents, while talking with them about their arguments and their positions. Te
usual efect of this process is that the students begin to notice their personal
patterns of communication behaviour within the group, and the consequent
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 347
efects on the group dynamics, as well as on their personal aim of realising
their projects.
Te practical confict simulation consists of fve main stages. Stage one is
a plenary session in which a president and a secretary are elected and each
stakeholder’s project is presented to the plenary. At this stage, the students
quickly learn that it doesn’t make sense to give too many details about their
projects, as too much information given in this short space of time is usu-
ally forgotten. Te students may also realise that the way in which a project is
communicated is much more important than the project details presented.
In the second stage, the most difcult but also most important step follows:
the rules according to which decisions have to be made in the following plen-
ary sessions, a kind of a constitution, have to be decided. Normally, this is
the session with the most intensive discussions about very minor details. Te
reason for this communicative phenomenon is easy to explain: at this point
the stakeholders simply don’t know each other well enough yet. Tey are still
in need of orientation and confdence. Later, they will remember how exhaus-
ting this discussion about petitions and voting was – but also that this was an
inevitable process to develop a common culture of discussion and of orienta-
tion, leading to the development of a kind of relative balance (‘homoeostasis’)
among the whole group.
In the next stage the students have to form 4 to 5 groups with common
interests according to their personal perception, i.e. kinds of ‘political par-
ties’. Within these groups they have, for the frst time, to defne together the
most important problems of their community, to design a common mis-
sion statement on the basis of their former decision, to defne the measures
which should be taken in order to solve the main problems and to decide the
community’s budget in order to fnance a selected range of the stakeholders’
personal projects, all on the basis of their personal projects. At this stage the
students are introduced to diferent approaches and perspectives of several
stakeholders by practicing respectful and attentive styles of communication,
which normally lead to a process of modifcation of their personal perspective.
At the end of this stage the sub-groups of 4 to 5 people will have designed a
consensual ‘master plan’ of their village on the basis of their former ideas and
their constructive discourse.
Te most interesting rounds are the four plenary sessions about the com-
mon priorities of the community’s problems, the common mission statement,
specifc measures and projects and fnally the common budget. Within this
complex situation of up to 25 diferent opinions, the students don’t normally
fnd it easy to reach a common decision, as the confict is based very much on
subjective perceptions and emotions.
Te students usually get faster with each progressive stage, which is the ef-
fect of developing confdence by deepening the personal relations, a process
which could also be called the homoeostasis of the group. Te longer they
work together the more the individuals start to modify their own targets, wi-
dening their space to negotiate and to identify innovative ways of cooperation.
Tey become more and more integrated into a common system in which the
348 HARALD A. FRI EDL
personal relations have already become more important than their personal
targets – a phenomenon which is the best indicator that the group has solved
their task of developing a consensual, sustainable master plan for their village
in a peaceful way!
Te fnal stage of the role-play is normally an open feedback round, in order
to refect on and discuss the personal experiences. Te students also have to
produce an individual written refection, by answering questions about how
they felt during the process, how they changed their mind and their position,
and what they thought about politics before – and after – this experience.
Lessons Learnt
Te main lesson of this simulation is to experience the fact that every confict
is the result of diferent points of view – which can be changed, by listening
respectfully to others as well as by explaining the personal position carefully.
Tis means that conficts are not necessarily ‘bad’ or ‘embarrassing’ but nor-
mal in a world full of diverse individuals. During the sessions the students
have the chance to perceive conficts as a necessary and constructive process
of communication and creativity, allowing an increase in the scope of perso-
nal and collective action, as well as the feeling of confdence among the invol-
ved stakeholders. Finally, the students learn that life is necessarily one long
learning process about the way we perceive the world, and how that percepti-
on may change every time we communicate with another person.
By learning about these correlations between perceptions, opinions, com-
munication and cooperation, these students – themselves future stakeholders
in tourism – gain personal autonomy in relation to experts as they learn to
refect on the foundations of their own decisions in a careful and responsible
way, experiencing a consensual decision-making process as emotionally sa-
tisfying. Tey also develop an empathetic comprehension for the legitimate
interests of other stakeholders who may appear, at frst glance, in confict with
their own interests. Te most important lesson, fnally, is the experience that
conficts, seen at frst glance, can be eliminated or even transformed into a
complementary synergy efect by respectful communication, leading to the
joint development of a common perspective.
Tis is the main ‘secret’ of sustainable confict management in tourist des-
tinations: by learning to understand and respect a stakeholder’s interest as the
legitimate expression of his individuality, contradictions can be transformed
into complementary cooperation when others are willing to listen mindfully.
Tis course was developed for the study programme ‘Health Management
in Tourism’ in 2005. Since then, it has been rated every year as one of the
highlights of the semester. Since 2008 this course has also been held at the
University of Applied Sciences for Sustainability in Eberswalde, near Berlin.
One regular item of feedback given by students from Eberswalde is the fact
that they can use the ideas and methods they have learnt in their private lives
too. One of the students wrote in her feedback paper: ‘It really works!’
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 349
Conclusions and Recommendations
To take part in student training for applied tourism ethics, communication
and confict management may certainly be an interesting, inspiring experi-
ence. But what can anybody do if they have no such opportunity? And how is
it possible to deepen specifc peace-building competences, either for professio-
nal reasons in tourism, or for private reasons?
Living creatures – including humans – learn to cope with the ‘real world’
through experience, by testing each individual conception about reality in or-
der to confrm or refute it, leading to modifcation of the conception and then
a repeated trial… As we all know from personal experience, life is a never-
ending cycle of trial and error.
Te most important and only constant aspect of this life-long experience is
to realise that the ‘real world’ is diferent from that which is assumed. Tis ex-
perience is often accompanied by feelings of irritation, frustration, uncertain-
ty, ambiguity or even fear of getting lost in the chaos of the ‘real world’. Uncer-
tainty is a constant of life and reality, which we have to learn to deal with. Te
history of man, in terms of religion, philosophy or science, is a history of trials
and attempts to overcome the uncertainty of existence, information and com-
munication by searching for ‘truth’ and validity – without success…
Te term ‘viability’ is a biological expression for the capability of an orga-
nism to live, especially under certain conditions (Merriam-Webster, 2013), but
it is also the expression of the constructivist epistemology for the criterion in
order to measure ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. From the constructivist perspective, we
can’t fnd out what may be ‘true’, ‘valid’ or ‘real’ in an epistemological sense,
but we can fnd out what can be used to cope with a specifc problem here and
now.
Here and now, that’s where we are living. For this reason, in order to live
a good and peaceful life, it is our personal responsibility to develop our own
personal instruments – like ideas, concepts, theories, assumptions, conducts
and patterns – in order to cope with the strangeness of the world as well as
with the ‘otherness’ of people whom we had assumed we knew and even un-
derstood. To cope with ‘strangeness’ means:
• To accept the fact that the world is diferent from that which is assumed
• To learn to accept the world, even though we don’t know exactly how it ‘re-
ally’ is.
In our culture of science and technology there is the postulate that we can, and
must, comprehend and conceptualise ‘reality’ through the research and trans-
fer of ‘true’ knowledge in order to control and manipulate ‘reality’ according to
our visions. Te ability to dismiss this postulate is the key competence to mu-
tual understanding and peace. Unfortunately our culture of science and tech-
nology is deeply rooted in the conviction that ‘right’ knowledge would legitimi-
se its enforcement by power (Neuenhaus 1993). Te trouble with this approach
is that it doesn’t ft with conficts between human beings because such con-
ficts result from having diferent ‘truths’. As a consequence, the confict can’t
350 HARALD A. FRI EDL
be solved by the ‘repair’ of the ‘wrong awareness’ of a person as has been practi-
ced in communist ‘re-education’ camps in China (Carisbrooke 2013), the Soviet
Union (Solzhenitsyn 1973) or Vietnam (Tri 2001). On the contrary, an impor-
tant step towards solving confict is always to respect ‘otherness’ by accepting
a difering perspective as the coherent expression of diferent living conditions,
social and cultural backgrounds and perceptions of the confict’s context.
Competence is the result of consequent training of skills, leading to a cer-
tain level of routine. Te method of reaching the competence of accepting
‘otherness’ is illustrated by the allegory of a scientist who visited a Buddhist
convent in Japan for research reasons. At the end of his stay he visited the
abbot of the convent in order to thank him for the hospitality and to ask him
a last question: “How can we save the world?” Te abbot answered: “You can
save the world by saving yourself!” Now the scientist asked again: “But what
do I have to do to save myself?” Te abbot answered again: “You can save your-
self by saving the world!” In other words: the way we perceive and ‘handle’ the
world is inextricably linked with the way we perceive and ‘handle’ ourselves
(Schmid 2004).
To be able to understand, accept and fnally respect the ‘otherness’ of the
world, we frst have to learn more about the ‘otherness’ of ourselves by explo-
ring – and refecting profoundly and regularly on – our motivations, inner
conficts and contradictions, our fears and desires behind our familiar self-
concept. A helpful exercise is to refect on some of the following questions:
Why do I act the way I do?
• What kind of circumstances and constraints guide or even force my way of
acting?
• Which perspectives, information or prejudices infuence my decision?
• Have I evaluated these data?
• Which emotions like fear, shame, greed, envy or jealousy, hope or desire
afect my judgement?
• And do I still agree with this way of acting?
• Or was my behaviour a reaction I was unable to control, but about which I
am nonetheless sorry?
Why do I say what I say?
• Am I convinced about the ‘truth’ or plausibility of my words?
• Does it help rather then hurt anybody?
• Would I be happy if somebody said this to me?
• How would I feel if I hadn’t said it?
• What are my emotions behind my impulse to say this?
• Could I say it in a more respectful and sensitive way?
• What are my communication patterns in general and more specifcally in a
confict situation?
• Do I agree with these patterns?
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 351
Why do I think the way I think?
• Where do these thoughts come from?
• What are my typical patterns of thinking and refecting within specifc si-
tuations?
• By whom have I been educated, infuenced or manipulated?
• Are there models of thinking and judgment which I am trying to copy, e.g.
those of my parents, friends or others?
• What kind of media do I consume, what kind of literature do I read, and
how do I normally handle information?
• What kind of a person am I, and do I feel happy the way I perceive myself?
• What are my fears, hopes, dreams and disappointments?
• What does power and violence mean to me?
• How do I see the world in general, and what would I change if I had the
power?
Questions like these, when regularly refected upon, help people to become
more sensitive and empathic to the complex determining factors of a confic-
ting situation in general. Tese questions also improve the understanding that
people are often ‘prisoners of themselves’. As a consequence, we learn to im-
prove the control of our own behaviour as well as to deal with the aggressive
or ‘stupid’ behaviour of our counterparts, in order to prevent the escalation of
a confict.
Te ‘art of peaceful confict management’ is rooted in a general attitude of
respect, which difers fundamentally from our common culture of competiti-
on. Tis attitude can be described by the following preferences:
• Observing instead of reacting
• Asking instead of telling
• Listening instead of explaining
• Understanding instead of instructing
• Creating together instead of establishing oneself
Finally, a crucial condition for gaining these competences is to learn to forgive
a displeasing action for which somebody has to take the responsibility and
which still strains the relationship between the people involved.
• Te frst step towards forgiveness is dealing with the strong personal emo-
tions caused by the ofence – like rage, disgust, hate or fear – by simply to-
lerating them for a while in order to let them blow over; but then, over time,
slowly to replace these emotions with calmness, so as to allow a clear mind.
• Te second step is better understanding the cause of the ofence, by repla-
cing the judgment of ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ by the judgment of ‘overloaded by the
situation’. Refections about plausible causes and constraints, like emotions
or misunderstandings, causing this ofence, can help greatly in fnding a
helpful explanation. Tis approach makes it easier to forgive and in turn to
open the other’s mind to a new, peaceful beginning to cooperation
352 HARALD A. FRI EDL
• Te last step is fnding a position of ‘loving’ the counterpart: learning fully
to respect a person with all their errors, weaknesses and circumstances of
their life. To love a person means to care for them by looking for ways to
strengthen them, in order to reduce the infuence of circumstances, and to
look for common or complementary competences or interests as connec-
ting factors in order to support the cooperation.
To live means to take decisions. To decide means to come into confict with
others, as the world becomes more and more diverse. Tere are three ways to
face this condition:
• By subordinating
• By collecting power to dominate difering positions
• By accepting life as a permanent struggle for balance among stakeholders,
learning to love them in order to develop common perspectives.
Certainly to love a (tourist) counterpart demands a lot of emotional and intel-
lectual efort. But as Danny DeVito once said to Michael Douglas in the movie
‘Te War of the Roses’ (1989) about the efects of an escalated divorce battle:
‘Tere isn’t any winning. Tere’s just degrees of losing!’
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LOUI S D’AMORE
Peace through Tourism:
An Historical and Future Perspective
Early Beginnings
“Te world is a book,” observed Saint Augustine, “and those who do not tra-
vel read only one page.” Some sixteen centuries later, the “book” is becoming
a page-turning bestseller. Travel and tourism has established itself as one of
the world’s largest and fastest growing industries, revolutionising our under-
standing of ourselves, others, and the world. Te exponential growth of inter-
national tourism arrivals from 25 million in 1950 to 1.0 billon international
arrivals in 2012 is clearly one of the most remarkable economic and social
phenomena of our time.
It may have been Mark Twain who frst recognised the value of tourism in
promoting peace. His book, Te Innocents Abroad, chronicles his 1867 travels
through Europe and the Holy Land. In this, his best-selling work during his
lifetime and one of the best-selling travel books of all time, he states:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of
our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable
views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little cor-
ner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” (Twain 1867).
It was a German teacher, Richard Schirrmann, Founder of Hostelling Interna-
tional, who in 1909 transformed these words into action. He initially set out
to introduce his students to the wonders of nature in the countryside and the
culture of cities. “Each forest, each plain, each fower, each mountain, each vil-
lage and each town,” he taught his students, “is a separate page of your home-
land. It is necessary to familiarise yourself with these pages through experien-
ces rather than reading about them. But also travel beyond the borders of your
country” – he advised – “to seek out people of other lands and appreciate tho-
se who have diferent languages and backgrounds, for doing this – neighbours
and friends – build hence the youth hostels – and open them for all the youth
of the world as the home of peace – for the good of humanity.” (IIPT, 2008).
Mr. Schirmann’s philosophy was to provide young people of all countries
with suitable meeting places throughout the world, where they could meet,
exchange ideas and get to know each other, thereby building an important
part of education that contributes to international understanding.
Similarly, Jean Barraud in post-World War II France began organising trips
for French students to Germany in 1946 & ’47. His main purpose for doing so
was to bring the youth of both countries together – youth whose parents had
been mortal enemies for several years. He wanted to give young people the
356 LOUI S D’AMORE
opportunity to communicate with each other – to understand each other – to
share their views on life. Tese trips resulted in the Federation of Youth Travel
Organisations (FIYTO) founded in 1950 with a mission of promoting interna-
tional understanding among young people through travel. Today youth and
student travel accounts for more than 20% of all international arrivals – and is
projected to increase to 25% in the next few years.
Te foundations for commerce and the exchange of goods and services as a
basis of friendship, collaboration and peace had its beginnings in 1919, when
a handful of entrepreneurs and business leaders came together to bring hope
to a world still devastated by the First World War. Tey were resolved to re-
place fear and suspicion with a new spirit of friendly international cooperation,
at least among business people. Tey founded the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) and called themselves “the merchants of peace”. (Merchants
of Peace 2013).
A similar movement began in 1932 within the travel and tourism industry.
A group of travel professionals from Paris received a warm welcome from their
hosts in Stockholm and the idea of international goodwill and friendship that
results from travel was born. Today, Skal International is the world’s largest
organisation of travel and tourism executives, with more than 18,000 mem-
bers in 450 cities of 85 countries and the only Organisation embracing mem-
bers from all sectors of the industry.
1980 Manila Declaration
Te World Tourism Organization convened in Manila, Philippines, from 27
September to 10 October 1980, with the participation of 107 delegations of
States and 91 delegations of observers, in order to clarify the nature of tourism
in all its aspects and the role tourism is bound to play in a dynamic and vastly
changing world. Delegates also convened to consider the responsibility of Sta-
tes for the development and enhancement of tourism in present-day societies
as more than a purely economic activity of nations and people.
Te resulting Manila Declaration began with words that read in part: “Con-
vinced that world tourism can be a vital force for world peace and can provide
the moral and intellectual basis for international understanding and interde-
pendence.” (UNWTO Manila Declaration 1985)
And so, for the frst time, the role of “tourism as a vital force for peace” was
enshrined in a formal document of the world’s premier tourism organisation
representing the nations and governments of the world.
World Leaders and “Citizen Diplomacy”
World leaders have long recognised the important role of “Citizen Diplomacy”
in promoting mutual understanding. President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew
from his experience as a military commander that ordinary citizens of dif-
ferent nations could bridge political and social divides where governments
could not. “I have long believed, as have many before me,” he said, “that peace-
ful relations between nations requires understanding and mutual respect bet-
ween individuals.”
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 357
Eisenhower thought that ordinary citizens, if able to communicate directly,
would solve their diferences and fnd a way to live in peace, for while we are
all diferent, our values, goals, and day-to-day issues are very much the same.
His belief in the potential of citizen peacemakers led to a meeting in 1956
with entertainer Bob Hope, Olympic champion Jesse Owens, Hallmark Cards
founder Joyce Hall, and the legendary Walt Disney. Tis select group, along
with a hundred other leaders from industry, academia, and the arts, launched
“People to People International” with the aim of fostering international under-
standing and friendship through the direct exchange of ideas and experien-
ces among people of diverse cultures. Te programme continues to fourish
through initiatives such as Project Hope and Sister Cities, under the current
leadership of Mary Eisenhower, President Eisenhower’s granddaughter:
“Travel has become one of the great forces for peace and understanding of
our time,” said Eisenhower’s successor in the White House, President John F.
Kennedy. “As people move throughout the world and learn to know each other,
to understand each other’s customs, and to appreciate the qualities of the in-
dividuals of each nation, we are building a level of international understan-
ding which can sharply improve the attitude for world peace.”
Kennedy’s recognition of the importance of travel and intercultural exchange
led to the formation of the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961.
President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev both saw
the vital role that travel can play in breaking down historical barriers of iso-
lation. Teir joint statement following the 1986 Geneva Summit afrmed in
part, “Tere should be greater understanding among our peoples, and to this
end we will encourage greater travel.”
Pope John Paul II believed that “Tourism puts us in touch with other ways
of living, other religions and other perceptions of the world and its history.
Tis helps people to discover themselves and others, both as individuals and
as communities. And U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stated: “Tou-
rism is the people’s building block for global peace and cultural understan-
ding. It can also help drive economic growth and alleviate poverty.”
Birthing of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT)
Te original seeding of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism
(IIPT) occurred in the mid-1970’s when the frm of L.J. D’Amore and Associ-
ates was commissioned by the Government of Canada to conduct the world’s
frst study on the future of tourism. Te study was conducted through a
“North American lens” and fndings were justifably very bullish on the future
of tourism with higher levels of income and education, increased leisure time,
more persons retiring with pensions, smaller families, and a general trend
towards a propensity to travel for life-enriching experiences. As well, for the
frst time, the study introduced social and environmental dimensions into the
tourism matrix.
Te study was updated two years later in 1978 and subsequently an on-going
future research programme was launched called “Tourscan” which produced 6
to 8 reports a year on societal trends and their implications for tourism; trends
358 LOUI S D’AMORE
within the travel and tourism industry; and an annual forecast of tourism pro-
jections for the following year. By the early 1980’s, research began to be con-
ducted through a “global lens” which in turn introduced a totally diferent view
of the future – a future that included environmental deterioration, a growing
gap between ‘the have and have not’ regions of the world, increasing “Cold War
tensions” between countries of the East and West, and a growth in terrorism.
With the realisation that by the Year 2000, travel and tourism would be one
of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries, it was decided that focus
should shift from doing research on the future of travel and tourism – to as-
king, how can travel and tourism – soon to be one of the world’s largest and
fastest growing industries – be a positive force for a better world. Over a peri-
od of several years, L.J. D’Amore and Associates gradually transitioned, and in
1986, the UN International Year of Peace, the International Institute for Peace
through Tourism (IIPT) was born with a vision of
“Travel and Tourism becoming the world’s frst “Global Peace Industry” –
an industry that promotes and supports the belief that every traveller is
potentially an “Ambassador for Peace.”
IIPT’s concept of “Peace” from the start has been a positive concept that goes
beyond the notion of simply the absence of war. It embraces six dimensions:
peace and tranquility within ourselves; peace with others, from our neigh-
bours next door to our neighbours in the global village; collaboration among
nations; peace with nature and our common home – planet earth; peace with
past generations – by which we honour our respective cultures, heritage and
achievements of past generations; peace with future generations – through
sustainable lifestyles and practices; and peace with our Creator – by practi-
cing the universal principle of all faiths and humanists – “do unto others as
we would have them do unto ourselves.”
Following two years of planning, and with support from both the priva-
te and public sectors of the Canadian travel and tourism industry, the First
Global Conference: Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace was held in Vancouver,
Canada, October 1988 with Air Canada as the Title Sponsor.
Introduction of a “Higher Purpose of Tourism”
A 25 year retrospective look at the First Global Conference: Tourism – A Vital
Force for Peace, suggests that it was a watershed event for the travel and tou-
rism industry. Eight hundred persons from 68 countries participated in the
event which featured video-taped messages from Pope John Paul II and U.S.
President Ronald Reagan in the Opening Ceremony. President Vigdis Finn-
bogadottir of Iceland, the world’s frst elected woman Head of State, was the
Honorary Chair of the Conference. Exactly two years earlier she had hosted
the Reykjavik Summit between President Ronald Reagan and General Secreta-
ry Mikhail Gorbachev which resulted in the beginning of the disarmament of
nuclear weapons between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Te Vancouver conference frst introduced the concept of “Sustainable
Tourism Development” – four years prior to the UN Rio Summit on Environ-
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 359
ment and Development. It also introduced a new paradigm for a “Higher Pur-
pose of Tourism” – a paradigm that includes the role of tourism in:
• Promoting international understanding
• Collaboration among nations
• Protecting the environment and preserving biodiversity
• Enhancing cultures and valuing heritage
• Sustainable development
• Poverty Reduction, and
• Healing Wounds of Confict.
Tis ‘higher purpose’ of tourism – with its capacity to generate social, cultu-
ral, economic, environmental, and political benefts has now been recognised
and gained acceptance at the highest levels of both governments and industry
together with its immense potential as the world’s largest industry in contri-
buting to a “Culture of Peace.”
IIPT has since organised sixteen conferences and summits as well as semi-
nars and workshops in regions throughout the world bringing together both
public and private sector leaders of the industry, educators, students, practi-
tioners, and non-governmental organisations as well as leaders from related
sectors including economic development, environment, sport and culture.
More than 6,000 persons from some 130 countries have come together over
the past 25 years to share their experience, ideas, insights, wisdom and com-
mitment in “Building a Culture of Peace through Tourism.” More than 1,200
case studies of “Success Stories” and models of “Best Practice” have been pre-
sented demonstrating the various dimensions of a “Higher Purpose” of Tou-
rism and the social, economic, cultural, environmental, and political benefts
of tourism.
• Persons associated with IIPT Conferences and Summits have included Pope
John Paul II and Heads of State: President Ronald Reagan; HE Vigdis Finn-
bogadottir, President of Iceland; Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa;
Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, frst President of Zambia; HE Olusegun Obasanjo, Pre-
sident, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and President, African Union; HE Levy
Patrick Mwnawasa, President, Republic of Zambia; HE Yoweri Kaguta Muse-
veni, President, Uganda; and Hon. Dr. Ewart F. Brown, Premier of Bermuda.
• Kings, Queens and Princes associated with IIPT Conferences and Summits
have included: HM King Abdullah II; HM Queen Noor, and HM Queen
Rania, all of Jordan; and HSH Prince Albert, Monaco.
• Heads of UN Agencies include: UN Secretary General Kof Annan; Mary
Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Dr. Willibald Pahr,
Francesco Frangialli and Dr. Taleb Rifai, UN World Tourism Organization.
• Nobel Laureates have included: Shimon Peres; Wangari Maathai; and David
Trimble; and travel industry leaders: J.W. Marriott, Jr, Chairman and CEO,
Marriott International; Harvey Golub, Chairman, American Express and
Chairman, World Travel and Tourism Council;. Claude Taylor, Chairman,
Air Canada; Geofrey Lipman and Jean-Claude Baumgarten, Presidents of
360 LOUI S D’AMORE
World Travel and Tourism Council; more than 40 other CEO’s of major travel
and tourism industry corporations and more than 60 Ministers of Tourism.
Beginning its First Global Conference in Vancouver 1988, IIPT has strived to
leave a lasting legacy with each conference and summit. Table A is a listing of
signifcant Conference outcomes.
IIPT Conference Outcomes
Conference Declarations:
• Columbia Charter – Vancouver 1988
• Amman Declaration – Amman 2000
• Tessaloniki Declaration – 2001
• 21st Century African Agenda for Peace and Poverty Reduction through
Tourism – Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa 2002
• Tanzania Action Plan – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2003
• Lusaka Declaration on Sustainable Tourism Development, Climate Change
and Peace – Lusaka, Zambia 2011
Other Conference Outcomes:
• Broad international awareness of the potential of travel and tourism to
contribute to broader societal and global objectives and the realisation of a
peaceful, just, and sustainable world
• IIPT Credo of the Peaceful Traveller distributed throughout the world
• World leaders King Hussein of Jordan, UN Secretary General Dag Ham-
marskjold and Nelson Mandela acknowledged as “Men of Peace”
• Awards to individuals and organisations in recognition of outstanding
achievements that contribute to international understanding, cooperation
and peace
• Concept of Sustainable Tourism Development frst introduced at First Glo-
bal Conference Vancouver, 1988 – four years prior to the Rio Summit 1992.
• Second Global Conference, Montreal 1994: “Building a Sustainable World
through Tourism” – frst showcased case studies of “Success Stories” and
“Models of Best Practice of Sustainable Tourism”
• Uganda frst nation in the world to introduce Tourism Legislation in sup-
port of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals
• Africa Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) conceived by Bermuda Minister
David H. Allen at the First Global Summit, Amman
• Launch of Uganda Martyr’s Trail
• Proclamation of “National Peace through Tourism Week” for each of IIPT’s
last three African Conferences
• Pattaya, Tailand declared a “City of Peace” as legacy of IIPT 3rd Global
Summit
• Facilitated MOU between Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Af-
rica Travel Association (ATA) with the aim of nurturing an “Asia – Africa
Bridge of Tourism, Friendship and Collaboration.”
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 361
• International Youth Hostel fagship programme “Hostelling for Peace and
International Understanding” in partnership with IIPT
• Educator Forums and Student/Youth Leadership Forums at each IIPT Con-
ference and Summit
• “Peace through Tourism” incorporated in educational programmes of colle-
ges and universities and increasingly a topic of scholarly research by profes-
sors and students
• Scholarships awarded to students in each region of the world related to the
theme of each Conference and Summit.
Additional IIPT Achievements
Socially and Environmentally Responsible Tourism frst introduced in the
Caribbean at 1989 Caribbean Tourism Organisation annual conference.
Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism
Following the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, IIPT deve-
loped the world’s frst Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism
with a mandate from the Canadian travel and tourism industry. Tis also ser-
ved as an early model for other nations. As well, IIPT developed guidelines for
the Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA) GreenLeaf Programme.
First International Study of Tourism and Sustainable Development
In 1993, IIPT was commissioned by the United Nations Environment Pro-
gramme (UNEP) to conduct the frst international study of best practice re-
garding Tourism, Environment and Sustainable Development.
Peace Parks Across Canada
Te IIPT Peace Parks Across Canada programme commemorated Canada’s
125th Birthday as a nation in 1992. Tree hundred and ffty cities and towns
from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the shores of the Atlantic – across fve time
zones to Victoria, British Columbia on the shores of the Pacifc, dedicated a
park to peace. More than 330 parks were dedicated at noon local time, Octo-
ber 8th, as a National Peacekeeping Monument was being unveiled in Ottawa
with 5,000 UN Peace Keepers passing in review. Each of the Peace Parks in-
corporated a ‘Bosco Sacro’ (Peace Grove) of 12 trees as a symbolic link with
one another, and with nature – and as a symbol of hope for the future. Te 12
trees were also symbolic of Canada’s 10 Provinces and two Territories. Of the
more than 25,000 projects commemorating Canada’s 25th anniversary, Peace
Parks Across Canada was said to be the most signifcant.
Global Peace Parks Programme
“Peace Parks Across Canada” has served as the foundation for the “IIPT Global
Peace Parks Programme launched on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th
month, 2000 – frst year of the new Millennium – from Bethany Beyond the
Jordan, site of Christ’s baptism, as a legacy of the IIPT First Global Summit,
362 LOUI S D’AMORE
Amman, Jordan. Peace parks have been dedicated in the United States, Jordan,
Scotland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, the
Philippines, Tailand, and Jamaica.
Re-dedication of the IIPT International Peace Park at Victoria Falls, Sep-
tember 24, 2013 was the highlight of Opening Day of the UNWTO General
Assembly co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Participants in the ceremony included UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Ta-
leb Rifai; Zambia’s frst President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda; King Makuni of the
Leya people on whose land Victoria Falls is located; Zambia Minister of Tou-
rism and Arts, Sylvia Masebo; Dr. Patrick Kalifungwa, former Minister of
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, Zambia and Vice Chancellor,
Livingstone International University of Tourism Excellence and Business Ma-
nagement (LIUTEBM); and Senator Akel Biltaji, representing HM King Ab-
dullah of Jordan who brought six olive trees from Bethany Beyond the Jordan,
to be planted during the ceremony. Bethany Beyond the Jordan is the site of
Christ’s Baptism, and like Victoria Falls – also a World Heritage Site.
Commemoration of IIPT 25th Anniversary Year
IIPT commemorated the twenty-ffth Anniversary of its First Global Confe-
rence: Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace with a major Platinum stage event
at World Travel Market, November 5, 2013. Tis event was in support of the
“Great War” Centenary with its theme of “No More War.” As one of the world’s
largest and fastest growing industries, the collective voice of travel and tou-
rism leaders can be a powerful force for peace and justice in the 21st century
– and without peace, there is no tourism. Te featured keynote speakers shared
their respective perspectives on “Building a Culture of Peace through Tou-
rism” in support of the theme: “No More War.” Te event honoured members
of the travel and tourism industry who have made a signifcant contribution in
promoting a “Culture of Peace through Tourism” by presenting them with the
prestigious IIPT Ambassador for Peace Award. Featured speakers included
Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary- General of the World Tourism Organization (UN-
WTO), David Scowsill, President of the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC), Geofrey Lipman, President of the International Coalition of Tou-
rism Partners (ICTP), Martin Craigs, President of the Pacifc Asia Travel As-
sociation (PATA), Mok Singh, President of Skal International; and Mr Peter
De Wilde, CEO of Visit Flanders, making a special presentation of the launch
of the World War I Centenary in Flanders.
As part of its one year commemoration, IIPT launched a series of “Legacy”
projects that included:
IIPT/ Skål Peace Towns and Villages
Tis is the ‘fagship’ project of IIPT’s twenty-ffth anniversary year being im-
plemented in partnership with Skal International, the industry’s largest Orga-
nisation of travel and tourism executives with 18,000 members in 450 chap-
ters in 85 countries. Together towns and villages throughout the world are
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 363
being invited to dedicate an IIPT/Skal Peace Park and in so doing committing
their town/village to peace, i.e. to be actively committed to promoting values
of tolerance, non-violence, gender equality, human rights, youth empower-
ment, environmental integrity, and sustainable human, social and economic
development.
Some thirty towns and villages in South Africa, Jamaica, the Caribbean and
India have already committed themselves to being IIPT/Skal Peace Towns and
Villages. A goal of 500 IIPT/Skal Peace Towns and Villages has been set for
September 21, 2014, the UN International Day of Peace, and 2,000 by 2018, the
last year of the Great War Centenary.
IIPT Consortium of Collaborating Universities (IIPT-CCU)
Universities participating in the IIPT-CCU programme agree to collaborate
in providing third and fourth year university students the opportunity to re-
search and write essays on the various dimensions of “Peace through Tourism.”
More than 20 universities from Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, Austra-
lia, the Caribbean and South Pacifc have agreed to be part of the programme.
Te Consortium is housed at Livingstone International University of Tourism
Excellence and Business Management (LIUTEBM) in Lusaka, Zambia. A se-
lection of the best essays will be published by LIUTEBM and a scholarship
award of $1,500 will be presented to the author of the best essay.
IIPT/ Skål Executive Ambassador Programme
Te IIPT/Skal Executive Ambassador Programme will match developing
countries having a need for executive level guidance/support in particular are-
as such as destination marketing, with experienced and knowledgeable retired
Skål executives on a pro bono basis for periods of 1 to 4 months. Te program-
me will begin on a pilot project basis with three developing countries, with the
aim of expanding the programme once it has been proven successful.
Peace Tours Morocco and Peace Tours Iran
“Peace Tours Morocco” is a tour developed by IIPT Partner Munditinera –
Cultural Bridges International and being distributed throughout the world in
collaboration with Skål International. A portion of all revenues from the tours
is being donated to the International Red Cross, Geneva in support of their
programmes for victims of armed confict.
Te Spiritual Sites Tour of Iran is being led by Donald King, Ambassador of
Large for the IIPT- and one of the few westerners to regularly lead groups to
Iran over the past few years is escorting this tour. Te itinerary allows partici-
pants to explore signifcant sites of four of the world’s largest religions- Zoro-
astrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam- while also visiting the important
sites of the ancient Persian Empire.
Persons or organisations interested in any of the above initiatives are invited
to contact the author at: [email protected].
364 LOUI S D’AMORE
Growing and emerging forms of “peace tourism”
Beginning with the emergence of “Ecotourism” in the late 1980’s, there are an
increasing number of tourism market segments which might be categorised
within a broad umbrella called “Peace Tourism” in the context of the frame-
work outlined above as IIPT’s concept of “Peace” – i.e. peace within ourselves,
peace with others, peace with nature, peace with past generations, peace with
future generations, and peace with our Creator.
Peace within Ourselves
For many travellers, fnding inner peace is seen as a “spiritual journey” – a
spiritual journey that might be a “life journey” – or for some, a trip to a sacred
site or spiritual retreat. A recent survey conducted by the Travel Industry As-
sociation of America found that 25% of Americans are interested in taking a
spiritual vacation.
Peace with Others
Meeting persons of other lands and cultures in a form of “citizen diplomacy”
is arguably the most efective means of building mutual understanding and
harmony among peoples and nations. One of the largest and fastest growing
segments of the travel and tourism industry is cultural tourism that fosters
cultural appreciation of people from diferent lands – their history, traditions,
language, customs, and values – and a realisation that as much as we can
come to appreciate and respect our diferences, what is of even greater impor-
tance is what we have in common.
Community tourism, agro-tourism, pro-poor tourism, fair trade tourism,
geo-tourism (tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of
a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of
its residents) and other similar growing segments of the tourism industry are
increasingly contributing to ‘peace with others.’
Two more recent tourism phenomena are volunteer tourism and philanth-
ropic tourism. A 2008 study by Tourism and Research Marketing, which sur-
veyed 300 organisations, estimated the market size to be 1.6 million volunteer
tourists per year and put the value of the market at around £1.3 billion. Te
growing number of tourists who take a volunteer vacation for the frst time
are discovering what Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi concluded in the 19th
and early 20th Century
Te sole meaning of life is
to serve humanity
– Leo Tolstoy
Life fnds meaning in service
to others
– Mahatma Gandhi
Peace with Nature
Ambassador Robert Campeau, Canadian Ambassador for the Environment
in the early 1990’s spearheaded the UN Biodiversity Convention at the 1992
Rio Summit on Environment and Development. Amb. Campeau believed that
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 365
“Ecotourism” was the one hope the world had for preserving its remaining bio-
diversity (peace with nature). Indeed, Costa Rica – an early pioneer in Eco-
tourism, has been able to preserve the remainder of its rainforest through the
development and promotion of ecotourism. In many regions of Africa, tou-
rism is a major motivation and economic engine for the justifcation of setting
aside National Parks and dedicated Wilderness areas. Tanzania for example,
has set aside 30% of its land mass as National Parks and Conservation areas –
much of it in the famed Serengeti – home to the largest migration of wildlife
in the world.
Peace with Past Generations
A large segment of tourists take part in what might be referred to as “Heri-
tage Tourism” i.e. visiting antiquities such as the Pyramids of Egypt, and the
“New Seven Wonders of the World,” as well as monasteries, castles, palaces,
mosques, cathedrals, ancient ruins, etc. Heritage Tourism pays tribute to, and
provides the economic engine that preserves, sustains, and sometimes disco-
vers these contributions and legacies of past generations.
UNESCO is currently giving emphasis as well to “Intangible Heritage” – “li-
ving expressions and traditions that countless groups and communities world-
wide have inherited from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants.”
Tis living heritage provides a sense of identity and continuity to humanity in
the forms of dance, music, traditional folk songs, festivals, theatre, story-tel-
ling and oral tradition. In many instances, it is again the interest of “Heritage
Tourists” that sustains these living traditions.
Peace with Future Generations
When one considers the core essence of “sustainable development” – a deve-
lopment concept that gained popularity and international acceptance at the
UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992 – it
is “peace with future generations.” Te Travel and Tourism industry, perhaps
more than any other industry, has been a leader in adopting the concept of
Sustainability. Socially and environmentally responsible tourism has been a
major emphasis of the tourism industry since the Rio Summit. Major hotel
chains formed the International Hotel Environment Initiative (IHEI), now the
Tourism Partnership. Major tour operators in Europe formed the Tour Opera-
tors Initiative for Sustainable Tourism. Te World Travel & Tourism Council
introduced “Green Globe” and the Pacifc Asia Travel Association introduced
their Green Leaf Programme. Boeing developed aircraft engines that were
70% more fuel efcient.
More recently, the UN World Tourism Organization has had international
conferences on Climate Change and is demonstrating leadership in promo-
ting reduced carbon emissions within the industry. Sir Richard Branson has
pledged US$ 3 billion dollars (all profts from his travel frms such as Virgin
Atlantic Airlines and Virgin Trains) to develop renewable energy technolo-
gies through an investment unit called Virgin Fuels. Marriott International
has pledged US$ 2 million in an agreement with the Brazil state of Amazo-
366 LOUI S D’AMORE
nas to help protect 1.4 million acres of endangered rainforest. It’s one of the
frst partnerships between government and the private sector to reduce green-
house gas emissions from deforestation. Te current challenge is to achieve
carbon neutral destinations.
Peace with our Creator
Pilgrimage travel to sacred sites of all faiths is one of the earliest forms of tou-
rism. It has more recently evolved to a new era of Religious or Faith-based tou-
rism that in addition to visiting sacred sites now also includes religion-based
cruises, leisure faith-fellowship vacations, rallies, retreats, monastery visits/
guest-stays, and faith-based camps. Religious conferences and meetings were
attended by more than 15 million persons this past year. Religious tourism
has experienced an explosive growth in the past twenty years. Te UN World
Tourism Organization estimates that more than 300 million tourists visit the
world’s religious sites each year.
Global Tourism in a Future Ecological Context
As early as 1972, the milestone Club of Rome report “Limits to Growth” war-
ned leaders of the world that “If present growth trends in world population,
industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue
unchanged, the limits to growth on this fnite planet will be reached some-
time in the next 100 years.” (Pestel 1972, 1).
Tis seemed a very distant prospect in 1972, however a 20- year update of
the study in 1992 “Beyond the Limits” concluded that humanity had already
overshot the limits of the earth’s supporting capacity. Te 2002 “Tirty Year
Update” of their report found that “per capita grain production peaked in the
mid-80’s; prospects for signifcant growth in marine fsh are gone; the costs
of natural disasters are increasing; and there is growing intensity, even con-
fict in the allocation of water resources.” As well, they found that “Fifty-four
nations with 12% of the world’s population, experienced decline in per capita
GDP for more than a decade between 1990 and 2001.”
Despite progress made in technology and institutional arrangements, the
human ecological footprint has continued to increase. Te consequences of
this accumulating ecological debt include global climate change, collapsing fs-
heries, depleting forests, species extinction, water shortages, and crop failure.
Ecological overshoot as well contributes to resource conficts, mass migrations,
and famine, and has a disproportionate impact on poor regions of the world.
Within this global context, on 13 December 2012, the world travel and
tourism industry welcomed its symbolic one billionth international tourist
arrival in the Museo del Prado, the Spanish capital’s most-visited tourism at-
traction. Te one billionth international arrival represented a milestone in the
phenomenal growth of travel and tourism from a mere 25 million internati-
onal arrivals in 1950. A continued growth to 1.8 billion by 2030 is projected.
Tis increase of 800 million international arrivals in 18 years is equivalent to
the quantitative growth of tourism in the 55 years from 1950 to 2005.
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 367
Viewing these projections from an ecological perspective presents a chal-
lenging paradox for the industry. Te World Wildlife Fund 2012 Living Planet
Report states, “We are using 50 per cent more resources than the Earth can
provide, and unless we change course that number will grow very fast – by
2030, even two planets will not be enough.” (Jim Leape cited in WWF Report
2012) As population increases and more persons seek higher standards of li-
ving, there will be even greater pressures on our ecological systems and natu-
ral resources.
A further examination of humanity’s ecological footprint suggests that the
very areas where the greatest growth in international tourism arrivals are pro-
jected, are areas most seriously exceeding their ecological capacity – Europe,
particularly Western Europe, most of Asia including China and India, the Uni-
ted States and Mexico, all of North Africa, the Middle East and Gulf Region.
Areas with a surplus of ecological capacity include most of Sub-Sahara Af-
rica, South America and the nations of Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zeal-
and, Indonesia, and Philippines.
Perhaps the most serious and immediate threat to travel is climate change.
Carbon pollution has now reached a historic high with concentrations in the
atmosphere of 400 parts per million (ppm) from a base line of 280 ppm at the
start of industrialisation. Te last time carbon dioxide levels were that high
was 3.2 million years ago. Temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees warmer and sea
levels were as much as 82 feet higher than today.
Conclusion
• Te twenty-frst century began with the brutal terrorist attacks of 9-11. We
have witnessed a continuation of violence since, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nort-
hern Africa and currently in Syria.
• As this is being written, terrorists have stormed into a crowded mall in Nai-
robi killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 150 in one of the
most daring terrorist attacks in East Africa since Al Qaeda blew up two
American embassies in 1998. And in northwestern Pakistan, a pair of suici-
de bombers killed 75 people outside a church in the deadliest attack yet on
the country’s Christian minority.
• Clearly, world military expenditures in excess of US$ $1.7 trillion a year
have not brought peace to our global family. Tis is greater than the GDP
of every nation in the world except eleven; an amount roughly equal to the
income of 40% of the world’s population who struggle to survive at the bot-
tom of the economic pyramid; nearly $250 for every man woman and child
in the world when: 1 of every 7 survives on $1 a day or less; another 2 of
every 6 on $2 a day or less; 1 of every 7 – go to bed hungry; 1 of every 4 –
never get a clean glass of water to drink; 2 in 5 lack proper sanitation, and
35,000 children die each day from preventable diseases – many of them
from water-born diseases.
368 LOUI S D’AMORE
• Less than one half the world’s current military budget would be sufcient
to end all the primary causes of poverty in the world.
• As early as 1960, Lester B. Pearson, then U.N. General Assembly President
and former Prime Minister of Canada stated: “No planet can survive half
slave, half free, half engulfed in misery, half careening along the joys of an
almost unlimited consumption – neither ecology, or our morality could
survive such contrasts”
• Some ffty years later, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, seems to have
come to a similar conclusion. In April, 2012 he stated “there is an urgent
need for ‘a revolution in our thinking’ to address the multiple economic,
ecological and social crises facing our world. Te old model is broken. We
need to create a new one… In this time of global challenge, even crisis, busi-
ness as usual will not do…Clearly we must unite around a shared vision for
the future, a vision for equitable human development, a healthy planet, an
enduring economic dynamism.”
• Ban Ki-moon’s statement was in response to UN General Assembly reso-
lution A/65/L.86, introduced by Bhutan calling for a “holistic approach to
development” to nurture human happiness and the wellbeing of all life on
earth.” He has called upon the Kingdom of Bhutan to convene an Internati-
onal Expert Working Group to elaborate a New Paradigm for Development
(NDP) inspired by the success of Bhutan’s concept of Gross National Hap-
piness (GNH).
• Futuristic thinkers are generally in agreement that adoption of a New Pa-
radigm for Development fueled by renewable energy sources, with an em-
phasis on human well-being and development and recognition of our inter-
connectedness with one another and with nature is an urgent necessity.
• Te continued long term success of the travel and tourism industry will be
determined by the extent to which it can contribute to such a 21st century
paradigm and a world at peace.
References
Humanity’s Ecological Footprint. Accessed August
2013. http://footprintnetwork.org/images/debtor_
creditor.jpg
IIPT 2008. Accessed September 2013. http://www.
iipt.org/newsletter/2008/January.html
Merchants of Peace 2013, International Chamber of
Commerce: The Merchants of Peace. Accessed July
2013. http://www.iccwbo.org/about-icc/history/
Pestel Eduard 1972: The Limits to Growth. Abstract
established by Eduard Pestel. A Report to The
Club of Rome by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis l.
Meadows, Jorgen Randers, William W. Behrens III.
Accessed August 2013. http://www.unav.es/adi/
UserFiles/File/80963990/The%20Limits%20to%20
Growth%20Informe%20Meadows.pdf
UNWTO Manila Declaration 1985. Accessed July
2013. http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/
PDF%20carte/65.%20Manila.PDF
WWF Report, 2012. Accessed August 2013. http://
www.wwf.org.au/our_work/people_and_the_en-
vironment/human_footprint/living_planet_re-
port_2012/
Annex
CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Tourism and Peace in International
and Non-governmental
Organisations: A Synopsis
Since its emergence, tourism has constantly been defned as a way of promo-
ting peace and intercultural dialogue. Te following text ofers an overview of
documents and events of international and non-governmental organisations
that include this proposition. In addition to the oft- cited Manila Declaration
of 1980 and the Global Code of Ethics of the UNWTO, more documents de-
serve mentioning; this list is not exhaustive, and simply serves as an overview.
United Nations
1967 International Tourism Year – Passport to Peace
Te United Nations, following an IUOTO (International Union of Ofcial
Tourist Organisations – predecessor of the World Tourism Organization) in-
itiative, declare 1967 International Tourism Year with the slogan “Tourism,
Passport to Peace”.
? http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/history-0#1967
2008 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Peace and Poverty
Eradication
In 2008, the 60
th
UN General Assembly proclaimed the year as International
Year of Sustainable Tourism for Peace and Poverty Eradication. Te participa-
ting states noted that “through various events held around the world during
such an occasion, to the alleviation of international conficts and confronta-
tions between States and to the realization of world peace.”
? http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N05/605/75/PDF/N0560575.pdf?OpenElement
2010 Resolution 65/148 Global Code of Ethics
In 2010, the Global Code of Ethics was adopted by the 65
th
General Assembly
that “recognised its emergence as a vital force for the promotion of internatio-
nal understanding, peace and prosperity”.
? http://ethics.unwto.org/sites/all/fles/docpdf/unresolutiona-res-65–1482010.pdf
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Tourism and Peace have been a constant topic since the very beginning of the
Organisation. In May of 1925, when an “International Congress of Ofcial As-
372 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
sociations of Tourist Propaganda” took place in Te Hague, Professor Wim
Treub, as the Dutch host, opened this Congress and stressed the need of “en-
couraging travel so that diferent peoples could understand and become better
acquainted with each other, thus collaborating to the peace so earnestly desi-
red among peoples who had just survived a prolonged and deadly war.” (Perso-
nal interview, Peter Shackleford, UNWTO)
After World War II, in October 1946, a similar philosophy prevailed at the
“World Conference of National Tourist Organisations” in London when the
International Union of Ofcial Travel Organisations (IUOTO) was created.
Te US delegate Mr. Herbert Wilkinson stated, for instance, that he was “con-
scious of the contribution which tourist trafc can make to the promotion of
expanding goodwill between nations.” (ibid.)
In 1970, the Statutes of the Organisation were adopted – founding of the
World Tourism Organization on the basis of the IUOTO Article 3 reads: “Te
fundamental aim of the Organisation shall be the promotion and development
of tourism with a view to contributing to economic development, internatio-
nal understanding, peace, prosperity…”
On several occasions the World Tourism Day celebrations (27 September, an-
nually since 1980) were dedicated to peace and/or mutual understanding:
1980 Tourism’s contribution to the preservation of cultural heritage and to
peace and mutual understanding
1984 Tourism for international understanding, peace and cooperation
1985 Youth Tourism: cultural and historical heritage for peace and friend-
ship
1986 Tourism: a vital force for world peace
1996 Tourism: a factor of tolerance and peace
2001 Tourism: a tool for peace and dialogue among civilisations
2004 Sport and tourism: two living forces for mutual understanding, culture
and the development of societies
2011 Tourism – Linking Cultures
? http://www2.unwto.org/
Te most relevant documents of the UNWTO referring to peace (in chrono-
logical order):
1980 The Manila Declaration on World Tourism at the World Tourism
Conference
Te declaration states that modern tourism has become a contributing factor
to social stability, mutual understanding among individuals and peoples and
individual betterment. It also emphasises that economic returns of tourism
are not the only criterion for the decision by States to encourage tourism as an
activity; it also deepens awareness of national identity and of solidarity linking
to compatriots and the sense of belonging to a certain culture.
A Synopsis 373
Participants at the conference agreed that the existence and development of
tourism depends entirely on lasting peace; a basic element to support a lasting
peace is through integration of tourism into youth education forms and train-
ing.
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF%20carte/65.%20Manila.PDF
1982 Acapulco Document
Te document is based on the Manila Declaration of 1980 and it reafrms that
it is necessary to “preclude any risk of jeopardizing the safeguard of peace, by
securing a more equitable distribution of wealth and eliminating the mainte-
nance of situations of anachronistic colonialism which, by no means, refects
honor on the nations which practice it, but rather detracts from their moral
authority and constitutes an ofence to the spirit of authenticity – which must
pervade tourism as a vehicle for peace, harmony and mutual respect among
peoples…”
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF%20carte/66.%20Acapulco.PDF
1985 Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code
After several years of negotiation, the Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code
was adopted by the WTO Sixth General Assembly in Sofa in 1985. Te docu-
ment expands on the rights and duties of the tourists and host states. Tourists
should foster understanding and friendly relations among peoples with their
conduct, at both national and international levels, and thus contribute to last-
ing peace. Host states should formulate and implement policies aimed at pro-
moting the harmonious development of domestic and international tourism
and leisure activities.
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF carte/67. Sofa.PDF
1989 The Hague Declaration on Tourism
Te Inter-Parliamentary Union and the WTO ended a Conference in 1989 in
Te Hague with a Declaration that also acknowledges tourism as a vital force
for peace and outlines various principles. It includes an important sentence
which states: “All Governments should work for national, regional and inter-
national peace and security which are essential to the development of domes-
tic and international tourism”.
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF%20carte/68.%20The%20Hague.PDF
1995 Charter for Sustainable Tourism
In April 1995, the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism took place in
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain. It resulted in the Charter for Sustainable
tourism in which the participants “recognised that tourism afords the oppor-
tunity to travel and to know other cultures, and that the development of tou-
rism can help promote closer ties and peace among peoples, creating a consci-
ence that is respectful of the diversity of culture and lifestyle.”
? http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/charter.html
374 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
1999 Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET)
Te GCET was adopted in 1999 by the General Assembly of the UNWTO. It
was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1999. Alt-
hough not legally binding, the Code features a voluntary implementation
mechanism and is designed to guide key-players in tourism development.
Addressed to governments, the travel industry, communities and tourists
alike, it aims to help maximise the sector’s benefts while minimising its po-
tentially negative impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies
across the globe. Te Code’s ten point principles include tourism as a vehicle
for individual and collective fulfllment and a factor in sustainable develop-
ment. Tourism is seen as a benefcial activity for host countries and communi-
ties, and its contribution leads to mutual understanding and respect between
peoples and societies.
? http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism
? http://ethics.unwto.org/sites/all/fles/docpdf/unresolutiona-res-65–1482010.pdf
2001 Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism – 14
th
General Assembly,
Republic of Korea
Te UNWTO adopted the Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism in 2001 at
its 14th General Assembly. Tis declaration acknowledges the need for mutual
cooperation in tourism and promoting world peace through tourist exchanges.
It aims to help bridge inequalities and economic, social, cultural and techno-
logical gaps between nations. In Article 8, it recognises the vitalising efect of
the promotion of peace on that of world tourism, as a means of fostering and
practicing mutual understanding and solidarity.
? http://www.international.icomos.org/centre_documentation/tourism-seoul2005.pdf
Other organisations:
The Helsinki Final Act – Conference on Security and Co-operation (CSCE)
in Europe
Te Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), from which
resulted the Organisation of Security and Cooperation, was held in Helsinki
in 1975 with the aim to overcome the Cold War rivalry between the two su-
perpowers and their allies. Tirty-fve Heads of State discussed guaranteeing
conditions in which the citizens of the participating States can live in true and
lasting peace. Tey signed the Helsinki Final Act which played an important
role in defusing and later overcoming the Cold War confrontation between
East and West. Te 35 participating states divided the CSCE activities into
three broad topics of security: political and military aspects, economic and
environmental aspects and human aspects (Te Culture of Dialogue 2012).
It was based on the understanding that the economic and environmental di-
mension of the CSCE ofered a forum for linking economic and other security-
related issues. Terefore, “even what appear to be minor issues within the eco-
nomic dimension have sometimes had signifcant consequences for human
A Synopsis 375
security. For instance, the rather prosaic- sounding commitment to promote
tourism nourished discussions on freedom of movement. It thus referred to
commitments in the feld of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” (ibid.).
Beside the economic aspect, it was the human dimension where in particular
the increase of human contacts was the central theme in the East-West policy.
Tis resulted in the elaboration of the catalogue of measures aiming to deve-
lop inter-systemary and inter-human relations through concrete activities in
transnational mobility issues, such as decreasing administrative barriers (visa,
etc.), improvement of the tourism ofer and information about travel possibili-
ties and destinations (Ropers 1986, 45f). In the aftermath of Helsinki, most of
the tourism-related activities were said to be inspired by the Final Act, while
further agreements of various institutions between West and East were con-
cluded (sports, scientifc institutions, cities, etc.). Travel facilitation improved
when some countries agreed to lift their visa requirements. For example, Aus-
tria and Hungary allowed travel between the two countries, as did Bulgaria
and Turkey in 1979 (ibid. 46). In both cases, this visa-free travel contributed
immediately to a signifcant increase in tourism fows between the countries,
with an increase of 50 percent of Austrians travelling to Hungary and 40 per-
cent increase of Hungarians going to Austria.
Despite several challenges that followed and had immediate efect on the
further development of tourism between West and East and thus on furthe-
ring the East-West-relations, the CSCE/OSCE has always been conscious of
tourism as a tool in easing tensions between the two blocs.
? http://www.osce.org/mc/58376
? http://www.osce.org/mc/39501?download=true
International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT)
Te International Institute For Peace Trough was established in 1986 by Lou-
is D’Amore (see D’Amore this volume). It is a non-proft organisation dedica-
ted to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to inter-
national understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment,
the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to bring
about a peaceful and sustainable world.
? http://www.iipt.org/index.html
Te IIPT held several meetings and summits, some of which resulted in decla-
rations, such as the following:
Amman Declaration (2000)
Tis declaration identifed peace as the prerequisite for tourism and travel in-
dustries, including all forms of human growth and development. Te decla-
ration supports the principle that the tourism industry should be utilized for
the promotion of peace dialogue and creating equity and reducing disparities
around the world. Te Declaration has been incorporated as an ofcial U.N.
document.
? http://www.iipt.org/globalsummit/ammandeclaration.html
376 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Thessaloniki Declaration (2001)
Recommendation was made to promote Peace and Cultural Studies in
children’s education of all ages and to encourage learning of languages, cultu-
res and histories of neighbouring countries. Te elements of Peace and Friend-
ship were also to be incorporated in the tourism curriculum.
? http://www.iipt.org/globalsummit/thessalonikideclaration.html
Tanzania Action Plan (2003)
Te Tanzania Action Plan was set up in 2003 at the 2nd IIPT African Confe-
rence on Peace through Tourism and focuses on the question as to how Afri-
can Community Tourism can function as a “Gateway to Poverty Reduction”.
Te Action Agenda refers to the following potentials relevant to thi aim:
Global Awareness, Sustainable Tourism Development, Tourism Contributi-
on to Community Empowerment, Development and Poverty Reduction, In-
formation Technology and Communication, Healing the Wounds of Confict,
Education, Youth Agenda, Community Tourism Network and Tourism Phil-
anthropy and Volunteerism.
? http://www.iipt.org/conference/africanconference2003/TanzaniaActionPlan.pdf
Lusaka Declaration: A 21
st
Century Vision for African Tourism (2005)
Tis declaration was aimed at the initiation of Great Fall peace parks in each
country in the three great waterfalls areas; Iguacu waterfalls (Argentina and
Brazil), Niagara waterfalls (Canada and the US) and Victoria waterfalls (Zam-
bia and Zimbabwe) as a part of the International Peace Parks initiatives.
? http://www.iipt.org/conference/africaconf2005/LusakaDeclaration.pdf
Lusaka Youth Declaration (2005)
Based on the idea that the youth should be involved and integrated in the Tou-
rism Development Programme, this declaration defnes seven specifc goals
that must be fulflled in this context. In addition the declaration outlines that
further work has to focus on Economic Empowerment, Education and Trai-
ning, Governance and Participation and Social Transformation in order to
reach the goal of a “peaceful and prosperous Africa”.
? http://www.iipt.org/conference/africaconf2005/AfricanYouthForumDeclaration.pdf
ICPTR – International Centre for Peace Through Tourism Research
Te ICPTR was founded in 2008 by Omar Moufakkir. Its overall objective is
to conduct academic research in the feld of tourism and peace and promote
analysis and initiatives that support peace through tourism by means of re-
search, results dissemination and the sharing of knowledge with the academic
community, government, NGOs, and the tourism and hospitality private sec-
tors, and related tourism stakeholders. Te Centre also edits an online pub-
lication, Te Journal of Tourism and Peace Research, that aims to provide a
peer-reviewed forum for the study and discussion of tourism and peace issues
in tourism and tourism-related areas of leisure, recreation and hospitality stu-
dies.
A Synopsis 377
? http://www.icptr.com/index.php/about/
? http://www.icptr.com/index.php/2008/07/journal-of-tourism-and-peace-research/
Servas International
In 1949 the American Bob Luitweiler founded an international, non-govern-
mental peace association that consists of hosts and travellers worldwide. Tis
worldwide system aims to build mutual understanding, tolerance and world
peace through quality contacts that take place between the hosts and guests.
Servas is presented and supported by volunteers in more than 160 countries. It
has consulting status in the UN Economic and Social Council.
? http://www.servas.de/cms/index.php?getlang=en&menuid=1&reporeid=
Tourism For Peace
Tourism For Peace was founded by Gail Lash, who promotes the teaching of
peace through travellers and their hosts. Te NGO promotes methods to-
wards achieving peace, such as community based tourism, peaceful environ-
ments, diversity, human rights and wellbeing, and sustainable development.
? http://www.tourismforpeace.org/id34.html
EQUATIONS – Equitable Tourism Options
Te organisation EQUATIONS analyses the impacts of tourism on the so-
cial, cultural, economic and environmental level of a local host community.
EQUATIONS carries out research on the positive and negative efects trig-
gered by tourism, facilitates several events dealing with the establishment of
tourism that is “non-exploitative, equitable and sustainable” and functions as
a platform for international networking of experts, grassroots organisations,
activists and local communities. Te overall aim of EQUATIONS is to support
tourism planning that is “equitable, people-centred and just”.
? http://www.equitabletourism.org/
References
The Culture of Dialogue. 2012. “The OSCE Acquis
30 Years after Helsinki“, CORE- Centre for OSCE
Research, page 26, URL: www.osce.org/docu-
ments/16108
Ropers, Norbert. 1986. Tourismus zwischen West
und Ost: Ein Beitrag zum Frieden. Frankfurt/Main
(u.a.): Campus-Verlag.
Personal interview with Peter Shackleford, UNWTO,
September 2013.
Editors
Cordula Wohlmuther completed her studies at the University of Vienna.
During her Ph.D. studies, she worked for the Hannah-Arendt Institute on Re-
search of Totalitarian Regimes at the Technical University in Dresden, Ger-
many and for the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute on Post-war Research in Vien-
na/Graz, Austria. On behalf of these two institutes she carried out research in
the archives of Moscow, Russian Federation on ‘sentenced’ German and Aus-
trian prisoners of war in Soviet concentration camps during and after World
War II. In 2000, she was seconded by the Austrian Foreign Ministry to the Or-
ganisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and worked for six
years in the OSCE Project Coordinator’s ofce in Kyiv, Ukraine. Afterwards,
she joined the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid, Spain as
the Deputy Regional Director for Europe. In 2012, she requested special leave
from her position in order to coordinate the project “Tourism and Peace”, an
Initiative of the UNWTO and the University of Klagenfurt, Austria and its
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education.
Werner Wintersteiner is a trained teacher who holds an MA in German
and French Studies from Vienna University and a Ph.D. in Education from
the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, where he is the Founding Director of
the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education. His main research inter-
ests are the development of a complex transdisciplinary peace research with
a strong focus on cultural dimensions, including post-colonial approaches, as
well as the development of a comprehensive peace education, linking civic ed-
ucation, confict resolution, and a culture of remembrance. His main research
felds are peace education and global citizenship education, peace movements,
culture and peace, globalisation, post-colonialism, transculturality and litera-
ture (education). He is director of the University Master Programme (further
education) Global Citizenship Education. He serves on the Peace Education
Commission of IPRA (International Peace Research Association) and on the
editorial board of the Journal of Peace Education. He is author of around 300
articles in journals and chapters in books and has authored and (co-)edited
more than 30 books, including monographs on peace education and culture,
globalisation and education.
Contributors
Rina M. Alluri is a Programme Ofcer in the Business and Peace programme
at Swisspeace in Bern and a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the Uni-
versity of Basel, Switzerland. She is interested in academic and practical ex-
amples of corporate engagement in peace-building and has been working on
cases regarding Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Myanmar. Her Ph.D. focuses on the
inter-linkages between politics, economy and confict in Sri Lanka. Prior to
joining Swisspeace, she worked with Fahamu: Networks for Social Justice in
Oxford, UK and Durban, South Africa and with the Liu Institute for Global
Issues in Vancouver, Canada. She holds a BA from the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and an MA from the Institute of Social Stud-
ies in Te Hague, Netherlands.
Louis D’Amore is the Founder and President of the International Institute for
Peace through Tourism (IIPT). He has been instrumental in promoting the
travel and tourism industry as the world’s frst “Global Peace Industry” since
the founding of IIPT in 1986. At the frst IIPT Global Conference in Vancouver
in 1988, he frst introduced the concept of Sustainable Tourism. He also intro-
duced a new paradigm of “Higher Purpose of Tourism” that he has since pro-
moted in IIPT Conferences throughout the world. In 1992, following the U.N.
Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Summit), he developed
the world’s frst Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism for the
Canadian tourism industry. He also conducted the world’s frst international
study on Codes of Conduct and Best Practices in Tourism and Environment
for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). As a consultant
prior to founding IIPT, he conducted the world’s frst comprehensive study on
the future of tourism in 1976. Additionally, he worked as a futurist and con-
sultant for ten years to the Canadian tourism industry during which time he
pioneered socially and environmentally responsible tourism in Canada.
Christian Baumgartner has been the Secretary General of Naturefriends In-
ternational since 2005. In 1995, he founded ‘respect‘ – Institute for Integrative
Tourism and Development. In addition to his work as lecturer for Sustainable
Tourism in Vienna, Krems (A) and China, he is also a member of the Tour-
ism Sustainability Group within the EU Commission, DG enterprise and a
member of several national and international tourism-related advisory boards.
Christian Baumgartner specialises in development, implementation and mon-
itoring of sustainable tourism and sustainable regional development. He also
guided several concrete tourism development projects in Europe and south-
east Asia.
380
Geert Bourgeois Following a career at all the echelons of the Flemish party
Volksunie, Geert Bourgeois became a Representative in the federal Chamber
of Representatives of Belgium in 1995. He focused mainly on legal matters and
Community Afairs. After the breakup of the Volksunie, Geert Bourgeois and
his supporters founded the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA- New-Flemish
Alliance) in 2001, of which he was the frst Chairman until 2004. From 2004
to 2008, Geert Bourgeois was the Flemish Minister for Administrative Afairs,
Foreign Policy, Tourism and Media. On 11 July 2009, he became Flemish Vice
Minister-President and Minister for Administrative Afairs, Local and Pro-
vincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse Rand (Flem-
ish Periphery of Brussels).
Richard Butler is Emeritus Professor of Tourism at the University of Strath-
clyde, Glasgow. He is a geographer, with degrees from Nottingham (BA) and
Glasgow (Ph.D.) Universities. He taught for thirty years at the University of
Western Ontario in London, Canada, and then at the University of Surrey, UK,
where he was Deputy Head (Research) at the School of Management. He has
published sixteen books on tourism, with the most recent being Tourism and
War (2013), jointly edited with Dr. Wantanee Suntikul. He has authored over
a hundred journal articles and chapters in books. His main areas of research
are in tourism destination development, tourism in remote areas and sustain-
ability of tourism. He was a Founding Member and former President of the
International Academy for the Study of Tourism and a past president of the
Canadian Association for Leisure Studies, and is on the editorial board of sev-
eral tourism journals.
Emmanuel J. Bwasiri works at the Antiquities Division’s research unit. He
has a BA in Archaeology & Geography – Environmental Impact Assessment
from the University of Dar es Salaam, and an MA in Rock Art and Heritage
Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Cur-
rently, the author is in his fnal year as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of
the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Te author is also a member of ASAPA, IC-
CROM, ICOMOS and WAC and is accredited in the feld of Cultural Heritage
Management, Archaeology, Cultural Tourism, Rock Art Studies and Geog-
raphy – Environmental Impact Assessment. Emmanuel Bwasiri has been in-
volved in various researches in South Africa and Tanzania. He has presented
papers and attended conferences related to cultural heritage management in
Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, Australia and China. He has published two
independent papers in international journals.
Peter van den Dungen was a Lecturer in Peace Studies at the University of
Bradford (1976–2000), and has been a Visiting Lecturer since 2000. In 1992,
he initiated and co-organised the frst international conference of Peace and
Anti-war museums. Since then he has been the General Coordinator of the
International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), with a small secretariat
in Te Hague; the 8th conference will be held in South Korea in 2014. He is
Contributors 381
also a peace historian; among his publications are Peace Movements and Po-
litical Cultures (ed., with Charles Chatfeld, 1988); From Erasmus to Tolstoy:
Te Peace Literature of Four Centuries (ed., 1990). Moreover, he is a Contribu-
tor and Senior Consulting Editor of the Oxford International Encyclopedia
of Peace (2010). Many publications on Peace museums, including the frst di-
rectories of Peace Museums Worldwide, were published by the UN in Geneva
(1995, 2nd ed. 1998).
Susanne Fischer is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Bundeswehr
University Munich, Germany (an institution of the German Armed Forces)
and coordinates a BMBF-funded research project on “Security in the Public
Sphere”. Between 2005 and 2010, Susanne Fischer worked at the Peace Re-
search Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). In her Ph.D. she explored the role of tour-
ism for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian confict. Against this background, her
research interests centre around two areas: the role of private actors in zones
of confict from a global governance perspective and the role of securitisation
dynamics and the acceptance of – or protest against – security measures in
the public sphere after 9/11.
Harald A. Friedl is a lawyer and philosopher who has worked for many years
as a free-lance journalist and tour guide all around the world. Since the late
1990s, after research activities on constitutional aspects of media economy, he
focused his research on the connections between tourism, sustainability and
applied ethics. He used the example of ethno-tourism among Touareg nomads
in the Sahara, where he worked for several years. In 2003, he became a lecturer
for tourism ethics, sustainability, tourism sociology and change management
for the study programme Health Management in Tourism in Bad Gleichen-
berg, Department of Management, at the FH JOANNEUM – University of Ap-
plied Sciences, Austria. Since 2008, he has been a guest professor for Systemic
Confict Management at the Master Programme Sustainable Tourism Man-
agement at the University of Applied Sciences for Sustainability in Eberswalde,
Germany. He is also a trainer for international military peace troops in inter-
cultural communication and confict prevention in the Austrian Army.
Nicole Häusler has been an active adviser for sustainable tourism in Europe,
Asia and Latin America for more than fourteen years. She focuses on the
felds of Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism, Sustainable Destination
Management and tourism and poverty reduction. She has been involved in
the co-development of the responsible tourism policy in Myanmar and began
in January 2014 to work as an advisor on sustainable tourism development
for the Myanmar Tourism Federation in cooperation with the German Soci-
ety for International Cooperation/ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Rami K. Isaac did his undergraduate studies in Te Netherlands, graduate
studies in the U.K. and earned his Ph.D. from University of Groningen in Spa-
382
tial Sciences in Te Netherlands. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in tourism,
teaching at the undergraduate as well as postgraduate levels at the Academy
for Tourism at the NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in Te Neth-
erlands. He was the external assessor of Bethlehem TEMPUS (2004–2006)
curriculum development project in Palestine in the feld of pilgrimage, tour-
ism and cultural industries. His research interests are in the area of tourism
development and management, cultural heritage and political aspects of tour-
ism.
Stanislav Ivanov is an Associate Professor and Vice Rector for Academic Af-
fairs and Research at International University College in Dobrich, Bulgaria. He
holds a Ph.D. in tourism economics from the University of Economics, Varna.
Dr. Ivanov is the Editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Tourism Research
and serves on the Editorial boards of twenty other journals. His research in-
terests include special interest in tourism, destination marketing, tourism and
economic growth, and political issues in tourism. His publications have ap-
peared in various academic journals – Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism
Management, Tourism Economics, Tourism Today, Tourism, Journal of Eco-
nomic Studies, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, South-Eastern
Europe Journal of Economics.
Ulrike Joras is a Senior Programme Ofcer at International Alert for the
area of Economy and Peacebuilding. Prior to joining International Alert, she
worked at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and for several NGOs
and academic institutions, including the University of Munich, the Center for
Development Research in Bonn, Germany, and Swisspeace. Dr. Joras’ main
area of expertise is in the role of private companies in violent conficts and
peacebuilding, as well as corporate social responsibility. She has conducted
extensive feld research, particularly in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala, and
has published on various aspects related to corporate engagement in peace. Dr.
Joras holds an MA and a Ph.D., both from the University of Aachen, Germany.
Ian Kelly is a former geographer who switched to tourism education in 1990.
He directed tourism courses at Monash and Swinburne Universities in Aus-
tralia before retiring in 2000. He maintained involvement with publishing,
teaching and research in an adjunct capacity with the University of South
Australia until July 2009. He continues to compile the annual Australian Re-
gional Tourism Handbook for the Australian Regional Tourism Network. His
research and writings on Peace through Tourism date from 1998, and he was
appointed Coordinator of the IIPT Educators Network in 2005.
Simon Kiarie is Chief Tourism Ofcer at the Department of Tourism, Minis-
try of East African Community Afairs, Commerce and Tourism, Kenya. His
roles at the Department include formulation and implementation of tourism
policies and legislation and development of tourism strategies and research.
He earned his MSc in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey,
Contributors 383
Guildford on a British Chevening Scholarship and holds a BSc in Tourism
from Moi University, Kenya. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Tourism Man-
agement at the Kenyatta University, Kenya. Mr. Kiarie was the Head of Re-
search and Statistics Unit at the Department of Tourism, Kenya from 2008 to
2012. During this period, he also served as a technical assistant and advisor to
the Minister for Tourism. He had a one-year stint at the Kenya Institute for
Public Policy Research and Analysis in 2007. He has worked extensively with
local communities at the Kenya Coast. His research interests include e-tour-
ism, digital divide, tourism policy, tourism demand modelling and sustainable
tourism.
Kipkorir Lagat is the Director of Tourism and Head of Department of Tour-
ism at the Ministry of East African Community Afairs, Commerce and Tour-
ism, Kenya. From 2005 to 2008, he was in charge of the Wildlife Conservation
and Management Desk in the former Ministry of Tourism and Wildife. He
holds an MSc in International Marketing from the University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow, Scotland, an MBA and Bachelors of Commerce from the Univer-
sity of Nairobi, Kenya. He has done postgraduate training in Environmental
Management at Moi University, Kenya and the University of Strathclyde. Prior
to joining the Civil Service in 2003, he was a Lecturer in Business Manage-
ment and Marketing, Technology and Management Studies Department (now
School of Business and Economics), Moi University, Kenya. He has extensive
experience in policy development, analysis and implementation, with particu-
lar focus on tourism and wildlife conservation and management, mainly in
Kenya and within the East African Community. He has worked extensively on
peace and confict resolution in tourism and wildlife conservation and man-
agement practice.
Martina Leicher is the managing director of COMPASS GmbH in Cologne,
an international consulting and training company in the feld of tourism,
which she founded in 2005, together with Karsten Palme. She studied geog-
raphy, ethnology and urban planning at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn.
She holds a German ‘Diplom’ in geography (comparable to a masters degree).
Since 1992, she has worked as a university lecturer at the CBS / Cologne Busi-
ness School, and ISM / International School of Management in the feld of
tourism management education. From 1999 until 2007 she was Head of Tour-
ism Department at CBS Cologne Business School and since 2007 she has been
Head of Tourism Consulting here. Her main focus is in the feld of leisure and
tourism, particularly on the topics of sustainable destination development,
empirical social research, tourism and peace, as well as MICE market devel-
opment and tourism marketing. She has extensive national and international
(esp. Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Kazakhstan) experience as a consultant
to universities, destinations and companies.
Edward W. Lollis was a career U.S. Foreign Service Ofcer specialising in
Africa, international energy policy, and development economics. He studied
384
at Yale University, Princeton University, the University of Wisconsin, Madi-
son and the University of Melbourne in Australia. He worked in Canada, the
Dominican Republic, England, France, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Rwanda, and the
USA. After retiring from the Department of State, he became an Executive
Secretary of the U.S. Committee for the Bicentennial of the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and then worked as a geographic analyst.
Since 2001, he has written and lectured about peace monuments and muse-
ums for the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace, the Peace and Justice
Studies Association, the International Network of Museums for Peace, and
Rotary International. He maintains an on-line database of Peace Monuments
around the World at www.peacepartnersintl.net and published in 2013 a book
on “Monumental Beauty: Peace Monuments and Museums around the World“.
Omar Moufakkir completed his primary and secondary education in Casa-
blanca, Morocco, and continued his undergraduate studies in France (B.A.,
University Paris Xiii Villetaneuse). He got a degree in English Literature
and Foreign Civilisations – Licence ès Lettres, Langues, Littérature et Civi-
lisations Etrangères (Specialité: Anglais). He did his graduate studies in the
Netherlands, M.A. World, Leisure and Recreation Association (WLRA), In-
ternational Center of Excellence (WICE), and got an M.A in International
Leisure and Tourism Studies, University of North London/CHN. He got his
Ph.D. in the US (Michigan State University, at Michigan- Park, in Recreation
and Tourism Resources), taught leisure courses at Michigan State University,
and worked as a researcher and research project manager at the University’s
TTRRC – Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center. He joined La Ro-
chelle Business School of Tourism in France as Director of the Tourism Man-
agement Institute and later on the Saxonian University of Applied Sciences
and its Hospitality Business School in the Netherlands. He is a member of the
Tourism4Peace Forum and the founding editor of Te Journal of Tourism and
Peace Research.
Natalia Naranjo Ramos is a Tourism and Development Advisor, professional
in Finance, Government and International Relations at Externado Colombian
University. She got her Masters in Environmental Intervention: Person, Soci-
ety and Administration at Barcelona University. Her professional experience
includes: community-based projects in tourism, applied research, strategic as-
sessment in tourism and project development. Her work experience includes
working at the private and public sector, international cooperation and local
development.
Rosalind Newlands is the past president of the World Federation of Tourist
Guide Associations. Rosalind Newlands OBE BSc qualifed as a Blue Badge
Scottish Tourist Guide in 1983. She served on the Board of the Scottish Tourist
Guides Association (STGA) and as STGA Training Manager from 1987–2007.
She was STGA Course Director for the University of Edinburgh from 1989 to
2012 and developed the current Scottish Tourist Guide Training Course. She
Contributors 385
was a member of the Working Party which advised on the setting up of the
Institute of Tourist Guiding and was a UK Expert for EN 15565: Training and
Qualifcation of Tourist Guides in Europe. Rosalind was elected to the World
Federation of Tourist Guide Associations Executive Board in 2005 and served
as President from 2007 to 2013. She has worked as a trainer and consultant to
the tourism industry in Scotland and worldwide since 1989. She is a Member
of the UNWTO Silk Road Task Force. She was awarded the OBE (Ofcer of
the Order of the British Empire) for Services to Tourism in 2010.
Peter Njiraini is a Policy Analyst at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Re-
search and Analysis (KIPPRA). Tis is a public policy research institute that
carries out independent public and private policy analysis for both the public
sector and private sectors. As a policy analyst, he is charged with responsibil-
ity of analysing public policy that impacts or infuences tourism development.
He is currently a PhD Student at Kenyatta University, Kenya where he is pur-
suing a doctorate degree in Applied Economics. He holds an MA (Econom-
ics) and BA (Economics) from the University of Nairobi. Previously he worked
at the Ministry of East African Community Afairs, Commerce and Tourism,
Kenya as an Economist. Between 2008 and 2011, he was working as a technical
advisor to the Minister for Tourism. His research interests are on small scale
tourism enterprises development, environmental sustainability, and public f-
nance management. He is currently studying the implications of eco-tourism
development and extractive industry development in Kenya; study on search
for new tourism source markets and modelling of Kenya’s tourism demand.
Karsten Palme is the managing director of the COMPASS GmbH in Co-
logne, an international consulting and training company in the feld of tour-
ism, which he founded in 2005 together with Martina Leicher. He studied Ge-
ography of Economics and International Cooperation at RWTH Aachen and
holds a German M.A. in Economic Geography. Since 1997, he has worked in
international consulting projects regarding destination management, destina-
tion marketing and regional development in Germany, Eastern Europe, Af-
rica and Central Asia. As lecturer at several universities of applied sciences he
connects research, consulting and academic education. His main focus in the
feld of tourism research and consulting is the development of emerging des-
tinations, tourism and peace, cross-border destination management, capacity
building and strategic marketing.
Marjeta Schwarz studied Communication Studies in Vienna (BA) and Ap-
plied Cultural Studies in Klagenfurt, Austria (MA). In the course of her stud-
ies she had several stays abroad in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Wales. She is
currently working as a lecturer at the department of Culture, Literature and
Music Sciences at the University of Klagenfurt. Her focus of interest lies in
concepts of cultural diference, culture of remembrance and politics of re-
membering, multilingualism and the Alps-Adriatic Region.
386
Gordon Sillence has been working in the feld of sustainable development for
over 30 years, with a strong focus on personal well-being, biodiversity con-
servation and tourism sector development. He has worked for the European
Commission’s DG Enterprise, preparing the EU Agenda 21 for the European
Tourism Sector (2002) and development of the EU Handbook on Learning Ar-
eas for the Tourism Industry (2006), which has been updated as the Guide
to Setting up a Tourism Knowledge and Innovation Community (2012). He
is currently director of the European Environment Agency’s UN type II Des-
tiNet sustainable tourism ICT Partnership portal and vice-president of the
ECOTRANS Network. He has developed post-graduate course material and
lectured at Glamorgan University, Kopernicus University and the Euracademy.
At the regional level he is the coordinator of the Janela Aberta 21 – Education
for Sustainable Development Centre in Portugal, having previously worked as
WWF Coordinator for the Southern Portugal Green Belt Lynx Conservation
Project. At the local level, Gordon also runs the Inner Peace Forest Retreat in
Southern Portugal, and has been working on the London 2012 Olympic Truce
as part of his overall contribution to inner peace and global peace.
Wantanee Suntikul earned her Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Tourism Stud-
ies from the University of Surrey, UK. She taught at the Institute for Tourism
Studies, Macao and is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Hong
Kong Polytechnic University. Her core research interest and expertise are in
the impact of tourism on cultural tourism destinations and the political and
social aspects of tourism development. Particular focuses include local peo-
ple’s perceptions and expectations of tourism development, the potential of
tourism for poverty alleviation, and the role of tourism development in politi-
cal and economic transition. Geographically, her current and recent research
and writing have been on South and Southeast Asia. She has been conduct-
ing research on Vietnam, Laos, Tailand and Bhutan extensively in the past
few years. Wantanee has co-edited two books with Prof. Richard Butler titled
Tourism and Political Change and Tourism and War.
Pranil Kumar Upadhayaya holds a Ph.D. in Tourism, Confict and Peace in
Nepal from the Department of Development Studies, Kathmandu University
conducted in association with the Swiss National Centre of Competence in
Research (NCCR) North-South. He has acquired a diploma in Tourism Hu-
man Resource Development from Singapore Hotel Association Training and
Education Centre, Singapore and his Masters in Tourism Management from
Kathmandu Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (Purbanchal University),
Nepal. He was recently engaged as a project coordinator in a peace tourism
project titled “Meeting the challenges of Peace-building in Tourism in Pokha-
ra: Strengthening the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Ethical Busi-
ness Operation” which was executed in Pokhara (Kaski) by Pokhara Tourism
Council in association with NCCR North-South. Additionally, he works with
nearly 24 various professional organisations which are directly and indirectly
associated with tourism in Pokhara. He has published a number of research
Contributors 387
based tourism related articles in national and international journals. His fur-
ther research interests include: tourism and peace, sustainable tourism, eco
tourism, alternative tourism and tourism and livelihoods.
Dawid De Villiers was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and was the Chairman of the World
Committee on Ethics in Tourism and Special Advisor to the UNWTO Sec-
retary-General on ethical matters. He also chaired for many years the UN-
WTO’s World Tourism Network on Child Protection (formerly the Task Force
for the protection of Children through Tourism). Before joining UNWTO, Dr.
De Villiers was South Africa’s Minister of the Environment and Tourism in
the Government of National Unity under President Nelson Mandela. He has
also served as South Africa’s Ambassador to London and subsequently the
country’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism. He was a member of the
Cabinet for more than 12 years and held various Cabinet portfolios, including:
Budget and Welfare, Administration and Privatisation, Mineral and Energy
Afairs, Economic Co-ordination and Environmental Afairs and Tourism. Dr.
de Villiers played a key role in the negotiations that facilitated South Africa’s
transition to Democracy.
Mira Wagner studied Applied Cultural Studies at the University of Klagen-
furt in Austria and wrote her Masters Tesis on the potential of using tourism
as a tool for peace-building and reconciliation fostering eforts in Northern
Ireland in the case of Derry-Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013. She is cur-
rently working at the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at the
University of Klagenfurt where she joins the project “Tourism and Peace” as a
project collaborator.
Craig Webster is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the
University of Nicosia in Cyprus. He studied Government and German Litera-
ture at St. Lawrence University in New York State. He received an MA and
Ph.D. in Political Science from Binghamton University in New York State and
an MBA Intercollege, Cyprus. His research interests include human rights,
the political economy of tourism, public opinion analysis, and comparative
foreign policy. Dr. Webster is the Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Today and a Co-
Editor of the Cyprus Review. He has published in many peer-reviewed jour-
nals internationally.
Valerie Woop studied Applied Cultural Studies (BA) at the University of Kla-
genfurt. She is doing her Masters in the feld of Media, Communication and
Culture, and completing the Bachelor of Business Administration. From 2012
to 2013, she worked at the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at
the University of Klagenfurt as a Project Collaborator for the Project “Tour-
ism and Peace”, focusing on the Alps-Adriatic Region and the role of Tourism
projects for peace-building eforts.
doc_864926354.pdf
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education of the Klagenfurt University/Austria in cooperation with World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
International
Handbook on
Tourism
and Peace
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER
(Eds.)
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education
of the Klagenfurt University/Austria in cooperation with
the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
DRAVA
Disclaimer: Te opinions contained in this publication are exclusively those of the authors
and do not necessarily refect the point of view of the editors or the UNWTO. Te designations
employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not represent any opinions
whatsoever on the part of the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education of Klagenfurt Uni-
versity or the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization concerning the legal status of any
country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers
or boundaries.
Tis book is the Yearbook Culture of Peace 2013, edited by the Centre of Peace Research and
Peace Education of the Klagenfurt University/Austria
drava verlag · založba drava gmbh
9020 Klagenfurt/Celovec, Austria
www.drava.at
© Copyright 2014 by Drava Verlag/Založba Drava
Cover design by Walter Oberhauser, cover art by Sim Jun Han
Interior design and printing by Drava Print GmbH
isbn 978-3-85435-713-1
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER
(Eds. )
International
Handbook on
Tourism and Peace
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education
of the Klagenfurt University/Austria
in cooperation with World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
DRAVA
Printed with the support of:
Forschungsrat of Klagenfurt University
with sponsoring provided by the Carinthian Federal State Government
Swedish Tourism Innovation Centre
Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Afairs
Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture
TPA-Horwath Group, Tax Advisory and Auditing Services
Kärntner Universitätsbund
Tis book is published within the framework of the Project “Tourism and Peace”, an Initiative
of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Klagenfurt University, Austria and its
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education. Te project is supported by the Austrian Fede-
ral Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth, UNWTO and the Kärntner Sparkasse.
Centre for
Peace Research
and Peace Education
Content
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WINTERSTEINER
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Part I
Tourism, Ethics and Peace
WERNER WINTERSTEINER, CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
Peace Sensitive Tourism:
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
PETER VAN DEN DUNGEN
Peace Tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
DAWID DE VILLIERS
Cornerstones for a Better World: Peace, Tourism and Sustainable
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Part II
Tourism, Development and Peace-building
RAMI ISAAC
Responsible Tourism and Development in the Context of Peace-Building . . . . . 87
RINA M. ALLURI, MARTINA LEI CHER, KARSTEN PALME, ULRIKE JORAS
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism:
Empirical Refections from Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
SUSANNE FISCHER
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
NATALIA NARANJO RAMOS
Communitarian Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region:
An Opportunity for Peace-Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
EMMANUEL J. BWASIRI
Te Confict Among Local People and Hunting Tourism Companies in
Northern Tanzania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Part III
Tourism, Democracy and Confict Resolution
CRAI G WEBSTER, STANISLAV H. I VANOV
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRISTIAN BAUMGARTNER
Myanmar on its Way to Responsible Tourism Management:
Te Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
KIPKORIR LAGAT, SIMON W. KIARIE, PETER NJIRAINI
Tourism and Peace: Te Role of Election Period Tourism Operating
Procedures in Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
WANTANEE SUNTIKUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
War and Peace – and Tourism in Southeast Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
PRANIL KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
Peace Sensitivity in Tourism Codes of Conduct at Destinations in Confict:
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
ROSALIND NEWLANDS
Te Role of the Tourist Guide in Promotion of Dialogue
between Civilisations: South Caucasus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
GORDON SILLENCE
Mainstreaming Sustainability through Peace-Building at
Large-Scale Tourism Events – Te Case of the Olympic Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Part IV
Culture, Heritage and Education
OMAR MOUFAKKIR, IAN KELLY
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
EDWARD W. LOLLIS
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
GEERT BOURGEOIS
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018:
Commemorating the Past and Inspiring the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WINTERSTEINER, MIRA WAGNER
Connected by the Trails that used to Divide Us:
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
HARALD A. FRIEDL
“I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy!”
Systemic Confict Training in Tourism Education as a Paradigmatic
Approach to Stimulating Peace Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
LOUIS D’AMORE
Peace through Tourism:
An Historical and Future Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Annex
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER
Tourism and Peace in International and
Non-governmental Organisations: A Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Foreword
With over one billion tourists travelling the world every year, tourism has be-
come a worldwide social and cultural phenomenon that engages people of all
nations as both hosts and guests. Te fundamental experience of tourism –
visiting a new place and meeting its people and culture – is a transformative
aspect that defnes tourism’s role as an agent of peace.
Never before have people travelled so widely, nor encountered such a wide
variety of cultures. Tese connections spur dialogue and exchange, break
down cultural barriers and promote the values of tolerance, mutual under-
standing and respect. In a world constantly struggling for harmonious co-
existence, these values espoused by tourism are integral to building a more
peaceful future. Indeed, peace is the cornerstone of travel and tourism, and
essential to social growth and development. It is against this backdrop that
tourism has been hailed as the frst “Global Peace Industry”.
Yet in spite of tourism’s positive global impact, its full potential as an inst-
rument for peace remains to be realised. I trust that this International Hand-
book on Tourism and Peace will help enhance our understanding of the intrin-
sic relationship between the tourism sector and global peace-building eforts.
Published within the framework of the project “Tourism and Peace”, an in-
itiative by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the University of Kla-
genfurt in Austria, this book ofers a range of perspectives from leading spe-
cialists from all over the world, covering topics from sustainable development
and confict resolution to ecotourism and heritage preservation.
Tese pages provide invaluable insights on the vital role tourism plays in
paving the way towards a more peaceful planet and open new possibilities to
foster tourism as an instrument of peace, and I would like to extend our deep
appreciation for all those who contributed their experience and knowledge to
this project.
In today’s increasingly diverse and globalised world, the message of peace
through tourism has never borne more signifcance. By all coming together,
each as Ambassadors of tourism and peace, we will continue to come closer to
realising our shared vision of a better world.
Taleb Rifai
Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Prologue
Today, in a world of intense changes, peace requires ever more active invest-
ments, enlightened leadership, powerful educational values and a progressi-
ve media world. Each and every one of these are relevant to the mission of
UNESCO. Te Organisation’s longstanding commitments to the development
of education and sciences, the enrichment of cultural creativity, heritage and
cultural futures, including a vibrant and peace-oriented global media struc-
ture, can in fact be a meaningful contribution to world peace as active, fou-
rishing and sustainable.
It is in this spirit that the UNESCO Programme of Action for a Culture of
Peace and Non-Violence regularly rethinks strategies and operational moda-
lities. It aims to draw benefts from cultural diversity, respectful of human
rights, while providing individuals and societies with innovative ideas, skills
and tools for living together in harmony in a more and more interconnected
world. Tese strategies and modalities are tailored to the requirements of an
era of rapid social transformations marked by fuidity, complexity, uncertain-
ty, thus calling for new articulations between cultural diversity and universal
values. It is commonplace to say that lasting peace rests not only on economic
and political agreements but equally on a complex and fragile web of daily
practices embedded in local settings and the most ephemeral encounters that
individuals and communities creatively maintain out of the conviction that
they constitute the sustainable conditions for living together in dignity and
shared prosperity.
Analysing the global transformations generated by encounters between
peoples and continents at macro and micro-levels, provides not only a history
and a geography of intercultural dialogue through centuries, but also enriches
the debate on its future where intercultural understanding becomes more and
more necessary to build better knowledge on our rich, diverse, fragile and in-
terdependent humanity.
Relevant UNESCO programmes contribute to facilitate this journey where
culture becomes instrumental for facilitating intercultural encounters. In fact,
culture is about ways of being, knowing and relating to others; it is through
culture that we give meaning to our lives and develop a sense of who we are.
As a value-driven force, culture guarantees a more satisfactory intellectual,
emotional, moral and spiritual existence. Moreover, because culture is dyna-
mic and constantly changing through dialogue and interaction, it is a window
to new horizons, creating conditions of self-refexivity, conviviality, creative
adaptation and anticipation.
Let us take the example of cultural heritage in all its forms which is an in-
valuable record of human experiences and aspirations, and which continues
to nurture our everyday lives. Tanks to UNESCO World Heritage, for in-
stance, millions of tourists every year have the opportunity to visit, discover
and wonder in front of sites and places connecting them with the beauty of
Prologue 13
others’ history, culture and civilisation. It is also the occasion for encounters
with peoples from the visited places and for cultural interaction that may give
a chance for sharing one’s culture, while receiving from others the gift of an
immense treasure recording humanity’s collective intelligence and experience.
Some landmark examples, such as the reconstruction of the Mostar Bridge in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and its inscription in the World Heritage List in 2005,
show how heritage preservation instills tourism, which in turn becomes a ca-
talyser to reconciliation and peace in the region.
UNESCO Routes of Dialogue programme also highlights the importance
that travelling and tourism have in promoting meaningful intercultural en-
counters; for example, the Slave Route, where some painful pages of our his-
tory are revisited to reconcile our humanity with its past, namely through
places, sites and museums related to the slave trade and slavery or the Silk
Road, which is an invitation to discover the slow and patient process of driving
forces and movements leading to unexpected encounters and interactions of
peoples and civilisations of Eurasia.
However, given the economic weight of the tourism industry today, no great
evidence is needed to back up the statement that tourism can be both the best
friend and the worst enemy of development, understood not only in terms
of economic growth but also as a means of achieving a more satisfactory, in-
tellectual, emotional, moral, spiritual existence, social cohesion and peace
(UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, Article 2).
Terefore, specifc standards, rules and conditions should be met for tou-
rism to meaningfully impact on an efective intercultural dialogue, develop-
ment and peace. But regulations will do little to instill a new attitude in the
tourism industry as well as in a wider public which is travelling more and
more. Tis becomes even more urgent as today’s world, for many, is flled with
temporary attachments, ephemeral associations and pragmatic connectivity.
Tis is namely the world of the migrant, the tourist, the visitor, the traveller
and the outsider; it is the human face of globalisation. Under these conditions,
it is unrealistic, even dangerous, to demand cultural conformity from others
during situations of temporary association. Te capacity for conviviality is
measured by the willingness to build partially shared social worlds – of work,
politics, leisure and information – with people who may not share the same
cherished cultural assumptions. Tis is an elementary requirement for practi-
cal, daily cultural life.
To this end, relevant intercultural competences are needed to decipher the
diverse and complex cultural milieus. Actions enabling dialogue between tou-
rists and hosts could, inter alia, be carried out, namely among young people.
In this regard, refexive tourism can become an ideal means to evaluate more
accurately the modalities for achieving intercultural confdence through a res-
pectful tourism, free from the negative clichés of mass tourism and its adverse
efects, such as the greedy consumption of cultures without giving a chance to
the encounter of the ‘other’, preventing, thus, a true intercultural communica-
tion from taking place, mutual understanding emerging and a culture of peace
rising.
14
Te present Handbook on Tourism and Peace is another milestone that
enhances the overall discussion in this domain, by providing some relevant
insights on political, cultural, and socio-economic conditions to strategically
position tourism as a powerful tool for dialogue and peace. Te International
Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013–2022), adopted by the Uni-
ted Nations General Assembly, may be a timely framework initiating research
and policy design to further explore this challenging feld.
Katérina Stenou
Director, Intersectoral Platform for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence,
UNESCO
Acknowledgements
Tis International Handbook is the product of a continuing project on ‘Tou-
rism and Peace’ – a joint initiative of the World Tourism Organization (UN-
WTO) and the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at the Austri-
an University of Klagenfurt. Te aims of this project are to compile current
knowledge, and to provide for a better understanding of the relationship bet-
ween tourism and peace. Tis book is thus a contribution to the overall dis-
cussion, within the international, academic and public community, regarding
the impact – on a global society – of sustainable peace-building based on jus-
tice, respect and mutual understanding; it is also the presentation of tourism
as a hugely powerful tool for the international agenda.
In preparation for this project, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed
by the UNWTO and the University of Klagenfurt in April 2012, in Vienna,
Austria, under the umbrella of the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Minis-
try of Economy, Family and Youth. We should therefore particularly like to
thank the UNWTO Secretary-General, Dr Taleb Rifai, for his support for the
project and the book since 2009, when the idea for this book was frst develo-
ped in the UNWTO Headquarter, Madrid. We are also grateful to Peter Jan-
ech and Sandra Carvao of the UNWTO ofce, for their constant belief in, and
support for, this project.
We are very grateful to the Department of Tourism and Historic Buildings in
the Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth of Austria – in particular to its
Head, Elisabeth Udolf- Strobl, and her colleagues, Angelika Liedler-Janoschik
and Ingrid Wehrmann – who from the very beginning supported this project
and ensured that some initial funding got it of to a good start.
We also wish to thank the Dean of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Research
and Education, Professor Verena Winiwarter, who signed the Memorandum
on behalf of Klagenfurt University in April 2012. Tis ensured the project’s
embodiment within the various research approaches that the Faculty repre-
sents.
Te book would not have been possible without our contributors: people who-
se work we deeply admire. We are honoured that they have shared with us
their views, and their approaches to the topic of tourism and peace. We under-
stand that many more authors responded to the call for papers but were not
provided with the opportunity to share their experiences this time.
Tanks must also go to all the junior collaborators and volunteers in the Cen-
tre for Peace Research and Peace Education, who were involved in the making
of the book at various stages. In particular we wish to mention Melissa Brun-
ner, Mariana Montoya, Tina Philipps, Kamal Tapa, Jeanette Riedl, Montser-
rat Romero, Christina Vanek, Mira Wagner and Valerie Woop. With their dif-
16
ferent nationalities, backgrounds and cultures they contributed to the positive
spirit of the project. We also wish to mention our proofreader Kathy Warren
Wilson, who did a tremendous job in proofreading articles for the book.
We are grateful to the sponsors of this publication, in particular the Research
Council of the University of Klagenfurt, the local Austrian Government of
Carinthia, the Swedish Tourism Innovation Centre, the Austrian Ministry of
European and International Afairs, the Austrian Ministry of Education, Arts
and Culture, the company TPA Horwath and the Kärntner Universitätsbund.
For their continuous support and the guidance throughout the process, we
thank the Drava publishing house, in particular Peter Wieser and Walter
Oberhauser.
Finally, we each acknowledge our families – whose continued faith, patience
and support sustained our motivation throughout the process. Te process
has been both enjoyable and enriching, as indeed we hope the book will be for
our readers!
Cordula Wohlmuther and Werner Wintersteiner
CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging
Field of Action and Research
One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.
– Henry Miller
Tourism is a term waiting to be deconstructed.
– Chris Rojek and John Urry
‘Tourism and peace’ has become an emerging feld of action and research since
the 1980s; that is little more than a quarter of a century since this topic has
gained increased attention. It is a young, still underexplored and not even es-
tablished feld of research that will require continued eforts, which become
even more relevant when we understand that tourism is a continuously gro-
wing sector with enormous economic, environmental and socio-cultural im-
pacts.
Milestones
However, the issue ‘tourism and peace’ itself is not a new invention. Tourism,
from its very beginnings, has constantly been defned as a way of promoting
peace and mutual understanding. For instance, as early as 1925 at the opening
of the ‘International Congress of Ofcial Associations of Tourist Propaganda’
in Te Hague, Netherlands, Professor Wim Treub (as the Dutch host) stressed
the need for “encouraging travel so that diferent peoples could understand
and become better acquainted with each other, thus collaborating to the
peace so earnestly desired among peoples, who had just survived a prolonged
and deadly war”. (Personal interview by authors) In 1929 the British Travel
and Holidays Association declared ‘Travel for Peace’ as the theme for its inau-
gural meeting (Honey, 2008, 1).
Te end of World War II saw the start of various international youth ex-
change programmes – for example, between France and Germany (see Win-
tersteiner/ Wohlmuther in this volume). Tese exchanges built upon pre-war
experience; some had, in fact, been taking place even before World War I.
Ten, in 1967, the UN had its ‘International Tourism Year’ and this was gi-
ven the optimistic slogan ‘Tourism: Passport to Peace’. Next followed the 1975
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), which led on to
the OSCE (the leading regional organisation for post-Cold War issues). Te
OSCE’s founding document, the ‘Helsinki Final Act’, mentioned tourism as
being an important means of achieving increased cooperation and better un-
18 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
derstanding. In 1980, a declaration by the World Tourism Organization in Ma-
nila highlighted the fact that tourism could contribute to the establishment of
a new international economic order, and could be a vital force for world peace.
Tat declaration served as the basis for a number of subsequent conferences
on this theme.
A conference on ‘Tourism – a Passport to Peace’, held in 1987 in Shannon,
Ireland, was followed by the frst ‘Global Conference on Tourism – A Vital
Force for Peace’ in Vancouver 1988 (see Louis D’Amore in this volume). Tis
conference resulted in a frst publication on ‘Peace Trough Tourism’, edited
by Louis D‘Amore, who founded the International Institute for Peace Trough
Tourism’ in 1986 and Jafar Jafari. Te ‘Amman Declaration on Peace Trough
Tourism’, a result of the Conference in Amman, Jordan in 2000 became an
ofcial document of the United Nations.
After a series of ups and downs, tourism as an agent for peace is now a
developing feld of research, study programmes and publications. It has even
led to the creation of specialised ‘peace through tourism’ courses (Blanchard,
Higgins-Desbiolles 2013, 19), for instance, at the Centre for Peace and Con-
fict Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. In 2008, the ‘International
Centre for Peace Trough Tourism Research’ (ICPTR) was created by Omar
Moufakkir, a tourism scholar who also established the frst online ‘Journal of
Tourism and Peace Research’ (2008). In 2009, a ‘Peace Tourism International
Working Group’ (PTIWG) was formed in order to assist the project ‘Envisi-
oning Peace Trough Tourism’ that focuses on the promotion of human se-
curity through international citizenship (Blanchard, Higgins-Desbiolles 2013,
25). Tis working group encouraged the establishment of an inaugural Peace
Tourism Commission of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA)
in 2010 (Lynch 2013, 263). Te most recent edited volumes are ‘Peace through
Tourism’ (Blanchard, Higgins-Desbiolles 2013) and ‘Tourism and War’ (Butler,
Suntikul 2013). Tey were preceded by the book on ‘Tourism, Progress and
Peace’ (Moufakkir, Kelly 2010).
Despite all these achievements there is seemingly still a “lack of research
indicating the precise circumstances under which tourism can promote peace,
while at the same time there is a widespread belief that it does contribute to
this end“ (Salazar 2006, 325). Tis leads some scholars to the conclusion that
“the relationship between tourism and peace is not yet established as an aca-
demic feld of research and much (but not all) of what has been published is
hypothetical and opinion-based.” (Moufakkir, Kelly 2010, xxv).
Tey are right. Much has to be done to establish this feld, and we see this
publication as a modest contribution to this aim.
Conceptual Frameworks
Te growing interest in tourism and peace issues can be understood as a re-
action to the changes that tourism itself has recently undergone. Modern tou-
rism can be seen as a consequence of (diferent stages of) globalisation. After
World War II, (European) holiday travels usually consisted of one annual trip
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 19
with the whole family by car or train to one location for one single form of
leisure for a prolonged period of time. Tis has changed to sophisticated and
individualised travel patterns that range from long-haul trips to former colo-
nial sites to several short-term city breaks on a regional basis, both of which
can include leisure and cultural activities alike. Te world has become a ‘glo-
bal village’ (to cite Marshall McLuhan’s famous saying) in which tourism plays
an increasingly important role. Tis is also to say that tourism is no longer a
privilege of the rich Western world, but instead is a globalising and already
globalised cultural practice, which obviously is changing the narrow Euro-
centric understanding of tourism.
Tus it becomes ever clearer that tourism is “a complex set of social dis-
courses and practices” (Rojek and Urry 1997, 1). In other words, we need both
a complex understanding of tourism and a complex understanding of peace,
when it comes to discussing the impact that tourism may have on peace pro-
cesses. We have to study tourism in the broader context of human mobility
while developing a concept of peace that goes far beyond the political dimen-
sion or negative peace (absence of war). In our view, an approach informed by
cultural studies, and by peace research inspired by cultural studies, may help
to overcome some controversies – like the one that sets the concept of tou-
rism as an industry against the concept of tourism as a social force.
In the beginning, research attempts on tourism and peace were limited to
the paradigm of the so-called contact hypothesis, i.e. the many intercultural
encounters that, thanks to tourism, take place on a daily basis all around the
world and that are supposed to contribute to a better mutual understanding
and thus global peace. Whilst defnitely not entirely wrong, this rather basic
and naïve assumption was quickly contested and relativised with arguments
drawn from intercultural communication, peace research and a cultural cri-
tique of tourism itself (see Wintersteiner/ Wohlmuther in this volume). Fur-
thermore, it was counterbalanced by a criticism of all the destructive conse-
quences of the tourism industry in terms of economy and the social, ecological,
and cultural traditions. Meanwhile, a more sophisticated ‘peace through tra-
vel contact’ approach has gradually been complemented by additional aspects
that are linked to the social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts
of tourism, and the sustainable and responsible organisation of tourism as an
industry. As the editors of the online ‘Journal of Tourism and Peace Research’
put it in a phenomenological way:
“Tourism and Peace is broad in scope and deals with many factors relat-
ing to peace, such as appropriate planning, international cooperation,
peace through tourism, tourism for peace, tourism in confict-ridden ar-
eas, avoiding potential negative impacts of tourism and mitigating exist-
ing ones, tourism and human rights, peace museums, tourism and attitude
change, etc.”
However, the interconnectedness of tourism and the building blocks of
peace – such as social justice, human rights, economic equity, sustainable
development and broad-based democracy with the capability of non-violent
20 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
confict resolution – has only recently received the necessary attention in the
tourism and peace literature. We believe in particular that the concept of a
culture of peace, developed by UNESCO and promoted by the UN during the
‘International Year of a Culture of Peace’ in 2000 and during the ‘International
Decade of a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World’
(2001 – 2010), may ofer the necessary framework for conceptualising the role
of tourism for sustainable peace (see Wintersteiner/ Wohlmuther in this volu-
me). Tis may open up a broader feld of research and action. It should go hand
in hand with a more realistic and modest attitude. Instead of speaking of tou-
rism as an ‘instrument for peace’ we prefer the term ‘peace-sensitive tourism’.
Peace-sensitive tourism – both from the supplier’s and from the consumer’s
side – is conceived not as an isolated peace strategy, but as part of a huge and
historical social transformation towards a culture of peace. Peace-sensitive
tourism is aware of its economic and social power and thus of its social re-
sponsibility. It aims to contribute – within the limits of its opportunities but
aware of the power of alliances – to the democratisation of the society con-
cerned, of international relations and of the world system as such. For it is
democracy (as understood not just from a narrower Western perspective), as
a permanent institution of non-violent confict resolution, which is a pathway
to peace.
The Purpose of this Book
Te aim of this international handbook is two-fold. Firstly, it seeks to describe
the current ‘state of the art’ regarding tourism and peace research, by giving
voice to leading scholars in the feld. Tey discuss critically the relevant defni-
tions, retrace research traditions and inform about the history of tourism and
peace in practice. Secondly, in order to widen the scientifc community, we
have invited scholars and practitioners to open up the feld in terms of topics,
approaches and geographic felds.
Accordingly, the book brings together expert contributors from around the
world to present current thinking, diferent views, practical experiences and
scientifc fndings. Te experts are not only tourism scholars and scientists,
but also practitioners, politicians and representatives of civil society alike.
Tis more unusual combination ensures that many diferent points of views
and considerations are presented and refected. Te degree to which theory or
practice is refected varies according to the authors. Whilst some of the chap-
ters discuss the theoretical background of the tourism and peace approach,
others are based on case studies, presented in a chosen theoretical frame.
Some chapters provide concluding remarks and even recommendations that
could help tourism suppliers raise their awareness of the need for peace-sensi-
tive tourism.
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 21
Te book is divided into four major sections, which are nevertheless closely
interconnected.
In Part I we discuss basic concepts of tourism and peace, such as ‘tourism,
ethics and peace’. WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER and CORDULA WOHL-
MUTHER provide an overview on the ‘state of the art’ of the interdisciplinary
tourism and peace discussion. Tey make a plea for a comprehensive approach
that includes various peace-relevant aspects of tourism, placing tourism in
the context of diferent forms of travel – such as warfare in general, histo-
rical crusades, colonialism and modern mass migration. Discussing the glo-
bal citizenship concept and its relevance to the peace and tourism issue, they
highlight Kant’s cosmopolitan idea of hospitality. Based on a ‘culture of peace’
approach, they identify three paths of ‘peace-sensitive tourism’, a less ambi-
tious term for the peace-through-tourism idea that opens avenues leading to
feasible peace processes.
PETER VAN DEN DUNGEN ofers a defnition of ‘peace tourism’ that in
principle consists of visits to places which are signifcant because of some
particular association with peace-making, confict prevention, resistance, or
non-violence and reconciliation issues. He also engages in the defnition of
peace cities and looks into famous places related to Nobel Peace Laureates and
related peace museums, etc. In addition, he describes peace monuments and
city peace trails that are of increasing interest for tourism planners. He covers
several recommendations that would ensure the establishment of peace as a
subject for tourism and would stimulate peace tourism development. He calls
for the recognition of peace tourism as an aspect of cultural and heritage tou-
rism.
DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS focuses on ethics, the discipline that examines one’s
moral standards, or the moral standards of society. He explains why a ‘Global
Code of Ethics for Tourism’ is needed – to sensitise and motivate the millions
of tourists and travellers and all stakeholders involved to be more responsible
in their undertakings. He argues that this ‘Code of Conduct’ is for tourism
what the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ is for the citizens of the
world. He highlights the fact that tourism, sustainable development and peace
are closely intertwined and that one without the other cannot exist. He chal-
lenges the reader by asking him/ her whether they think that they could apply
aspects of the ‘Global Code of Ethics’ to their business, to their job or to their
private life, efectively turning it into a personal code of responsibility.
Part II is about ‘tourism, development and peace-building’, refecting the in-
creasing role of tourism in countries in the more southerly parts of the globe,
and discussing the role of the private tourism sector in some real and practical
peace-building and confict-causing contexts. Nevertheless, this part starts
with some sound refections on the ethical bases of peace-sensitive tourism.
22 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
RAMI I SAAC introduces defnitions and concepts of alternative and respon-
sible tourism and outlines how these can contribute to peace-building in re-
gions of confict. He also refers, drawing from Harry Kunnemann, to three
modes of knowledge production and their linkage to responsible tourism. He
argues that the application of mode 3 of knowledge production – normative
and existential knowledge – combined with responsible tourism can be seen
as an ethical approach to regions of confict. It can contribute to hope and
stimulate people to have faith based also on discussions with responsible tra-
vellers. He suggests that, in the future, research should focus upon methods of
creating hope and peace-building in education, health care and youth empo-
werment.
Ri na M. Alluri, Marti na Leicher, Karsten Palme and Ulri ke
Joras present the results of a research study on the role of private tourism
stakeholders in post-confict scenarios using the examples of Croatia, Sri Lan-
ka and Rwanda. Te result demonstrates that the private sector, once active
again after the ending of the violent confict, engages in tourism development
rather more on the basis of ‘coping’ and ‘doing-no-harm’ than on the basis of
actively engaging in confict-transforming or peace-building activities. Tey
outline both motivating and inhibiting factors infuencing the engagement of
the private sector in peace-building. Te authors conclude by proposing a 10
Point Action Plan for strengthening the engagement of the private tourism
sector in peace-building.
SUSANNE FI SCHER discusses the role of business in zones of confict in
general and in tourism in particular. She analyses tourism in the Palestini-
an Territories and describes the engagement of two Palestinian tour opera-
tors, the Near-East Tourist Agency (NET) and the Alternative Tourism Group
(ATG), in peace-building activities. She points out the unequal distribution
of profts from tourism in the region, a consequence of two facts: that most
foreign tour operators work with Israeli partners; and that tourists who visit
the Holy Land usually do most of their travelling just in Israel. She argues that
the two Palestinian tour operators have taken some important steps towards
addressing these issues, namely the creation of international initiatives where
more visibility can be reached. In addition, she remarks that in this context
the tourism industry and the travellers have to re-think their modus operandi
in order to make tourism a tool for peace.
In her article, NATALI A NARANJO RAMOS describes the little known Co-
lombian regions of Darién and Urabá, which have long sufered from the con-
sequences of war and confict between guerrilla and paramilitary forces. Te
local population was struggling for survival and often had to engage in illegal
activities, such as drug trafcking, during these difcult and complex times.
Ramos argues that the development of communitarian eco-tourism in the re-
gion has brought some signifcant social changes to the inhabitants. Tanks
to some real eco-tourism development projects and the creation of some eco-
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 23
tourism centres, jobs and income were generated. Moreover, since the locals
had a very active role to play in the tourism development processes right from
the outset, a mental and economic empowerment could also take place. Tat
has lead to increased self-esteem and more self-confdence for the locals, ove-
rall helping them to overcome their traumas and suferings.
EMMANUEL J. BWASI RI addresses the complex confict of management at
the Loliondo Game Controlled Area in Tanzania. By analysing this case, the
author ofers an insight into the relations between the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Tourism and the Masai people, who have been afected by the
dispute over land-use issues. Bwasiri explains the causes and the history of
this confict by outlining governmental decisions, the role of tourism compa-
nies and the situation of the Masai people in this area. He concludes by outli-
ning potential solutions for this confict and presents a strategy for systematic
change, based on community involvement and co-governance of the contes-
ted region.
All these examples show that positive economic development necessarily re-
quires democracy as its political counterpart, an aspect that is further dis-
cussed in Part III, ‘tourism, democracy and confict resolution’. Te articles
presented here describe both positive and negative experiences. Tey demons-
trate that tourism, if practiced in a democratic and responsible way, can con-
tribute to confict resolution and democratisation processes.
Tourism as a force for political stability is the main focus for CRAIG WEBS-
TER and STANI SLAV H. I VANOV, in their article. Tey investigate the issue
of political confict and the theoretical reasons behind the belief that tourism
should lead to peace-building and political stability. With examples from Cy-
prus, Korea and Ireland, they seek to analyse the use of tourism as a tool for
political stability and peace. In an innovative approach they link the tourism
/ peace / political stability discourse to paradigms of international relations.
Tey argue that in international relations in particular, the idealist approach –
and, within that, the strand of liberalism – best fts the relationship of tourism
and peace. In this context they conclude that if liberalism is present then the
state and the citizens have to permit or to even encourage this approach. Te
biggest obstacles for sustained contact between the conficting parties – be-
sides physical barriers, such as walls – are the persisting attitudes and enemy
images.
NICOLE HÄUSLER and Chri sti an Baumgartner in their article, de-
scribe the eforts of the new government of Myanmar in developing a susta-
inable tourism sector. Tey argue that the creation of a responsible tourism
policy and a policy on community involvement was the result of a stakehol-
der process which, in this form, has probably never been accomplished in
any other country previously. Stakeholder processes in tourism are a tool for
democratic development and peace-building. By using real examples of how
24 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
such stakeholders’ meetings were held, and the efects they had on the locals
involved, the authors argue that such processes, besides being an important
platform for sustainable tourism development in Myanmar, are also an impor-
tant contribution to the internal peace-building process in the country.
KI PKORI R LAGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E and PETER NJ I RAI NI describe
the impact of political unrests during election periods on the tourism sector
in Kenya. Tey explain that, with joint eforts, the tourism sector stakeholders
in Kenya have made great eforts to promote peace during elections. Tese
eforts were manifested through a programme referred to as ‘Election Period
Tourism Operating Procedures’ (EPOP), executed jointly by the private sector
umbrella association Kenya Tourism Federation, the National Tourism Admi-
nistration (Ministry), the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Police Service.
In principle, this programme is a communication system which aims to en-
sure that tourists do not cross those zones where there is unrest. Whilst it is
about keeping the tourists safe, the article also shows that tourism can have
political power to a certain extent and can unite professionals of various po-
litical beliefs for a common goal, namely the protection of the tourism sector
in Kenya.
WANTANEE SUNTI KUL and RICHARD BUTLER state that, whilst the pre-
sence of war and unrest at a destination is a deterrent to most tourists, there
are many examples of tourism destinations built on the heritage of past con-
ficts. Tey bring to the fore two real-life examples, from the Preah Vihear
Temple located at the Tai-Cambodian border and from Viengxay, a region
located in northeast Laos. Preah Vihear has been the subject of long-lasting
border disputes that, in recent times, have resulted in violent actions around
the temple area. But once this violence was over, a big increase in visitor num-
bers was noticed at the site. Te example of Viengxay, a remote mountainous
and very poor region of Laos, became famous because it was the Laotian com-
munist headquarters during the ‘secret war’ that took place parallel to the war
in Vietnam from 1964 to 1973. It has received ample attention as a potential
and powerful tourism product that should bring signifcant economic empo-
werment to the region.
PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA brings an example from the Pokhara regi-
on in Nepal where, in a partnership efort involving all tourism stakeholders,
various codes of conduct (CoC) were developed. Tese partnership actions
had various positive efects, notably bringing together the various key play-
ers in tourism such as practitioners, researchers, local government and non-
tourism groups, and enabling them to produce codes of conducts. In addition,
this approach secured responsible tourism development on a voluntary basis.
Upadhayaya argues that tourism is not only sensitive towards confict, but
also responsive to peace, if protagonists collectively act to identify problems
and build responsible strategies in the form of CoC guidelines and their ap-
plication.
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 25
ROSALI ND NEWLANDS focuses on the role of the tourist guide in the pro-
cess of promoting dialogue between civilisations, and stresses that the tou-
rist guide can actively contribute to fostering peace and intercultural un-
derstanding. She presents the approach of training tourist guides in ‘neutral’
cultural interpretation, as well as in understanding cultural diferences and
existing prejudices. Moreover, she specifcally outlines the training strategy
of the ‘World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations’ that focuses on the
education of tourism guides who work in post-confict regions. As an example,
she presents tourist guide training in the South Caucasus and its challenges
within this context.
GORDON SI LLENCE explores the peace and sustainability eforts over the
Agenda 21 and the UN-supported Truce process at the Olympic Games in
London 2012. He describes an initiative that aimed to ensure the Truce at the
Olympic Games and outlines various reasons why this did not happen. He
looks into various stakeholder interest groups that are involved in the plan-
ning and execution of the Olympics and provides some explanations of their
roles in this context. He explores how the global economy, in moving from a
state of tolerating low-level warfare and violence towards a peace-based, green
economy, using larger scale Olympic tourism events, can make a contribution
to sustainability in general and the Truce in particular. He outlines a set of
16 recommendations at international and national level that would assist in
achieving this challenging goal.
Part IV, ‘Culture, heritage and education’ deals with various forms of peace
tourism, for instance, heritage tourism and discusses the role of education as a
required precondition for a sustainable peace-sensitive tourism.
Omar Moufakki r and I an Kelly discuss the potential of tourism, as a
mind-broadening educational experience, in contributing to a more harmo-
nious and peaceful world. Tey examine the elements of the peace through
tourism proposition and a number of strategies by which tourism can contri-
bute to the peace objective. Attention is directed to the role of interpretati-
on communicated by educators, organisations, travel writers (in travel guides,
travel journalism and travel literature) and tourists themselves in pursuing
the attitude changes which may be required. Te role of the tour guide is em-
phasised as central to this objective and the current contribution of ‘peace
tours’ is subjected to critical analysis. Cautionary considerations and some re-
commendations are included.
EDWARD W. LOLLI S defnes peace tourism and lists 86 diferent peace the-
mes. He argues that the 10 countries most likely to beneft from peace tourism
development (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Canada and Bel-
gium – in that order. Furthermore, he provides a case study in the USA, a
583 km highway between the Ohio and Detroit rivers along which 100 peace
26 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
monuments can be found. Tese monuments authentically represent 10 dife-
rent peace stories and some 36 notable peace-makers. Te author argues that
peace tourism is not taking place because the public at large is unaware of the
tourism value of peace places and that tourism planners have not yet conside-
red this aspect accordingly. He assumes that, through the creation of this new
tourism ofer, another diversifcation in the tourism sector could be achieved.
GEERT BOURGEOI S shares the Flemish experience and expertise regarding
the preparations for the 100-year commemoration of the First World War and
focuses in particular on the Flanders Fields, where the longest and most dead-
ly battles in Europe took place. He describes the tremendous eforts underta-
ken by the Government of the Flemish Community to ensure not only that the
needs of the visitors will be met, but also that the core messages of the Great
War will not be lost. Te aim of these endeavours is two-fold: frstly, to create
amongst the present and future generations both in Flanders and abroad, an
awareness of themes such as tolerance, intercultural dialogue, and internatio-
nal understanding; and, secondly, to provide a unique opportunity to ensure
the preservation of the war heritage relics for future generations and to make
them more accessible to local and foreign guests.
CORDULA WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER and MI RA
WAGNER present the example of the Alps-Adriatic Region that comprises the
southern part of Austria, Slovenia and the northern Italian provinces of Friuli-
Venezia Giulia and Veneto. Tis geographical area sufered severely during
World War I and II and was divided during the Cold War, when Slovenia was
part of communist Yugoslavia and the peoples of the three countries could
not come to terms with the burden of the past. Today, all these countries have
entered the European Union and, physically, there are no more borders. Slow-
ly, the people in this complex region are coming closer together. Tourism also
plays a certain role in this process. Te article examines the role of three dif-
ferent peace trails in the Alps that were erected on paths that, during World
War I, formed the fronts between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.
Whilst the authors argue that these trails are important for keeping the asso-
ciated history alive, they also see constraints in the ability to be efective from
a peace-educational perspective. Tey provide some recommendations which
could help increase the impact of such peace trails in all three regions and
also encourage more cooperation in the feld of cross-border tourism.
Harald FRI EDL presents the activities of the tourism sector as one that on
every level can provoke conficts. He outlines the reasons why such conficts
could occur during host-guest encounters and during tourism planning pro-
cesses. For the frst kind of conficts, he argues that the local populations, as
hosts, are sometimes not well trained in their roles, which might lead to con-
ficting situations during the encounter. For the planning of tourism on the
local level, he highlights the importance of being able to deal with conficts
and describes a specialised course on confict training in tourism education
Tourism and Peace – an Emerging Field of Action and Research 27
that he recommends should be included in tourism educational curricula. He
views confict resolution from a constructivist point of view and emphasises
that it is important to understand, accept and fnally respect the ‘otherness’ of
the world. He ofers questions for us to ask ourselves rather than recommen-
dations, arguing that with this approach people will become more sensitive
and empathic to the complex determining factors of a confict situation.
LOUI S D’AMORE describes the beginnings of the tourism and peace dis-
course in the 1980s and related activities like summits, conferences and decla-
rations. He refers to the creation of the International Institute through Peace
to Tourism in 1986 and the philosophy behind its endeavours. According to
the Institute, peace tourism is a concept that entails peace within ourselves,
peace with others, peace with nature, peace with past generations, peace with
future generations, and peace with the Creator. He also lists challenges that lie
ahead for tourism development and highlights in particular that the ecologi-
cal context will require signifcant attention.
In their impressive edited volume ‘Peace through Tourism’ Lynda-ann Blan-
chard and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (2013, 1) lament “the partial or incomplete
perspectives” of the tourism and peace discussion. What distinguishes their
approach is a clear criticism of the economic and political power relations
in which the tourism system is involved, as a precondition to any attempt to
identify any peace-through-tourism opportunities. Quoting Morgan and Prit-
chard, they state that the study of tourism leads “to the core of global power
structures” (ibid. 6). Any further development of tourism and peace research
must defnitely be based on this criticism. However, the approach to the to-
pic has to be more interdisciplinary than to date, and should consequently in-
clude more post-Colonial studies and critical cultural studies. Whilst global
peace is only possible as a result of the common efort of people from all parts
of planet earth, this is also true for the eforts to use the worldwide social
practice of tourism for this aim. Seen from this perspective, this volume is no
more than a modest contribution to a discussion – but a discussion that it will,
nonetheless, hopefully help to broaden and deepen this important topic.
References
Blanchard, Lynda-Ann and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles,
edit. 2013. Peace through Tourism. Promoting Hu-
man Security Through International Citizenship. Lon-
don: Routledge.
Butler, Richard and Wantanee Suntikul, edit. 2012.
Tourism and War. London: Routledge.
Blanchard, Lynda-Ann and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles.
2013. “A Pedagogy of Peace. The Tourism Poten-
tial.” In: Blanchard, Lynda-Ann and Freya Higgins-
Desbiolles, edit. Peace through Tourism. Promoting
Human Security Through International Citizenship.
London: Routledge, 19–33.
Honey, Martha. 2008: Tourism: Preventing Confict,
Promoting Peace. Center for Responsible Travel,
Washington DC. US, accessed August 2013. In:
http: //www. responsibletravel. org/resources/
documents/reports/MHoney_Overview_Essay.pdf
Lynch, Jake. 2013. “Epilogue. Creating a peace tour-
ism commission of IPRA.” In: Blanchard, Lynda-Ann
and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, edit. Peace through
Tourism. Promoting Human Security Through Inter-
national Citizenship. London: Routledge.
28 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER
Moufakkir, Omar and Kelly, Jan, edit. 2010: Tourism,
Progress and Peace. Wallingford: CAB International.
Rojek, Chris and John Urry. 1997: Touring Cultures.
Transformations of Travel and Theory. London: Rout-
ledge.
Salazar, Noel B. 2006: “Building a ‘Culture of Peace’
through Tourism: Refexive and analytical notes
and queries.” Universitas Humanística, no.62 julio-
diciembre de 2006, 319–333.
Wintersteiner, Werner. 2007. „Die Wafen nieder! –
Ein friedenspädagogisches Programm?“ In Inter-
nationaler Bertha-von-Suttner-Verein, edit. Frie-
de – Fortschritt – Frauen. Friedensnobelpreisträgerin
Bertha von Suttner auf Schloss Harmannsdorf. Wien-
Berlin: LIT, 107–130.
Personal interview with Peter Shackleford, UNWTO,
September 2013.
Part I
Tourism, Ethics and Peace
WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Peace Sensitive Tourism:
How Tourism Can Contribute to
Peace
Travel does not merely broaden the mind. It makes the mind.
– Bruce Chatwin
Introduction
Tis paper discusses the complex relationship between tourism and peace.
Rather than trying to defend an over-simplifed concept of ‘tourism as an
agent for peace’ or simply condemning ‘tourism as an agent for dispute, in-
equality, and exploitation of the poor’ we should frst try and understand be-
fore making any judgment. However, our ultimate goal is to explore how and
to what degree tourism can help to achieve and preserve peace and harmony
both within a society as well as between societies.
Basically, we are not suggesting that tourism is ‘an agent for peace’ but
instead are pleading for ‘peace-sensitive tourism’, a less ambitious expression
than the ‘peace-through-tourism’ idea. By placing tourism in the context of
other peace-promoting activities and designs, we can ‘carve out’, as we believe,
the specifc contribution of tourism for peace in a more appropriate manner.
In order to do so, we frst have to examine a set of terms and defnitions re-
garding tourism on the one hand and peace on the other hand. Tourism in its-
elf is a complex phenomenon, since there is not just one kind of tourism; there
are many. However, this in no way limits our discussion of the phenomenon
of tourism as such – and especially its cultural dimension and various other
dimensions that are important for our purpose.
As with all the articles in this volume, this one is written from a particular
starting point and from a clearly defned standpoint. Inevitably, we are writing
from the perspective of critical Western intellectuals, and our work is based
on the experiences of tourism as a Western project – despite the rapid globa-
lisation in tourism. Tis has to be kept in mind. It may limit the scope of our
fndings but, at the same time, it shapes our argument.
Understanding Tourism
Scholarly Defnitions and International Approaches
As mentioned in innumerable speeches and papers, tourism is nowadays vie-
wed as a vibrant, dynamic industry (or ‘sector’ according to Teobald 2005;
or ‘industries’ according to Leiper 2008; or ‘social force’ according to Higgins-
32 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Desbiolles 2006 and Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013a) which continu-
es to grow, which is consolidated in social life in afuent societies and which
plays an important role in many national economies (Freyer 2001). Tourism
can have positive and negative consequences. Unfortunately, and despite
many eforts in making tourism more responsible and sustainable, there are
still some very signifcant negative economic, social, cultural and environ-
mental efects in many destinations around the globe that increasingly requi-
re the attention of all stakeholders involved.
On a regular basis, and to demonstrate the importance of tourism as an
economic tool, ofcial announcements of the numbers of overnight stays, tou-
rists, visitors and international arrivals
*
and the share of tourism in the gross
domestic products (GDPs)
**
are made by tourism destinations / states / regi-
ons / sub-regions / cities and relevant international organisations alike. At the
same time, these statistics can also demonstrate the vulnerability of the tou-
rism sector to man-made or natural causes and crises.
In addition to business-oriented defnitions as produced by the UN Statis-
tical Department and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), others are
specifying things more from the supply or demand side (Kaspar 1991, 16–22).
When looking into the UNWTO’s defnition from 1991, we see that it descri-
bes tourism as “the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places out-
side their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisu-
re, business, and other purposes” (Gee and Fayos-Sola 1997, 5). In comparison
to the ‘tourist’ (overnight visitor) a ‘traveller’ is “any person on a trip between
two or more locations”. (Ibid.) Defnitions coming from tourism scholars refer
to the supply side of tourism as an industry consisting of enterprises, which
fulfl the needs and wishes of tourists (Leiper 1979); whilst others focus on the
demand side and consider the situation from the aspect of people who under-
take travel outside their usual working and living environment (Bieger 2004).
Overall, these defnitions lack a clear, unifying basis, although they have
some elements in common: e.g. that tourism is a change of place to somewhe-
re beyond the usual place of abode which brings one to a ‘foreign’ place, and
that it is carried out with diferent kinds of transport (Freyer, 2001). Whilst
these defnitions are helpful in measuring the economic impact, they refect
neither the social or environmental impact, nor the cultural dimension, nor
indeed the context of human rights, justice and international citizenship as
Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles state (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles
2013a, 2).
* The number of international arrivals has risen from 50 million in 1950 to more than 1 billion in
2012 and is expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030 (UNWTO 2012 and UNWTO 2011).
** Travel and Tourism represent an estimated direct contribution to some 5% of the world’s glob-
al gross domestic product, and is considered to contribute 30% to the world’s services export and
45 % to the total services export in developing countries. In 2010 about 8% of the total job market
worldwide, equivalent to about 235 million jobs (direct and indirect) – or one in every 12,3 jobs –
was attributed to tourism. (Goldin 2010, 9)
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 33
Te situation is a little clearer when the purpose and motivation of the trip
is used as a defning criterion. C. Kaspar (1991, 18), for instance, identifes six
categories from the demand point of view:
• Leisure tourism (recreation)
• Culturally-oriented tourism (alternative tourism, educational tourism)
• Society-oriented tourism (relatives, club tourism)
• Sport tourism
• Economy-oriented tourism (fairs, business trips, incentive travels)
• Politically-oriented tourism (conferences, political events).
In reality, however, the motivation for a trip is rarely just a single one; more
commonly, there is a mix of diferent factors, such as culture and leisure.
In the context of peace-sensitive tourism, some of these categories are more
relevant than others, since they provide more opportunities for intercultural
encounters than leisure tourism would do.
In addition to these tourism forms based on motivations and seen from the
demand side, tourism development models based on the supply side (though
not exclusively), such as ‘alternative’, ‘responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ tourism,
play an important role, in particular as regards peace-sensitive tourism. Tis
article will not give an in-depth overview of the defnitions of these three
types of tourism or tourism management models but rather will summarise
their most relevant characteristics, in order to provide a better linkage with
peace issues. Whilst defnitions of all three terms vary, they all have sever-
al guiding principles and indicators for the implementation process available.
Te ethical basis behind these three forms is, in principle, the same: namely,
that there are some rules to be observed if the environments in which tourism
takes place are not to sufer from that tourism. When the environments are
dealt with in an ‘inclusive’ manner, meaning that the local population is invol-
ved and local specifcs are taken into account at all stages of a tourism process,
then the negative impacts can be minimalised. Tis shows that democracy is a
key issue for any responsible tourism, including peace-sensitive tourism.
Te beginnings of ‘alternative tourism’ as a defned concept can be traced
back to the Manila International Workshop in 1980, as a response to growing
concerns about tourism development (Macleod 2005, 123–139). Whilst seve-
ral defnitions exist, the unifying elements are that alternative tourism tries
to be more ‘ just’, allow more meaningful encounters with locals, be based on
sound environmental principles, be sensitive to local cultures and religious
traditions and be a means of giving the poor a reasonable and more equal
share in the tourism gains.
MacLeod states that alternative tourism can have signifcant economic and
sociocultural impact on the local population, given that it communicates to a
greater degree with the indigenous people than is the case with mass tourism.
Alternative tourism, in comparison to mass tourism, can be seen as a refec-
tion of contemporary attitudes and values within society – but also no longer
has any clear boundaries with mass tourism. Its meaning is vague. It may have
been a good and valid concept in the beginning, but now it seems to need a
34 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
more precise defnition (Ibid. 138). Very often ‘ecotourism’ is stated as being a
form of alternative tourism. Whilst this term also lacks a clear defnition, the
philosophy behind it states the intention “to be respectful towards land, na-
ture, people and cultures and use it for conservation, economic development
and cultural revival” (Holden 2000, 193). Very often ecotourism also stands
for low-impact, soft, green and ethical tourism.
‘Responsible tourism’ (see Isaac in this volume) has its origin in the ‘Cape
Town Declaration’ (2002), which recommends guiding principles for econo-
mic, environmental and social responsibility in tourism development. “It is
not a brand or type of tourism, the term encompasses a framework and a set
of practices that chart a sensible course between the fuzziness of eco-tourism
and the well-known negative externalities associated with conventional mass
tourism” (Harrison and Husbands 1996, 1). It is an ethical approach that
addresses all stakeholders involved in the tourism development process, from
the planners and managers to the host populations, local governments and
businesses to the outbound tour operators and tourists visiting the destinati-
on. Te guiding principles of responsible tourism are in accordance with sus-
tainable tourism.
Te ‘sustainable tourism’ development approach was introduced for a frst
time at the First Global Conference on ‘Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace’,
held in Vancouver in 1988. Four years later it was again expressed in the ‘Agen-
da 21’, an outcome of the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 (see Sillence in
this volume). Whilst there are many publications outlining defnitions, gui-
ding principles and indicators for sustainable tourism (World Tourism Orga-
nization (WTO 2001, 2002 and UNWTO 2004), we consider that there is no
satisfactorily clear defnition available. Literature suggests that a broad dife-
rentiation can be made between ‘sustainable tourism’, in which the emphasis
is placed on the customer and marketing considerations of tourism to susta-
in the tourism sector; and using tourism as a vehicle to achieve ‘sustainab-
le development’, in which the emphasis is placed on developing tourism as a
means to achieve wider social and environmental goals (Holden 2000, 172).
Tis implies that sustainability is applied diferently by the diferent stakehol-
ders. In the sustainability discourse, a variety of guiding principles by various
tourism-related bodies have been developed. Some of these are directed to-
wards the relation between tourism and the environment, tourism activities
and the local community, and the overall acknowledgement of tourism as a
mechanism for sustainability. Sustainable practices should also be seen in the
context of the value systems of those involved, and the societies in which they
exist (Butler 1998), and should be directed towards limitations on tourism to
protect the environment, cultures and societies (Higgins-Desbiolles 2010, 117).
To summarise at this frst stage, with these three tourism forms in mind,
we see that the common elements, inter alia, are respect towards the human
and natural environments and the responsible treatment of such. Tis is a pre-
requisite to peace, which means that peace-sensitive tourism has to contain
the main elements of all three approaches. Furthermore, the long tradition
of social tourism (as the ‘other side’ of Western tourism) should be taken into
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 35
account (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013b, 22). An inclusive strategy
by the stakeholders – including tourism planners and tourists alike – is nee-
ded, taking local factors into account and treating them in a way that it is both
participatory and sustainable.
A Culturally Informed Approach to Tourism
Alternative, responsible and sustainable approaches to tourism can ofer
answers to some of the known defciencies in tourism, but – as we argue –
their analysis cannot always be completed with a conventional manner of stu-
dy. Currently, tourism is seen as an economic factor, as an ecological challenge,
and critically as a (positive or negative) factor of social justice, sometimes also
as a menace to the ‘authentic traditions’ of the indigenous populations. Te
cultural dimension of tourism is far from being adequately addressed. Howe-
ver, an understanding of the cultural dimension, as developed by Cultural Stu-
dies (for instance Rojek / Urry 1997), is a pre-requisite to the proper understan-
ding of all the other dimensions. Only recently has such an approach started
to appear and be discussed in tourism and peace literature, as in ‘A Pedagogy
of Peace’ (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013b) or in the context of a ‘Cul-
ture of Peace’ (Salazar 2006, Haessly 2010, Whyte 2013). Te cultural dimen-
sion of tourism is not about cultural tourism, it is about ‘tourism as a culture’,
i.e. as a way to conceive and to interpret the world, a social practice – always
closely linked to other practices. Culture is the thing which gives meaning to
our actions; in itself it is a meaningful ideal.
What is the meaning of tourism? “Tourism does not begin with the act of
touring, but with the construction of a worldview that renders the world ‘tou-
rable’. […] Tourism discourses are sets of expressions, words, and behaviours
that describe places and peoples, and turn sites into easily consumable attrac-
tions” (Salazar 2006, 326–327). Tourism, understood in this way, is a social
invention (not the only one, but a very powerful one) to deal with the many
desires of people of the modern industrialised world. But this is not a one-
dimensional thing. Tourism is “an arena in which many players interact and
negotiate the construction of culture to diferent ends” (ibid., 329). Basically,
tourism can be considered a ‘machine of happiness’, as Pravu Mazumdar puts
it (Mazumdar 2011, 15). Together with the ’myth of holidays’ (Mazumdar 2011,
73), tourism is the promise that we can temporarily escape our daily life and
experience a more autonomous, more fantastic, freer and happier world. Tus
the cultural ‘value’ of tourism is one of ‘travelling to happiness’. However, it is
of course a round trip. Unlike the migrant, the tourist doesn’t really leave her/
his home, and s/he knows that the adventure of tourism will soon be over. As
a tourist, s/he always enters a ‘virtual’ world, albeit as real as it can be. Tus
tourism – in contrast to migration – is not a breaking-up or more permanent
change of everyday life, but just a more or less regular ‘interruption’ that is
now part of our everyday life. Holidays have to compensate in many ways for
all that we have missed out during the year and as such they become a stabili-
sing factor in the way we lead our lives.
36 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
What tourism has in common with migration is that both are major means
of bringing people from diferent regions together and letting them have what
is called, in an overly superfcial way, ‘intercultural experiences’. As opposed
to magazines, TV or the internet – media which ‘bring the world into our ho-
mes’ – tourism is about direct communication between people, at least at frst
sight.
All tourists start out on their journey with a set of their own previous ex-
periences, ready with relevant information and full of expectations. Tese
expectations are pre-formed by exposure to the media, or mediated experi-
ences (and their fulflment is also a mediated process). “Tourists travel well
‘prepared’ and have already pre-interpreted the places and situations they will
encounter. Teir seeing may have been shaped by that US broadcasting station
or that Dutch geography teacher, and may well be confrmed or challenged
by that Palestinian tour guide.“ (Pernecky 2010, 10, original emphasis). Tus
(mass) tourism and media experiences have much more in common than one
would believe. Te diference is that, when absorbing information from the
media, almost everybody understands that this is nothing more than a me-
dia experience, whereas mass tourists usually believe that they are having ‘au-
thentic’ and direct experiences.
However, some commentators argue plausibly that authenticity is less and
less an argument for tourism. Due to the ‘travelling of cultures’ (Cliford 1992)
all cultures have become mixed and hybrid, to a greater or lesser extent. But
this is not the main reason that “the quest for authenticity is a declining force
in tourist motivation.” Te real tourism pleasure is about change: “Switching
codes of patterned behaviour is, in itself, a source of attraction for the tourist.
Te desire to keep moving on and the feeling of restlessness that frequently ac-
companies tourist activity derive from the cult of distraction. Pure movement
is appealing in societies where our sense of place has decomposed and where
place itself approximates to nothing more than a temporary confguration of
signs” (Rojek 1997, 71).
Our argument is not that mediated experiences are less valuable than ‘au-
thentic’ ones; it is rather to say that, nowadays, almost all encounters are me-
diated, at least to a certain degree. If this point is clear, we can get back to the
‘intercultural encounter’ that tourism provides, and this in increasingly global
dimensions. It is in this context that Chatwin’s statement can be fully appre-
ciated: “Travel does not merely broaden the mind. It makes the mind.” (Chat-
win 1997, 100). Tomas Pernecky has a similar approach when stating: “Tou-
rism has become an important ordering of modernity as well as global society:
resulting in an array of ordering efects” (Pernecky 2010, 5).
Tese encounters take place worldwide, on a daily basis, for more and more
people. Tey are encounters both for the travellers and for the residents, even
if in a diferent way. Tus it is not only the tourists who have new experiences,
but also people from the host regions who would never be able to aford to
travel, who fnd their horizons widened through meeting the tourists. Tere
is no doubt that tourism contributes to shaping our view of the world and to
providing us with a fuller, richer, more detailed and individual picture of the
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 37
world and its many societies. Tis is true both for the tourists themselves, and
also for the hosts and other people the tourists meet.
But – as we will discuss further in the later section entitled ‘Tourism and
Peace: Te State of the Art’ – it would be very naïve to believe that these con-
tacts automatically lead to a reduction of prejudices, a new, more tolerant
world view and better understanding of each other. Te so-called ‘contact hy-
pothesis’ is too simplistic a model of intercultural encounters (Tomljenovi?
2010). Generally speaking, when people of diferent countries, cultures or so-
cial classes meet, various outcomes are possible – depending on the situation
itself, on the personality of the individuals or groups, and on the topics at sta-
ke. Aggression, defence, assimilation of the other or being assimilated by the
other are very common ways of dealing with the ‘scandal of the other’ (Sartre).
Probably the most common pattern of reaction is ignoring the other, i.e. igno-
ring his or her ‘otherness’. One is only aware of those aspects of the other with
which one is already familiar, whilst almost subconsciously ignoring or con-
demning any other / new aspects that could be a challenge to one’s own world
view.
But tourism is not a martial encounter. Organised in a tourist-friendly way,
the world of the other begins to lose its original horror and instead become an
exotic attraction.
“Terefore we can aford the luxury of tolerance toward the impotent myths
of a strange and primeval world of happiness. Tus a tourist sojourn in
the postcolonial reality is often like a visit to the zoo. Behind the bars, the
beasts do not inspire horror and hatred anymore: they can be accepted with
milder and more modern passions and instincts of animal protection. […]
Te tourist gazes at the pacifed and humiliated strangeness of his hosts.”
(Mazumdar 2011, 51, our translation)
Tis sounds indeed very damning and even cynical, but is a description of one
of our ways of dealing with others, given the gaps in wealth and power. Howe-
ver, it is only one side of the coin: the hosts are not actually so powerless as it is
suggested here. Despite the diferences in power, “tourism can become a very
empowering vehicle of self-representation, and local people may deliberately
choose to culturally reinvent themselves through time, modifying how they
are seen and perceived by diferent groups of tourists” (Salazar 2006, 328).
Te cultural dimension of tourism is, as shown above, something which
gives meaning to our travels. Tus travelling is not merely to learn about other
cultures and people, but also to learn more about ourselves and to fnd our
own position in the world. Tis can be done in diferent ways: it need not al-
ways take the form of a radical deprecation of the other, as in the example
quoted above. However, very often, when travelling, we compare the lives of
the others with our own life – seeking to fnd additional confrmation of our
‘superiority’. A banal but very common example: A German woman (who co-
mes from a worker’s family that enjoyed the success of Germany’s booming
post-war economy) recalls her frst tourism experience as a child. For the frst
time, the family could aford to go abroad, with all three children in the back
38 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
of the small Volkswagen car. Tey went to Italy, and the mother warned the
children that Italians are very poor people. Surprisingly the ‘poor Italians’
lived in a big house which they owned, while the Germans only had a little fat
as their home …
Tis example shows that as tourists we also carry out some form of ‘identity
analysis’ – in comparing ourselves with the ‘others’, we confrm or challenge
our own self-image. Te way in which this works varies in an individual and
thus unpredictable way, according to the educational settings of intercultu-
ral communication. However, it makes sense to try and identify the specifc
conditions and tourism measures which are helpful or detrimental to such
encounters. Furthermore, we should diferentiate between diferent forms
of tourism, as some of them are more likely to have a positive efect on the
‘identity analysis’, i.e. to create open-minded people who are able to recognise
positive aspects of the ‘other’ and to negotiate regarding diferences, mistrust,
and opposing interests in a friendly way. Tis may be the case for eco-tourism,
alternative tourism, cultural tourism, heritage tourism and similar forms of
tourism – as long as there is a commitment by the tourists themselves and an
‘educational’ ofering from the ‘supply’ side.
But before drawing conclusions for the tourism and peace discourse too
quickly, we should go deeper into the analysis of the phenomenon of tourism
itself. One dimension of tourism, often falsely presented as the only one, is
“travel-for-leisure that is supported by a multi-layered global service industry”
(Salazar 2006, 323). In order to shape its profle, we have to discuss tourism in
the wider context of social mobility and compare it with other forms of travel-
ling.
The Fear and the Fascination of the Other:
Tourism and Travelling, Warfare and Hospitality
Mass tourism, as we understand it today, is a relatively young phenomenon,
with its origins in Europe in the 20th century. Tourism – in the simplest form
of ‘pleasure travel’ – is much older, and is mentioned as long ago as in the
Ancient Greek and Roman period. In modern times, tourism started as a pri-
vilege of the aristocracy, whose education included the ‘grand tour’ (visiting
various parts of Europe); later it became a custom of all the upper classes, in-
cluding the bourgeoisie; but on a mass scale it started with the introduction of
paid holidays for (almost) all social classes in the early 20th century (Gyr et.al.
2010, Hachtmann 2007, Krippendorf 1987). After World War II, globalisation
led to worldwide tourism, but basically still with people from the rich Nort-
hern (or Western) countries travelling to the Global South. Recently, a new
trend has become apparent: in many ‘emerging’ countries, for instance China,
other Asian countries or Latin America, more and more people can aford to
travel, and even to travel abroad. Tis creates an even more colourful picture
of tourism relationships.
As opposed to tourism, ‘travelling’ is not only an ancient human trait, it is
more a human ‘way of being’. Te nomadic origins of mankind are nowadays
often cited, recalled or evoked, e.g. by Bruce Chatwin (1997, 101):
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 39
“Evolution intended us to be travellers. Settlement for any length of time, in
cave or castle, has at best been a sporadic condition in the history of man.
Prolonged settlement has a vertical axis of some ten thousand years, a drop
in the ocean in the evolutionary time. We are travellers from birth. Our
mad obsession with technological progress is a response to barriers in the
way of our geographical progress. Te few ‘primitive’ peoples in the forgot-
ten corners of the earth understand this simple fact about our nature better
than we do. Tey are perpetually mobile.”
Tis is not without infuence on our modern life. Maybe we can state that tou-
rism is a surrogate of our desire to get back to the ‘golden nomadic age’. But
one does not have to share Chatwin’s nomadic romanticism to acknowledge
that, for the greater part of human evolution, nomadism was the natural way
of life. Moreover, migration was always an entirely natural mode of develop-
ment for human societies. Te settlement and exploration of the whole globe
was the work of ‘migrants’. However, travel was never only for economic rea-
sons; it also had spiritual impetus, as the widespread institution of pilgrimage
shows. Te image of travel as a human way of being is illustrated by all these
aspects.
Very often, a principal reason for travelling was an interest in the conquest
and occupation of other countries. Travelling was aimed at dominating and
converting other people (to the religion or ideology of the conquering armies
and people), at exploiting their resources, and at using the people themselves
as resources. Tus warfare was always a major reason for travelling: from the
campaigns of Alexander the Great to the wars of the (European) Migration
Period, from the Mongolians to Tamburlaine’s campaigns, from the Crusades
to Napoleon’s conquests – until today, warfare and travelling have always been
directly linked. Even today, warfare is still an important part of the travelling
business: be it armed invasions of other countries like the USA’s intervention
in Iraq in 2003, or be it so-called or real peace missions (with the consent of
the United Nations).
Tis search for conquest obviously has a gender aspect. Warfare has always
been a male domain, and conquest always also meant the conquest of women,
as the embodiment of the ‘other’. Te interest in the domination of the other
was not least the interest in sexual appropriation.
Tus, historically, ‘intercultural encounters’ were mostly the consequence
of wars and colonisation – producing encounters on a very biased and un-
equal level. People not only gained knowledge of other civilisations via wars
of conquest, but even developed their patterns of conceiving ‘the others’ in
this way, as Todorov, for instance, shows (Todorov 1982). Te frst experience
of any totally diferent society (like American natives for the Europeans) was
shocking and provoked a profound uncertainty. Te mere existence of a dife-
rent civilisation is a challenge to one’s own system of ‘world order’, up to that
point the one-and-only and thus the ‘natural’ one. In order to reduce the ‘fear
of the other’, (Western) societies have developed diferent strategies, basically
‘demonisation’ and ‘minimisation’ (Mazumdar 2011, 49 pp.).
40 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Demonisation means labelling the ‘other’ as the absolute evil – having no
morals, having no religion (or the wrong one) – i.e. they are with the devil,
they are enemies, or they are not even human. Tus it is justifable to kill them,
to exterminate or to enslave them; or at least they have to be converted, assi-
milated, and made ‘like us’. Minimisation, on the other hand, is the picture of
the ‘other’ as the ‘noble savage’, an idea that is often combined with cultural
pessimism – the belief that one’s own society is decadent and only can regain
its strength by drawing from the innocence and the natural power of the cul-
tures of noble savages (Todorov 1989). More often than not, this attitude is
linked with another (martial) form of travel – ‘colonisation’. Te colonisation
of the Americas, for instance, was fuelled by the fascinating ideal of a utopian
society, by the vision of creating ‘God’s own country’ in the ‘New World’: ‘tra-
velling as the pursuit of happiness’.
On the other hand, mankind has also developed peaceful ways of dealing
with the unavoidable presence of the ‘other’, especially through the concept of
‘hospitality’ (Gotman 2001, Montandon 2001). In traditional societies, travel-
ling and hospitality are two sides of one coin. Hospitality is rightly considered
“as of one of the most important social and political institutions, known from
the very dawn of civilization and not less relevant today” (Khayutina 2004).
Te right to hospitality was a holy right in many cultures and religions. Inte-
restingly enough, the word derives from ‘hostis’, which means ‘stranger’ (and
thus ‘guest’) as well as ‘enemy’. Hence the right to hospitality was a rule to deal
with uncertain situations: the stranger might be an enemy, but as long as he
remains on your territory, you owe it to him to treat him like a guest.
Nowadays tourism seems to be the inheritor of both traditions, warfare and
hospitality; some critics of tourism compare it with the invasion of enemy tro-
ops – they come en masse, take all they can get (at a very cheap price), over-
exploit the natural resources (like water in arid zones), and – when they do
spend some money – it is for the beneft of the big companies (often from their
own country), leaving the local people to derive almost no beneft from their
spending. Furthermore, we should bear in mind that the arrival of tourists
from the former colonising states, in the former colonies, unavoidably evokes
some historical memories and could easily be interpreted as a neo-colonial
endeavour. Not least, this is a cultural ‘package’ that can burden North-South
tourism. Additionally, the gender aspect, as mentioned in the travel and war-
fare context, is also true for tourism. Traditionally, travellers were predomi-
nantly male; coupled with the fact that a male interest in tourism as a liberati-
on of ‘home’ rules often applied, this still plays an important role.
As for traditional hospitality, modern tourism likes to refer to these tradi-
tions, with terms such as ‘hospitality management’ or ‘hospitality services’ in
common use. But to draw a direct line from ancient hospitality to the modern
tourism business, is to pretend that the tourism industry nowadays can provi-
de the same kind of warm, naïve and cordial hospitality to the mass of tourists
invading the cities and the beaches that traditional people reserved for the
infrequent and individual strangers who reached their homelands.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 41
In many advertisements, tourist agents promise the ‘traditional hospita-
lity’ of the ‘indigenous’ population as an additional beneft. It is obvious that
this cannot work. In former days, travelling was not something to buy and sell.
Hospitality could neither be booked nor cancelled. In a direct way, from one
person to another, hospitality can still happen and indeed does happen more
often than not, but this has nothing to do with the tourism business. Hospita-
lity was originally something reserved for single travellers or small groups, the
directive to ‘do no harm’ to these strangers was one precondition of organising
‘international’ trafc and trade. Whilst we have to reject this restricted and me-
aningless use of the tradition of hospitality, a discussion of the very meaning of
hospitality in a modern and globalised world might ofer a frst approach to the
connection of tourism and peace. Tis is the topic of the next sub-chapter.
Tourism, Mass Migration and Global Citizenship:
A First Approach to Tourism and Peace
In the context of tourism and peace, we cannot ignore all other types of jour-
ney. Tourism is only one half of travelling in the modern world. Whilst tou-
rism is one growing form of travelling, migration is the other. Migration is the
‘negative of the tourism constellation’. Whilst tourists travel for entertainment
and recreation, migrants travel for survival and better living conditions or
quality of life. (Western) tourists travel to (Southern) countries with an ori-
entalistic view. Tey admire the exoticism of the ‘indigenous’ population, in-
cluding their ‘hospitality’, be it the expression of personal friendliness or part
of a strategy. However, on the other hand, many people from the Global South
use contacts with tourists in order to prepare their migration to the ‘promised
land’ in the Northern hemisphere.
Tis ‘fow’ of hospitality rarely works in reverse though. When these mig-
rants actually manage to arrive, for them, the idea of hospitality does not exist.
With ever-stricter migration (or should we say anti-migration?) laws, the rich
countries try to stop or to hinder the migration fow. Te same people, admi-
red or at least looked upon in their countries of origin, are disdained or even
chased away when they come to the countries where the tourists originate.
And nobody is aware of this contradiction. Te movement of the tourists and
the movement of migrants are worlds apart; they do not contact each other,
not do they ‘see’ each other (Mazumdar 2011, 71 pp.).
In order to make a diference, hospitality must no longer be limited to a cul-
tural custom, but instead must acquire a legal status. Tis was at least the vi-
sion of European enlightenment – a tradition all European societies are proud
of. In his essay on the ‘Perpetual Peace’ (1795), German philosopher Imma-
nuel Kant develops the global right to hospitality. Te third defnitive article
for perpetual peace reads: “Te Law of World Citizenship Shall Be Limited to
Conditions of Universal Hospitality.” And Kant explains (Kant 1795):
“Hospitality means the right of a stranger not to be treated as an enemy
when he arrives in the land of another. One may refuse to receive him when
this can be done without causing his destruction; but, so long as he peace-
42 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
fully occupies his place, one may not treat him with hostility. It is not the
right to be a permanent visitor that one may demand. A special benefcent
agreement would be needed in order to give an outsider a right to become a
fellow inhabitant for a certain length of time. It is only a right of temporary
sojourn, a right to associate, which all men have. Tey have it by virtue of
their common possession of the surface of the earth, where, as a globe, they
cannot infnitely disperse and hence must fnally tolerate the presence of
each other. Originally, no one had more right than another to a particular
part of the earth.”
Tis is a remarkable statement, seen in the context of the current migration
policies of Western states. For Kant, the ‘Law of World Citizenship’, which in-
cludes the right to hospitality, is a cornerstone for the building of a peaceful
world order. World citizenship is a bridge between the universal human rights
and the state-based legal systems (Rademacher 2010). Nowadays, in times of
globalisation, the idea of world citizenship and the right to hospitality is be-
coming even more important. If tourism has a mission for world peace, then
it is to spread the idea of (and to provide stimulating images of) world citizen-
ship: the beauty of the whole planet, the diversity of human cultures and civi-
lisations, the necessity of dealing with our diferences in a political, i.e. non-
violent way – thus acting as global citizens. Tourism efectively contributes to
peace if and when it helps tourists, as well as hosts, to learn that together we
can make the world a better place for all human beings. It goes without saying
that tourism alone cannot make such a diference. Tourism for peaceful pur-
poses has to be embedded into a whole cultural system and an educational
strategy favourable to peace.
Tis argument could – in our view – be one starting point for a discus-
sion of the connection between tourism and peace. Te idea, the ideal of and
practical steps towards global citizenship can be promoted by peace-sensitive
tourism. However, beyond the fact that this efect of tourism is a desirable
outcome, there still lies the question of its feasibility. In order to discuss this
more in detail, we need to clarify a set of terms and assumptions, namely the
cultural dimension of tourism and the existing concepts of tourism and peace.
Understanding the Tourism and Peace Relationship
Tourism and Peace: The State of the Art
At the outset, the discussion of the complex relationship between tourism and
peace was mostly limited to the paradigm of the millions of intercultural en-
counters supposed to contribute to a better mutual understanding and thus
global peace – the so-called ‘contact hypothesis’. Over time, additional as-
pects have been added but have received less attention; their discussion is still
relevant as well, however, for this comprehensive overview. As already menti-
oned, peace-sensitive tourism cannot be separated from responsible and sus-
tainable tourism since, in a broad sense, most of their constituting elements
have peace-building efects. Some of these elements will be listed.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 43
Tourism as a force for peace and better cultural understanding has been
promoted since the early days of tourism research. Tis has been refected
in several international documents (Annex at the end of this book) and dis-
cussed in conferences. A conference on ‘Tourism – a Passport to Peace’, held
in 1987 in Shannon, Ireland was followed by the frst ‘Global Conference on
‘Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace’ in 1988 by the non-proft organisation ‘In-
ternational Institute for Peace Trough Tourism’ (see Louis D’Amore in this
volume) in Vancouver. Tis organisation, a coalition of international travel
industry organisations, promotes “tourism initiatives that contribute to inter-
national understanding, improved quality of environment, the preservation of
heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to build a peaceful and susta-
inable world” (Salazar 2006, 3). Over time, other events have been held and
more declarations formulated, although seemingly rather as ‘ad-hoc’ actions
without any systematic approach. Most of the time it has seemed more im-
portant to showcase tourism as a powerful economic tool that can assist in
overcoming economic crises, eradicate poverty and create jobs, rather than
as a peace-building tool within and between nations. Moufakkir and Kelly
state that the interest in the concept of tourism and peace can be presented
from “euphoric recognition in the 1980s to scepticism in the 1990s followed by
an almost total rejection” (Moufakkir and Kelly 2010, xxii). While it as assu-
med that the ‘Peace Trough Tourism Movement’ began with the First Global
Conference in Vancouver in 1988 a new euphoria emerged at the beginning
of the new Millennium (Etter 2007), which resulted in numerous new publi-
cations and articles. Te diference in these newer articles is that, in addition
to the oft-cited ‘contact theory’, other aspects of this multi-faceted topic are
discussed for the frst time. Case studies, in which tourism was used as a tool
for peace-building eforts, have also been described in more detail such as Ire-
land, Bosnia- Herzegovina, the Korean Peninsula, Israel-Palestine, Sri Lanka,
Rwanda and others (see Ivanov and Webster, Fischer, Alluri et.al. in this volu-
me). In 2013 several new publications and events on tourism and peace high-
lighted the current awareness and validation of this challenging topic among
the tourism leaders on an international scale.
When discussing other aspects of tourism and peace beside the contact
theory then, Kelly, in his ‘Peace Trough Tourism Implementation Guide’
names potential areas of action. He lists four broad and overlapping areas in
which he hopes that their implementation might have the required efect. He
outlines (Kelly 2012, 32-49):
• “Intergroup contact
• Ethical concerns (respect for the environment and human rights)
• Positive impact of tourism on negative elements of globalisation (poverty
eradication)
• Awareness raising among suppliers and consumers by codes of conduct,
peace parks and tourism education.”
Whilst we agree with Kelly, we will also try to ofer some other linkages bet-
ween tourism, as a cultural and social activity supported by a multi-layered
44 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
industry, and peace, as a process that aims to reduce human violence targe-
ted at other humans and nature through peaceful means (Galtung 2011, 69).
We base these linkages on dimensions that stem from the tourism impact but
are also an integral part of peace processes. Tus we distinguish educational,
economic, and environmental dimensions as well as the dimension of confict
resolution and reconciliation issues.
The Educational Dimension: Contact Hypothesis and Attitude Change
As already mentioned, the idea that tourism can produce an attitude change
and thus contribute to peace is the most widely-discussed one (also Moufak-
kir, Kelly and Friedl in this volume). Te ‘contact theory’ or ‘contact hypothe-
sis’, with a focus on the guest-host relationship, has received extensive atten-
tion in various publications and meanwhile has become the subject of many
empirical studies (Etter 2007, Pizam et.al. 2000). Despite all the eforts under-
taken by various researchers it still is a very complex theme that has as many
opponents as proponents.
Tis handbook will not ofer a comprehensive literature review on this to-
pic, but rather will highlight some relevant fndings. Etter, in 2007, summari-
ses the main fndings by referring to Gordon W. Allport who, in 1954 in his
book ‘Te Nature of Prejudice’, outlined the situational conditions whereby
intergroup contact will lead to a decrease in prejudice. His assumption was
that:
“prejudice (unless deeply rooted in the character structure of the individu-
al) may be reduced by equal status contact between majority and minority
groups in the pursuit of common goals. Te efect is greatly enhanced if
this contact is sanctioned by institutional supports (i.e. laws, customs or
local atmosphere) and provided it is of a sort that leads to the perception
of common interests and common humanity between members of the two
groups.” (Etter 2007; Allport 1954, 281)
Other researchers have supported this assumption and underpinned it with
empirical studies. While Tomljenovi? and Faulkner (2000) do not clearly sta-
te that tourism contributes to a better understanding of the ‘other’, they give
some real examples in which the tourist-host contacts failed to bring about
the desired changes (e.g. language and cultural barriers and poor guiding)
(Tomljenovi? and Faulkner 2000). Tey conclude that, in the end, it is the qua-
lity of services provided in the destination that determines the success of the
host-guest contact (Ibid. 31).
Something similar was stated in an empirical study by Anastasopoulos,
who did a survey on Greek frst-time visitors to Turkey in 1992, regarding their
attitude towards Turkey before and after their travels. Te major outcome was
that these travels had negative impacts on the visitors, mainly concerning the
perception of the living standards and institutions in Turkey (Anastasopoulos
1992). Other studies that tested this hypothesis can be found with Israelis vi-
siting Egypt (Amir, Ben-Ari 2010). According to Pizam (Pizam 1996 and Etter
2007), four studies between 1990 and 1994 on attitude changes amongst visi-
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 45
tors from the US, USSR, Israel and Egypt, Greece and Turkey were carried out
and concluded that only a “relatively small number of changes in the opinions
and attitudes of travellers resulting from their tourist experience […] and the
majority of changes occurred in a negative direction.” (Pizam 1996, 210)
With the outcome of various empirical studies it has become possible to
amplify Allport’s initial assumption on the specifcs of when a prejudice can
be reduced. Amongst those conditions Pizam et.al (2000, 399) mention the
following:
• “Equal status contact between the members of the interacting group
• Intergroup cooperation in the pursuit of common goals; this creates an in-
terdependency between the groups and discourages competition between
them
• Contact of intimate rather than casual nature, which allows the interacting
members to get to know each other beyond the superfcial level
• An ‘authority’ and / or social climate approving of and supporting the inter-
group contact
• Te initial intergroup attitudes are not extremely negative.”
Based on research on the conditions described by Pizam, Etter goes one step
further and concludes that the “most pertinent conditions for positive attitude
change are the sharing of common goals, voluntary and intimate contact and
the absence of negative personality structures; equal status within contact sit-
uations and authority sanction are less signifcant” (Etter 2007).
Tomljenovi? (2010) lists the many criticisms that the contact hypothesis
has received over time. She reminds us that the contact situations in tourism
are seldom such that they can contribute to an attitude change, since the en-
counters between hosts and guests are less intense and meaningful due to the
lack of contact opportunities and the lack of motivation on the part of the
tourists. Tey can even have adverse efects – sometimes, leading to a rein-
forcement of pre-existing prejudices and beliefs. She concludes that, despite
these negative fndings, seemingly about “two thirds of international travel-
lers seek out contact with hosts, motivated by a desire for cultural enrichment”
(Tomljenovi?, 2010, 29) and that this is also refected in the increasing creati-
on of diferent travel experiences to satisfy these desires and motivations. She
summarises that, whilst the evidence indicates that tourism does not manage
to foster intercultural understanding, there is more positive evidence as re-
gards the question of whether tourism contacts are benefcial to this overall
process.
In the same line of argument, Kelly states that the task of tourism is to pro-
vide travel experiences which encourage appropriate attitude change (Kelly
2006), for which a certain predisposition to learning about the other is essen-
tial. For this purpose, the preparation of the traveller and his / her communi-
cation with the destination is crucial (Kelly 2006).
Te good news is that we can fnd increasingly new ‘peace-sensitive travel
models’ that work towards the improvement of such quality encounters bet-
ween guests and hosts. Also, the necessary preparation for the tourists in the
46 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
form of peace-sensitive ‘tourist education’ is increasingly being met by travel
guides, guide books and other media means (see Moufakkir and Kelly; and
Newlands in this volume).
To resume: based on the fndings and arguments displayed in this chapter,
the rhetoric of tourism leaders that tourism contributes quasi-automatically
to a better cultural understanding should be aligned less with the ‘optimistic’
and ‘assertive’ and more with the ‘realistic and evidence-based’ formulations.
Research and experience shows that, unless certain conditions and predispo-
sitions are met, it is extremely difcult to achieve a better cultural understan-
ding; the opposite can occur and prejudices can be reconfrmed and enhan-
ced. It is possible for some forms of guest-host interactions to contribute to
better understanding, but these do not occur in mainstream tourism; rather,
they have to be planned accordingly. At the same time we nevertheless wish
to stress that travel can ‘broaden the mind’, enrich someone’s understanding
of other living conditions, religious beliefs, etc. and thus have an infuence on
the traveller’s perception of the ‘other’.
The (not only) Economic Dimension: Peace by Welfare and Democracy
It is understood that the economic efects of tourism are very often adver-
se. Tese can “range from huge gains by big international companies in land
acquisition, tax concessions and other advantages that leave local, small- and
medium-sized companies with only minimal benefts, to low wages and poor-
quality employment alike” (Equations 2013, 118).
At the same time the argument that tourism, with its positive economic
impact such as poverty eradication, job creation and income generation, has
a peace-building efect, has received less attention in the ‘peace through tou-
rism’ literature. Kelly calls it “countering globalisation-induced dependency”
(Kelly 2012, 40) and refers to the poverty-reducing potential of tourism, but
does not go into this connection in more detail.
We understand that social, economic and cultural insecurity are reasons
for ethnic and religious conficts. Tus the economic aspect of tourism plays
a role in conficts but also in strengthening peace in destinations unburdened
by violent confict (Levy and Hawkins 2009, 571). Te Institute of Economics
and Peace states that among eight pillars of peace a sound business environ-
ment is crucial to peace; this is instrumental in providing a viable taxation
base, the productive use of human capital, and the ability for individuals to
access capital (Pillars of Peace, 20).
In a study by Levy and Hawkins (2009) on 136 award-winning tourism
practices in the feld of tourism’s contribution to sustainability and peace, they
tried to identify the contribution of commerce-based tourism to peaceful so-
cieties. Tey managed to demonstrate that, among the economic-related win-
ning tourism activities, two sustainable tourism principles were used: employ-
ment quality, and economically viable tourism destinations and enterprises.
In their conclusions they confrmed the “conceptual link between sustainable
tourism and peace” by illuminating how responsible tourism can contribute
to strengthening peaceful societies (ibid., 581).
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 47
At the same time Timothy (Timothy 2013, 17–18) argues that “tourism be-
cause of its positive economic potential can create animosity between neigh-
bours” and mentions as an example the eleventh-century Hindu Preah Vihear
temple at the Tai-Cambodia border (also Suntikul and Butler in this volume).
Tis temple is an important tourist attraction for both countries. Te territo-
ry on which it is located was the subject of territorial confict that began as
long ago as 1907, when the border was delineated and the temple located on
Cambodian soil. Tailand took action against this, but not until 1954, when it
sent troops to occupy the territory. In 1962, the International Court of Justice
afrmed Cambodian sovereignty over the temple, a decision that Tailand has
never recognised. Gunfre and skirmishes in this area erupted as recently as
2011. Te temple is of enormous cultural value and is included in UNESCO’s
World Heritage List (with Cambodia).
A similar story can be found among the Tuaregs around Agadez in Niger,
where the revolution in 2000 had a severe impact on the fourishing tourism
industry. Following the end of the revolution, many ex-rebels used tourism as
an employment tool, initially also using ‘violent’ methods to get tourists. It was
only after the establishment of an association aimed at focussing on tourism
development that the situation improved and tourism developed accordingly.
Unfortunately this changed again in 2003, when the frst Sahara tourists were
hijacked in Algeria and tourist groups were brutally attacked and robbed. Te
situation worsened with the new rebellion in 2007, in which renewed fghting
broke out between Tuareg rebels and government troops (Friedl 2008, 52–53)
with the consequence that the tourism industry came to a complete standstill.
To resume: as Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles (2013a, 22) state, “any
economic critique of peace through tourism starts with the negotiation of a
capitalist system that has incorporated and afected (to some degree) every
culture and region of the world, no matter how remote from key centres of po-
wer.” We argue furthermore that tourism as an economic force can, like other
economic sectors, put pressure on the authorities to (re)create the peaceful
conditions necessary for business. For groups in confict, the tourism deve-
lopment perspective, whether shared or not, can be an additional argument in
the negotiation process, but will not be the deciding one.
Stressing the economic potential of tourism for peace leads to addressing
the responsibility of the tourism sector for engagement in peace. Trough
the creation of employment opportunities and income, tourism can empo-
wer local populations, regardless of whether it concerns impoverished regi-
ons, post-confict contexts or in the ‘developed’ world. Trough this econo-
mic empowerment, a violence-reducing impact can be achieved in a situation
that could otherwise lead to the outbreak of violence and conficts. So far, the
tourism industry pays only lip service (if that) to peace issues. Te key ques-
tions in particular are mostly avoided: questions of economy are questions of
democracy, and ultimately how the economic wealth is distributed within a
society.
48 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
The Environmental Dimension
Little can be found on the environmental dimension of tourism and peace.
Looking into various defnitions, environment can be defned as the external
conditions in which an organism lives (Allaby 1985 and Collin 1991). For tou-
rism this defnition includes the physical dimension, in addition to a social,
cultural, economic and political one, explaining “the demand for tourism as
a consequence of the interaction between the local social, cultural and eco-
nomic environments with those in the locations from whence the tourists ori-
ginate” (Holden 2000, 24). In other words, we have natural and human-made
types of environment that have certain push/pull efects on the consumer.
Since the early days of tourism, the irresponsible consumption of the en-
vironment by tourism has been a point for discussion. Te negative physical
and cultural environmental consequences, ranging from the overuse of limi-
ted natural resources such as water, to pollution issues such as sewage prob-
lems and noise, to human behaviour towards the destinations, have left the
environment as being among the root causes for several conficts. In order to
reduce these consequences, codes of conduct and sustainable practices have
been developed. Tese eforts aim to protect the (natural) environment from
the more damaging forms of human behaviour (Holden 2000, 97).
Whyte, in his article on ‘an environmental justice perspective’, argues that
tourism is seen as an “environmental justice issue because tourism activities
afect the environmental quality of the places where host communities live,
work and play” (Whyte 2013, 49). Terefore it is essential for advocates of
peace through tourism “to take recognition justice seriously otherwise it may
not be better than mutually benefcial exploitation”. (Ibid.) He explains that
recognition injustice occurs when “tourists seek experiences that degrade and
stereotype the host culture(s)” and when “they do not compensate the hosts in
culturally appropriate ways, do not recognise that they are able to perceive the
hosts in certain ways because they are in the privileged position of not having
to be bothered by any resistance …” (Ibid. 52). With regard to the environment
heritage, he argues that tourism usually does not take into account the views
of the locals on their environmental heritage. It is therefore necessary, in
order to avoid recognition injustice, to have the hosts directly involved in
all steps of the tourism planning and implementation stages, where shared
power is exercised and the participants “work jointly toward promoting peace
as a process of acknowledging people’s diferent heritages and experiences …”
(Ibid. 58). Tis again shows that questions of the environment (like questions
of development) are in fact also questions of participation, democracy and
justice.
When we go one step further, to the environmental impact on peace-buil-
ding – environmental protection and cooperation as a factor for peaceful re-
lations – then we have to tackle the conservation issue. Tis issue has been
highlighted particularly in the creation of peace parks. Peace parks have usu-
ally been established in confict-ridden areas of ecological signifcance and
natural beauty. Tey have been a means of addressing not only the ecologi-
cal issues but also the roots of the conficts (Ali 2007, 1). Nowadays there are
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 49
“188 trans-boundary protected areas worldwide“ (ibid). Te creation of such
‘conservation zones’ has led to a common goal among the formerly conficting
parties, and has been used for confict resolution.
Tourism, Confict Resolution and Reconciliation
When looking into the relationship between tourism and confict resolution,
one can start by arguing that tourism depends on security and stability, thus
tourism during wartime cannot exist. As has been confrmed on many occa-
sions, tourism sufers severely from any political unrest or violent conficts. In
such cases numbers of tourist arrivals – and thus receipts – decrease signif-
cantly (see Lagat, Kiarie and Njiraini in this volume). Whilst tourism is very
vulnerable to any form of man-made or natural confict, it is at the same time
resilient and manages to bounce back once the violent confict ends.
Te question that arises in this context is how tourism can contribute to
the confict transformation and reconciliation processes that are required in
a post-confict context. Alluri et al. in this volume argue that there is a lack
of understanding and awareness of the possibilities of private sector engage-
ment in peace-building. Terefore the tourism private sector groups tend to
apply coping strategies during a confict, whilst in the post-confict phase a
lack of understanding, missing political space for engagement, lack of organi-
sational capacity and political convictions hinder their involvement in peace-
building eforts. Häusler and Baumgartner explain in this volume that, during
the development of tourism policies in Myanmar, the government ensured a
participatory approach through stakeholder processes that ofered not only a
“platform for sustainable tourism development in the country, but also an im-
portant contribution to the internal peace-building process”.
Something similar happened in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where all three na-
tionalities – Bosnians, Croats and Serbs – worked jointly on the production of
a marketing strategy for the whole country. During this process nationalistic
sentiments were put on hold and meaningful encounters, aimed at achieving
a common goal, were held (Causevic 2010, 59). In Australia, as an activity of
the formal process of reconciliation, a programme with reconciliation ac-
tion plans was developed. Tese action plans aim to promote reconciliation
between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader Aus-
tralian community (Reconciliation Australia 2013). Also the National Tour-
ism Ofce, ‘Tourism Australia’, adopted its own plan that in overall terms
promotes aboriginal tourism based on respect and close cooperation with the
indigenous people (Tourism Australia Reconciliation Action Plan 2013).
Despite such reconciliation endeavours, Ian Kelly cautions that while tour-
ism in various forms can play a role through its ability to bring people togeth-
er, it is only a minor player in the encouragement of reconciliation, and may
be pursued through other trade linkages, diplomacy, and cultural exchanges
(Kelly, Nkabahona 2010, 239). However, the idea – promoted by some authors
like Louis D‘Amore and Freya Higgins-Desbiolles in several papers – of ac-
knowledging and using the potential of a ‘citizens’ diplomacy’, contesting the
monopoly of politicians and diplomats to deal with (international) conficts,
50 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
is a very productive one. Higgins-Desbiolles coined the term ‘reconciliation
tourism’ (Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2006, 1 and 2013a, 24) in order to
describe, inter alia, initiatives to raise the awareness of (international) visitors
regarding on-going conficts. We believe this term can also be used for inter-
national peace activities from ‘below’; there were many between the Eastern
and the Western block during the Cold War, and during the war in Yugoslavia
in the 1990s, to cite just two examples.
To resume these arguments: Tourism does have a role in confict resolution,
confdence-building and reconciliation, but not in an isolated way. It is too
heavily shaped by other cultural or political dimensions in any given society.
Tus peace politics and culture also have an impact on the way tourism is con-
ceived and practised.
Understanding ‘Peace-Sensitive Tourism’
Any peace-sensitive tourism initiative has to start not only with a criticism of
the given situation and of the negative efects of tourism in economic, social,
ecological and cultural matters, but also with a criticism of the denial of exis-
ting conficts between diferent interest groups. Equally, it has to denounce
the hypocrisy of a tourism ‘new speak’, using the language of alternative and
responsible tourism or the rhetoric of peace without any substantial changes.
However, it would be counter-productive to condemn the tourism industry
wholesale. Any criticism should lead on to an emphasis of the potential of tou-
rism to contribute to peace. For out of this potential grows responsibility. And
it is this responsibility that peace-sensitive tourism has to stress as its funda-
mental basis.
Peace as a Process to Reduce Violence and to Create Sustainable
Non-Violent Relationships
Much too often, peace is understood as an exclusively political endeavour.
Two (or more) states (or parties), which have fought against each other, decide
to lay down their arms and to ‘make peace’. Tis – following Galtung – is what
peace research calls ‘negative peace’ (a rather uninspiring term). Research
shows that many peace processes are not very long-lasting because a political
peace without reconciliation, justice and a ‘new deal’ in society is, more often
than not, unsustainable. Why? Because the very reasons for the confict, its
(deep) roots, are not addressed. Other factors, besides those at the politico-
military level, have to be taken into consideration. Tis leads to the cultural
element in peace research, “the need to move beyond institutional thinking
about politics, power, sovereignty and representation and to engage with emo-
tive, aesthetic, linguistic and cultural representations” (Richmond 2008, 147).
In order to make peace sustainable, one has to work for ‘positive peace’ –
including social justice. Tis is where the cultural aspect comes in. Political
decisions are taken by politicians, but they cannot act in isolation. Tey are
not only ‘children of their time’, but also ‘children of their society’ – the po-
litical culture and, beyond that, basic assumptions on how to deal with dife-
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 51
rence, confict, violation of rules etc. play an important role when it comes to
decision-making on war and peace. Tis means that we not only need peace,
but also a ‘culture of peace’, a common understanding that confict has to be
settled in a non-violent way and, moreover, a deep-rooted non-violent practice.
But until now, this has not been the way things have gone. Even Western de-
mocratic societies, so proud of their technical and social achievements, have
still kept many elements of a culture of war. In order to overcome this culture
of war, we cannot just rely upon politicians but also have to consider other
groups from civil society. Tey all have to work together for new social relati-
onships. Until the key elements of cultural peace are established, the spectre
of war will not disappear. “For this reason, a culture of peace needs more than
the absence of war. It requires a profound cultural transformation”, under-
lines David Adams, former UNESCO mastermind of their Culture of Peace
programme (Adams 2003, 1).
But what exactly should be understood by a ‘culture of peace’? A classic,
but very general defnition is provided by the United Nations: “Te Culture
of Peace is a set of values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that
reject violence and prevent conficts by tackling their root causes to solve
problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and
nations” (UN Resolutions A/RES/52/13: Culture of Peace and A/53/243: De-
claration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace). Tis defnition di-
stinguishes three levels – values, attitudes and modes of behaviour. It states
that the whole cultural ‘system’ has to be oriented towards non-violence. It is
not enough to preach the value of peace whilst at the same time – in private
or in political life – aggression and (verbal) violence are considered natural
modes of behaviour.
Non-violence has to become ‘a way of life’, as the UN declaration puts it.
Usually, this is accepted as long as it remains on a very abstract level. As soon
as it comes to practice, there is the distinction between ‘us’ and ‘the others’.
Te peaceful mode of behaviour that is applied – as a matter of course – to
the individual’s own group / class / nation etc. does not apply to the others,
to those who – for one reason or another – ‘do not belong to us’. For instance,
Europeans do not always include migrants in their democratic and welfare
system, and the US do not apply their human rights standards to the prisoners
in Guantánamo. To sum up: the tendency is to behave peacefully only towards
friends and the ‘we-group’, and not in a universal way. In times of a confict
with signifcant dissent in interests or of identity confict, we ‘forget’ our good,
peaceful education and try to beat the enemy by any means. But the fact is that
a culture of peace requires that people act according to peace rules, and espe-
cially so in regard to important and existential conficts – and this not simply
at a personal level, but also at a political level.
Tus, the whole of society has to be ‘pervaded’ by a culture of peace. A cul-
ture of peace requires a social transformation that goes deeper than the poli-
tical level – although, of course, encompassing the political level as well. For
a culture of peace is not only about culture, seen as a special social factor. It
is, rather, about the cultural ‘dimension’ of each and every social activity and
52 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
structure. Tis profound transformation cannot happen overnight. All sectors
of society can contribute to this deep transformation, including tourism. (For
a deeper discussion of the term ‘culture of peace’ see Adams 2003, Winterstei-
ner 2010, or Wulf 2008).
Tourism as a Contribution to a Culture of Peace: Three Avenues
Based on these considerations, it is evident then that the following question:
‘How can tourism contribute to peace?’ should not be put in such a simplistic
form; it is just too general to be productive. Our argument is that tourism can
only contribute minimally to the ‘political’ process of peace-making. Someti-
mes, the perspective of (shared or separate) tourism development may be an
additional argument for the conficting partners to come to an agreement, but
this is hardly likely to be the decisive factor. Tourism is an economic force and
as such, it can, like other economic sectors, put a certain amount of pressure
on the authorities to (re)create the peaceful conditions necessary for business.
Tis is not, however, the specifc contribution of the tourism industry to peace.
Te very feld of tourism and peace is cultural, not economic or political.
‘Culture’ is, ironically, the ‘political’ dimension of tourism.
Tus tourism, in the best case, and together with other social practices, can
contribute to confict prevention and thus to a culture of peace. However, in
the tourism and peace literature, we sometimes fnd confusion between nor-
mative goals and empirical facts. Te researcher’s own wishes are presented as
facts. Tis even happens in the interesting approach of Haessly (2010). After a
correct description of a wider concept of peace – understood as ‘positive peace’
in the sense of Galtung, i.e. peace as social justice and, moreover, a spiritual
balance – she claims that tourism contributes to this noble aim: “Travellers
may undertake new experiences; gain knowledge of other cultures, regions
and countries; discover the importance of caring for the environment; develop
new friendships; and in the process, promote peaceful relations among people”
(ibid., 13). Tis argument raises two problems. Firstly, the notion of peace (or
culture of peace – this is not very clearly distinguished) is focused exclusively
on private personal encounters and therefore has no ‘political’ meaning; the
question of how this infuences the political level is not addressed. Secondly,
and even more problematically, this is not an evidence-based statement but
just wishful thinking. As Noel Salazar puts it: “Tere are many ‘good practi-
ce’ examples of alternative forms of tourism contributing to confict resolu-
tion, greater intercultural understanding, and even global social justice. Te
question whether and how tourism as a whole contributes to world peace is
more complex.“ (Salazar 2006, 323) In order to fnd out how tourism can best
contribute to a culture of peace, we need a more analytical as well as a more
empirical approach. If we read Haessly’s statement not as an empirical truth
but as a catalogue of useful criteria for tourism’s contribution to a culture of
peace, a kind of ‘code of ethics’, then we have a measure which provides an ini-
tial orientation. She distinguishes the following criteria (Haessly 2010, 14, here
presented in a condensed form):
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 53
• Honour spiritual and cultural tradition
• Reduce poverty by hiring people from local communities
• Promote sustainable development with care for the ecosystem (ecotourism)
• Promote and preserve a culture of peace by involving local people in decisi-
on-making regarding development and tourism.
Whilst all four criteria pursue noble aims and promote aspects of a culture
of peace, they are surely not sufcient, given the fact that a culture of peace
requires a deep transformation of politics, daily life and cultural production.
Based on the analysis of diferent case studies, including those assembled
in this volume, we can make a frst attempt to move beyond Haessly, in order
to create an evidence-based typology of peace through tourism. However, we
need to keep in mind that this typology only describes a set of constellations
with peace potential. As with any other social process, the outcome is unpre-
dictable. Nevertheless, it makes sense to identify such constellations and do
empirical research to fnd out under which specifc conditions and to what
extent this potential can be exploited:
• Firstly, tourism as an experience of the ‘other’, and of otherness in general,
may open the minds of people and teach them that the world has more to
ofer than just one model of living: a critically revised and limited version of
the contact hypothesis (How post-war Austrian villagers learnt from Ger-
many or from people of their capital, Vienna, and vice versa)
• Secondly, mutual cross-border tourism to pay attention to the narratives of
the other side, and eventually overcome their strict opposition (example
Alps-Adriatic peace trails in this volume)
• Tirdly, peace tourism to learn from the history of war and the history of
important peace makers (see van den Dungen and Lollis in this volume).
Most of the articles in this handbook, when referring to examples of ‘peace-
sensitive tourism’, are of the second or third type; the frst type is given less at-
tention, almost certainly due to its vagueness. However we believe that these
‘ordinary and banal encounters’ are the very basis of any systematic attempt to
use tourism as a tool for peace.
As already stressed, all three approaches ofer some opportunities for de-
veloping elements of a culture of peace – but this does not mean that they
will automatically lead to the intended or desired results. Some real examples
now follow, including some frst hints as to the specifc circumstances to be
met, and measures to be taken, in order to increase the chances that these ty-
pes of tourism will help to create better understanding, more tolerance, and a
feeling of solidarity amongst all those involved. However, we cannot pretend
that we are able to provide practical guidelines that guarantee success. In the
complex social processes in which tourism also plays out its role, there are no
mono-causal efects. Since the old Ghandian saying “You must be the change
you wish to see in the world” is still true, the tourism industry has to start by
changing itself. Tus ‘peace-sensitive tourism’ – together with other factors
54 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
and players – can make a diference. Te more the cooperation with other
participants or groups is systematically organised, the more efcient it will
be.
By ‘peace-sensitive tourism’ we mean that tourism ‘participants’ should be
aware of their responsibility to contribute to a culture of peace via tourism.
Tis refers to all levels: from the tourism managers who conceive (thematic)
travels, to tourism educators, to guides, writers of guidebooks, right down to
the waiter / waitress apprentice and, of course, the tourists themselves … To
a greater or lesser extent, they can all contribute to more peace-sensitive be-
haviour within the tourism business and possibly even make tourism a social
practice of peace.
First Type – Tourism as an Experience of the ‘Other’
Te ‘Global Code of Ethics for Tourism’ (1999, 1) states that “through the di-
rect, spontaneous and non-mediatised contacts it engenders between men
and women of diferent cultures and lifestyles, tourism presents a vital force
for peace and a factor of friendship and understanding among the people of
the world”. It is absolutely right to highlight these contacts between ordinary
people. In our view, they are the ‘raw material’ of any peace-sensitive tourism
policy. As previously argued, direct contacts have not only the potential for
better understanding, but the potential to consolidate prejudices (‘by experi-
ence’) as well. Together with sports, popular media, arts, and politics, tourism
is a feld where identities are negotiated and images of the self and the other
forged. Tis is a complex, contradictory, and on-going process.
An example from our own background is that of the German-Austrian rela-
tionships after World War II. Germans were and still are the most important
tourists for Austria’s tourism industry. From a foreign or a global view, there
are not too many cultural diferences between the Germans as tourists and
their Austrian hosts. However, Austria’s identity and the relatively new con-
cept of Austria as a nation (which was widely accepted only from the 1960s
onwards) were developed in dissociation from Germany. Germany was con-
strued as the big brother, economically very efcient, but with a character
less ‘nice’ and ‘friendly’ than that of the Austrian nation. For most people in
Austria, tourism was the main source of direct contact with Germans. Tus,
tourism experiences were often used to explain ‘how the Germans really are’.
Tese ‘disputes’ with the Germans, who were both admired and envied at the
same time, were often mirrored in TV movies and in (Austrian) fction. In
the long run, however, one can state that these tourism contacts contribut-
ed (together with TV, a norm from the late 1950s onwards) to ‘modernising’
the minds of people in remote areas of the Austrian provinces. (Interestingly
enough, the image of people from the capital, Vienna, was more often than
not construed in exactly the same way as the image of the Germans.) Tis all
resulted in an ambiguous picture: whilst Germans and Austrians got to know
each other better through tourism, it did not automatically lead to better rela-
tionships.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 55
In fact, the tourism industry did not try to deal with this constellation sys-
tematically, for example by developing training programmes for tourism per-
sonnel, including tour guides, or by fostering a peaceful negotiation of identi-
ties, without blaming or deprecating the other. But to be fair, we have to add
that, since Austria’s tourism industry was mostly based on small family busi-
nesses, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, such training would not have had
much impact.
Tings change, however, as soon as targeted measures are taken in this feld.
An example here is that of the ‘Franco-German Youth Ofce’ (FGYO). Foun-
ded in 1963 by the President of France and the German Federal Chancellor,
the purpose of the Youth Ofce is to foster Franco-German cooperation – in
order to overcome hostility between the two peoples that led to three wars in
the previous 100 years. From 1963 to 2011, the FGYO has enabled more than
8 million young people from France and Germany to take part in 300,000 ex-
change programmes. It grants aids on average for 9,000 exchanges each year
(more than 5,000 group exchanges and about 4,000 individual exchange pro-
grammes) in which 195,000 young people take part. All the evidence (evaluati-
on, research, studies) shows that these programmes have been very successful
and, together with other measures, have helped to create a new climate bet-
ween the two states.
First Type at a glance:
• Tourism, seen from below
• Broad and unspecifc audience, except special exchange programmes
• Intervention by general means (good education of personnel, strategies co-
ordinated with other participants, sensitive reaction to incidents instead of
ignoring them, education of tourists by guides and with information mate-
rial)
• Most important (intended) outcome: No specifc or predictable outcome,
but intensive experiences that can be discussed, interpreted and used for
developing a culture of peace, so to speak the ‘raw material’, the ‘basis’ of
any peace-sensitive tourism.
Second Type – Cross-border Tourism and ‘Reconciliation Tourism’
“While the peace-through-tourism rhetoric often seems to stress the impor-
tance of the intercultural person-to-person contact between tourists and
‘hosts’ as a conduit to peace, recent research suggests that high politics activity
may be more important than low politics activity as a vehicle for peace” (Sa-
lazar 2006, 326). Tis applies particularly well to our second type: tourism
as a political measure to reconcile two or more neighbouring peoples that
have experienced war or another kind of deep confict. Mutual visits to and
within a former war zone defnitely have a diferent and deeper meaning from
other tourism activities. Of course this kind of tourism also benefts tourists
coming from other regions, who have no prejudices (or simply no knowledge)
concerning the history of the region. But this is not the primary target group.
Tis cross-border tourism allows for an intensive exchange of diferent and
56 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
contradictory narratives, which can only lead to the intended outcome of a
better understanding when it is consequently applied to the whole tourism
industry of the region.
In addition, it has to be contextualised in the overall politics of reconciliati-
on and cooperation.
An example here is the peace trails in the three neighbouring countries of
Italy, Austria and Slovenia. Te trails were once approach paths to the front-
line in the mountains. Recalling the atrocities of World War I (and indirectly
World War II), they still provoke a debate about the opposite and contradicto-
ry narratives in these countries (Wohlmuther et al. in this volume).
Second Type at a glance:
• Tourism, seen from above and below
• Limited, but very broad audience: the people living on both sides of the bor-
der; they are addressed as both tourists and hosts
• Specifed interventions, ideally as concerted action from both sides; pre-
sentation of their own narratives about the relationship to the other in a re-
fected way (but without giving up their own point of view), ideally not only
working according to the same principles, but working together
• Tourism conceived as a tool for reconciliation and / or deepening the mu-
tual understanding; in combination with youth exchange, school education,
cultural exchanges and common guided cross-border trips; a vast amount
of non-organised travel, contacts and friendships being the best sign of a
good climate
• Most important (intended) outcome: a long-lasting, deeper understanding
of the two ex-enemy peoples, the creation of shared values and even shared
narratives.
Third Type – Peace Tourism and Related Fields
Tis is a small but, for our purposes, very relevant segment of tourism. It is
closely linked but not restricted to ‘cultural tourism’ and ‘heritage tourism’.
We thus need to keep in mind the shift in the meaning of heritage that, in for-
mer times, exclusively referred to local or national traditions.
“Heritage can be conceived of as a group of people’s natural and cultural
legacy from the past, what they live with today, and what they pass on to
future generations. In heritage tourism, however, what counts as heritage is
increasingly defned on a translocal scale (e.g. UNESCO’s World Heritage
List). World heritage sites no longer belong only to the community where
they are located; they now belong to all the peoples of the world (at least, so
goes the dominant discourse).” (Salazar 2006, 328)
Tis ofers new perspectives for peace-sensitive heritage tourism. However,
one has to be aware that this also includes clashes between diferent narra-
tives concerning the heritage. For instance, it makes a diference whether
French or German or Chinese tourists visit the World War I battlefelds of
Verdun, France.
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 57
‘Peace tourism’ in a narrow sense is the travelling to peace sites, monu-
ments, museums etc. in order to learn from the experience that these places
reveal (van den Dungen and Lollis in this volume). It is tourism about peace
and for peace. It also includes specifc peace education tourism, like the Peace
Boat where the travellers have lectures on board and feld trips in diferent
parts of the world. Teoretically, peace tourism is the opposite of ‘war tou-
rism’ (Suntikul and Butler in this volume). However, this distinction is trickier
than one might imagine. ‘War tourism’, or ‘dark tourism’, is defned as the
commercial use of the desire to make exciting but morally doubtful ‘real life’
adventures in confict or war zones (Butler 2012). Tis is by no means a new
phenomenon. As long ago as the 19th century, the Waterloo battlefeld was
a tourism attraction. Immediately after World War I, Zeppelin fights over
the former battlefelds were ofered, for a rich clientele, by a French company.
However, these seemingly typical examples of war tourism can also be associ-
ated with peace tourism. When visiting a historic battlefeld today, for examp-
le, this can be done in the spirit of pacifsm, to learn from history, or can be
driven by an interest in arms, warfare, and military strategy. Tus, it is impor-
tant to look more closely at how the events are presented by (state or private)
tourism agencies.
Basically, we can assume that tourists are already interested in a culture of
peace. Tey travel to know more about it and thus to work even more efci-
ently for their mission. In order to reach a broader audience, it makes sense to
extend the focus to the related felds so that this kind of tourism is likely also
to attract people who are not yet convinced by the ‘message of peace’.
Third Type at a glance:
• A specialised tourism segment
• A specifc and relatively small ‘target group’ – those who are likely to be
interested in peace issues.
• Intervention by very specifc ofers using peace sites (or war monuments,
presented as warning and historical lessons) or the biography of persona-
lities who can serve as role models; the more the intervention reaches peo-
ple who have not yet been won over ‘for the cause’, the more likely it will
be successful; open and dialogic presentation of facts, presenting opposi-
te narratives, urging the judgment of the clients instead of missionising or
‘educating’ them.
• Most important (intended) outcome: peace tourism can help them to fulfl
their peace work by providing them with new knowledge and encouraging
them in their endeavours.
Outlook: A Widely Unexplored Field
Actually, at this very moment in time, tourism and peace – as a feld both of
action and of research – is characterised by a strong momentum. Tis is only
partially explained by the strength of tourism itself as a prosperous industry.
Another explanation is that the expansion of tourism provokes social conficts
58 WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
which are refected by scholar-practitioners interested in making use of the
opportunities of tourism as a positive social force. Tis is especially true for
post-colonial criticism of many Western practices, including tourism. Finally,
peace-sensitive tourism as a social practice has reached a certain level and is
no longer invisible. Tanks to the indefatigable eforts of a couple of pioneers,
the research on tourism is no longer just the monopoly of the economy and
management departments of the universities.
Nevertheless, more efort is still needed in order to establish tourism and
peace as a veritable transdisciplinary feld of research and study. Tis feld is a
multifaceted landscape. Tus tourism and peace is not only one agenda but is
as multiple as peace itself. We should also remember that ‘peace through tou-
rism’ includes ‘peace within tourism’, as Noel Salazar states: “Tourism always
functions as part of the wider economic and geopolitical systems from which
it cannot be divorced. If we take the idea to build cultures of peace seriously,
informed action is needed on multiple fronts. Tis includes addressing the is-
sues of social injustice and other types of confict within the industry itself …”
(Salazar 2006, 330).
Whilst only occasionally mentioned, a very important but under-explored
feld is, for instance, the relation between tourism, peace and global citizen-
ship. Much too often, global (or international, or cosmopolitan) citizenship
is used in a ‘metaphorical’ way – as a term for global individual responsibility.
We claim that global citizenship is (or should be) much more than that. In
our view, global citizenship is a concept of the political transformation of the
world system into a more peaceful one, made possible by restricting the law of
the rulers through the rule of law and a democratisation of the international
relations (Wintersteiner 2013).
We believe that tourism and peace necessitates both empirical and theore-
tical development. Without further discussion, deconstruction and refection
of all dimensions of the issues, empirical research would be restricted to the
well-trodden paths. For this transdisciplinary ‘praxis’ (in the sense of Paulo
Freire who always attempted to combine what we call theory and practice)
we propose the term ‘peace-sensitive tourism’. By peace-sensitive tourism we
understand a comprehensive approach, including the various felds of action
in the tourism ‘struggle’ for peace and for a culture of peace – a formula clear
enough to determine the direction, but wide enough to avoid any monocausal
connection between tourism as a social practice and peace as the ultimate
goal. Tis term is in favour of a process-oriented approach to peace work –
which means placing a focus on the processes involved in transforming, step
by step, the current social realities, but without restricting overall aims to tho-
se which have already been defned. Others, with similar intent, use diferent
terms, such as ‘peace-responsive tourism’, a term coined by a group of Nepa-
lese researchers (Upadhayaya et al. 2013) who speak, however, of communi-
ty-based and peace-sensitive tourism as well as of a ‘peace-sensitive’ code of
conduct for tourism (Upadhayaya in this volume). Tis suggests that ‘peace-
sensitive tourism’ is also, in practice, a well-rooted term. For us, however, it
is less important which term is widely used; what is more important is to sti-
How Tourism Can Contribute to Peace 59
mulate discussion about the concepts underlying the respective arguments in
favour of, or against, the peace-through-tourism idea. For creating a culture of
peace is the contemporary, timely and topical agenda of mankind.
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PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
Peace Tourism
Introduction
In the growing debate and literature about the contributions of tourism to
peace, a particular aspect that has so far been largely ignored is ‘peace tou-
rism’. Tis involves visits to places, at home and abroad, which are signifcant
because of their association with such notions as peace-making, peaceful
confict resolution, prevention of war, resistance to war, protesting war, non-
violence and reconciliation. Tese associations can refer to the past as well as
present, and to national as well as international contexts. Tis chapter identi-
fes and discusses several aspects of peace tourism.
In the frst place, a growing number of cities can be regarded, or regard
themselves, as cities of peace. A variety of peace cities – which constitute an
obvious destination for the peace tourist – will be introduced. Secondly, mu-
seums play an important role in the national and global tourism industry. In
the second half of the twentieth century, a new type of museum came to the
fore – the peace museum. Here, also, a great variety can be noted. Visits to
peace museums and exhibitions constitute a second aspect of engaging in
peace tourism. Another development concerns the (re)discovery of local peace
history, and the production of city peace trails. Walking in the steps of great
teachers of peace and nonviolence, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther
King, Jr., or Nelson Mandela, provides yet another opportunity for being a
peace tourist. Te chapter aims to show that an important aspect of ‘peace
through tourism’ is peace tourism, a hitherto neglected and unrecognised as-
pect of tourism. In the conclusion, a number of recommendations (addressed
to diferent partners and groups) will be made in order to promote peace tou-
rism, which should be seen as a vital component of a culture of peace.
Since the 1960s, historians of world peace and related concepts such as pa-
cifsm, internationalism, anti-militarism, conscientious objection, disarma-
ment and world government have together forged a new sub-division of histo-
ry – peace history – that studies, documents and analyses a myriad of actions
and campaigns of individuals and organisations that have signifcantly contri-
buted to the promotion of these related and interdependent causes (van den
Dungen and Wittner 2003; van den Dungen 2013). Te legacy of peace eforts
of the past is not only documented in these new approaches to history and in
publications, but frequently also made visible in buildings, memorials, parks
and other features of the cultural landscape.
Peace Tourism 63
Te evidence of war is visible in both the natural and cultural landscapes –
e.g., in the form of battlefelds, and war memorials and museums, respec-
tively – but the material evidence of anti-war and peace is far less known and
far less visible. Whilst battlefeld tourism has a long history, and is more po-
pular than ever – admittedly, in some countries more than in others – the very
notion of peace tourism is hardly known. In the U.S., the National Park Ser-
vice identifes about thirty diferent topics regarding historic sites and land-
marks that it administers. Among these topics are listed battlefeld & military;
civil war; revolutionary war. No mention is made of peace; the closest topic
listed is human rights. Yet there are many peace-making sites in U.S. history;
their formal recognition would enhance the visibility of peace and would help
to teach about peace-making as well as to stimulate peace tourism (Strikland
1994).
War tourism, which has become an increasingly important part of the glo-
bal tourism industry, will be stimulated further in the coming years because
of the centenary of the First World War. For instance, an award-winning UK
tour operator is organising, in 2013–2014, a series of commemorative tours
through the battlefelds of Northern France and Belgium and has published
an attractive 16-page brochure with details: ‘Journey back to the Battlefelds
of World War One’ (Great Rail Journeys 2013). Anniversaries of the Second
World War will not be forgotten either. To mention one example: Fred. Ol-
sen Cruise Lines is ofering a 7-night D-Day 70th Anniversary Voyage in June
2014 to commemorate the allied landings on the beaches of Normandy in June
1944. In both cases, participants will mainly visit battlefelds, war memorials,
and war museums.
Even without such commemorative anniversaries, however, ‘war tourists’
are never short of destinations. In the UK, they have a sizeable library of guide-
books available to plan their journeys; the proliferation of this literature sug-
gests the growing popularity of this kind of tourism. Such outings are often
presented as a great day out for all the family with ‘special events and hands-
on experiences for children and adults alike’, to quote from Mark Adkin’s ‘Te
Daily Telegraph Guide to Britain’s Military Heritage’ (Adkin 2006), which de-
scribes 350 notable places. More than twice that number – including 250 mu-
seums, 100 battlefelds, and 400 fortifcations, castles, bastions and airfelds –
are identifed in Martin Marix Evans’s ‘Te Military Heritage of Britain and
Ireland’ (Evans 2004). Specialised guides are also available, such as the one
devoted to 140 regimental museums (Sibun 2007). Also, in many other coun-
tries, battlefeld, military, and war tourism are well developed. For instance,
the National Geographical Institute in Belgium has issued a military tourism
map of the country (Military Tourism 2000).
Although there are undoubtedly points of convergence, at times war tou-
rism and peace tourism may have little in common, and appeal to largely dife-
rent publics. Te typical battlefeld or war museum enthusiast is perhaps unli-
kely to show great interest in visiting, for instance, the United Nations in New
York or Geneva, or the Peace Palace in Te Hague.
64 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
Peace Cities
If Hiroshima can be called a battlefeld, it is one of a new and unpreceden-
ted kind. Visitors to the city, with its large peace museum and park with
numerous memorials, are more likely to be peace tourists rather than war
tourists. Among them will be peace activists and educators, involved in cam-
paigns and education concerning the abolition of nuclear weapons, and who
visit the city as pilgrims. A visit to Hiroshima can be a life-changing experi-
ence, as is well documented. Hiroshima has long promoted itself as a city of
peace and is, indeed, the world’s foremost example of such a city, which at-
tracts a considerable number of visitors from home and abroad (Kosakai 2002).
Hiroshima is also the birthplace of important campaigning organisations, no-
tably Mayors for Peace, which strives for the abolition of nuclear weapons and
has 5,700 member cities in more than 150 countries.
In 1955, Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened a peace museum and peace park
(‘Hiroshima Peace Park Guide’ 2005). In the following years many renovations,
extensions, and additions have made both cities a veritable place of pilgrimage
for peace people. Of the approximately 1 million annual visitors to the Hiro-
shima Peace Memorial Museum, not more than 10% are from overseas. Te
global task that the city, and Mayors for Peace, have set themselves would be
greatly facilitated if sister museums were to be established around the world,
starting in the capital or main cities of the states with nuclear weapons. Tis
would ensure that the powerful and vital message of the Hiroshima Peace Me-
morial Museum, of the ‘hibakusha’, and of the city will be heard where it mat-
ters most.
Tirty years before the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Flemish
city of Ypres in Belgium was totally destroyed in three long and costly batt-
les (1914, 1915, 1917) during the First World War, making the battlegrounds
around the city among the most notorious in the world (see Bourgeois in this
volume). New weapons such as gas, land mines and famethrowers made these
battles even more horrifc and resulted in half a million dead and 1.2 million
wounded. Many of the dead were British and Commonwealth soldiers who are
buried in the numerous cemeteries in and around Ypres, making the city and
surrounding region very popular with war and peace tourists from around the
world. With the opening of the In Flanders Fields museum – ‘a war museum
for peace’ – in 1998, the city declared itself a peace city, and likewise the whole
region was ofcially declared a region of peace. Te city and region are among
the world’s most important destinations for war and peace tourism, which in
the coming years of the centenary of the First World War will attract even
more visitors than usual.
Cities which have sufered greatly in war and subsequently resolved to de-
dicate themselves to its prevention, are only one type of ‘peace city’ (van den
Dungen 2009a, 2010b). Another type, to be found especially in Europe, is a
city which hosted negotiations that ended a war and where a peace treaty, usu-
ally named after the city, was signed. Te tercentenary of the Peace of Utrecht
(1713) has been celebrated throughout the year 2013, with an extensive pro-
Peace Tourism 65
gramme of events – not only for the specialist but also for a wider audience, of
young and old, from home and abroad. Such a celebration aims to draw less-
ons and promote peace today, and also attract visitors and tourists and thus
contribute to the local economy.
An impressive and earlier example of a wide-ranging programme to cele-
brate the anniversary of the restoration of peace following a devastating war
concerns the 350th anniversary, in 1998, of the Peace of Westphalia (1648)
(‘350 Jahre’ 1998). Te protracted peace negotiations (1643–1648) took place
in the German cities of Osnabrück and Münster which, ever since, have been
known as peace cities. Both contain important legacies today which remind
the visitor of the historic peace-making that took place there and which has
been commemorated through certain customs and traditions that continue to
pay grateful tribute to the ending of the Tirty Years’ War (1618–1648).
A more recent example concerns Dayton, Ohio where negotiations for en-
ding the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were successfully concluded in 1995
through the Dayton Peace Accords. Within a decade, and thanks to private
initiative, the Dayton International Peace Museum opened its doors. Shortly
afterwards, the Museum instituted a Dayton Peace Award, and this was fol-
lowed by the creation of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize by a coalition of au-
thors, librarians, and media representatives. Te latter prize – the only one
of its kind – has grown to be an important annual event in the social and
cultural calendar of the city. Te museum not only exhibits artefacts but also
is actively involved in a variety of peace education and outreach projects, with
strong links to the local community. Its dynamic approach has made the mu-
seum the main vehicle for promoting a culture of peace in the city. A more
recent initiative in Dayton is the establishment of Te International Cities of
Peace organisation, dedicated to promoting and connecting the global cities
of peace movement.
With the growth of international organisation(s) since the middle of the
19th century, and especially since the foundation of the League of Nations and
then the United Nations in the frst half of the 20th century, cities such as Te
Hague, Geneva and New York have become important for peace tourism. Te
Hague ofcially describes itself as an ‘international city of peace and justice’
and various publications and tourist guides have been issued by the city in re-
cent years to highlight this aspect (Bouhalhoul 2007; Kids Tour 2008; Eyfnger
2003). Te two Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 (and projected third
conference in 1915) are the modern foundations for the development of the city
as a global centre of peace and justice. Te main achievement of the 1899 con-
ference was the Convention for the Pacifc Settlement of International Disputes,
which included at its heart the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
(PCA), the oldest instrument for peaceful confict resolution by states in the
modern world. In order to give the Court a home worthy of its mission, the
Scottish-American steel tycoon and staunch opponent of war, Andrew Carne-
gie, provided the funds for the building of the Peace Palace. It has become the
city’s calling card. Anticipating its centenary in 2013, an attractive Visitor Cen-
tre was opened in 2012 just inside the gates of the Palace. Tis will enable the
66 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
many passengers on the tourist coaches, stopping every day in front of it, to do
more than just take a photograph of Carnegie’s striking ‘Temple of Peace’.
In recent years, citizens of Te Hague (and through them also the munici-
pality) have re-discovered Bertha von Suttner, the Austrian baroness and au-
thor of the bestseller, ‘Lay Down Your Arms’ (‘Die Wafen Nieder!’ 1889), who
was an important lobbyist at both conferences. Earlier, she had inspired Alfred
Nobel to support the peace movement by his creation of the peace prize. She
was the frst woman to receive it in 1905. In 2013 she became the frst woman
with a statue in the Peace Palace; at the same time, another statue of her was
unveiled in the large atrium of the city hall. Te previous year, on International
Women’s Day (8th March 2012), a building near the Peace Palace – which hou-
ses many international and peace NGOs – was named after her. On the same
day six years earlier, a large ofce building of the European Union in Brussels
had likewise been named after her. It is disappointing that Vienna, the city
where she lived and died, and from where she conducted an indefatigable cam-
paign to prevent the First World War, hardly remembers her (van den Dungen
2010a, Jalka 2011). A future International Peace Tourism Bureau would be able
to ofer her growing number of admirers throughout the world an attractive
and instructive journey – ‘Following in the footsteps of Bertha von Suttner’ –
which would cover cities in many countries in Europe as well as the U.S.
Something similar has already been available for a long time for devotees
of her friend and contemporary, Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross,
and frst co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Geneva is the birth-
place of Dunant and of the worldwide humanitarian movement he founded.
Tere is unlikely to be another city anywhere in the world which has so many
memorials to a famous son or daughter as has Geneva, for Dunant. His bio-
graphy and the history of the Red Cross can be learnt by walking the streets
of the city – with the added bonus of seeing the very locations intimately con-
nected with both. Tis is in no small measure due to the eforts of the private
Henry Dunant Association (Société Henry Dunant). Established in the 1970s,
through its many publications, exhibitions, conferences, research projects and
study tours, the Association has considerably contributed to our knowledge
and understanding of the origins of the movement and the many traces it has
left in Geneva (Durand 1991). At the same time, the city and canton of Gene-
va have cooperated in making this important story visible through memorial
plaques and statues which are scattered all over the city. One of the many pub-
lications of the Association is ‘Tose Places Where Henry Dunant …’ (Durand
and Roueche 1986) which identifes and illustrates some 25 sites of historical
interest in Geneva.
Te centenary of Dunant’s Nobel Peace Prize, in 2001, was celebrated in
Geneva by an extensive programme of events, some academic, others of a po-
pular nature, including concerts, conferences, exhibitions, and also an ‘Itine-
rary for Peace’ to places and buildings associated not only with Dunant and
the Red Cross, but also with the work for peace in the city during the past
200 years (‘Itinéraire de la Paix’ 2001). Tis handy guide, which identifed and
briefy described 43 sites of interest, was expanded the following year into a
Peace Tourism 67
fully illustrated bi-lingual book, ‘Itinerary for Peace in the Streets of Geneva’
(Durand, Dunant and Guggisberg 2002). Te celebrations in 2001 and 2002
were coordinated by an organisation, ‘Geneva: a place for peace’, that had been
created specifcally for the purpose, and which comprised several partners.
Large colourful banners were placed in front of each of the 43 signifcant sites
of peace and remained there throughout the year. Te frst Geneva conference
was held in 1863, and the frst Geneva Convention was signed the following
year. Te 150th anniversaries of these foundational events in 2013 and 2014
provide further opportunities for commemorative events as well as refections
on the challenges facing the Red Cross movement today.
With the establishment in Geneva of the League of Nations, created in the
aftermath of the First World War, the city’s pre-eminent position in interna-
tional peace-making was assured. Also, several international organisations
associated with the League, such as the International Labour Ofce, and the
High Commissioner for Refugees, established their secretariats in the same
city, thus reinforcing its pivotal role in international cooperation. After the
Second World War, when the League’s successor, the United Nations, was
headquartered in New York, the Palais des Nations (which had been construc-
ted for the League) became the European ofce of the United Nations.
Many agencies associated with the UN have their seats in Geneva. For both
diplomats and students of international relations and international organisa-
tions, the city remains a place of prime importance. Te concepts of neutrality
and impartiality, which are key principles of the Red Cross, have also been
characteristic features of Switzerland’s foreign policy, helping to explain the
many peace conferences which the city and country have hosted over the ye-
ars. Much of this is documented and displayed, notably in the museum on
the history of the League of Nations in the library of the UN in Geneva. Te
library houses the extensive and important archives of the League of Nations.
Tey include, for instance, one of the most important collections on the histo-
ry of the peace movement, the Fried-Suttner papers. Every year, some 100,000
visitors tour the Palais des Nations. In New York, the United Nations Visitors
Centre welcomes more than ten times that number every year.
Multi-language tours of the UN building complex started soon after its
opening in the early 1950s. Since then, more than 38 million visitors have tou-
red the building. As Kof Annan wrote, in addition, “countless thousands have
called it their workplace. All of them have their own memories and impressi-
ons … they recall the UN building as a source of inspiration … a place that is
home to the world” (Annan 2005, 7). Te UN building is a beacon of hope, the
visible symbol of the belief in a world connected and incessantly striving for
peace. Visiting the UN building can have a lasting impact, and confront the
visitor with the complex and challenging situation facing the world organisa-
tion. Although primarily a place of work, for the visitor the UN headquarters
building can assume the functions of a peace museum (Apsel 2008).
Like Hiroshima, Geneva is a Mecca for peace tourists – but these two cities
have a very diferent history. Another city, diferent again, but also with a spe-
cial signifcance for peace is Oslo. Here, every year on 10 December (the day
68 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
when Alfred Nobel died) the Peace Prize that he established is awarded during
a day of celebration. Tere is no higher accolade in the world today than the
Nobel Peace Prize. Te annual festivities on and around 10 December make
‘peace’ and what it takes to be a ‘champion of peace’ (the expression that Nobel
used in his last will and testament) newsworthy. Together with the announce-
ment the previous October of the year’s winner, these are rare occasions when
the media focus, for once, not on war and violent confict but on peace and
the merits or otherwise of the laureate. Te nomination of brave, controversial
or unusual candidates, especially when put forward by prominent individuals,
can also make the headlines.
Tourists who visit the Norwegian capital are likely to see the elegant buil-
ding of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, with a bust of Nobel in front of it. Te-
re is also the possibility of stepping into the room where the secretive Nobel
Committee has been meeting since 1905, and whose walls are lined with the
ofcial portraits of the laureates. Students and scholars make use of the excel-
lent library of the Institute, established to assist in the evaluation process of
the merits of the candidates and their work.
During the last twenty years or so, the Institute has organised conferences
and regular seminars, developed research programmes, and ofered fellow-
ships to visiting scholars – making this both a very appropriate and desirable
location for research and debate on contemporary war and peace issues. Du-
ring the same period, the Institute has organised a spring tour every year for
its staf and visiting fellows – taking them one year, for instance, to Sweden
‘in the footsteps of Alfred Nobel’, or another year to Austria ‘in the footsteps
of Bertha von Suttner’ – great examples of peace tourism. Te growing world-
wide interest in the Nobel Peace Prize also frequently brings journalists and
media people from around the world to the Institute in Oslo.
In 2005, as part of the centenary celebrations of Norway’s independence
from Sweden, the Nobel Peace Center was opened in a historic location in the
heart of the city. Te chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed
the hope that “the Center will be an important forum for all types of activities
relating to the peace efort. We also hope that the Nobel Peace Center will
rapidly become one of Oslo’s leading tourist attractions” (Mjøs 2005, 3). Five
years later, in 2010, the Center welcomed a record number of 200,000 visitors.
In the same year, nearly 850 school groups participated in educational acti-
vities or guided tours organised by the Center. Amongst its most popular at-
tractions are the temporary exhibitions, including one every year on the new
laureate (Nobel Foundation 2010, 55).
Gandhi, M. L. King, Mandela
Te combined biographies of the Nobel peace laureates (including organi-
sations), stretching back more than one hundred years, provide an excellent
overview of the modern history of peace-making and confict resolution.
Many of the laureates are inspiring fgures whose often heroic lives, fully de-
dicated to the struggle for peace, continue to enlighten and encourage later
Peace Tourism 69
generations. It is therefore no surprise that several museums and centres
exist around the world devoted to individual peace laureates – such as Jane
Addams, Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King Jr., and Woodrow Wilson in the
U.S.; Nelson Mandela in South Africa; U Tant in Myanmar/Burma; and Al-
bert Schweitzer in France and Germany. It is ironic that the peace person who
has by far the most museums and centres devoted to him, Gandhi, is not a
Nobel peace laureate. Many of these museums and centres are in India, where
they attract biographers, scholars, activists, and Gandhians who follow in his
footsteps by undertaking a Gandhi peace trail.
Gandhi’s most famous and productive follower, Martin Luther King Jr., did
just that. Greatly inspired from the earliest days of the Montgomery Bus Boy-
cott (1955–1956) by the Mahatma’s technique of nonviolent social change, and
its subsequent success, King contemplated travelling to India to deepen his
understanding of Gandhian principles. Tree years later, following an invita-
tion from the Indian government, King made a celebrated month-long tour
of India, together with his wife and Lawrence Reddick, his friend and early
biographer. Upon his arrival in New Delhi, he famously said to reporters, “To
other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim” (King
1970, 188). Afterwards he wrote: “Te trip had a great impact upon me perso-
nally … I left India more convinced than ever before that nonviolent resistance
was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for
freedom … As a result of my visit to India, my understanding of nonviolence
became greater and my commitment deeper.” Tese are the concluding words
of the chapter entitled ‘Pilgrimage to Nonviolence’ in his autobiography (King
2000, 134). Te 50th anniversary of this historic journey was commemora-
ted in 2009 by a visit to India (sponsored by the U.S. Department of State) by
King’s son, Martin Luther King III, members of the U.S. Congress, and others.
In her memoirs, Coretta Scott King had noted, “In the course of our travels
we visited many places that Gandhi had made so memorable by his presence
that they had become shrines” (King 1970, 191). Something similar can be said
about her husband. A peace, nonviolence, and civil rights movement trail – in
the footsteps of Martin Luther King, Jr. – starts in Atlanta, Georgia, the city
where he was born and lived for all but fve years of his life. Among the nota-
ble sites and visitor attractions are his birth home, the Martin Luther King,
Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (the King Center), and the Ebenezer
Baptist Church where he delivered many of his impassionate sermons (Farris
2007). Tese and other buildings are part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nati-
onal Historic Site that was created in 1980 by the U.S. National Park Service.
In homage to his teacher, a statue of Gandhi, donated by the Indian Council
for Cultural Relations, was unveiled here in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of
India’s independence (‘Atlanta Peace Trails’ 2008, 20; Farris 2007).
King and his fellow campaigners were of course constantly on the march
throughout the land, but especially in the Deep South, comprising the sta-
tes of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North & South Carolina, and
Tennessee. Hundreds of the most memorable places (some famous, some
forgotten) of arrests, beatings, demonstrations, marches, murders, protests,
70 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
shootings, sit-ins, strikes, witnessing – sites of tragedies and triumphs, defeats
and victories – are described and illustrated in ‘Weary Feet, Rested Souls: A
Guided History of the Civil Rights Movement’ (Davis 1998). Tese places re-
present all aspects of social life: banks, barber shops, churches, courthouses,
homes, jails, parks, restaurants, schools, streets & squares. Segregation and
discrimination were pervasive, as was the struggle for equality, justice and
human dignity. Davis’s impressive and fascinating travelogue documents nu-
merous sites that are associated with signifcant events in the history of a mo-
vement (1954–1968) that transformed America and the world. Taken together,
these sites represent a battlefeld of a special kind where the armed forces of
an unjust and repressive ‘law and order’ system were eventually overcome by
nonviolent resistance.
One aspect of the lasting impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. is of particular
interest to the tourist and traveller: the 650 avenues, boulevards, and streets
in cities, towns and villages across the country that bear his name. Tey each
have their own story to tell, and many can be found in another pioneering and
fascinating work of cultural history which is also of interest to the peace tou-
rist: Jonathan Tilove’s ‘Along Martin Luther King: Travels on Black America’s
Main Street’ (Tilove 2003). In the U.S., the path from civil war to civil rights
can also be pursued in individual cities. Washington, D.C., provides an excel-
lent example where local historians, heritage and tourism experts, and busi-
nesspeople have joined forces to produce a walking tour of downtown D.C.,
following in the footsteps of ‘Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Walt Whitman, and other great Americans whose lives were
intertwined with the history of the nation and its capital city’ (Busch 2001,
cover). While visitors to the city fock to the National Mall to see the grand
monuments that symbolise the country’s highest ideals, this heritage trail
(consisting of three one-hour-long walks) invites visitors to deepen their ex-
perience by discovering the places where people have struggled to make those
ideals a reality.
If India has Gandhi, and the U.S. has Martin Luther King, Jr., Africa has
Nelson Mandela. It seems that no individual has ever commanded so much
admiration and love as the leader of the long struggle against apartheid in
South Africa. Robben Island, where he was imprisoned for eighteen years, has
become a very popular tourist destination; in 1999 it was declared a World
Heritage Site. Many South Africans, Africans, and people from around the
world have been inspired by his heroic life, and want to pay their respect and
also increase their understanding of a remarkable life that has touched their
own by retracing his steps. Tis may reinforce their own commitment to
struggle for freedom, justice, reconciliation, and peace.
A more elaborate tour, covering a diferent part of the country, has recently
been designed and ofered by Edgeworld Tours in the Eastern Cape Province,
in cooperation with the Samara Private Game Reserve. ‘Mandela Landscapes’
is ‘a seven day tour to the land of the great man’. Travelling through the Trans-
kei, the region where Mandela was born, the tour includes visits to his birth-
place and the Mandela Museum at Qunu where he grew up, the church where
Peace Tourism 71
he was baptised, and the family graveyard. On another day, a walk in the fo-
rest with a Xhosa guide explores local traditions and beliefs which infuenced
Mandela. Tere are also visits to St. Matthew’s Mission, where participants
learn about the role of missionaries in the life of Mandela and his people, and
to Fort Hare University where he was a student. Participants will gain a much
better appreciation of ‘the historical background, the cultural norms, and the
great African landscape’ that helped to form the unique mind-set of Nelson
Mandela and that set him on his great ‘walk to freedom’. Yet another dimen-
sion in the make-up of Mandela and the Xhosa nation is revealed by visits to
the Eastern Cape battlefelds. Tey make clear that the struggle for freedom in
South Africa began two centuries before Mandela was born and encompassed
a 100-year war of dispossession when the Xhosa nation lost 70 % of the tribal
lands (www.samara.co.za/specials.htm).
Peace Museums
Let us return to a diferent struggle, and a diferent war. Te centenary of the
First World War (2014–2018) ofers many opportunities, not only in Europe
and America, but also elsewhere, to remember, re-discover and re-evaluate
individuals and movements which in the preceding century had been waging
a campaign to abolish war (Cooper 1991). In particular, in the decades before
1914, heroic eforts were made to educate and alert the wider public about the
dangers of the arms race, the imperial rivalries, and the cult of the nation. Te
Nobel Peace Prize and the Peace Palace – both important symbols of peace
today – were created at this hopeful time.
Another remarkable creation of the same pre-1914 movement did not survi-
ve the war: the International Museum of War and Peace in Lucerne, Switzer-
land. It was conceived and fnanced by the Polish-Russian entrepreneur, early
peace researcher, peace educator, and peace lobbyist, Jan Bloch (van den Dun-
gen 2006). It opened its doors in 1902, and immediately made the city a signi-
fcant place for the international peace movement, which decided to hold its
annual congress for 1905 in the picturesque Swiss town. As the city archivist
commented in his history of the city around this time, “Tis unique collection
quickly became for everyone, locals and foreigners alike, an attraction that in-
vited thoughtful refection” (Rogger 1965, 76).
Tis anti-war and peace museum, the frst of its kind, was noted in all the
travel guides for Switzerland. For instance, Karl Baedeker’s ‘Handbook for
Travellers’ included the museum in the map of the city and explained that the
institution was founded “in order to illustrate the historical development of
the art and practice of warfare and the ever-increasing horrors of war, and
thereby to promote the movement in favour of peace” (Baedeker 1903, 100).
Bloch had chosen an ideal location: Lucerne was a popular holiday destination,
in the middle of Switzerland, itself in the heart of Europe. Te museum was
next to the railway station, and situated along the lake from where the pleasu-
re boats would arrive and depart. Although open only during the summer, it
attracted annually some 60,000 visitors, twice the number of the city’s inhabi-
72 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
tants (Troxler 2010, 142). In 1910 the museum moved to a diferent location in
the town in a purpose-built facility (Cook 1912, 108). In 2010, commemorating
the centenary of the opening of the new museum building, a comprehensive
history of the museum was published (Troxler 2010). Te city archives also or-
ganised a small exhibition and published a brochure that aptly referred to the
museum as one that was founded to oppose the arms race (Walker 2010). Lack
of visitors and tourists during the Great War starved the museum of funds,
however, resulting in its closure in 1919.
Today, the building is home to a pedagogical academy. A large painting,
‘Pax Defeating the Warrior’, which graced the façade of the museum near the
main entrance, can still be seen today (Stadelmann et al. 2001, 138–139). Neit-
her the museum’s demise, nor its inability to prevent war, in any way dimini-
shes the merits of Bloch’s pioneering institution. How much is the world today
in need of a ‘museum against the arms race’, now that annual global military
expenditure amounts to a staggering $1.75 trillion and nuclear weapons are
proliferating? Even more than before, the arms race has become a race to the
death. Bloch is now being recognised as the pioneer of peace museums that
gradually emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War, initially in Ja-
pan, and then elsewhere. While several have become important visitor attrac-
tions – such as the museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki previously menti-
oned, as well as several other peace museums in Japan, the Guernica Peace
Museum in the Basque country in Spain, or the Memorial for Peace in Caen,
France – others are small and struggling to survive. Still, the idea is in the air
and, more than that, new peace museums are being created all the time (van
den Dungen 2009b).
One of the most remarkable and beautiful of these is the Tehran Peace Mu-
seum. It was founded by members of the Tehran-based NGO, Society for Che-
mical Weapons Victims Support, with the help of the city. Te Society brings
together Iranian survivors of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons attacks du-
ring the long Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Tese survivors are passionate about
sharing their stories, and working for a world without war. Te idea for the
museum was suggested by visits to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
with which the Tehran Peace Museum has forged strong links. Te Muse-
um also serves as the secretariat of the country’s section of Mayors for Peace
(which includes the mayor of Tehran).
Another inspiring project, this time in Africa, is the Community Peace
Museums Heritage Foundation in Kenya, which brings together ten ethnic, re-
gionally-based community peace museums. Among their objectives is the re-
discovery and teaching, with the help of artefacts, of traditional healing and
reconciliation processes (Gachanga 2008).
Representatives from about two dozen peace and anti-war museums from
around the world came together for the frst time at a conference in Bradford
in 1992, where it was decided to try to meet every three years, and to establish
an International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP). Its 8th conference
is scheduled to take place in September 2014 at the No Gun Ri Peace Park in
South Korea. Te network has stimulated publications about peace museums,
Peace Tourism 73
including the frst directories which were published by the library of the
United Nations in Geneva in 1995 and 1998. A comprehensive directory, with
extensive bibliography, was published by the Kyoto Museum for World Peace
at Ritsumeikan University to coincide with the 6th International Conference
held in Kyoto and Hiroshima (Yamane 2008). Since 2008, INMP has
maintained a small secretariat in Te Hague (see www.inmp.net). Certainly –
for those involved in peace campaigning, peace education, peace history and
promotion of a culture of peace – the notion of peace tourism has become a
reality.
As the country with the most peace museums, Japan is a popular destina-
tion for peace tourists. University and high school students form a particular
group of tourists who, as a class or in a group, visit the country, sometimes
with a special focus on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On the other hand, Japanese
people involved in peace education and activism are keen to visit peace muse-
ums abroad.
Peace Monuments & City Peace Trails
Peace museums can be regarded as peace monuments or memorials of a spe-
cial kind in that they are both much larger and much livelier than the typical
monument (Lollis 2010, 416). Since the latter is easier and cheaper to const-
ruct, monuments devoted to peace are much more numerous than museums.
Such monuments have come to fourish during the last few decades. Former
U.S. diplomat, Edward W. Lollis, maintains the world’s largest website on the
subject: www.peacepartnersintl.net. He selected more than 400 for a book pu-
blished in 2013, on the occasion of the centenary of the Peace Palace – itself
one of the oldest, greatest, and most beautiful monuments devoted to peace
(Lollis 2013). Because of the institutions housed in it, such as the Permanent
Court of Arbitration, and the International Court of Justice of the UN, the
Palace is of course much more than a monument.
Peace monuments are welcome reminders in the cultural landscape of the
importance of peace and provide a much-needed counterpart to the numerous
war memorials and streets and squares named after battlefelds and their he-
roes. Combined with the preponderance of war museums in many countries,
the impression could easily be gained not only that war and human slaughter
are inevitable, but also that this is where glory and heroism reside.
An important part of peace education and the development of a culture of
peace is to make peace and all it implies (cooperation, nonviolence, tolerance,
justice, human rights, equality) more visible – in school textbooks, in the me-
dia, in the public sphere – and also in tourism. Excellent vehicles in this res-
pect are city peace trails. As mentioned above, several peace cities, with a rich
historical as well as contemporary peace ‘scene’, have produced such guides.
But many other cities and towns can also produce their own guides. Whilst
these may not be as extensive, and the names included may not be as famous,
they are likely to report on fascinating individuals, organisations, and events
that hitherto had been unknown, forgotten, repressed, or insufciently ap-
74 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
preciated. Local historians, heritage and community groups, women’s groups,
teachers, senior high school pupils and university students, and of course
peace activists – all can contribute to the research and information-gathering
necessary to document the work for peace and justice of their local commu-
nity both in the past and today. Such active involvement in the production
of peace trails may inspire these groups to make their own contributions to
peace-making today.
During the last few years, several city peace trails have been designed and
published, especially in England. Today, the inhabitants of – and visitors to –
cities such as Birmingham, Bradford, Cambridge, Coventry, Leeds, London
and Manchester are able to explore their rich and often surprising peace he-
ritage with the help of attractive and handy (and sometimes free) trails, of-
ten available from the local tourist ofce or public library. When much of
the world is remembering the centenary of the First World War, it is good
to be able to remember those who worked to prevent it, as well as those who
believe(d) that a world without war is possible. Tis idea has also inspired an
EU-funded project, currently underway, to produce city trails for several Eu-
ropean cities including Berlin, Budapest, Paris and Turin. Whereas the tourist
ofces or local heritage associations of many large cities frequently ofer their
visitors a number of specialised walks, catering for a wide variety of interests
(such as architecture, crime, cuisine, militaria, music, sport, transport), un-
til recently, ‘peace’ was absent from this particular tourist menu. Tis is now
changing and the great and still growing number of Mayors for Peace may
well result in many more city peace trails. Te global application of such map-
ping of signifcant peace-making locations will provide an important stimulus
for peace tourism around the world.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, I would like to ofer a few refections on my own experience
regarding peace tourism. As a peace historian and peace educator, and keen
traveller, I have always been interested in seeking out and visiting places as-
sociated with peace-making and peacemakers – frst and foremost, regarding
the abolition of war. In particular, with the emergence of an organised inter-
national peace movement in the early 1800s, there is a rich history and lega-
cy, unfortunately all too little known not only by the general public but also
among peace educators and activists (van den Dungen 2005). Tis is where
peace museums and peace trails have an important role to play in bringing
out into the open the fascinating history of peace – a highly relevant subject
in this day and age.
I have greatly enjoyed the peace tourism that colleagues and former stu-
dents have organised in Tokyo and other cities during several visits to Japan,
the leading country not only regarding peace museums but also with respect
to the campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Te programme for
non-Japanese participants at the 3rd International Conference of Peace Muse-
ums that was held in Osaka and Kyoto in 1998 included the option of a 2-day
Peace Tourism 75
excursion to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or Okinawa. Tis option was widely used
and was a great enrichment of the conference.
Te following year, when the U.S.-based Peace History Society organised
its own programme as part of the Hague Appeal for Peace when 10,000 acti-
vists gathered in the Dutch city to celebrate the centenary of the First Hague
Peace Conference, I was happy to guide colleagues one afternoon to familiar
and less familiar places associated with that unprecedented diplomatic gat-
hering. Likewise, a few years later a group of admirers of Jan Bloch met in Lu-
cerne to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of his pioneering
peace museum with a conference, an exhibition, and a walk (2002). Te city
had kindly agreed to install a memorial plaque which was unveiled on this
occasion. Many years before, Dr. Andrzej Werner, founder of the Jan Bloch
Society in Warsaw, took me to visit Bloch’s then little known and neglected
burial chapel in the city’s main cemetery, and also showed me buildings and
sites with strong associations to that remarkable peace warrior and leading
entrepreneur.
With peace studies students at the Jaume I University in Castellon, Spain,
we would make a day’s feld trip to nearby Valencia every year, where a Water
Court (‘Tribunal de las Aguas’) has been meeting in the open air, on the steps
of the cathedral, every Tursday for 1,000 years to peacefully arbitrate irriga-
tion disputes that may arise between the several water districts in the region.
Today, the weekly event has become a major tourist attraction.
Te following recommendations would greatly help in establishing peace as
a subject for tourism, and stimulating the development of peace tourism on
both the local and global level:
• Tat travel agencies which ofer battlefeld tours also consider ofering
peace tours
• Tat schools and other educational institutions which organise trips to
battlefeld sites consider the inclusion of anti-war and peace sites
• Tat Mayors for Peace encourage and support the production of peace trails
for their cities
• Tat local authorities, in the naming of streets, squares, and public buil-
dings, do not forget those who have worked for peaceful confict resolution
(both in the community and beyond)
• Tat tourist ofces be made aware of the possibility of peace tourism in
their respective localities and commission relevant research
• Tat experts in local history and heritage document the peace legacy of the
local community, in cooperation with peace activists and educators
• Tat the travel and tourism industry invites peace educators to propose tra-
vel itineraries and visits focused on peace and such issues as war prevention
and peaceful confict resolution
76 PE TER VAN DEN DUNGEN
• Tat the travel and tourism industry explores suitable ways for celebrating
Te International Day of Peace (and similar days, such as M. L. King Day in
the U.S.)
• Tat UNWTO establishes a data-base and acts as a clearing-house for in-
formation about peace tourism
• Tat ‘peace tourism’ becomes a recognised aspect of cultural & heritage
tourism.
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DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
Cornerstones for a Better World:
Peace, Tourism and Sustainable
Development
As I write this article I am deeply aware that we live in a very challenging
time in history. It is a time in which we face so many uncertainties. Tere is
uncertainty about economic recovery, we see anger on the streets and unem-
ployment is rising. It is a time when the whole world is changing dramatically.
Serious political conficts and violence afect the lives of millions of people,
while pervasive corruption, lawlessness and organised crime are making poor
countries poorer. Whichever way we look at our world, we can only conclude
that we need a set of shared standards and values – an ethical framework –
that is meaningful enough to guide us through the volatility and uncertainty
that lie ahead. Te more we shrink our world electronically, to link a buyer
with a seller, a business with a market, a tourist with a destination, the more
we need to rely on each other to deal from the same ethical desk. I endorse the
words of Oliver Williams that Global Codes of Conduct is an Idea whose time
has come.
Te meaning of the term ethics is not easy to defne. Aristotle was one of
the frst philosophers to consider this and he defned it to be the study of how
individuals should best live. In my mind ‘ethics’ refers to a set of standards and
values that an individual, or a group of individuals, have about what is right
and what is wrong; about what is good and what is evil. It guides and dictates
the behaviour of people; it is our inner compass that gives us direction in life.
A person’s ethical standards are frst absorbed as a child from parents, fa-
mily, friends, and from other infuences such as church, school, television, ma-
gazines etcetera. Later, as people grow up and experience more of life, their
intellectual development may lead them to question and change some of these
moral standards.
Tere are many diferent kinds of standards – such as quality standards,
educational standards – and many more. Moral standards are diferent. Tey
are standards that deal with behaviour of a serious nature that often has bad
consequences (such as theft, rape, murder, child abuse, fraud, and so on). Mo-
ral standards are based on sound values and good reasons and are not decided
by a government or any other authority (such as laws or rules made by govern-
ments and other empowered bodies). Moral standards should be above other
non-moral values, such as self-interest, and fnally a moral transgression is
associated with feelings of guilt and shame.
Ethics then, is the discipline that examines one’s moral standards, or the
moral standards of a society. It asks how these standards apply to our lives,
Cornerstones for a Better World 79
guide our behaviour and whether these standards are based on good reason.
A person starts to practise ethics when he or she takes the moral standards
absorbed from family, church and friends and asks: ‘What do these standards
imply for the situation in which I fnd myself? Do these standards really make
sense? Why should I continue to believe in them and behave as they prescribe?’
Moral reasoning is a way of persuading other people to do the right things.
It is also a way of sorting out our own moral convictions, of fguring out what
we believe and why. And more importantly, moral values are of little value as
long as they remain only words and theory. Te most important issue in ethics
is doing the right thing. Don’t just talk about it: do it, do the right thing! Live
your convictions. Moral questions are about how individuals should treat one
another, how we should live and work together. Tey are also about what the
law should be, and about how society should be organised. Tey are questions
about justice and fairness, about honesty, respect and caring. And they very
much constitute the conditions for peace.
Justice and peace go together. Te idea that justice means respecting cer-
tain universal human rights is increasingly embraced around the world. To
ask whether a society is just, is to ask how it distributes the things we prize –
income and wealth, duties and rights, powers and opportunities. A just society
distributes these goods in the right way. It gives each person his or her due.
Te same ethical principles apply to tourism. Te billion mark in tourist ar-
rivals was reached in 2012. A billion tourists per year! Teir journey, by car or
plane or ship, and their collective impact on the countries and places they vi-
sit, will be substantial. Tourism in total has become the biggest business in the
world and it leaves a huge footprint. Te contribution tourism is making to the
economy of receiving countries is enormous. Tat is good, but unfortunately
there is also a negative side.
In its success lies tourism’s biggest challenge. Te mere size and growing
volumes of the tourism industry have a huge positive, but also negative, im-
pact on social and cultural life and a particularly big impact on the natural en-
vironment. Te environment – the very product that forms the basis of most
tourism activities and is providing much of its profts – is in danger of being
harmed irreparably.
As tourism activity continues to grow, travel and tourism have become in-
creasingly intertwined with environmental sustainability. Te tourism indus-
try leaders are acutely aware of the challenges we face. Tey have made remar-
kable progress in many sectors to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry
and to introduce new and cleaner technologies. Te fact is that responsible
tourism can be a major driver of the ‘green economy’ in providing sustainable
infrastructure, green business-models, opportunities, jobs and incomes.
Te case for sustainable development has been made convincingly over and
over again. I am not going to remind you how rapidly our planet and its na-
tural resources are being eroded by unsustainable policies and practices. We
depend on the resources of the Earth to sustain our lives – from the most
basic requirements such as air, water and food, through to the materials we
use for shelter, transport, work and recreation. Some of these resources – like
80 DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
minerals and fossil fuels – are fnite and hence not renewable. However, most
of the Earth’s resources are infnitely renewable – if, and it is a big IF – they
are utilised in a sustainable manner.
Te problem of sustainability is fundamentally an issue of values, like many
other issues in the tourism industry. What was needed was a code of ethics
that would guide and direct all the diferent stakeholders. A code that would
sensitise and motivate the millions of tourists and travellers, as well as all the
other stakeholders. A code about what is right or wrong in diferent situations.
It was against this background that the World Tourism Organization (UNW-
TO) decided to draft a text titled ‘Te Global Code of Ethics for Tourism’. Te
draft was presented to the General Assembly of the Organisation at its mee-
ting in Santiago de Chile in 1999. After thorough and extensive discussions,
including various changes to the original text, ‘Te Code’ was unanimously
approved and remains to this day a guiding light for the tourism industry. Te
GCET was recognised by the General Assembly of the United Nations. It has
the support and encouragement of all Government members of UNWTO and
increasing support from the private sector.
Te Code is in essence an Ethical Road Map to guide tourists and the va-
rious role-players, through the tourism landscape, providing a framework for
responsible tourism in all its diversity. It is for tourism, what the Universal De-
claration of Human Rights is for the citizens of the world. It recognises tourism
as a vehicle for individual and collective fulflment; for mutual understanding
and respect between people; as a driver of sustainable development and econo-
mic growth; and, as a cornerstone in peace-building. Responsible tourism and
peace are partners – the one strengthens the other – they belong together.
I am mindful of the fact that, on 9th November 2000, I had the privilege
to speak at a Summit on ‘Peace through Tourism’ in Amman, Jordan. Tat
was only a few weeks before violence fared up in the Middle East. Looking
back over the time since the Summit, one is overwhelmed by the escalation of
conficts and violence in so many places around the world. Te sad fact is that
tourism and peace are always the frst victims.
Tourism, like peace, is fragile. It breaks easily. Tere are many examples of
how a political crisis, security threats, fnancial collapse, natural disaster or
military confict can seriously damage and even destroy tourism in a parti-
cular region, country or destination. Peace, as we all know, is equally brittle,
depending as it does on human relations. Prejudice, misconception and intole-
rance are root causes in the destruction of peace. Tat is why tourism is an ally
of peace. Tourism establishes contact between visitor and host, between dife-
rent cultures, between peoples and places. How can anyone feel enmity for so-
meone who has received him and made him feel safe and welcome? To travel,
cross borders, visit new places and encounter diferent cultures, is a learning
process that leaves the visitor wiser and more tolerant. By breaking down the
divisions between people, tourism contributes to a better understanding bet-
ween the peoples of the world. It opens the eyes of people so that we can see
one another as we are – equal human beings – each person with his or her
own unique culture, values, history, traditions and customs.
Cornerstones for a Better World 81
Peace and tourism belong together, they are interrelated. Without peace
there can be no tourism, but tourism can also contribute to the peace process
– the building of peace. I call peace a process, because it can never be absolute,
fnal or complete – at least not in this world. Peace is not a destination, a place
where you arrive and unpack. Peace is a journey which demands continued
efort. It requires that we vigorously protect and advance those rights and va-
lues that form the foundation of real peace – rights that can be equated with
individual freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Peace also depends on security. One of the most important components
of social and political stability is economic development. Te creation of jobs
brings hope and opportunity to poor and shattered communities. Honest
work brings dignity and purpose to daily life. Growing prosperity can remove
economic despair and poverty, which often act as catalytic elements that fre
up emotions and create conficts. Again, the economic contribution of tou-
rism can sustain peace and help to difuse these emotional fres. Cross-coun-
try evidence demonstrates that tourism in Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
is a labour intensive activity ofering many small-scale opportunities. It has
the capacity to create jobs – jobs for the poor, jobs for women and young peo-
ple, jobs for the indigenous communities, unskilled as well as highly qualifed
jobs – in small island states as well as in remote rural areas and in ecotourism
activities. Economic development and the creation of more job opportunities
is a strategic move against poverty, anger and confict. Te role tourism can
play in economic terms makes it an important ally in the process of peace-
making.
Te tourism industry has grown phenomenally over the years and is recog-
nised as one of the biggest economic activities in the world. It has become a
major economic force and a driver of economic growth and development. It
constitutes 30% of the world’s export of services and employs between 7%–8%
of the world’s work force. Travel and tourism is the primary source of foreign
exchange for the vast majority of developing countries.
Te case for sustainable development has been made convincingly. Econo-
mic production is basically the process of converting the natural world (rene-
wable and non-renewable resources – water, trees, plants, minerals etc.) to the
manufactured world. Te economy is largely growing at the expense of the
global ecosystems. Te ecosystems are fnite – the planet is not getting any
bigger or producing more water, trees, plants etc. Tis leads to the conclusion
that economic growth cannot continue indefnitely – there is a limit!
Tese ecosystems are necessary to maintain the chemical balance of the
earth; to stabilise weather and climate; to supply food, shelter and raw ma-
terials as well as medicines. Tere are serious concerns and even fears that
if we do not introduce adequate protection measures, future generations will
be saddled with an ecological burden that will condemn them to a poor, un-
healthy and miserable future.
Evidence suggests that environmental degradation contributes to poverty,
and that poverty accelerates the degradation. It becomes a vicious circle. In
the absence of proper sewage systems and waste collection, water gets conta-
82 DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
minated and the diseases spread to more people. Any efective policy to allevi-
ate poverty and build peace must address environmental issues.
Tere are three essentials without which the human economy and indeed
life itself cannot function. Te global ecosystem provides us with all three.
• Firstly it provides resources (food, fbre, fuel, medicine, etc.)
• Secondly, it performs ecological services, such as photosynthesis, gas regu-
lation, climate and water regulation and soil formation
• Tirdly, it absorbs waste.
Running a sustainable economy therefore has three simple rules:
• Don’t use up all the resources
• Don’t undermine the delivery of ecological services
• Don’t over-load the waste-absorption capacity.
It is more and more obvious that peace not only relates to harmony between
peoples and nations, but also harmony between man and nature. Te natural
resources of the world are in great demand. It is not inconceivable that dispu-
tes over natural resources – oil, water or minerals – could destroy peace and
ignite conficts and wars.
Tourism is ideally suited to balance development with conservation. It has
become the biggest economic activity and one of the biggest employers, but
it has also made an indelible contribution towards conservation of both the
natural and cultural environment. If it were not for tourism a large proportion
of the world’s cultural inheritance would have remained in a dilapidated state
or even lost forever. Te income generated by tourism has contributed to the
restoration and maintenance of most of the world heritage sites.
Whilst tourism, peace and sustainable development are interrelated – each
one contributing to the other – peace remains the most important and pre-
cious of all. Without peace there can be no tourism and there will be no sus-
tainable development. Terefore, every efort to promote peace – however
small – is very important. Building peace, promoting tourism and implemen-
ting sustainability are fundamentally moral issues.
Moral issues can be dealt with in two ways: from the perspective of im-
personal impartiality, in other words, from a cold, objective and intellectual
analysis, or from the perspective of caring, which means caring for persons
and relationships. Te great philosopher Martin Buber wrote about the three
fundamental relationships that defne the identity of every person. Te frst
is ‘I – you’ (the relationship between people), then ‘I – it’ (the relationship
with things) and fnally ‘I – Tou’ (a relationship with the unknown). But it is
through the ‘I – you’ relationship, that I become ‘I’. ‘Ich werde Du’. ‘Trough
you I become myself’. It is through people, fellow human beings, neighbours
and friends that I become what I am; that my identity is developed.
Tat is a very powerful vision that puts human relationships at the heart
of the discussion of questions such as: ‘who am I’ and ‘how should I care for
others and for our planet?’ Tat is why I believe that the ethics of ‘caring’ and
of taking responsibility for others, for our world and for the future of society
Cornerstones for a Better World 83
and our planet, is an approach with more feeling, more heart and would there-
fore be more efective.
Trough interaction with people and the discussions of moral issues, we
can develop our ability to move beyond the simple acceptance of moral stan-
dards and turn them into action-driven objectives. Let them become guideli-
nes of what ought to be, what can I do to promote sustainability and advance
responsible tourism in my business and in our village, in our community. Sus-
tainability is like charity. It begins at home – my home.
Doing business in a specifc place is not an isolated exercise. It is linked into
an interrelated network with the people of a geographical area and all the acti-
vities that take place in it. My business is linked to the people, nature, culture
and values of the place where I do business.
Local communities can play an important role in advancing the principles
of responsible tourism, sustainable development and peace. Most countries
have a history in which the views of communities on matters that afect their
lives are seldom seriously considered at governmental levels. Decisions are
handed down from the top and they begin to resent this attitude. Commu-
nities want to have a direct say in matters that afect their lives and futures.
Local communities have a crucial role to play in creating a sustainable en-
vironment with sustainable tourism products. Te expression ‘think globally,
act locally’ is a particularly relevant principle for Communities. Sustainability
will come from the villagers, the communities, and from the people – or not at
all.
I have thought about a conceptual framework that would facilitate the im-
plementation of sustainable tourism with clear ethical guidelines. A frame-
work that appeals to me is one based on the concept of environmental ‘em-
bedding’. It is the concept that all our activities are rooted in the surrounding
natural, cultural, political environment and have knock-on efects on that en-
vironment. All our relations and actions are inter-connected and establish a
framework in which we can formulate our policies. Te point I raised earlier
was that sustainability is fundamentally an issue of values – it has to be dealt
with at the cultural and political level. Solutions must be explored and tested
through a process of continuous learning and application. Because there can
be no permanent solutions in an ecologically dynamic world, the choices will
have to be made again and again as circumstances evolve.
I am convinced that the tourism industry can play a key role in establishing
peace and sustainability as the guiding principles for economic activity and
development. It can help to provide the income and means to care for our
world by generating money and energy for conservation. It can generate a pro-
cess of responsible planning and good management of our scarce resources. It
also reaches out to people by redistributing wealth and income and providing
opportunities to improve the quality of life. Tere is a fne balance between
development and sustainability – we walk a tightrope – but, at the same time,
there are many exciting opportunities.
I would like to conclude my contribution with a question about the applica-
tion of some of the principles contained in the Global Code of Ethics for Tou-
84 DAWI D DE VI LLI ERS
rism. Would it be possible in your business, in your job, in your trade to turn
those aspects of the Global Code of Ethics that are relevant to your activities,
into a personal code of responsibilities? Would it be possible to phrase the
relevant sections as goals that you set yourself or the company or community,
and actively try to reach those goals? I think it is possible to phrase the goals
in such a way that you can monitor, and over time measure your progress or
regress; that you can audit your actions? And adjust them to be more ethically
responsible. Tat is our next big challenge. To walk the walk; not just talk the
talk.
Paul (the apostle) wrote to the Romans and advised them that they should
overcome evil by doing good. But how to do that? Well, he wrote, by not being
lazy, sluggish, and inactive. Te application of that advice to our day and our
problems is that we can overcome bad situations of environmental degrada-
tion, resource depletion and confict, if we are willing to act decisively. We
should not be lazy or inactive but should work hard and purposefully, being
prepared to make personal sacrifces. Tings can go horribly wrong when
good people choose to do nothing. But we can turn the tide if we act decisively.
Responsible tourism challenges us to take action, to implement our moral
convictions and help to turn the tides that rise against us. And at the core
must be the cultural values of tourism communities. It is our challenge and
responsibility as travellers, as businesses and as policymakers to understand
them and to ensure that our own behaviour respects and enhances them. In
the process we will strengthen our own ethics.
Part II
Tourism, Development and
Peace-building
RAMI I SAAC
Responsible Tourism and
Development in the Context of
Peace-building
Introduction
Defnitions, concepts and the terminology of alternative tourism are conten-
tious (Higgings-Desbiolles, 2008). Te concept is still a vague one that lacks
concrete defnition (Butler, 1992, 31; Pearce, 1992, 15). Labels for alternative
tourism include ‘alternative tourism’ (Eadington and Smith, 1992, 3), ‘new tou-
rism’ (Mowforth and Munt, 2009, 4-5), ‘soft tourism’ (Sharpley, 2000; Broggi,
1985, 286), ‘low-impact tourism’ (Wearing and Neil, 1999, 5), ‘responsible tou-
rism’ (Wheeller, 1991, 91), ‘new order of tourism’ or ‘ justice tourism’ (Lanfant
and Graburn, 1992, 91), and many others. Te main aim of this article is to ex-
amine how so-called responsible tourism can contribute to peace-building in
confict regions. Te article starts by providing a brief overview of some of the
alternative forms of tourism found in the literature and attempts to contextu-
alise the form of tourism it is exploring, namely ‘responsible tourism’. Tourism
as a tool for promoting peace will be followed and discussed. After that, the
article moves to the so-called Modes 1, 2, and 3 of knowledge production. Gib-
bons et al. (1994) discuss the transformation in knowledge production as a
global phenomenon.
Since the end of the 20
th
century and alongside ‘traditional’ Modes of
knowledge production (Mode 1 knowledge), Mode 2 knowledge has emerged,
creating a broader, trans-disciplinary social and economic context of appli-
cation (Isaac and Platenkamp, 2012, 177). An example of Mode 2 knowledge
production during the 1990s was a revolutionary contribution to the develop-
ments in the applied context of information communication & technology by
many participants involved. Coles et al. (2009, 84) describes the distinction
as follows: Mode 1 appears to be the dominant type in higher education the-
se days, as ‘the traditional centre for knowledge production’, whereas Mode 2
was originally anticipated as taking place outside university structure. Mode 3
knowledge was introduced by Kunneman (2005), who was aware that during
the second phase in the frst two Modes there was a long-term tendency to ex-
clude the ‘slow questions’ related to sickness, death, repression, and sufering.
Moral virtue as compassion, inner strength, and other sources of existential
fulflment remain important for all generations in a variety of places and regi-
ons.
88 RAMI I SAAC
For example, in the eyes of tourism developers in Myanmar, moral questi-
ons related to injustice, human rights, and the everyday lives of local people
are excluded in their context of application. As a result, many villages are des-
troyed and human rights are violated for the sake of tourism development. De-
velopers and professionals who abstract from these situations do not consider
the moral part, but instead focus on the viability of the tourism business. In
this chapter, the central focus will be on Mode 3 knowledge production and
its relevance to responsible tourism. In this case, responsible tourists could
play a crucial role to enable this stimulating, normative discourse and potenti-
ally contribute to peace-building, justice and hope in confict regions.
Alternative Tourism
‘Alternative Tourism’ was one of the frst concepts that emerged as a response
to the negative impacts of tourism and was seen as an approach to increa-
se sustainability in tourism. Sustainable tourism was initially understood as
the opposite, or alternative, to mass tourism from which the term ‘Alterna-
tive Tourism’ originated (Clarke, 1997, 224). Alternative tourism has become
a sort of umbrella term for new forms of tourism that ofer an alternative to
the mainstream and mass tourism products. If sustainable tourism develop-
ment is, as Godfrey (1998) argues, a process, then it is logical to identify the
appropriate means with which to engage in that process. Such means have
been refected in a host of new terms and forms of ‘alternative’ tourism that
have evolved from the theory of sustainable tourism development as solutions
to the problems and negative impacts of tourism. Tese so-called ‘alternatives’
include ecotourism, green tourism, community tourism, fair-trade in tourism,
new moral tourism, ethical tourism, and responsible tourism, which is the
subject of this chapter.
Responsible Tourism
Responsible tourism emerged in the 1980s and in terms of interpretation and
application in tourism is well carried by the following: “Responsible tourism
is not a tourism product or brand. It represents a way of doing tourism plan-
ning, policy and development to ensure that benefts are optimally distributed
among impacted populations, governments, tourists and investors.” (Husband
and Harrison, 1996, 1, cited in Scheyvens 2002, 186) Otherwise, “it simply me-
ans treating local people as people – not as beggars, nuisances, servants, thie-
ves or exotic photo opportunities.” (Mann, 2000, 201) In addition, Lea (1993,
708) argued that responsible travel is based on three key principles: “to under-
stand the culture that you are visiting, to respect and be sensitive to the peo-
ple who are hosting your visit, and to tread softly on the environment of your
hosts” (cited in Scheyvens, 2002, 103).
According to Cleverdon and Kalisch (2000, 182), who state that “ethics in
tourism should not be confned to an expensive niche market for sophistica-
ted ‘ego-tourists’” and Budeanu (2005, 92), who writes that sustainable tou-
Responsible Tourism and Development 89
rism cannot be achieved through ‘alternatives’ to mainstream tourism, but
that tourism in general needs to “… incorporate more responsible policies and
practices.” Responsible tourism flls the gap that the alternatives leave as a way
of incorporating better practice into all sectors of the market. Husbands and
Harrison (1996, 2) clearly capture this view, stating that responsible tourism
is not a niche tourism product or brand, but a “… way of doing tourism” – any
kind of tourism.
As opposed to several other approaches, responsible tourism is an ethical
approach that is not to be understood as a new type of tourism introduced as
an alternative to mainstream tourism. It is a principle that can and must apply
to all forms of tourism, including small and large scale, domestic and interna-
tional, mass and individualised, and culturally and environmentally-oriented
tourism. According to Goodwin (2011), its goals are to perform a change in
the mainstream forms of tourism. “Responsible Tourism is about encouraging
and motivating people, individuals alone and in groups to take responsibility
for making tourism more sustainable.” (Goodwin, 2011, 30) It is an approach
that aims not only at tourism planners and managers in the development pro-
cess of tourism but at everyone involved in a tourism product, ranging from
the host populations, local governments and businesses, to the outbound tour
operators and the tourists visiting a destination.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary defnition, responsible means
“having an obligation to do something, being the cause of something, being
morally accountable for one’s behaviour and capable of being trusted.“
Krippendorf marked the beginning of the evolution of responsibility and
ethics in tourism in the early 1980s with his publications like “Te Holiday
Makers.” (1987, original: Die Ferienmenschen: Für ein neues Verständnis von
Freizeit und Reisen, 1984) His point of view was controversial at that time, cal-
ling out for “rebellious tourists and rebellious locals” (Krippendorf, 1987, 148)
and openly denying the predominantly negative perception of mass tourism
for a sustainable tourism future.
In 2002, Cape Town hosted the frst International Conference on Respon-
sible Tourism in Destinations which produced the Cape Town Declaration.
On the basis of the UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics, the Cape Town Declara-
tion (2002) identifed Responsible Tourism’s aims to “minimise negative eco-
nomic, environmental and social impacts and to maximise positives ones, [….]
to engage local people, alongside other stakeholders, in decisions that afect
their lives, [….] make positive contributions to the conservation of natural and
cultural heritage, [….] and provide enjoyable experiences for tourists through
more meaningful connections with local people [….].” Tese mostly comply
with the general principles of sustainable tourism, which shows that respon-
sible tourism does not aim to ‘reinvent’ sustainability, but instead promotes
its unconditional implementations. Focusing on the quality of life of both
hosts and guests, the main objective of responsible tourism is “to create better
places for people to live and visit.” (Cape Town Declaration 2002)
As with other sustainable tourism approaches, Responsible Tourism
addresses all three dimensions of sustainability, being economic, social and
90 RAMI I SAAC
environmental sustainable, although it recognises that priorities will vary
from destination to destination. Te guiding principles for economic, social
and environmental responsibility that were identifed in the Cape Town De-
claration are summarised in the following three sections.
Economic Responsibility
From an economic point of view, there are several aspects that need to be con-
sidered by governments, businesses and tourism developers in order to esta-
blish a Responsible Tourism industry at a destination. First of all, before tou-
rism is developed, the economic benefts should be evaluated and decisions
should be made as to whether tourism is a suitable form of local economic de-
velopment. An over-dependency on tourism, presented in destinations where
tourism is the only economic sector, is dangerous and irresponsible. Further-
more, the most appropriate form of tourism should be chosen that benefts
the local population. To maximise these benefts, economic linkages must be
increased and leakages must be reduced. Tourism development should focus
on quality products that refect and enhance destinations. Also, marketing of
the tourism product must be appropriate and represent the natural, cultural
and social integrity of a destination. Moreover, fair business practices must be
promoted, including fair and appropriate pricing strategies, and local labour
should be trained and employed. Finally, sufcient support should be given to
SMEs to ensure a vital and sustainable tourism industry (Cape Town Declara-
tion 2002).
Social Responsibility
As regards the social aspects of responsible tourism, local involvement in
tourism planning and development, as well as in the decision-making pro-
cess, is of critical importance. Furthermore, the monitoring of social impacts
throughout the operation of a tourism project is crucial to minimise negative
impacts and maximise the positive ones. Tourism should be accessible to all
communities; in particular vulnerable and disadvantaged communities must
not be excluded as responsible tourism aims to make tourism an “inclusive so-
cial experience”. Moreover, exploitations of any kind must be combatted and
tourism must be managed sensitively to maintain and encourage social and
cultural diversity. Finally, it must be ensured that tourism makes a positive
contribution to the health and education of local communities (Cape Town
Declaration 2002), reinforcing the fact that responsible tourism makes linka-
ges to other sectors beyond tourism. Indeed, tourism today is not happening
in a vacuum – it has political, environmental, economic and social dimensi-
ons.
Environmental Responsibility
Te responsibility for the environment lies in the sustainable use of natural
resources, as well as minimising waste and over-consumption. For this, edu-
cation and awareness-building is crucial among all stakeholders. Te environ-
mental impacts must be assessed and monitored throughout the life cycle of
Responsible Tourism and Development 91
a tourism project to minimise the negative and maximise the positive ones.
Te natural diversity of a destination should be maintained and appropriate
forms and scales of tourism must be found, which can be supported by the en-
vironment. Furthermore, all stakeholders must be assisted in improving their
capacities to follow the best environmental practices (Cape Town Declaration
2002).
Tese guidelines are generally in accordance with the sustainable tourism
agendas and do not introduce new dimensions or ideas to the concept. Fen-
nell (2006, 14), for example, recognised that essentially, “tourism is a form
of human behaviour” that is driven by ethics and moral beliefs. Responsib-
le tourism should address this moral level of every individual involved in the
tourism and aim to cause a change in the attitude and behaviour of tourists.
In addition, it is a call for responsibility that everyone has to think further
than short-term economic gains and to be aware of and consider the impact of
one‘s actions before making a decision. Tis is exactly the principle on which
responsible tourism could (or should) contribute to peace and peace-building
in struggling regions. Let’s now turn to the next section to discuss the relati-
onship between tourism and peace, and examine how tourism may contribute
to peace and hope in divided nations.
Tourism as a Tool for Promoting Peace
Peace – the word evokes the simplest and most cherished dream of humanity.
Peace is and has always been the ultimate human aspiration, said Javier Peres
de Cuellar, former Secretary-General of the United Nations (Moufakkir and
Kelly, 2010, xvii). Several scholars (Butler and Mao 1995; Isaac 2010; Kim and
Crompton 1990) have investigated the proposition that tourism has some po-
tential to reduce tensions between divided countries. Other researchers, for
example, have contemplated that tourism may act as a positive tool through
reducing tension (Hall 1984; Hobson and Ko 1994; Jafari 1989). Until now, this
proposition has not been documented, with Litvin (1998) suggesting that tou-
rism is not a generator of peace but the benefciary of it. Tis is an important
fact to consider once we talk about the role of (responsible) tourism and its
potential contribution to the creation of hope and peace-building.
Kim and Compton (1990, 353–366) introduced the concept of two-track
diplomacy. Te frst is described as the ofcial level – government-to-govern-
ment relations, whereas the second is an unofcial means of people-to-people
relations through tourism. Research has shown that people-to-people levels
have become an important avenue for increasing engagement between Isra-
el and Palestine (see Isaac, 2010, 584). In this type of engagement, though, it
does not contribute to peace talks and negotiations on the government-to-
government level and it will not solve the core problems. However, these types
of contacts increase better understanding between communities. Te same
can be relevant to the role of responsible tourism, whereby contacts between
responsible tourists and hosts can increase better understanding of the con-
fict. Salazar (2006, 322) argues that peace is not static and utopian, but imper-
92 RAMI I SAAC
fect and permeable and that there are as many types and defnitions of peace
as there are cultures. Te Author proposes a broad defnition of peace as re-
ferring to “peaceful relationships not only between nations, but also between
groups or communities, between individuals and between people and cultu-
res”.
Yu (1997), building on previous input in the political sciences theories pro-
posed by Spero (1981) and Zhan (1993), presented the concept of high and low
political activities. Spero (1981) defned the former as political, military, strate-
gic and intelligence issues that occur at the national, regional and internatio-
nal levels, whereas Zhan (1993, 61) defned low political activities as “activities
that impact indirectly on national, regional and international afairs”. In con-
nection to tourism, Yu (1997) defnes the latter as activities at the local level
among ordinary people. Tis concept indeed relates to the process described
by Butler and Mao (1995), where the increasing familiarity among citizens of
disputing countries may lead to better relations.
A number of scholars have advocated that tourism may be a positive
strength capable of reducing tensions and dispute by infuencing national
politics, international relations and world peace (Hall 1994; Hobson and Ko
1994). However, empirical studies have not supported this proposition. Tou-
rism has signifcant potential to develop a more positive image of a long-term
enemy, paving the way for more harmonious relations, particularly on a per-
son-to-person basis. Tus, responsible tourism may not only be a benefciary
of peace, but also a facilitator of peace.
On the other hand, existing arguments negate the claim that tourism is a
promoter of peace (Cho, 2007, 557). Te key argument is that it has not yet
been empirically investigated and that tourism makes a realistic attribution to
peace, and the relationship between peace and tourism is questionable. Din’s
(1988, 80) statement clearly exposes the negative view on the contribution of
tourism to peace:
“Te universal desire for peace and the desire to see tourism as an avenue
for cross-cultural understanding which is a prerequisite to such goals, have
long been expressed. Unfortunately, such expressions of desire and hope
have never been actually pursued beyond ritual occasions … Tus, at this
stage, ‘Tourism as a vital force for peace’ remains at best a futuristic state-
ment”.
Hall (1994, 91), also criticised the supporting views of some scholars on the
relationship between tourism and peace because of their narrow perspective
as follows: “Te idea that tourism is a force for peace is an overly simplistic in-
terpretation of complexities of tourism and international relations. Such gross
simplifcation of the political dimensions of tourism may serve to provide a
platform for politicians and consultants to launch nice-sounding statements,
but it does little to improve our understanding of tourism’s position in the
political environment”.
As a result of this discussion, it is conceivable to say that peace indeed
exists, as an inspirational concept on a universal level but the idea of peace
Responsible Tourism and Development 93
is constructed, and few would dispute the desire for peace and harmony on a
personal, national and international level. Peace remains a fundamental aspi-
ration for humanity. However, peace is a negative concept in everyday practice.
It is a cynical reality where peace only is misused. In situations of confict, cal-
ling for peace to pursue that kind of reality has no meaning unless it is used by
dominant power groups, for achieving their specifc hidden goals and political
agendas. Consequently, in these types of situations, are there any other alter-
natives for creating hope?
Nevertheless, we need to be realistic in the context of creating hope and
building towards peace in divided nations. Terefore, Mode 3 (existential and
normative questions) would be as a frst step – an inspirational way for the
creation of hope for people in desperate situations. Hope creation and building
toward peace. Whether this will happen, nobody knows, but this is indeed the
only alternative in this context of creating hope. Responsible tourism is an
ideological form of tourism, as discussed above; responsible tourists therefore
need to return to a realistic but inspirational alternative that is realistic, and
“keeping on the conversation between two diferent parties” through Mode 3
discussions, in order to create hope as opposed to the danger of losing it. Con-
sequently, Mode 3 is inspirational for face-to-face contacts between hosts and
responsible tourists, which may contribute to the creation of hope in confict
regions.
Leslie (2012, 54) states a key question for any discourse that may include
responsible tourism: what do we mean by responsible? And who exactly is re-
sponsible? Are tourists responsible for the choice they make? In this chapter,
the author would like to refer to the responsible tourists/ visitors and their
moral responsibility for their ‘potential’ contribution to peace-building and
hope in disputed and contested regions. In addressing these questions, this
brings us to the considerations of ethical, moral and existential questions.
Terefore, the central question here is how moral and existential questions
(Isaac and Platenkamp 2012, 178) may infuence the responsible practices of
tourism in contributing to peace-building and hope.
Now, we turn to the so-called Mode 3 knowledge production and what role
it may play in contributing to ‘responsible tourism’ which in turn might be
a positive force able to reduce tension between divided societies, and bring
peace-building in divided nations. All in all, one thing indeed remains obvi-
ous in this discussion, namely that ‘responsible’ tourism takes place in a con-
text imbued with normative and existential perspectives. Terefore, it beco-
mes crucial to elaborate on the relations between responsible tourism and
normative and existential issues in confict areas.
Mode 1, 2 and 3 in Controversial Areas
Gibbons et al. (1994) started to make a distinction between Mode 1 and Mode
2 knowledge productions. On the one hand, Mode 1 knowledge refers to the
traditional academic, decontextualised debates among members of universi-
ties according to universal rules and procedures. Natural science at traditional
94 RAMI I SAAC
universities is the most appealing example of this type of knowledge. Mode 2,
on the other hand, implies the changing context of application in which dife-
rent teams of researchers collaborate in transient environments. Tribe (1997)
and Portegies et al. (2009) used this distinction in the area of tourism stu-
dies. Coles et al. (2009, 84) say that “Mode 1 appears to be the dominant type
in higher education these days, as ‘the traditional centre of knowledge pro-
duction’, whereas Mode 2 was originally anticipated as taking place outside
university structures”. Mode 3 knowledge has been introduced by Kunneman
(2005) – normative and existential knowledge – in the awareness that in both
of the other Modes – in the professional as well as in the academic knowledge
productions (Gibbons et al. 1994) – there is a long-term tendency to exclude
the ‘slow questions’ (Kunneman, 2005, 116–123). Tese ‘slow questions’ are in
contrast with ‘quick questions’ that emerge from every day reality. Tey do not
require ‘quick answers’ because they are dealing with universal concerns rela-
ted to sickness, death, repression and in addition “moral virtues as compassi-
on, inner strengths or wisdom, and other sources of existential fulflment that
remain crucial for all generations in various places and spaces.” (Isaac et al.
2012, 162) According to Isaac and Platenkamp (2012, 178), there are two ways
of tourism knowledge production associated with Mode 2 which lead to the
fnding of acceptable solutions in context-related problems: on the one hand,
objectifying knowledge of Mode 1, and on the other, the existentially and mo-
rally-laden values that are co-determinant for organising these solutions in
Mode 3. Knowledge production in Mode 3 is linked to the powerful character
of these values and frames of meaningful interpretations of the questions and
problems in the context of application in Mode 2.
Relevance of Mode 3 in Responsible Tourism
In a normative discussion, responsibility and hope are at stake from the start,
especially in respect of areas of confict. Under these circumstances, peace-
building and hope may be associated with new tourism. With respect to re-
sponsible tourism, this could become the core issue. Responsible tourism, as
mentioned before, is about encouraging and motivating people – individuals
alone and in groups to take responsibility for making tourism more sustainab-
le. Te use of sustainable tourism in this particular context does not refer to a
tourism-centred approach in development discussions and practices, but it in-
volves the ethical aspects of the ideology of sustainability that may contribute
to the development of peace-building contexts.
It is also appropriate in this context to describe the responsible tourists.
Tere are few direct defnitions that can be found in literature. Krippendorf
(1984, 132), for example, gives a description of what he calls the ‘critical consu-
mer’ as follows:
“He chooses those forms of travel which are least harmful to the environ-
ment, which are least disturbing for the people and cultures of the tourist
areas and from which they get the greatest beneft. He spends his money on
Responsible Tourism and Development 95
those products and services about which he knows the origin and who will
proft from their sale. He observes these principles when choosing accom-
modation, food, means of transport, visiting institutions, buying souvenirs.
He takes time to prepare his journey and he stays as long as possible in the
places he visits so that the experience may be a lasting one and that he may
really identify with it”.
Sharpley (1994, 84), uses the label of “Responsible Tourist”, who he says
“… seeks quality rather than value, is more adventurous, more fexible, more
sensitive to the environment and searches for greater authenticity than the
traditional mass tourist”. Swarbrooke (1999) does not suggest a defnition of
the responsible tourist, but rather a description of the responsibilities of the
tourist:
• “Te responsibility to obey local laws and regulations
• Te responsibility to not take part in activities which, while not illegal, or
where the laws are not enforced by the local authorities, are nevertheless,
widely condemned by society, such as sex with children
• Te responsibility to not deliberately ofend local religious beliefs or cultu-
ral norms of behavior
• Te responsibility to not deliberately harm the local physical environment
• Te responsibility to minimize the use of scarce local resources.“
Tese ‘responsible’ tourists and visitors are confronted with the issue of crea-
ting hope and building for peace through concrete improvements in areas
such as education, healthcare, training and youth empowerments. One of the
basic responsibilities of these tourists is to take part in these activities that
contribute to hope and building for peace. Tese are all activities that can be
supported by responsible tourists in making tourism in these confict areas
more sustainable and building peace and hope for those who live in this des-
perate situation.
Tis approach also suggests that excluded voices are heard and stimulated
to enter the discourse, and the voice of the “Responsible Tourist” constitutes
an important one in areas of confict. Responsible tourists come from distant
places where ignorance and indiference dictate the general opinion. By ente-
ring these areas of confict, he/she cannot stay out of discussion. Te primary
intention of these responsible tourists would be to participate in this norma-
tive and existential discussion. Teir interest would be to support peace-buil-
ding. Initiatives should be stimulated whereby responsible tourists provide
training in health care and education in building towards peace and creating
hope for these people living in confict. As revealed before, responsible tou-
rism is an ethical approach. It is the ethical responsibility of responsible tou-
rists to take actions in these confict areas towards building peace and crea-
ting hope.
If we take Husbands and Harrison’s (1996) defnition of responsible tourism
as a way of ‘doing’ tourism, then it makes sense to get an overview of what ac-
tually is being done, in particular what is being done by the tourist to achieve
96 RAMI I SAAC
responsible tourism and by others to enable the tourist to participate in res-
ponsible tourism, for example, by participating in activities that contribute to
peace-building. Te purpose of the following section is to give a brief overview,
looking at where responsible tourism has been put into practice.
Swarbrooke and Horner (1999) report some anecdotal instances of ‘green’
tourist behaviour such as tourists not buying souvenirs made from animal
parts, not attending bullfghts and not being photographed with monkeys and
bears which are kept in captivity. Tere are also some instances of what they
term ‘dark green tourists’ who take holidays that actively support and partici-
pate in environmental projects. Nevertheless, they continue that few tourists
appear to choose an airline based on environmental practice, boycott hotels
that do not recycle, or campaign against the building of new theme parks
and accommodation units that destroy wildlife habitats. As one would expect
from the term ‘green’ tourist, these issues only relate to environmental con-
cerns.
What other research there is tends to focus on what tourists intend to do or
would like to do (Tearfund 2001; Goodwin and Francis 2003; Chafe 2004) and
not on what they have done (Swarbrooke and Horner 1999). Yet, research does
demonstrate that some tourists are demonstrating responsible intentions
(Stanford 2000; Tearfund 2001; Weeden 2001; Goodwin and Francis 2003;
Chafe 2004). For example in the 2001 Tearfund report, Worlds Apart: A call
to responsible global tourism (Tearfund 2001), it was found that 52% of those
questioned in their survey said they would be more likely to book a holiday
with a company that had a written code of conduct to guarantee good wor-
king conditions, protect the environment and support local charities and that
65% would like information from travel agents and tour operators on how to
support the local economy, preserve the environment and behave responsib-
ly when they go on holiday. Te Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA)
has found from a MORI poll in 2000 that 53 % of those asked would be pre-
pared to pay more money for their package holiday in order that workers in
the destination could be guaranteed good wages and working conditions, and
45% were prepared to pay more to assist in preserving the local environment
(Goodwin and Francis 2003).
Again these good intentions are seen in a recent study, Consumer Demand and
Operator Support for Socially and Environmentally Responsible Tourism, un-
dertaken by the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD)
and Te International Ecotourism Society (TIES) (Chafe 2004). Te report de-
tails, among other things, a majority of tourists wanting to learn about social,
cultural and environmental issues while travelling, who think that it is im-
portant that tourism does not damage the environment and who want hotels
to protect the environment. However, only a small percentage of tourists who
actually ask about hotel policies are reported; with even fewer changing plans
due to responsible tourism issues. One third to one half of tourists surveyed
were willing to pay more to companies that beneft local communities and
conservation (Chafe 2004). Te above research is valuable as it shows the ex-
tent to which tourists demonstrate good intentions. Similar actions can be put
Responsible Tourism and Development 97
in practice with regard to destinations in confict where these tourists can (or
should) contribute to peace-building and creation of hope.
Tere is a general assumption that there are always two sides of a confict,
but in fact what we do not see that there is a third side, which is us or more
precisely ‘responsible’ tourists, and they can play a far-fetched, constructive
role – perhaps the most fundamental part is that they can remind the parties
of what is really at stake, for the sake of our children, communities, and for the
future of our children. Let’s stop fghting, let’s talk.
In a situation of confict and political instability, there is a need for the de-
velopment of responsible tourism for two main reasons – namely that respon-
sible tourism should create hope and build towards peace by contributing to
improvements in areas of primary schools, education and democracy, and is-
sues related to extended normative and existential discussions that need the
clarifcations of a Mode 3 discourse. Responsible tourism ofers communities
the chance to share their culture, tell stories, request solidarity and foster to-
lerance and greater understanding between two societies. By entering these
places of confict or ‘troubled spots’ (Isaac and Platenkamp, 2010, 159), a nor-
mative discussion will be stimulated, and responsible tourists can be challen-
ged to refect upon this.
Trough the tours in the country, which dive into the cultural contexts in
order to get information about what’s happening in this region, responsible
tourists are introduced to the reality of daily life in the host communities, as
well as the social, cultural and economic issues of the country. By taking nor-
mative discourses into consideration, responsible tourists will be inspired to
generate new ideas, concepts and directions for developing, helping and initi-
ating responsible tourism projects that contribute to peace-building relating
to the contextual situation in regions of confict. Furthermore, because of this
confrontation, responsible tourists start asking questions about human sufe-
ring, injustices, right of return and chances of young people in isolation. Tese
questions are clearly related to normative issues (Mode 3) of people in existen-
tial need. Tese questions are also about life and death, about the signifcance
and meaning of life, and about the future of their children. A thorough refec-
tion on these types of discourses will stimulate responsible tourists to take
part in various activities that beneft the destination.
Conclusion
Te main aim of this chapter is to assess how so-called responsible tourism
can contribute to peace-building. In this context, responsible tourism can be
seen as an ethical approach in relation to confict regions in such a way that
could contribute to hope and stimulate the people in these desperate situa-
tions to have faith in hope. What responsible tourism can do is to raise their
normative awareness. In these ‘troubled spots’ people still have hope. Tere is
always hope and hope will be infated through responsible tourism in discus-
sions, dialogue and awareness. Unfortunately, research has shown that the-
re is no direct relationship or evidence that tourism can contribute to peace
98 RAMI I SAAC
and peace-building. Tourism is not a generator of peace, but benefciary of it.
Terefore, the development of responsible tourism is necessary in these ‘trou-
ble spots’ and has a chance of success only because it creates hope through
Mode 3 discussions for the people who live in these difcult situations. Po-
tential motives for responsible tourists visiting these regions of confict could
be ‘interest in the country’, ‘support and solidarity’, ‘a desire to understand the
real cause of the confict’, and ‘we have everything in Europe and it’s time to
give something back’, such as generating new ideas and participating in pro-
jects that beneft the country in terms of education, health and empowerment
of the youth. Mode 3 is an inspirational and realistic approach for increasing
face-to-face contacts between divided nations through responsible tourism
that create hope and build towards peace.
As Isaac and Platenkamp (2012, 184) articulated in the example of Palestine
“for tourism – and in particular, for inquiry into open-to-the-future possibili-
ties in tourism studies research, we maintain that attention should indeed be
paid in controversial areas as how tourism could in fact ofer opportunities
which decidedly create hope ‘in situations of apparent sustained/longstanding
despair’. Such orientations to tourism require a rather diferent or fresh focus
– that is, away from one where tourism is viewed only an activity/site/place of
relaxation and exotic pleasure. It is our view that tourism is inherently and
substantively embedded within society”.
Finally, this chapter has attempted to contribute to the debate on the role
of (responsible) tourism as a force for peace and creation of hope and interna-
tional understanding by investigating the role that tourism, and in particular,
responsible tourism, plays in fostering relations between divided nations. Te
main question for future research remains how to create hope and build peace
in education, health care and youth empowerment. Te mere presence of re-
sponsible tourists already contributes to this much-needed principle of hope.
However, stakeholders in these destinations should be involved in a dialogue
in which spaces are created, where responsible tourists in agreement with va-
rious stakeholders involved can generate new ideas and projects that are nee-
ded for further creation of hope and peace-building.
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RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARSTEN PALME,
ULRI KE J ORAS
Understanding Economic Efects of
Violent Conficts on Tourism:
Empirical Refections from Croatia,
Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Introduction
Since the end of the Cold War, there has been increasing interest from po-
licy makers, researchers and advocacy organisations on the roles that pri-
vate businesses play in confict contexts. Tis has contributed to two domi-
nant yet seemingly contradictory lines of thought. One line has focused on
the confict-aggravating infuence that businesses have had. Te second line
of thought emphasises the positive impact that businesses have had through
their infuence on peace-building and confict transformation. Both lines of
thought have been important in paving the way for initiatives and guidelines
that promote increased due diligence of companies in confict contexts. Te
development of multi-stakeholder processes and initiatives has demonstrated
that while ‘blaming and shaming’ can be efective in infuencing company be-
haviour, NGOs, governments and other groups also need to work construc-
tively with the private sector to achieve positive change.
Although one could argue that businesses have a rational self-interest
in peace – as the high economic costs of war may provide incentives for them
to engage in peace-building – the practical examples of private sector enga-
gement in peace remain limited. Furthermore, there remains a lack of know-
ledge on how companies can strategically integrate peace issues into their
core businesses in confict contexts. Tis raises questions on which factors
contribute to private sector engagement in peace and whether self-interest is
indeed a relevant issue. From an economic perspective, ‘self-interest’ tends to
be quantifed through a rational perspective on cost-beneft analysis. Tis as-
sumes that high economic costs of confict on tourism should motivate priva-
te sector businesses to engage in peace promotion, as it is in their long-term
interest. However, limiting our understanding of businesses to their being
merely ‘rational capitalists’ fails to take the infuence of their political, eth-
nic, social or religious identities into consideration. Terefore, more emphasis
needs to be placed on understanding the interdependence of political, social
and economic factors that play an important role in determining corporate
engagement in peace.
102 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
Tere is still a lack of understanding of the potential contributions of pri-
vate sector groups to peace-building, and of the realities that businesses face
in confict contexts. In order to contribute to a better general understanding
of the impact that private sector groups have on confict settings, Swisspeace
and COMPASS GmbH carried out a joint project for the Deutsche Stiftung
Friedensforschung in 2008 and 2009. Te study placed a specifc focus on un-
derstanding the role of the tourism sector in three confict-afected countries,
namely Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.
Generally, the study gained insights into the main motivating and inhi-
biting factors that infuenced corporate engagement in peace-building. Spe-
cifcally, it explored the diferent roles that tourism actors played in confict
and peace processes in the three countries in order to understand whether
tourism has been used to aggravate confict and/or promote peace and, if so,
through which activities. Te study was based on primary, qualitative, semi-
structured interviews that were conducted in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Croatia and
Europe (Switzerland, UK, Germany). Interviews were carried out with repre-
sentatives from the local and international tourism industries, Government,
non-governmental organisations, academics and other experts on the private
sector and peace and confict contexts. Tis chapter is a summary of the full
report and resulting publications (Joras, Palme, Alluri and Leicher 2011; Joras
2009; Alluri 2009).
The Role of Tourism in Peace and Confict
Te private sector generally and the tourism sector specifcally can have both
positive and negative impacts on the social, environmental and political si-
tuation in a country. Moreover, tourism can play both positive and negative
roles in peace and confict. Tere are four key issues that can be both confict-
aggravating and peace-promoting in the tourism sector.
The Impact of Tourism on the Local People
Tourism has the potential to generate both direct and indirect employment
for local people, to provide training for capacity development and to act as a
stabilising tool for areas where confict may be linked to lack of employment
and livelihood opportunities. Such processes can help to foster an environ-
ment in which the benefts of tourism are more equally distributed amongst
the various groups. Tus, tourism can act not only as a source of economic
development, but also as an agent for social change (Ashley, De Brine et al.
2007; Nicolau 2008).
However, when local people are not integrated into the planning and stra-
tegy development of tourism, there is a risk that they can act as spoilers of
development, particularly if they do not have the opportunity to reap tourism
benefts. When tourism development is only geared towards international
tourists and not domestic tourists, there is also the risk that the latter feel
left out – creating tensions or resentment towards international tourists. Tou-
rism projects that use unlawful or corrupt practices for land acquisition risk
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 103
leading to the displacement of local people or disruption of local livelihood
practices. If consideration is not given to how local people may beneft from
tourism facilities, there is a risk that tourism infrastructure may lead to nega-
tive social and environmental impacts. Moreover, this may make community
access to natural resources challenging.
Supporting Fair Labour and Employment Strategies
Te highly intensive labour needed to promote tourism can have a very po-
sitive efect on the local employment market by generating both direct and
indirect employment and acting as a multiplier efect to primary and secon-
dary sectors. Furthermore, in confict-afected countries, the establishment of
equal-hiring practices of diferent groups is imperative to ensure access to op-
portunities for vulnerable people. By supporting the establishment of human
rights standards in associated labour practices, tourism can act as a model for
other sectors.
Due to the seasonality of tourism, there is the risk of the tourism sector
exploiting the opportunity to use short term labourers who do not gain access
to competitive salaries and benefts, and who struggle to claim their human
rights due to their dependence upon the sector. Local labour may also strugg-
le to compete against labour that is hired and trained internationally. Tere is
the risk that the tourism sector fails to invest in the capacity development of
local labour, contributing to a long-term cycle where local people fail to gain
competitive knowledge and skills in the sector.
Addressing Economic Inequality
Tourism has the potential to support both central and peripheral development
in countries where economic opportunities tend to be centralised in certain
regions. Tis allows regional or rural areas to also beneft from tourism profts.
By supporting peripheral development, tourism can have a long-term positi-
ve impact on the migration patterns of local people, who might otherwise be
forced to move to larger cities where more economic opportunities are availa-
ble. Tere is the risk that certain forms of tourism (such as high-end, luxury
or resort tourism) contribute to a physical, psychological and cultural barri-
er sbetween the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. Te creation of ‘luxury ghettos’
can have damaging efects on local people, particularly if they are unable to
gain access to contracts with tour operators or package tours, thus preventing
them from benefting from tourist revenue. Tis creates a system where the f-
nancial benefts of tourism remain in the hands of foreign tourism companies
or local elites, thereby preventing a transfer of benefts to local communities
or smaller operators. Tere is also the risk that such forms of tourism develop-
ment contribute to long-term divisions between tourists and locals, and sup-
port a hierarchical social system that heightens the gap between rich and poor.
Environmental Resources
Pristine nature and protected landscapes are essential for attracting tourists.
Tere is the potential to invest tourism profts into processes that support
104 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
environmental conservation practices. Tis is particularly important for de-
stinations that depend on their natural landscapes and wildlife for tourism.
Tis can help to ensure that there are environmental standards and practices
put in place, so as to ensure that tourism infrastructure and services are not
detrimental to the environment. In addition, practices that consume fewer
environmental resources, and less land and energy, can help to ensure long-
term sustainability. However, there is the risk that tourism infrastructure de-
velopment can have a negative impact on resources such as water and land,
which may already be sources of confict. Furthermore, the infux of tourists
may risk increasing the consumption of plastics, and the output of garbage
and waste etc. Tourism development that does not take the environment into
account can have detrimental efects on issues such as conservation of the en-
vironment, local access to high quality natural resources and the quality of
the destination itself.
Tere have been signifcant eforts to ensure that tourism is more environ-
mentally friendly and socially responsible. For example, the tourism sector
has been challenged to respond to the high demand to develop ‘eco-’ ‘respon-
sible’, ‘pro-poor’, ‘volun-’ and ‘community-based’ tourism initiatives and poli-
cies that take specifc issues into consideration. Tourism companies have also
been urged to develop corporate social responsibility policies and guidelines
to ensure that they practice what they preach (Lovelock 2008; SNV-Rwanda
and RSM Erasmus University 2008; ODI 2007; Milne et al. 2001; Brohman
1996).
A lack of concrete tourism eforts for peace
Despite these eforts to make tourism more responsible, there have not been
many concrete eforts to make tourism companies more aware of their impact
on peace and confict issues. Tis is surprising considering that the tourism
industry tends to thrive more in peace than in confict (Richter in Burns and
Novelli 2006). Tourism is highly vulnerable to confict as violence can inhibit
tourism activities, cause damage to the necessary infrastructure and infu-
ence travel warnings – which decrease tourist arrival numbers. Tourism desti-
nations are likely to have fewer options and be less appealing to tourists if they
are insecure or close to a confict. While this ‘peace dividend’ would appear to
provide tourism companies with the motivation to engage in peace promotion,
few cases of tourism engagement have been explored. Insights into how tou-
rism could engage in confict prevention, confict settlement or post-confict
peace-building via ‘peace through tourism’, have only been analysed by a few
scholars (Richter 1992, 1999; Richter and Waugh 1986; Strong-Cvetich 2007;
Feil, Fischer et al. 2008).
Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on the Tourism Sector
in Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka are three countries that have been negatively
afected by violent confict. At the same time, they are tourism destinations
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 105
that have established diferent types of activities prior to, during and after
experiencing confict. Although tourism was adversely afected in all three
countries by respective violent conficts, the nature and intensity of the conse-
quences of the confict on the tourism sector difer considerably. Tis section
will provide a summary of the linkages between tourism, peace and confict in
the three country cases.
Croatia
Te ‘Yugoslav Wars’ refer to a series of conficts that took place between 1991
and 1995 between the Belgrade Government of Yugoslavia and the sovereign
republics of Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Serbia, who were seeking indepen-
dence. Te collapse of communism in 1990 led to the election of pro-indepen-
dence governments in Slovenia and Croatia. Although Slovenia achieved inde-
pendence relatively easily, Croatia’s fght was extremely violent as the Serbian
minority of approximately 600,000 people rejected the newly formed Govern-
ment and fought to remain under the Yugoslavian state. Te Serbs were unwil-
ling to be ruled by an independent Croatia, whilst the Croats saw the Serbian
minority as a group that had profted from certain privileges under the former
Communist Government.
Te core confict being explored here is that of the Croatian-Serbian war
of 1991 to 1995. Te root causes of the confict are manifold. Historically, the
creation of the Yugoslavian state itself and the unison of the republics under
one rule was often a source of confict. Tis created regional disparities and
inequalities in the country, which pitted diferent ethnicities in competition
with one another over opportunities and resources.
One of the triggers of the war emerged on 17 August 1990, with the ‘Log
Revolution’ whereby Serbian residents in Krajina – in the middle of the high
tourist season – put up blockades between Zagreb and Istria to disrupt the
elections. At the end of June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their desire
for independence. At the same time, Serbian rebels began regularly to attack
Croatian security checkpoints, as well as systematically targeting Croatian
people from Krajina and east Slovenia. Tis contributed to several incidents
of ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the cities of Dalj near Osijek and Struga in Banija (Kle-
mencic 1993).
In resistance to Croatia’s declaration of independence, the Serbian minority
established its own Republic of Serbian Krajina in central and north-eastern
Croatia. By the end of 1991, the Serbian minority had succeeded in occupying
approximately 30% of the former Yugoslav Republic of Croatia. By 1993, the-
re were 2,500 dead and 9,000 wounded people on the Croatian side; 300,000
people were driven from their homes. After numerous failed attempts by
the European Community to negotiate peace, a truce was administered and
enforced by the United Nations peacekeeping force UNPROFOR.
Te confict reached a peak in 1995, when the Croatian army targeted Kra-
jina Serbs, leading to the death of approximately 14,000 Serbs and producing
300,000 Serbian refugees (Human Rights Watch, 2006). Te Serbs responded
by attacking the capital of Zagreb in May 1995 causing several deaths and over
106 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
100 wounded. Tis was seen as a direct attack on the tourism sector. Between
May and August 1995, the Serbian troops then began to withdraw from Kra-
jina and east Slovenia. Between 1996 and 1999, the Kosovo confict erupted;
this also had a negative impact on the tourism sector.
Te Croatian tourism sector was strongly afected by the various conficts
that were related to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. In addition to its
own independence struggle, the country’s tourism sector was further nega-
tively afected by the Kosovo confict between 1996 and 1999. Two main tou-
rist destinations were studied in order to provide a comparison of diferent
developments and activities. Tese were Eastern Slavonia and Dubrovnik in
Croatia.
Whilst Dubrovnik is one of the most popular destinations in the Mediter-
ranean, with 4.8 million overnight stays in 2011 (1988: 5.5 million) and with a
strong tourism sector, Eastern Slavonia is still in the early stages of tourism
development (200,000 overnight stays in Osijek-Baranja (Damir, 2012)). In ad-
dition, Dubrovnik has an appealing historical city centre and several attracti-
ve beaches and islands. Tere are also three to four cruise ships a day. Kotor, in
Montenegro, as a neighbouring destination, also increases the level of attrac-
tiveness of Dubrovnik. Eastern Slavonia, however, specialises in nature and
hunting tourism but is unfavourably situated transport-wise because of its
border with Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary. Although Osijek plays
a certain role in the tourism business as a trade and convention city, with Da-
nube River cruises providing some day visitors, agriculture is by far the more
important economic sector in this region.
In Croatia, the tourist numbers fell even before the outbreak of the war due
to a generally difcult economic situation and problems of quality. Because
of its dependence on seasonal tourism, the sector was hit particularly hard.
In 1991 the number of foreign overnight stays dropped to less than 8% of the
previous year’s total. Even after the northern Croatian coast was considered
safe in 1992, tourist arrival numbers remained low. Tis shows the enormous
vulnerability of the tourism sector. Whilst neither the war in Slovenia, nor the
fghting in the Krajina, concerned the classic tourist areas specifcally (excep-
tion: the city of Sibenik), nonetheless Croatia as a whole was still considered a
war zone. In the following years, growth in overnight stays was largely conf-
ned to Istria and Kvarner Bay but this was also interrupted by periods of vio-
lent confict in Croatia and the wider region (Jordan 1998). Te tourism sector
remained highly sensitive to any outbreaks of violence and to the continuing
political instability. For example, there was a large decline in overnight stays
in 1995 due to the rocket fre of Zagreb and the Croatian military operation to
retake Krajina. Up until then, tourism in Istria had almost recovered (Jordan
1998).
After ‘bottoming out’ in 1995, tourism in Croatia began to recover, star-
ting rapidly from the north. Whilst Istria quickly reached its pre-war number
of overnight stays, Dubrovnik never recovered to its pre-war levels. Te re-
conquest of Krajina by Croatia led – although, again, tourist areas were not
directly afected – to large-scale evacuation from the country of origin. Even
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 107
the Kosovo crisis resulted once again in dips. In nine years of war and post-
war from 1990 to 1998, the losses of overnight stays in Croatia amounted to a
total of $400 million, while the revenue losses are estimated at $14 billion. In
addition, the war resulted in the destruction of hotels and tourist facilities as
well as the implications of refugee accommodation in hotels. Tese fnancial
losses are estimated as being at least $100 million (Ivandic 1999). As the tou-
rism sector accounted for about 20% of GDP in Croatia, the direct economic
consequences of the war for the entire country were immense.
With the end of the war, tourism representatives who had been recruited
to the army, or who had fed, or who had engaged in other activities such as
agriculture and trade, returned to rebuild the sector. Also, international tour
operators who had left the country quickly returned. Interestingly, the tou-
rism sector made eforts to establish cross-border travel and exchanges, which
were important for re-establishing contact with former enemies. As part of
the reconstruction programme, UN ofcials and US troops were some of the
frst ‘guests’ that were able to use tourism facilities and infrastructure. Te
tourism sector began to bounce back, albeit in a rather low and slow fashion.
Tour operators co-operated with governmental institutions, hotels and other
infrastructure were rebuilt or renovated, and loans and subsidies became
available for small- to medium-sized businesses. Furthermore, investments in
marketing and a changing of the image of the country were imperative for its
recovery.
Rwanda
Te Rwandan civil war and genocide represent a manifestation of deeply roo-
ted class divisions and social stratifcations often expressed and manipulated
through constructed identities of the Tutsi, Hutu and Twa (Alluri 2009, 13).
Te civil war broke out in October 1990, when a group of (predominantly)
Tutsi ofcers residing in Uganda formed the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)
and invaded Rwanda to reclaim their homeland. Despite eforts to end the war
through the Arusha Peace Talks in 1992, violence continued.
Te Rwandan genocide was sparked on 6 April 1994, when the shooting
down of the then Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane led to ac-
cusations towards Tutsis generally and the RPF specifcally. Te genocide was
realised through a combination of high-level political leadership of Hutu ex-
tremists alongside trained, armed ‘interahamwe’ militia who recruited and
threatened ordinary citizens to target Tutsis (Human Rights Watch 2006, 16).
Te Rwandan genocide was part of an orchestrated strategic plan by a small
group of self-interested Hutu elite who saw the extermination of ‘the other’ as
the alternative to power-sharing (Newbury 1995, 1998). Te genocide led to
the loss of approximately 800,000 lives in one hundred days (Des Forges 1999,
692-8). Te RPF managed to halt the genocide in July 1994, eventually taking
over political power.
Te development of ‘gorilla’ tourism in the Volcanoes National Park in
the 1980s supported conservation eforts and earned foreign currency. Des-
pite weak infrastructure, transport and telecommunication services, tourism
108 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
reached its peak in 1984 with 39,000 tourist arrivals. However, with the out-
break of the civil war in 1990, arrival rates dropped to 17,000, later coming to a
complete halt with the outbreak of the genocide in 1994 (Plumptre et al. 2001,
12). While some conservationists attempted to monitor the gorillas, the secu-
rity situation was highly unstable. Te Government and militias built camps
in the parks for hiding and training recruits. Civilians sought protection while
depending on natural resources. Existing hotels were used both by the plan-
ners of the genocide for meetings and training of militias, as well as for the
protection of refugees sites (Alluri 2009).
Tourism in the Volcanoes National Park resumed in 1995 thanks to a timely
mine clearance campaign and the infux of international organisations’ staf.
However, the security situation remained fragile due to on-going regional
conficts. Returning refugees and ‘interahamwe’ rebels sought refuge in the
areas of national parks until the late 1990s, and impaired tourism. It was not
until the restructuring of the Government-run Rwanda Ofce of Tourism and
National Parks (ORTPN) in 2001 that the tourism sector made a signifcant
recovery.
Rwanda’s reputation continues to be plagued with the memory of the 1994
genocide. Despite this dark past, the country has been increasingly seen as a
site for development and as a destination for tourists. Concerted eforts by the
Rwandan Government to promote conservation tourism have been rewarded
by rapid sector growth and tourist arrivals that have surpassed the pre-war
years. Since 2001, Rwanda has defned tourism as one of the key economic
sectors to play an important role in the diversifcation of national economic
development. As of 2011, tourism was the largest foreign exchange earner
with $251 million. Te tourism sector increasingly serves not only as a source
of income and foreign exchange, but also as a tool with which to improve the
country’s destination image.
Since the original project study, the ORTPN has become integrated into the
Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Department for Tourism and Conservati-
on. While eforts have been made to support the private actors in tourism, the
centralised role of the Government in tourism remains both an opportunity
and an impediment for private sector development.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been beset with two interlinked confict lines since the 1970s.
Te confict between the Sri Lankan Government and the Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP) emerged in 1971, when a group of primarily young Sinhala
men protested against limited socio-economic opportunities in the southern
and central provinces. Tere was renewed fghting between 1987 and 1989
which took the lives of about 60,000 people before the Government brutally
crushed the insurgency. Since 1994, the JVP has been a political party repre-
senting Sinhalese nationalist views. Te civil war between the Liberation Ti-
gers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan Government was triggered
in 1983 with the killing of 13 Government soldiers in the north, which led to
anti-Tamil pogroms. Te confict is commonly interpreted as an ethno-politi-
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 109
cal confict between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority, although
confict dynamics and causes have altered over time. After fve unsuccessful
peace negotiation attempts, the Sri Lankan Government defeated the LTTE in
May 2009 by military means.
Mostly known for its beaches, the formal development of tourism in Sri
Lanka began in 1966 with the founding of the Ceylon Tourist Board. Between
1966 and 1982, the number of tourists grew by an annual average of 20%, brin-
ging the number of 24,000 guests in 1967 to approximately 410,000 guests in
1982 (Sri Lanka Tourist Board, 2006, 70).
Te negative efects of the civil war on the tourism sector were particularly
evident at times of intensifed political violence. From 1983 to 1987, the coun-
try experienced negative growth rates in tourist arrivals (between minus 6%
and minus 21%) bringing the number of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka back
to the level of 1978. With the end of the JVP confict in the late 1980s and the
confict with the LTTE mainly confned to the less touristy north and east,
tourists regained confdence. Tourism numbers recovered and, in 1994, arri-
vals exceeded the peak year of 1982. Repeat bombings in Colombo in 1996,
however, also had an impact on arrival numbers. In 2001, the bombing of the
international airport in Colombo closed down the airport, raised travel war-
nings and decreased tourist confdence.
However, the 2003 ceasefre agreement raised tourist confdence; in this
year, the ‘magic threshold’ of 500,000 arrivals was surpassed. Despite the civil
war, none of the large hotels had to close and in fact the total number of hotel
beds has even increased since 1996. However, tourism development remains
geographically uneven. Although tourism partly grew on the west and south
coasts and in the interior, tourism in the confict-ridden north and east was
insecure and inadvisable. Economically, tourism generates only a small con-
tribution of 2% to the GDP and absorbs about 2% of the workforce (approxi-
mately 134,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2006). In the generation of foreign
exchange, tourism is the third largest source (after the garment industry and
tea) (Bandara 2003, 23).
Sri Lanka represents the only case in which active, direct and intentional
engagement in peace promotion took place. After the bombing of the interna-
tional airport in 2001, members of the tourism sector led the development of
a multi-sector initiative known as Sri Lanka First (SLF) that advocated ending
the war through a peaceful resolution to the confict. It aimed at raising awa-
reness of the ‘peace dividend’ and the need to enter into renewed talks with
the LTTE (Joras 2009).
At the time of the original project research, Sri Lanka was still at war. Tere
have been signifcant eforts to develop tourism in the former confict zones
since the war ended in 2009. Whilst populations in the confict-afected areas
are eager for job opportunities and sector development, they do not appear to
be reaping the benefts of tourism. In addition, the ‘dark tourism’ being pro-
moted in the north and east of the country poses the risk of exacerbating ten-
sions, particularly since they appear to be re-entrenching former root causes
of the confict.
110 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
Common and Difering Efects
In the three country cases, the following efects of violent confict on the tou-
rism industry can be identifed:
Decrease of Overnight Stays and Efects on Jobs, Purchasing Power, and
Upstream and Downstream Sectors
Violent conficts in the countries researched had consistent negative efects on
the tourism industry, with losses in overnight fgures; these varied, according
to rough estimates, between about 50% and 90%. Tourism is closely integrated
into the regional economic cycle; therefore crafts, construction, agriculture
and trade in the region are also afected with a decline in overnight stays. For
example, interviewees from tourist areas in Dubrovnik and Dalmatia in Croa-
tia placed an emphasis on the importance of tourism for almost all industries
in the region.
Direct and Indirect Destruction of Tourist Attractions and Infrastructure
Croatia was the only case where tourist infrastructure was a direct target of
attacks. Tourist attractions were intentionally targeted as symbolic represen-
tations of the economic inequality in the country (one of the root causes of
confict) and as cultural sites (particularly in Dubrovnik) that were signifcant
for Croats.
Shortage of Skilled Personnel Through Death, Expulsion or Flight
In all three countries, a lack of skilled workers is a direct result of the vio-
lent conficts. People who worked for the tourism industry faced insecurity
and hardship, causing many of them to take on other forms of employment,
fee, be killed or be expelled. For example, many guides and conservationists
who supported gorilla tourism and worked in the Volcanoes National Park in
Rwanda were forced to fee. Whilst some were able to come back to the Park in
the aftermath of the civil war and genocide, others never returned. Due to its
vulnerability to crisis, tourism in these three countries has had to rebuild its
reputation as an attractive and proftable employer.
The Emergence of Investment Gaps and an Associated Competitive
Disadvantage due to Lower Quality Standards
All three countries faced difculties in attracting investment and supporting
the local private sector during and after experiencing confict. For example,
in Croatia, local businesspeople faced difculties in obtaining loans during
and in the immediate aftermath of the war. Tourism in the country conti-
nues to sufer due to the investment gap during the 1990s. Rwanda and Cro-
atia provide examples of how investment in tourism development can also
be used as a strategic tool to improve a country’s reputation, gain valuable
foreign currency and help contribute to broader development and investment
in the country.
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 111
Image Problems and Loss of Confdence Among Investors and Guests
All three countries have faced difculties in (re)developing tourism due to the
association with confict. Te countries’ reputations became tainted with sto-
ries of death and violence and were not seen as opportunities for business in-
vestment generally and the tourism sector specifcally. Unstable and insecure
destinations risk being replaced by other countries that are able to continue to
receive investment and development. Rwanda continues to be most closely as-
sociated with the genocide; thus tourists tend to fear insecurity, violence and a
dangerous environment. Te country has therefore had to invest signifcantly
in its marketing strategies by trying to push images which are attractive to
tourists and which provide the opportunity to rebuild their reputation.
Intensity and Geographical Location of Confict
Despite some similarities between the case studies there are other major dif-
ferences regarding the impact of the violent conficts for tourism in Croatia,
Rwanda and Sri Lanka. Especially noteworthy is the fact that in Croatia and
Sri Lanka tourism was still able to continue even during the time of the violent
conficts and despite them. In Rwanda, however, the entire public life came to
a complete halt and tourism did not take place in the period of the civil war
or the genocide. One reason could be that the tourism sectors in Croatia and
Sri Lanka were already developed when the confict broke out, allowing them
to develop coping strategies. Another reason is linked to the sites of the wars.
Te tourism areas in Croatia and Sri Lanka were, for the most part, geogra-
phically removed from the location of confict. Travel to Istria in Croatia and
to the western and southern beaches in Sri Lanka was still possible for most
of the duration of the confict. However, since the genocide in Rwanda was so
widespread, each region, sector, ‘colline’ and family was afected.
Tourism recovered relatively quickly in all three case destinations after the
end of the conficts. Te prerequisite, though, was a stabilisation of the con-
fict situation not only within the country but also within the regions of the
country. Te ability for tourism to bounce back quickly makes it a relevant
sector to help support economic growth in post-confict societies and fragile
economies.
Integration of the Tourism Private Sector in Peace Promotion
in Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Te businesses in the three countries developed remarkably similar measures
to ‘manage’ the risks of violent conficts. In the following there will be a dis-
tinction made between ‘coping strategies’, ‘confict sensitivity and proactive
peace-building’ and ‘peace-building efects as a by-product of core business’
that businesses employed.
Coping Strategies
Coping Strategies have a central role in all three countries examined, espe-
cially in Croatia and Sri Lanka, regarding how tourism businesses dealt with
112 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
violent confict. Tey are distinct from private sector engagement, which aims
specifcally at peace-promotion. Te most relevant are:
Temporary or permanent halting of business activities
Business activities may halt temporarily or close down permanently due to a
lack of security, low guest arrivals or the feeing of personnel (especially hotels
and restaurants). Despite spurts of instability, international tour companies
often work hard to maintain contact with their local partners even if the desti-
nation has been cancelled from the catalogues temporarily or permanently, in
order to be able to return if the confict ends.
Cost and price cutbacks
Private sector operators in Croatia and Sri Lanka tried to cut costs through
redundancies, hiring short-term labour or by limiting investments. Price cuts
are another common strategy to maintain tourism revenue despite violent
conficts, and often result in price wars amongst local providers – as happe-
ned in Sri Lanka.
Shift to alternative sources of income
Small businesses and family-owned enterprises are likely to shift to other
sources of income to bridge the time of the confict, for example moving to-
wards trade, crafts or agriculture.
Continuation of business activities with an alternative focus
Some tourism companies remained active during the confict while aligning
their ofers with the new circumstances. For example, many hotels survived
in Croatia and Rwanda because they benefted from the infux of expatriates
or, in some cases, they harboured refugees. Some agencies in Croatia reloca-
ted their business to safer destinations like Istria, where stability was better.
International businesses often shifted to alternative destinations. Some Sri
Lankan companies, for example, increased their investments in the Maldives
and India, during periods when investments in Sri Lanka were limited and
risky.
Government support and marketing strategies
Although not a coping strategy of the private sector in the narrow sense, the
involvement of governmental support for tourism businesses has been si-
gnifcant for their survival. For example, in order to support the sector, the
Government in Sri Lanka helped tourism companies in the early 1980s to ac-
cess cheaper credit schemes. Te Ministry of Tourism also strategically incre-
ased its marketing to countries such as Russia, India and China as growing
markets which rely less on government travel warnings to guide their destina-
tion choices (see Kron et al. 2009). In Croatia, similar strategies on the part of
the Government and the private sector have been used to promote tourism in
the safe areas during the confict.
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 113
Support from partners from source markets
Coping strategies are often also developed in tourism source markets. For ex-
ample, German tour operators interviewed highlighted the need to develop
efective coping strategies rather than focus on their role in peace-building.
Processes such as crisis management and cross-sector strategies are being em-
phasised in the German tourism market, in particular by those catering for
destination countries that are or have been afected by confict. One German
tour operator made it clear that they do not see the prevention or transforma-
tion of violent conficts as their task.
Confict Sensitivity and Pro-active Private Sector Engagement in Peace-
building
Te ‘Sri Lanka First’ initiative, in Sri Lanka, was the only example where the
tourism private sector took an active, intentional role in promoting peace-
building. It did so through the lobbying of the Government, organising aware-
ness campaigns, promoting opportunities to do with the ‘peace dividend’ and
organising dialogue forums with the LTTE and the Government.
Peace-building Efects as a ‘By-product’ of Core Business
Only in Sri Lanka did the tourism sector and private sector stakeholders ac-
tively and consciously implement peace-building eforts. In Croatia and Rwan-
da activities were seen as having peace-promoting efects, but rather as an ‘ac-
cidental by-product’. Some tour companies, hotels, and products use the word
‘peace’ in their name but this was often more for marketing purposes than for
direct engagement in peace-building. While there appears to be a potential
for the tourism sectors to engage in more direct peace-building activities (for
example, all three countries have strong peace-building sectors that are led
by local and international NGOs), there remain few examples of such engage-
ment. Tis suggests that tourism companies do not see peace-building as a key
priority area.
In the relevant countries ‘unintended’ peace-building was observed, espe-
cially in the post-confict contexts. Economic collaboration between formerly
hostile groups and the creation of jobs and income opportunities can be im-
portant components of the reconstruction process. In some cases, the tourism
sector in the sample countries took over a pioneering role in cross-border co-
operation. Te sector has the potential to use dialogue processes and econo-
mic development to contribute to the stability in post-confict regions. In all
three countries, tourism has recovered within a short time after the subsiding
of (regional) violent conficts and has also, for this reason, an interesting po-
tential for post-confict reconstruction.
Political and Economic Engagement in Peace-building
Sri Lanka was the only case where the private sector actively and intentionally
lobbied the government to support peace-building. However, this took place
within a time period and political leadership that was conducive to such an
interaction. One likely reason that companies are reluctant to engage directly
114 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
in political issues is due to their complex relationship and dependence on the
state. For example, the tourism sector is reliant on the state for access to con-
tracts, tenders, tax cuts, business-friendly legislation or fnancial support. It is
often also dependent on Government support for governmental outlays, such
as airports, national parks, spatial planning, etc. If the government is not open
to criticism or if doing so would afect a company’s access to opportunities
and resources, this would be a signifcant deterrent to engage in political is-
sues.
Private Sector Involvement in the Post-confict Phase
Tourism as a factor in the post-war reconstruction process was – both in Cro-
atia and in Rwanda – the area in which tourism businesspeople most likely
saw a role for themselves. In both countries, tourism has been revived with
the support of state institutions. Since the war, the Croatian National Tou-
rist Board has made great eforts to market the attractions and security in the
country. Te wars were also used as a turning point to develop new strategic
directions. In Rwanda, for example, a new tourism strategy has been deve-
loped that provides massive investment, focuses on high-quality eco-tourism
and strengthens the overall sector.
Te main challenges of (re)developing tourism in the post-confict phase
are linked to:
• a tainted reputation and loss of confdence in the destination
• high level travel warnings in key source markets
• corruption as a result of weak state institutions
• destroyed infrastructure
• lack of accommodation
• lack of skilled local staf
• unclear land ownership processes
Te main considerations and strategies of entrepreneurs in Croatia and Rwan-
da was undoubtedly the goal of generating profts as soon as possible. A signi-
fcant role was assigned to the members of the diaspora. In Rwanda, especially,
former refugees were of signifcance as a driving force in the private sector. It
was similar in Croatia, but to a lesser extent, since many Croats did not leave
the country, but were able to continue to operate in tourism in the northern
part of the country.
The Potential to Promote Peace in the Aftermath of Confict
Te creation of jobs and income immediately after the confict is imperative in
rebuilding the local tourism sector. In all three countries, tourism managed to
bounce back relatively quickly after the end of violent confict. Tourist facili-
ties were only a minor target of attacks, so many companies were able to take
up their business again soon after the violent conficts. Due to the high mul-
tiplier efect of tourism, other areas can beneft from the growth of the sector.
Supporting co-operation with former adversaries in the confict and the
promotion of mutual understanding is important to moving forward with re-
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 115
conciliation. In particular, international tourists and tour operators perceive
destinations according to their attractions and natural spatial homogeneity.
Administrative boundaries, social diferences or political entities play only a
marginal role. Consequently, the demand for tourism encourages people on
both sides of a territorial boundary or within a society to co-operate.
Strategic eforts must be made to improve the image of the country as per-
ceived by tourists and the media. Tis is a key factor, as the reputation and
image of the destination country is highly infuenced by tourism reviews or
media coverage, which can afect the overall competitiveness of the location.
In Croatia, interviewees emphasised that Zagreb and Dubrovnik have reco-
vered from the consequences of war because of the positive experiences of
guests and journalists, which in turn have played a role in attracting investors
and business travellers.
Motivating and Inhibiting Factors for Private Sector Engagement in
Peace-Building
As a theoretical basis for the investigation of the case countries, motivating
and inhibiting factors for private sector engagement in peace-building were
identifed and then later researched and analysed through the feldwork.
Below are the factors that have become apparent in the three case studies.
Motivating Factors
Tese are the main motivating factors for private sector engagement in peace-
building that were identifed through the empirical research in Croatia, Rwan-
da and Sri Lanka (Joras 2009):
Economic self-interest
Although it was assumed that the economic stimulus is of central importance
to the commitment to peace-building, it seems that economic self-interest is
not a sufcient motivation for private sector engagement in peace (PSEP). All
three countries faced negative economic consequences due to the outbreak of
confict. Nevertheless, an active and concerted commitment of the tourism
sector in promoting peace could only be found in Sri Lanka in 2001 (after 18
years of war).
In Sri Lanka, tourism stakeholders provided the impetus for the subsequent
founding of the private initiative Sri Lanka First (SLF) in 2001. Although born
in the tourism sector, SLF was a cross-sector initiative, in which like-minded
individuals from the Sri Lankan business sector joined forces, with the aim of
pointing out the negative consequences of the civil war through public infor-
mation campaigns and of calling for an end to the confict. SLF was only active
for a comparatively short time; however, it seems to have been one of the frst
broad-based, private sector-led campaigns and a pioneer for other economic
initiatives in peace-building. In Croatia and Rwanda, activities were rather li-
mited in the area of PSEP. Some additional factors that may have played a role
in PSEP are discussed below.
116 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
Funding sources
Sri Lanka First (SLF) and other business initiatives in the country were able
to beneft from international donor funding that supported their activities.
Despite the assumption that businesses have the fnancial means to invest in
peace, this is not always the case. Furthermore, the private sector in both Sri
Lanka and Rwanda remains heavily dependent on the state for access to loans,
tenders and land. It is likely that the mobilisation of resources was also an im-
portant incentive for their establishment.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
In Sri Lanka, CSR is more established in the business sector than in Croatia
and Rwanda. It is likely that this situation has helped to provide an environ-
ment that was conducive to PSEP. However, CSR in Sri Lanka is mostly linked
to philanthropy and environmental protection, and not peace-building.
Development of a cross-sector initiative
As mentioned above, SLF developed as a cross-sector initiative, despite its in-
itial start in the tourism sector. It is likely that SLF’s cross-sector nature ena-
bled it to build on a broader support base and thus gain in importance and
relevance. Whether a purely sector-specifc initiative of the tourism industry
could ever have developed on the same scale is questionable.
Inhibiting Factors
Tese are the major inhibiting factors for an intentional private sector engage-
ment in peace-building in Croatia, Rwanda and Sri Lanka:
Awareness
Interviews in Croatia and Rwanda demonstrated that a substantial obstacle
for the reluctance for PSEP was a lack of understanding and awareness of the
possibilities of private sector engagement in peace-building. In particular, this
applies to the pre-and post-confict phase. Although a number of interview-
ees from the tourism sector saw a role for themselves in the reconstruction
process (largely limited to peace-building as a ‘by product’), the knowledge of
implementation was low. Companies still consider peace and security as the
area of responsibility of the state and have little knowledge of the course of
action for private stakeholders. Despite the increasing presence of guidelines
and initiatives for private sector engagement in confict zones, implementati-
on continues to be challenging.
Political beliefs and private sector support for military activities
In some cases, political beliefs seem to have been linked with economic con-
siderations against a private-sector engagement in peace-building, or have
led entrepreneurs to support violent conficts. In the case of Sri Lanka, feld-
work in October 2008 showed that many of the private sector interviewees
welcomed the military strategy of the Government against the LTTE. A large
part of the population was disillusioned with previous failed attempts to fnd
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 117
a peaceful settlement of the confict and preferred a military solution to the
civil war rather than a new attempt at peace negotiations. Tis was the case
even for those people who may have once supported SLF.
Lack of political scope for PSEP and dependence on the state
A lack of political space often limits the readiness for PSEP. In a restrictive
or authoritarian state where critical opposition voices are limited, the private
sector (as well as NGOs and critical political groups) fnds it challenging or
even dangerous to engage in peace promotion or policy engagement. Tis is
also likely to afect any economic motivations for PSEP, particularly if the pri-
vate sector is reliant on the state for the operation of its business.
Not to be underestimated either is an argument that was stated mostly by
Croatian and Rwandan entrepreneurs. In both countries, the business com-
munity felt overwhelmed by political events. Tey saw economic arguments
generally and the tourism sector specifcally as having too small a role to play
in the face of strong political struggles for power. Tourism was additionally
seen as too small a sector to be able to infuence political decisions.
Coping strategies as a means of reducing confict-related costs
Te coping strategies described above can reduce the cost of confict and thus
infuence the willingness of PSEP. Most private sector groups interviewed res-
ponded by saying that they used coping strategies in order to deal with violent
confict. More direct engagement with peace-building was not a common re-
sponse. Such strategies were efective in order to allow at least for the partial
continuation or development of the tourism sector, despite confict, in both
Croatia and Sri Lanka.
Lack of organisational structure
Peace is a public commodity where the associated free-rider problem is chal-
lenging to tackle. For example, it is often difcult to organise or monitor tou-
rism activities that take place in public spaces (for example, beaches, scenery,
buildings).
Te establishment of well organised, structured tourism organisations or
associations can be efective in preventing problems of collective action. Te
tourism sector is organised yet relatively weak in the three case study coun-
tries. One issue is the cropping up of many small- to medium-sized enterpri-
ses that do not invest in certain training or standard practices. Furthermore,
the emergence of many companies in secondary industries such as transport,
restaurants, hotels, suppliers, and arts and crafts, makes it difcult to ensure
communication and organisation. Te Sri Lanka example demonstrates that
an efective organisational structure for PSEP is essential, or at least impor-
tant, when the idea for PSEP is rooted, but that organisational internal resis-
tors can also sufocate PSEP.
In the three case study countries the above-mentioned motivating and in-
hibiting factors were of varying relevance. A dominant factor has not emerged.
Rather, only a combination of factors may explain the particular behaviour of
118 RI NA M. ALLURI , MARTI NA LEI CHER, K ARS TEN PALME, ULRI KE J ORAS
tourist operators in the countries. Te economic self-interest is, thus, an im-
portant but not sufcient motivating factor for corporate engagement in peace.
Te initially-formulated theoretical assumptions were relevant for understan-
ding. However, they were not sufcient to explain all factors. Factors such as:
a lack of awareness regarding the options for business contributions to peace-
building; political convictions; a lack of organisational capacity; and political
space for engagement; negatively infuenced the willingness and ability of tou-
rism companies to assume an active role in peace-building. As the least clear
factor, however, the acceptance of the ‘peace-related costs’ was confrmed.
Recommendations: The 10 Point Action Plan
In summary, the following recommendations have been identifed through
the research study as being necessary to strengthen private tourism sector en-
gagement in peace-building:
• Improving knowledge of the confict-escalating and peace-promoting po-
tential of tourism as a basis for the development of clear behaviour guide-
lines.
• Raising awareness with tourism enterprises and private companies on the
interactions of private sector activities in the context of confict and peace
eforts.
• Improving the understanding of policy options (codes of conduct); showing
how private sector representatives and stakeholders of the tourism sector
can specifcally engage in peace promotion.
• Promoting a better understanding of the policy options for private sector
engagement in peace-building as a supplement or alternative to tourist /
private sector ‘coping strategies’.
• Identifying ‘win-win’ opportunities between peace-building and general
economic activities of the tourism industry.
• Strengthening of associative structures and of destination management or-
ganisations to organise and promote better the positive efects of private
sector engagement in the confict context.
• Empowering the private sector that has both a political and an economic
interest in the peace dividend in a country or a region.
• Promoting the active integration of tourism in post-confict reconstruction.
Tis includes tourism policy measures, such as promoting cross-border co-
operation or subsidies for small and medium businesses.
• Promoting CSR strategies in tourism and integrating confict sensitivity
and peace-building in existing CSR approaches.
• Actively promoting dialogues between political and economic groups. Tis
includes developing universal tourism policies that can develop the con-
fict-reducing efect.
Understanding Economic Efects of Violent Conficts on Tourism 119
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SUSANNE FI SCHER
Religious Tourism – Business for
Peace in the Holy Land?
Introduction
An often-heard argument concerning the role of business for peace in the
Holy Land is: “You don’t throw stones if there is food on the table” (personal
interview by author, 30 May 2008
*
). Against this background, a lot of money
annually goes to the Palestinian Territories in order to support economic de-
velopment. In contrast to this macro-economic perspective, International Re-
lations- and Peace and Confict-scholars argue that individual corporations
also play a vital role regarding confict prevention and peace-building in zo-
nes of violent confict (Bais and Huijser 2005; Ballentine and Nitzschke 2005;
Rieth and Zimmer 2004; Rittberger 2004; Sullivan 2003; Wenger and Möckli
2003; Wolf, Deitelhof, and Engert 2007).
Tis debate, however, concentrates heavily on the activities of Transnatio-
nal Corporations (TNCs) or corporate engagement within transnational initi-
atives such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights or the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and it says very little about the
actual role of local business actors and local networks (Feldt 2004; Freeman
and Hernández-Uriz 2003). Although some profound case studies already
exist (Banfeld, Gündüz, and Killick 2006; Joras, Alluri, and Palme 2009; Joras
2007), it is still unclear under which conditions local corporations contribute
to peace and what forms of engagement can be expected from them.
Tis article seeks to contribute towards flling this void and therefore deals
with the following two research questions:
• Do local businesses contribute to peace in zones of violent confict?
• What are the driving factors for corporate engagement?
To answer these questions the article analyses the role of tourism in the Pa-
lestinian Territories. It describes the individual engagement of two Palestini-
an tour operators and of two sector initiatives: frstly, the Near East Tourist
Agency (NET); and secondly, the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG). NET is
located in East Jerusalem. Its corporate executive manager (CEO) is a member
* This interview was part of a research project sponsored by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and
conducted at the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) in Frankfurt/Germany. The German Foundation
for Peace Research and the Minerva Foundation supported the empirical assessment of corpo-
rate engagement in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 121
of the board of the Holy Land Incoming Tour Operators Association (HLI-
TOA). ATG has its ofce in Beit Sahour – a small village near Bethlehem –
and is a founding member of the Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tou-
rism (PIRT). Te case studies reveal quite diferent forms of engagement and
the explanation of these variances sheds light on the conditions and limita-
tions of corporate engagement.
Te article is structured as follows: the frst section briefy outlines the aca-
demic debate on the role of business in zones of confict in general and on tou-
rism in particular. As this article deals with the role of tourism in the Israeli-
Palestinian confict, the root causes of the confict and the role of tourism in
the region will then be introduced (section two). Tereafter the article turns
to the aspect of corporate contributions to peace (section three). Drawing on
conceptual considerations from peace and confict studies, as well as global
governance research, this article will propose a framework for the empirical
assessment of corporate contributions to peace in zones of violent confict.
On this basis, the engagement of NET and ATG, as well as the activities of
the HLITOA and PIRT, will be described in the next section. Te empirical
fndings from these case studies will then be explained and discussed. Two
fndings stand out:
• Firstly, individual leadership and the corporations’ ownership structure, as
well as the market segment, seem to explain the individual pattern of cor-
porate engagement.
• Secondly, being part of a network is a driving factor for corporate engage-
ment for peace in zones of confict.
Te article concludes with a brief summary of these fndings and policy re-
commendations for practitioners.
The Role of Business in Zones of Violent Confict
During the last decade, research on the role of business in zones of violent
confict has brought together two strands of political science research investi-
gating the behaviour of business actors.
Peace and confict studies, and research on the so-called ‘war economies’,
belong to the frst strand. Tese works mainly discuss the negative role and
the negative consequences of business engagement in confict zones (Rittber-
ger 2004, 16; Wenger and Möckli 2003, 4). In this context the debate concen-
trates on the role of the world market, the global demand for raw materials
and on the question as to whether the actors’ ‘greed or grievance’ are the re-
levant factors determining the eruption and persistence of war economies
(Ballentine and Sherman 2003; Berdal and Malone 2000; Collier and Hoefer
2000; Jean and Rufn 1999; Ross 2004).
Te second strand of research is global governance. Global governance
deals with action and interaction processes of state and non-state actors on
a sub-national, national or international level and the individual or collective
122 SUSANNE FI SCHER
provision of public goods. Terefore, global governance also accounts for ac-
tors beyond the state – international organisations (IOs), non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) or business actors (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992, 4–5;
Stoker 1998, 17). In this context, scholars of global governance also became
interested in the emergence of private authority (Cutler, Haufer, and Porter
1999; Hall and Biersteker 2002). As a consequence, the efectiveness and the
legitimacy of private engagement in actor constellations, such as public-pri-
vate partnerships and self-regulation initiatives, became a key topic of global
governance research (Dingwerth 2003; Schaller 2007; Wolf 2006). Research
on private authority focuses on labour rights or environmental issues and ex-
cludes questions regarding peace and security (Feil et al. 2008, 2; Deitelhof
and Wolf 2010, 5–6). Tese aspects seem to remain the domain of the state
(Zürn 1998, 95).
Tis constellation allowed for the combining of the conceptual considera-
tions of global governance research with the empirical experience of peace
and confict studies in order to systematically investigate the (positive) role
of individual businesses in zones of violent confict. Political debates about
the potential and limitations of corporate responsible behaviour and develop-
ments, such as the Global Compact Foundation or the establishment of ini-
tiatives such as the Kimberley Process, nurtured academic expectations that
corporations might become relevant actors regarding the provision of peace
in zones of violent confict. In its early stages, this debate lacked theory-orien-
ted and systematic empirical research (Wolf, Deitelhof, and Engert 2007, 297;
Rittberger 2004, 29). In the meantime, profound case studies have emerged
which shed light on the opportunities and limitations of corporate engage-
ment in confict zones (Bray 2005; Bone 2004; Deitelhof and Wolf 2010; Feil
et al. 2008; Rieth and Zimmer 2004). Most of these studies, however, deal with
the behaviour of TNCs – especially from the extractive industries – while ac-
tivities of local, small and medium sized companies (SMEs) remained largely
unexplored.
Local businesses have a vital interest in peace since they – in contrast to
TNCs – usually don’t have the option to transfer their operations to another
country and are ‘often based on the “front lines”’ (Banfeld, Gündüz, and
Killick 2006, 197). Tey are the last to shut down their operations in the wake
of violent confict and the frst to reopen after confict has come to an end.
Tis makes local businesses an important feld for research in the role of busi-
ness for peace.
Tourism can be described as a most likely case for local business contri-
butions to peace due to two characteristics. Firstly, business operations can
easily be (re)opened after violence has come to an end, as there is no need for a
huge investment to be made in advance (personal interview by author, 30 May
2008). Secondly, tourism is known for having positive efects on several other
sectors such as banking, telecommunication and the food sector (de Kadt
1979, 11; Mundt 2006, 432). In addition, tourism can be described as a service
sector par excellence according to the immaterial character of its product: the
journey (Kirstges 2005, 91).
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 123
Tourism research and policy-orientated studies usually concentrate on
the role of tourism for sustainable development (Beyer, Häusler, and Strasdas
2007; Hein 2006; Keyser 2002, chapter 12) or challenges for tourism that arise
from terrorism (Aschauer 2008). Te role of tourism for development and eco-
nomic prosperity in developing countries was already discussed during the
1980s. Most studies came to the conclusion that the negative consequences
of modern (mass) tourism outweigh the positive efects of tourism for tho-
se countries (Mundt 2004, 285–306; Nuscheler 1996, 298–304) but they also
concentrated on the role of TNCs or at least large businesses. To sum up, thus
far, only a small amount of research has been done on the role of local SMEs
from the tourism sector for peace in zones of violent confict (Alluri 2009; Fi-
scher 2009; Nelson 2000, 22; Joras, Alluri, and Palme 2009). Tis article seeks
to further contribute to flling this gap.
The Israeli-Palestinian Confict
Te brief description of the Israeli-Palestinian confict roughly follows four
dimensions of corporate engagement that will be introduced in detail in the
following section. Systematising the root causes of this confict according to
these dimensions makes it easier to assess the confict-relevance of the cor-
porations’ engagement for peace in the later section titled ‘Corporate Enga-
gement for Peace in Israel and the Palestinian Territories’. Defning confict,
I refer to Wallensteen:
“Confict is defned by three components: action, incompatibility and par-
ticipants. Combining them we arrive at a defnition of a confict as a social
situation in which a minimum of two groups (parties) strive to acquire at
the same moment in time an available set of scarce resources” (Wallensteen
2002, 16). And: “What counts is the use of violence. […] It covers conficts
from a threshold level of 25 battle-related deaths in a year” (Wallensteen
2002, 24).
Confict-Relevant Territorial and Security Issues
In the Israeli-Palestinian confict two peoples are fghting for the same small
piece of territory (Uppsala University 2013). Negotiations between Israel and
the Palestinians enabled the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Inte-
rim Self-Government Arrangements (DoP) in 1993. A central detail to these
negotiations was that Yassir Arafat, then chairman of the Palestinian Liberati-
on Organisation (PLO), recognised the State of Israel, and Yitzhak Rabin, Isra-
eli prime minister, recognised the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian
people. In the negotiations the parties agreed on the concept of ‘gradualism’.
Tis concept allowed them to postpone important issues such as the status
of Jerusalem, settlements and refugees, borders and security to permanent
status negotiations. Te assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
must be described as a turning point: neither of the succeeding prime minis-
ters was then able to implement the respective agreements, which ultimately
124 SUSANNE FI SCHER
led to the collapse of the peace process. Te new round of talks, initiated by
US Secretary of State John Kerry, faces a lot of scepticism by both peoples, the
Israelis and the Palestinians.
Confict-Relevant Issues of Political Order
From the beginning, the two existing political pillars, the Palestinian Au-
thority (PA) and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), impeded the
development of efective political institutions in the Palestinian Territories
(Amundsen and Ezbidi 2004, 144–45). Te political separation of the Gaza
Strip from the government in the West Bank (2007) enhanced the duplication
of political and administrative responsibilities. In December 2007, the PNA
presented the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (2008–2011) (Pales-
tinian National Authority 2007). Tis plan tackled the issues of institutional
reform and the professionalisation of internal administrative afairs in the Pa-
lestinian Territories.
Whilst the Annual Corruption Report reveals a mixed picture (Coalition
for Accountability and Integrity 2012, 50–65), the establishment of the rule
of law and the implementation of the security sector reform seem to have
worked quite well:
“Te PA Security Forces (PASF) in the West Bank have continued to demon-
strate the capability to fulfl the policing function required of a state in the
areas currently under its jurisdiction. Te PASF, with international assis-
tance, including the areas of criminal justice and the rule of law, continue
to expand their scope of deployment in the parts of the West Bank under
their jurisdiction (Area A). […] Tis increased enforcement capacity has
been complemented by improvements in the area of rule of law […]“. (Te
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process 2012, 2-3)
Te ‘National Development Plan’ (2011–2013) (Palestinian National Authority
2011) builds upon those achievements but progress is confronted with immen-
se challenges. As the United Nations Special Coordinator puts it: ‘[T]he politi-
cal process continues to lag behind progress on the state building achievement’
(Te United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process 2012, 1).
Confict-Relevant Socio-Economic Issues
During the second Intifada many corporations had to close their operations
and most Palestinians lost their jobs in Israel. Tis led to a substantial and
persisting economic decrease in the Palestinian Territories – in the second
quarter of 2012, 17.1% of the population in the West Bank and 28.4% in the
Gaza Strip faced unemployment (Te World Bank 2012, 7). In 2011, 17.8% of
the Palestinians in the West Bank and 38.8% in the Gaza Strip were living
below the poverty line (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2012, 1).
According to the Paris Protocol (1994), many important issues (customs, li-
cences for tour guides etc.) remain within the responsibility of the Israeli side.
Te Palestinian economy therefore remains highly dependent on its neighbour.
Goods as well as persons cannot easily cross either the checkpoints between
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 125
Israel and the Palestinian Territories or those within the Palestinian Territo-
ries. Tis has severe consequences for all business activities that rely on free
movement, such as the Palestinian tourism industry. Although many attrac-
tive tourist sites are located in the Palestinian Territories, the Palestinian tou-
rism sector is unable to beneft from positive dynamics in the Holy Land, e.g. in
2012, 3.5 million tourists visited Israel (Germany Trade & Investment 2013, 12).
Serious security conditions, restrictions on movement in the area, as well
as travel warnings from institutions such as foreign ministries, tend to sufo-
cate the Palestinian tourism industry. At the end of the last decade, only one
third of the tourists who travelled to Israel had also visited the Palestinian
Territories – and those who travelled to Bethlehem or East-Jerusalem did not
usually stay in Palestinian hotels or restaurants (Ashkenazi and Greenapple
2009, 38; Te Peres Center for Peace and Paltrade 2006, 67; personal interview
by the author, 5 June 2008). Moreover, most foreign tour operators mainly co-
operate with partners from the ‘Israeli side’ (personal interview by author, 1
December 2007).
Finally, the decision to coordinate the activities of the Israeli and Palesti-
nian tourism sector (e.g. common marketing, access to tourist sites etc.) as
laid out in the Paris Protocol has not been implemented (Dajani, Dayan, and
Touboul 2006, 384; Te World Bank 2012, 15). Tese factors lead to unequal
prospects for the local tourism businesses to earn money, which means that
the economic gap between the conficting parties is continuously widening, to
the disadvantage of the Palestinian people.
Confict-Relevant Socio-Cultural Issues
Te optimism shared by a large portion of Israelis and Palestinians at the be-
ginning of the 1990s has diminished along with the failing peace processes.
As many Palestinians who had been working in Israel in the past lost their
jobs, Israelis and Palestinians are not in touch with each other in everyday life
anymore. Tis has an enormous infuence on how they perceive each other.
Additionally, agitating media aggravates the negative image Israelis and Pa-
lestinians hold of each other. Tese dynamics further intensify the mutually
exclusive character of the respective collective narratives regarding the con-
fict and thereby afect the disposition of Israelis as well as Palestinians to turn
to each other and support a (peaceful) solution of the confict (Adwan 2008;
Salomon 2004).
Corporate Engagement for Peace – Conceptual Considerations
Drawing on conceptual considerations from global governance research and
on considerations from research on peace-building, the framework for the
empirical assessment of corporate engagement for peace will be described in
the following two sections (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 11–15; Feil et al. 2008,
4-8; Fischer 2011, 48–61; Wolf, Deitelhof, and Engert 2007).
126 SUSANNE FI SCHER
Three Types of Corporate Engagement
Some articles on corporate behaviour in confict zones refer to “do no harm”
or “confict-prevention” and “peace-building” concepts to grasp corporate en-
gagement more systematically (Rieth and Zimmer 2004; Wenger and Möckli
2003, 31–40; Lederach 2008). Tese concepts, however, share a certain norma-
tive basis and are closely connected to impact (Feil et al. 2008, 32). Another
relevant debate is that on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR stands
for quite an elaborate discourse in the feld of business ethics (Blowfeld and
Murray 2008; Carroll 1979; Freeman 1984). However, this concept will not be
applied to the analysis of corporate behaviour since CSR is not only an acade-
mic concept, but is also used by companies to label various types of corporate
engagement (Blowfeld and Frynas 2005, 503).
In contrast, this article identifes corporate engagement on a structural ba-
sis, which means that the degree to which corporate engagement is integrated
in a corporation’s core business is being used as a defning criterion to dis-
tinguish three types of corporate engagement whilst CSR is only used as an
empirical indicator for corporate engagement.
Following these considerations, a corporation’s business activities – as far
as they take place in a zone of violent confict – belong to the frst type of
corporate engagement called ‘ just doing business’ (Corporate Engagement
Type 1) (Fischer 2011, 48). Tis categorisation only covers activities that com-
ply with the legal framework of the respective host country and is based on
the assumption that business activities as such have the potential to foster
peace and stability in zones of violent confict since they contribute to econo-
mic growth and prosperity. Tis assumption can be found in several works of
scholars of peace and confict studies (Gerson and Colletta 2002, 122; Hauf-
ler 2001, 663; Wenger and Möckli 2003, 8). However, research that deals with
the relation between peace and economy on a more structural level should be
mentioned as well (Reuveny 2000; Russett and Oneal 2001).
Te second type of corporate engagement refers to unsystematic corporate
activities that go beyond a corporation’s core business. Tese ‘unsystematic
activities’ (Corporate Engagement Type 2) have no substantial relation to the
corporation’s core business but address several and/or diferent issues e.g. so-
cial, environmental problems or political problems (Fischer 2011, 49). Tey
can be described as mere ‘add-ons’ to a corporation’s core business. Against
this background, these activities frequently follow a case-by-case logic on a
short-term basis. Typical examples for this type of engagement are corporate
donations to civil society participants.
Finally, ‘corporate governance contributions’ (Corporate Engagement Type
3) represent the third and probably the most elaborate type of corporate en-
gagement (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 11–15; Feil et al. 2008, 4-8; Fischer 2011,
49–52). Governance is characterised by the following elements: a guiding ac-
tor acting with intention, the creation or implementation of collective binding
rules and norms, and the provision of collective goods (Mayntz 1997, 2005).
Referring to Rosenau and Czempiel, governance can also be understood as ‘or-
der plus intentionality’ (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992, 5). Governance implies
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 127
a certain political quality (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 11) and thereby contrasts
corporate engagement, which can be characterised as ‘ just doing business’ or
‘unsystematic activities’.
Referring to the considerations on assessing efectiveness from regime
theory, corporate governance contributions can be distinguished in two
dimensions, output and outcome (Börzel and Risse 2002, 143–44; Easton
1965, 351; Huckel, Rieth, and Zimmer 2007; Young and Underdal 2004). With
regard to corporate engagement, output comprises the adoption of ‘corporate
policies’ such as a corporation’s commitment to an initiative’s guidelines or
a corporation’s code of conduct, whilst outcome comprises the observable
‘corporate activities’ such as participation in a sector’s working group or
fnancial support for development projects in the host state. Tis illustrates
that these two (ideal-typical) dimensions of corporate engagement can be
observed both as individual and as collective corporate engagement. It is
important that the adoption of policies and the observable activities are not
mandated by law but have voluntary character. Corporate engagement, in
accordance with the law and implemented by the state, will be quantifed as
compliance.
Corporate Engagement for Peace
At the beginning of the 1990s, peace and confict studies – especially in Ger-
many – claimed a lack of research with regard to those factors and mecha-
nisms that foster peace and stability in zones of violent confict (Brock 2002,
110; Matthies 1994, 1; Senghaas and Senghaas 1996, 267). Research addressing
this matter during the last two decades covers a broad theoretical (e.g. demo-
cratic peace theory, regime theory, peace-building research) and methodolo-
gical spectrum (e.g. typology, theory-guided inductive research, praxeological
orientated inductive research) (Matthies 1997, 32; Meyers 1994, 117–147; Mül-
ler 2003, 224; Senghaas 1995). Tis article mainly draws on peace-building
research, especially on the ‘peace-building toolboxes’ that address the root
causes of violent confict and the prerequisites for successful peace-building
processes (Barash and Webel 2002, chapter III, IV; Barnett et al. 2007, 45;
Lund 1996, 203–05; Lund 2001; Matthies 1995, 3-27; Matthies 2000, 544–49;
Smith 2004, 28). With regard to the considerations of Barnett, Matthies and
Smith (Barnett et al. 2007; Matthies 1995, 3-27; Smith 2004) the article iden-
tifes four (ideal-typical) dimensions of corporate engagement for peace: the
security dimension, the political dimension, the socio-economic dimension,
and the socio-cultural dimension.
Tese dimensions comprise the factors that are seen as being important for
the devolution of a confict. Tis means that corporate engagement – which
falls into the ‘security dimension’ – includes contributions to disarmament,
demobilisation and reintegration processes or security sector reform measu-
res (Bryden, Donais, and Hänggi 2005; Ginifer and Greene 2004; Nelson 2000,
69). Additionally, a company might also be involved in peace negotiations by
providing informal communication channels or logistic support (Fort and
Schipani 2004, 30–31; Gerson and Colletta 2002, 32).
128 SUSANNE FI SCHER
Corporate engagement in the “political dimension” comprises contributions
to the establishment of democratic structures and the rule of law (Zandvliet
2005, 11). Other measures might be the promotion of human rights (Sullivan
2003, 21–112), transparency and anti-corruption measures (Lunde and Taylor
2005, 281–82), or the support of civil society activities.
Te “socio-economic dimension” covers corporate activities that support
local economic development (Wenger and Möckli 2003, 133–159) or contribu-
te to the local education and health systems (Feil 2010, 38; Lim and Cameron
2003). In addition, these activities may also aim for the sustainable manage-
ment of environmental resources such as diamonds, forests or water (Bone
2004; Fort and Schipani 2004, 192–96).
Te “socio-cultural dimension” comprises issues such as reconciliation
processes, media trainings or peace education (Kriesberg 1998, 195; Gardener
2001). Tese issues try to confront the feelings of hatred and fear that emerge
and often persist within societies that have experienced war.
To avoid the creation of an all-inclusive concept, the confict-relevance of a
corporation’s engagement is assessed case by case. It is assumed that corporate
contributions to, for example, ethnic reconciliation in a confict between dife-
rent ethnic groups could increase peace. To sum up, the only activities qualify-
ing as a ‘corporate engagement for peace’ are those which address the root cau-
ses of the respective violent confict and consider confict-specifc prerequisites
for building peace (Deitelhof and Wolf 2010, 14; Feil et al. 2008, 7).
Corporate Engagement for Peace in Israel and the Palestinian Territories
Applying the concept that has been developed in the previous section, the fol-
lowing sections investigate if and to what extent local corporate engagement
concerns the above-described issues and thereby contributes to peace in the
Holy Land.
Tour operators manufacture and sell their (own) tours to the customers
and therefore have to make investments in advance (Freyer 2006, 203). Tis
means they decide whom they co-operate with at the respective destination,
which makes them an interesting case study regarding investigation of the
role of local tourism for peace. Te Palestinian Territories allow for investi-
gating diferent types of tourism such as leisure, cultural or health tourism.
Due to the geographical location of many tourist sites – e.g. the Dead Sea, the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem or the traditional market in Jerusalem –
tourism is deeply involved in the Israeli-Palestinian confict. Te engagement
of the two corporations, NET and ATG, is being assessed inductively. Te case
studies follow the logic of a structured, focused comparison. Tis means that
the assessment and the analysis of the empirical material are guided by the
same research questions (George and Bennett 2005, 67). Te comparison and
explanation of the corporations’ engagement allow for generating hypotheses
on the conditions of local corporate engagement for peace.
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 129
Case Studies
Near East Tourist Agency (NET)
Emi Abu Dayyeh founded Near East Tourist Agency in Jerusalem in 1964. To-
day, the corporation can be described as a family-owned local SME with its
headquarters still located in East-Jerusalem. Furthermore, the corporation
runs ofces in Jordan, Turkey, Italy and Greece and co-operates with partners
in Syria and Egypt (NET 2013a). Up to now, 2000 was the most successful year
for the company. In that year NET organised around 250 tours in Israel and
the Palestinian Territories. At that time the company ran three hotels, two in
Jerusalem and one hotel in Tiberias, and it owned around 50 buses.
With the second Intifada fewer tourists booked NET tours and the corpo-
ration had to reduce its capacities; this meant selling buses and dismissing
employees. In 2008 – with a short downturn in 2006 – the company was able
to increase its activities again and organised 180–200 tours and ran 28 buses.
Moreover, NET ofers services such as buses, tour guides or hotel capacities to
foreign tour operators. One of the co-operating partners is the German tour
operator Studiosus, which is located in Munich (personal interview by author,
30 May 2008). NET organises trips to tourist sites in Israel and the Palestinian
Territories and – with the support of its partner ofces – to hotspots in Turkey
or Greece etc. Te company focuses on those tourists who are interested in
the historical, cultural and especially the religious setting of the respective
destinations:
“NET is your gateway to the lands of the Bible: the cultural roots, the reli-
gious heritage, the historical pathways. Visiting the lands of the Bible is not
like touring anywhere else. It is a kind of homecoming, because we all grew
up hearing about these places, and the events became part of our lives.”
(NET 2013)
What about NET and corporate engagement for peace?
Whilst the company commits itself to high quality tourism concerning ser-
vice, tour guides and buses (NET 2013), no self-commitments can be identi-
fed that would qualify as corporate policies or activities as conceptualised in
the section entitled ‘Te Israeli-Palestinian Confict’. Instead, NET seems to
be highly sceptical towards issues of corporate engagement for peace that go
beyond “just doing business”:
“First you have to fulfl your urgent needs. If there is food on the table, then
you can aford to care about additional issues.’ And: ‘You have to aford to
think about issues like environmental sustainability.” (Personal interview
by author, 30 May 2008)
Whilst this interview reveals a clear hierarchy of priorities, it is interesting
that the co-operation between NET and foreign tour operators such as Stu-
diosus is described as successful due to the fact that NET already fulfls the
130 SUSANNE FI SCHER
environmental and social standards that are demanded by those tour opera-
tors. Moreover, since the tourism sector lacks educated staf, NET educates
its employees within its own company. Tis comprises all of the activities of
the tour operator, from administration to the corporation’s tour guides. Te
products of NET address tourists with a special interest in history or religious
sites but also in pilgrimage. Against this background, the corporation disco-
vered that those tourists who travel for religious reasons tend to be more sen-
sitive with regard to the problems that prevail in Israel and the Palestinian
Territories and more robust concerning political (in-)stability:
“Religious tourists also travel during political crises to the Holy Land – they
are less confict-sensitive. Moreover, so called ‘biblical tourism’ cares more
about the gap concerning the imbalanced benefts from tourism in the re-
gion.” (Personal interview by author, 30 May 2008)
Concerning political (in-)stability, the company has not established any spe-
cifc security measures. On its webpage, NET provides information about the
closing of tourist sites for security reasons (NET 2013b) and, during Spring
2008, the company did not ofer tours to Nablus for safety reasons (personal
interview by author, 30 May 2008). For security reasons, however, Palestinian
tour guides have to apply for licences from the Israeli administrations. Tese
licences are hard to obtain and only last for three months. Tere have been
periods in the past during which no licences were issued to Palestinian tour
guides. During that time NET employed tour guides from Israel.
Te CEO of NET is also a member of the board of the HLITOA and re-
presents this initiative to ofcial institutions. Te HLITOA was founded in
2005 and currently has 43 members – all of them tour operators dealing with
incoming tourism. Te sector initiative aims for the promotion of tourism in
the Palestinian Territories but – as formulated in its vision – it also seeks to
enhance the development of an independent Palestinian economy:
“For the Holy Land Incoming Tour Operator Association (HLITOA) to be a
key player and major catalyst in developing the Palestinian Tourism Indus-
try so that it grows as the major economic sector in Palestine, and for this
sector to contribute towards an independent, viable and sustainable Pales-
tinian economy [sic].” (HLITOA 2013)
Concerning this macro-economic perspective, NET identifes a direct relati-
onship between economic development and peace: “If economy provides in-
come – this is defnitely a way to peace” (personal interview by author, 30 May
2008). Against this background, NET identifes tourism as a relevant sector
for peace because tourism generates income very quickly and can be descri-
bed as labour intensive: “People beneft from tourism immediately. Tourism
creates jobs and creating jobs is what counts.” And: “It is a very rewarding
business” (personal interview by author, 30 May 2008).
To sum up, the corporate engagement of NET can be quantifed as ‘ just
doing business’. Te company has not committed itself to certain policies (or
activities) that address the Israeli-Palestinian confict and no ‘unsystematic
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 131
activities’ could be identifed. Nevertheless, the business activities of NET
contribute to peace in the following ways:
• With the provision of education and the inclusion of local Palestinian sites
in its travel itineraries, NET helps to confront unemployment and the lack
of education in the region. Tis also balances the benefts from tourism
between Israel and the Palestinian Territories (socio-economic dimension).
• Trough its active engagement within the HLITOA, the corporation not
only supports independent private sector development but also the consti-
tution of an actor who represents tour operators within the political arena
(political dimension).
The Alternative Tourism Group (ATG)
After the Oslo I Accord, in 1994, the number of tourists who travelled to the
Holy Land rose signifcantly. Soon, however, it became obvious that most tou-
rists only travelled around Israel and did not visit the Palestinian Territories –
or they just made a half-day trip to Bethlehem (personal interview by author, 1
December 2007). Against this background, ATG was founded by intellectuals
in Beit Sahour in 1995. Since 2000, ATG has been operating like a regular tour
operator, i.e. it organises and ofers tours and coordinates the partners during
the tour runs (Betz 2006, 3). ATG has six employees and co-operates with se-
veral hotels and bus companies. As with NET, ATG’s operations also peaked
during the year 2000 celebrations. During that year more than 2000 tourists
booked ATG for tours around the Holy Land. With the second Intifada the
numbers fell to 500 tourists per year. But in 2006 the company was able to
welcome 1200 tourists once again (Betz 2006, 4).
Te itineraries cover historical and religious sites, but what makes ATG
special are its tours that deal with current political issues, e.g. the wall, refu-
gees etc. Tese themes result from the concept that underlies the operations
of ATG: whereby a ‘bad image’ of the Palestinian Territories was seen as the
reason for the number of tourists travelling to Israel and not to the Palestini-
an Territories. Te founders therefore decided to confront this image with a
grassroots concept of tourism. Tis concept, which was awarded the TO DO!
Prize 2006 by the Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. (Studien-
kreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung e.V. 2013), focuses on the contact bet-
ween tourists and locals and seeks to enhance the Palestinian share of profts
from tourism in the Holy Land.
What about ATG and corporate engagement for peace?
ATG has committed itself to so-called “alternative tourism” (Rami Kassis, di-
rector of ATG, also talks about “justice tourism” (Kassis 2006)). As already
mentioned, this concept has two aims – intercultural exchange and economic
participation (Betz 2006, 4; Kassis 2006, 2):
“Our aim in tourism is to convince people to include meeting with the Pal-
estinians and to inform the people, the visitors, the tourists, the pilgrims
132 SUSANNE FI SCHER
about Palestine and the Palestinians – and to work a little bit in making
a balance in the tourism revenues between the Palestinian and the Israeli
side.” (Personal interview by author, 5 June 2008)
Te intercultural exchange is mainly implemented through the specifc sub-
stance of the tours that are ofered by ATG. Te tourists not only visit histo-
rical and religious sites but also people from Palestinian society, e.g. mayors,
members of development organisations or managers of local frms. Moreover,
they have the opportunity to learn more about the current political situation
in the Palestinian Territories through visits to refugee camps.
Finally, discussions on environmental protection can also be part of the
programme and, together with other NGOs, ATG also participates in concre-
te activities such as the planting of olive trees (ATG 2013). With this in mind,
the tour guides who accompany the groups are advised not to dominate the
activities and discussions but to operate as facilitators of the dialogue between
the tourists and the local people. Usually, the topics that are being dealt with
during these tours result from intensive correspondence between ATG and
the tourists before the tour is booked (personal interview by author, 5 June
2008).
To enhance economic participation ATG applies a double-strategy. Firstly,
ATG started to develop a bed & breakfast system in Bethlehem and the sur-
rounding villages using fnancial support from the Japanese government and
the United Nations Development Programme (United Nations Development
Programme 2013). Te project, through which Palestinian families should
gain the opportunity to directly beneft from tourism, was granted in 1997
and implemented in time for the year 2000 celebrations. Te project was ad-
vertised via the local media and Palestinian families could apply for it in an
open process. Tirty families were accepted and those who were accepted re-
ceived a grant to improve the infrastructure (e.g. bathrooms, furniture) and
training with regard to the bed & breakfast concept (Betz 2006, 6). Secondly,
ATG not only focuses on hotels, restaurants or souvenir shops, etc. that are
run by Palestinians, but the group also cares about whether their partners use
local Palestinian products, e.g. products of Palestinian agriculture as well as
furniture or handicrafts made in Palestine. Additionally, it is important that
partners comply with social and environmental standards, i.e. pay fair wages,
try to conserve resources, and do not take part in corruption practices (inter-
view by author, 5 June 2008).
Aside from this individual engagement, which is based on the concept of
‘alternative tourism’, ATG – like NET – reveals active involvement in two sec-
tor initiatives.
A project meeting in October 2005 in Alexandria, Egypt with two other
NGOs, the Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) and the initiative Golan
for Development (GFD), can be described as a starting point for ATG’s engage-
ment for peace within and through (trans-)national sector initiatives. Tis frst
meeting on ‘Interfaith Co-operation for Justice in the Occupied Territories –
Human Encounters for Peace and Reconciliation through Tourism’ resulted in
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 133
the establishment of the programme ‘Pilgrimages for Transformation’ (PIFT)
(ATG 2005: see Resolution for Action). Two more meetings took place in 2007
in Mardaba, Jordan and in 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland (ATG 2007).
Tis programme also played an important role regarding the decision of
ATG to foster the establishment of an initiative in the Palestinian Territories.
Terefore, ATG was actively involved in the organisation of the frst meeting
between NGOs in the Palestinian Territories to discuss the chances and chal-
lenges of tourism in the Palestinian Territories. Only two months after those
NGOs had met, in August 2007, the Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tou-
rism (PIRT) was founded (PIRT 2013). Besides tour operators and civil society
participants, public sector institutions are also allowed to become a member
of PIRT. Tus, the Palestinian Ministry for Tourism and Antiquities, the Arab
Hotel Association and the HLITOA soon became members as well.
Te members of PIRT commit themselves to what they call ‘ justice tou-
rism’ (ATG 2005) which also aims “to transform tourism in Palestine to be-
neft the local communities, to enable encounters between tourists and host
communities and to struggle for more justice in tourism for the Holy Land”
(PIRT 2013b). During the initiative’s frst workshop diferent stakeholders had
the opportunity to work on selected tourism-related issues (ATG 2007). Aside
from security problems and regulation, the participants also discussed envi-
ronmental protections and “[t]ourism as a tool for peace (...)” (Ranjan 2007, 15).
Te fndings of the workshop resulted in the formulation and the proclama-
tion of the ‘Code of Conduct for Tourism in the Holy Land’ on 28 November,
2008 at the University of Bethlehem (PIRT 2013). Interestingly, this ‘Code of
Conduct’ deals with the responsibility of the Palestinian tourism industry and
the responsibility of tourists. For example, the code of conduct appeals to tou-
rists to use the local infrastructure and to conserve water and energy while
travelling through the Palestinian Territories. Furthermore, the members of
the Palestinian tourism industry commit themselves to guaranteeing local
communities an equal share of the profts, in order to protect the environment
and save resources as well as to co-operate with their partners on a fair and
transparent basis (Palestinian Initiative for Responsible Tourism 2008).
Summing up, ATG has committed itself to the concept of “alternative tou-
rism” and to the “Code of Conduct for Tourism in the Holy Land” of PIRT.
Te corporate policies and activities cover issues of the political dimension
(e.g. anti-corruption, human rights) as well as the socio-economic dimension
(local accommodation and products, fair wages; environmental protection).
Against this background, the engagement of ATG can be quantifed as ‘gover-
nance’.
Te study also demonstrates that there are strong connections between the
company’s policies and its observable activities. Local partners (e.g. local ho-
tels, restaurants and bed & breakfasts) really beneft from the activities (socio-
economic governance contribution) and the tourists who travel with ATG not
only visit the famous historical sites but also get in contact with people and
become familiar with the current political situation – especially with regard
to human rights – in the Palestinian Territories (governance activities in poli-
134 SUSANNE FI SCHER
tical dimension). Moreover, with its engagement for (trans-)national initiatives
the tour operator contributes to the establishment of important civil society
structures (governance activities in political dimension).
Last but not least, the tour operator reveals ‘unsystematic activities’ such as
the edition of a guidebook for the Palestinian Territories (ATG 2013). Table 1
provides an overview of the engagement of NET and ATG. It focuses on the
engagement, which addresses the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian con-
fict and shows that the tour operator reveals no engagement in the security
dimension and little in the political dimension while most activities fall into
the socio-economic dimension, the feld which has a strong relation to the tour
operators’ core business (Deitelhof et al. 2010, 205, 220; Feil et al. 2008, 31).
Table 1: Corporate Engagement for Peace of NET and ATG
Security (1) Political
Dimension (2)
Socio-economic
Dimension (3)
Socio-cultural
Dimension (4)
Peace Negotiations,
Demobilisation
Disarmament
Reintegration
Processes,
Control of Small Arms
Proliferation, Demining
Democratic Institutions,
Rule of Law, Civil
Society,
Human Rights, Anti-
corruption Measures
Economic Development,
Poverty Reduction,
Education, Health
Care, Protection of
Environment and
Resources
Independent Media,
Peace Education,
Reconciliation, Coping
with Trauma
Corporate Policies ATG ATG
Corporate Activities ATG ATG
Unsystematic Activities ATG
Just Doing Business NET NET
Comparing and Explaining Corporate Engagement for Peace
Comparing the engagement of NET and ATG reveals that ATG has not only
committed itself to certain ‘corporate policies’ but also has ‘corporate activi-
ties’ and ‘unsystematic activities’. In contrast, the engagement of NET quali-
fes as ‘ just doing business’. Te case studies show quite diferent forms of en-
gagement. Te explanation of these variances in the following section might
give fruitful insights into the opportunities and limitations of corporate enga-
gement for peace in zones of violent confict.
Comparing and Explaining Corporate Engagement of NET and ATG
Analysing the empirical material, three factors seem to explain the variances
between the engagement of NET and ATG:
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 135
• ‘CEO-leadership’
• the ‘market segment’
• the ‘corporate structure’
Te CEO has a lot of infuence, especially in small companies. Not only the
corporate strategy but also all important decisions during daily business de-
pend on his ‘leadership’ (Factor 1 above). Comparing NET and ATG, it beco-
mes clear that the CEOs of these tour operators follow completely diferent
strategies. Whilst the CEO of NET describes a purely proft-oriented strategy:
“First you have to fulfl your urgent needs. If there is food on the table, then
you can aford to care about additional issues.” (Personal interview by au-
thor, 30 May 2008)
the CEO of ATG highlights the political impetus:
“Actually the main goal – or one of the main goals – of ATG and of alterna-
tive tourism is the political issue. And we also believe that tourism is a tool
of promoting peace and justice.” (Personal interview by author, 5 June 2008)
In addition, the CEOs of these tour operators also implement diferent ‘marke-
ting strategies’ (Factor 2 above). Whilst both tour operators focus on tourists
who are interested in the historical, cultural and religious setting in the Holy
Land, ATG especially seeks to attract tourists who are not only interested in
this setting but also in the political situation. Tis means that those travellers
are aware of the political implications of tourism in the Holy Land and, with
their decision to travel with ATG, they also take up a political stance on the
role of tourism in Israel and the Palestinian territories:
“Of course, after the second Intifada […] all of the tourism industry went
down to zero. […] Tis afected all in the tourism industry, including ATG.
We were lucky that it does not afect us as it afected others […] because our
programme is totally diferent from what others are promoting.” (Personal
interview by author, 5 June 2008)
In contrast, NET focuses on tourists who are interested in the afore-menti-
oned setting but for whom the political issues remain excluded. Tose tourists
are less confict-sensitive, which is enough for a company like NET that has
to be proft-oriented. Tis leads directly to the third variable, the ‘corporate
structure’ of the tour operators (Factor 3 above). Whilst NET can be descri-
bed as a local SME, the organisational structure of ATG is that of an NGO.
Tis allows ATG to apply for funding from IOs or from other NGOs that are
interested in peace in the Palestinian Territories in order to guarantee the
‘survival’ of its operations and to operate like an ordinary tour operator wit-
hout the pressure of trying to maximise its profts. In contrast, NET has to
follow the logic of the market.
Although both companies reveal so-called “coping strategies” (Joras, Alluri,
and Palme 2009, 6, 25), the pressure to reduce capacities or to make proft
with other destinations is much higher for NET than for ATG. Moreover, its
136 SUSANNE FI SCHER
business partners probably have to withdraw as soon as political confict es-
calates according to the travel warnings in the home states (Fischer 2010, 146),
while politically-motivated individual travellers of ATG might be less depen-
dent on these travel warnings.
The Role of (Trans-)National Sector Initiatives
NET and ATG are actively involved in the activities of (trans-)national sector
initiatives. Te members of these initiatives share information on new pro-
ducts, sector-relevant fairs as well as upcoming regulation. Moreover, the
Palestinian tourism sector is represented in (national) political institutions
and gains visibility for foreign business partners. Drawing on interviews with
members of the Palestinian tourism industry, these initiatives can be seen as
compensation for the lack of governmental support.
Caught between a powerful Israeli administration and a weak Palestinian
government, these institutions help Palestinian tour operators deal with the
Israeli administration (e.g. licences for tour guides, access and mobility in the
Holy Land), with foreign governments (e.g. travel warnings) or global tourism
institutions (e.g. access to marketing funds, interest-representation in stan-
dard-setting processes). Tis demonstrates that – to a certain degree – the ex-
pectation that non-state participants complement or substitute governmental
functions is fulflled.
However, the two initiatives – as well as the members within these initi-
atives – seem to represent two diferent perspectives on how the problems
arising from the confict might be confronted. Whilst the HLITOA might be
described as a ‘pure’ business oriented initiative, PIRT and PIFT have a strong
normative orientation. Te ‘business-men’ of HLITOA focus on the common –
seemingly non-political – interests of the business community. Te interest
in growth and economic prosperity seems to be a neutral ground for busi-
ness participants in the Holy Land. Tese ‘serious business-men’ always keep
an eye on the consequences of the global fnancial crisis, the rising costs of
energy or the competition between diferent tourism destinations for business
partners from the global market. Tis focus on the common market rationali-
ty is also described by local interview partners:
“In the past, meetings between representatives from the business sector
were dominated by complaints concerning the political situation. Tose
meetings turned out to be pointless since the corporations could not do an-
ything about the political situation. […] Against this background, the new
starting point for projects is the common economic interest of the corpora-
tions. Te guiding question is: “How can corporations contribute to peace
and stability without explicitly focusing on contributions to peace?” (Per-
sonal interview by author, 28 May 2008; Translation from German)
In contrast, there are those tour operators who claim that doing business as
well as travelling is not a neutral activity but always embedded in the political
context, which is heavily determined by the Israeli-Palestinian confict. For
this reason, they integrate the business case and the political case under one
Religious Tourism – Business for Peace in the Holy Land? 137
conceptual roof – that of ‘ justice tourism’ or ‘alternative tourism’. Accordin-
gly, the idea of responsible business not only commits business participants
of PIRT to comply with environmental or social standards, but it also puts
business into a political context in order to balance the profts from tourism
between Israelis and Palestinians.
Concluding Remarks
Looking at these fndings from a more policy-oriented perspective, it becomes
clear that tourism ofers jobs to people with various skills and has positive
efects on several other sectors, e.g. the food sector, hotels etc. Tis might be
highly relevant for peace as the Palestinians struggle with a poor economy,
high unemployment and a high poverty rate. However, the distribution of pro-
fts from tourism is very unequal because:
• most foreign tour operators mainly work with Israeli partners.
• the tourists who visit the Holy Land usually travel around Israel but not the
Palestinian Territories – or, if they do visit, then only make a half-day trip.
To confront the frst problem, some important steps have already been taken:
Palestinian tour operators have founded (trans-)national initiatives to share
information, to gain visibility and to represent the interests of the Palestinian
tourism industry – to both the national and the international tourism sector.
Tese steps strengthen the Palestinian tourism industry and should receive
more political as well as fnancial support also from the international commu-
nity and/or the developing agencies in the region.
To deal with the second problem, it seems important to approach the tou-
rists who visit the Holy Land and to enhance public awareness regarding the
fact that travelling is not a neutral activity. Concerning this, the two compa-
ny case studies (NET and ATG) demonstrate that travellers interested in the
cultural and/or religious background of a destination are much more confict-
sensitive because of their normative orientation and/or intellectual approach
towards travelling. Consequently, this market segment seems to be a good st-
arting point to enhance public awareness about confict-sensitive tourism.
What we also learn from the case studies is that the tourism industry and
the travellers – ie both provider and customer – have to rethink their ‘modus
operandi’ in order to make tourism a tool for peace. In this regard, the Code of
Conduct of PIRT that addresses tour operators and travellers could serve as a
model for confict-sensitive tourism not only in the Holy Land but for confict-
sensitive tourism in general.
138 SUSANNE FI SCHER
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NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Communitarian Ecotourism in the
Colombian Darién and Urabá Region:
An Opportunity for Peace-Building
Introduction
Te Urabá Gulf is located on the western border of northern Colombia, next
to Panamá. Te continental part of the Gulf is the Darién and Urabá Regi-
on. Tis area of Colombia is still unknown; its violence and uprooting history
have stigmatised a beautiful place, diverse in people and nature. In this area,
tourist initiatives have emerged from rural communities, the same ones that
have sufered a history of violence and repression.
Te aim of this article is to show how tourism is an opportunity for peace-
building in the Darién and Urabá Region; and through this example to show
how endogenous development models are essential for local communities. It
is an interesting example of how tourism services provided by local people
through four ecotourism centres, managed by communitarian organisations,
and with more than 100 families directly involved, are an opportunity for the
promotion of a local endogenous development; these services – integrating
personal, communitarian, commercial and territorial aspects – are leading to
a social change in the area.
Colombia is located in a strategic position, in the northern corner of South
America: it is the main corridor to Central and North America. On the nort-
hern border with Panamá, no roads are available for vehicle transit and the
only transportation is by boat, or by foot on a dangerous and hidden road. Tis
region is called ‘Tapón del Darién’, or ‘Darién Gap’. Its dense vegetation makes
it a region with one of the largest amounts of plant and animal biodiversity in
the world, although most species – despite their potential value for scientifc,
biomedical or industrial purposes – have not yet been identifed. It’s consi-
dered a strategic ecosystem capable of guaranteeing essential environmental
goods and services for sustainable human development, the maintenance of
cultural and biological diversity, the protection of endemism and the balance
of basic ecological processes. Te environmental richness and the cultural di-
versity in this territory is amazing: indigenous people, Afro-Colombians, far-
mers and people from diferent regions in Colombia, who came looking for
new opportunities in the region, all live together here. Urabá borders the Da-
rién region, where agriculture and banana farming are the main commercial
activities; the land is productive and has access to the sea through the port of
Turbo at the Urabá Gulf.
144 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Map 1: Northern Colombia and Panama with Darién and Urabá Regions marked in dotted line
Map 2: Location of Ecotourism Centres in Darién and Urabá Region
In the Urabá Gulf, the four ecotourism centres are in Capurganá, Playona, San
Francisco (Acandí municipality), and El Carlos (Necoclí municipality).
Access to these regions is complicated. Possible routes are:
• Fly from Bogotá to Montería, and then go about 3 hours by road to Necoclí
• Fly from Bogotá to Medellín and then Apartadó; from there, either go about
2½ hours by road to Necoclí, or else go about 1 hour by road to the port in
Turbo, and then by boat to Acandí
• Fly from Bogotá to Medellín and then Capurganá; from there, go by boat
to Playona / San Francisco / the port in Turbo, and then by road to Necoclí
If you are heading north beyond Capurganá, there is a boat from Capurganá
to Puerto Obaldía in Panamá (there is also a path, which is usable only for
walking or on horseback, and it’s defnitely not recommended); from Puerto
Obaldía, there are fights to Panama City.
War and Confict in the Darién and Urabá Region
Te Darién and Urabá region has sufered a history of violence due to its stra-
tegic location. According to an investigation published by EAFIT University
and the Antioquia Government in Medellín, this territory acts as a corridor to
North America for drugs, weapons and other illegal items. Te economic po-
tential, and the environmental richness, make the control of the territory an
important military objective for diferent forces. Since colonisation, social and
economic interests, linked to vast banana farms and palm crops, have always
Bogota
Medellin
Montería
UR AB Á
GUL F
C AR I B B E AN S E A
PANA MA
GUL F
Panama City
Capurganá
Iracas de Belen
Playa Caná
Posadas
del Rio
Centro Arqueológico
el Carlos
Apartadó
Necocli
Arboletes
Turbo
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 145
caused conficts about land rights and access. A lack of Government presence,
and of legal documents for property, has provided the perfect opportunity for
illegal forces to take control of the territory.
In the 1970s, guerrilla forces – FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Army
Forces) and EPL (Liberation Popular Army) – occupied this territory, aiming
to win the support of the people. Tey started to take sides with the banana
farm employees against their employers, fghting for labour benefts. All over
Colombia at that time, the Government failed to implement means that could
provide an equitable access to land and political participation to left-wing par-
ties and ideologies.
Soon, confict between the guerrillas arose – each one with its own strategy
to gain control of the territory. Te guerrillas’ main actions were focused on
supporting people to occupy land, in both urban and rural sites. Tey star-
ted killing each other, and this confict between guerrilla groups about labour
and land intensifed in the 1980s. Tere were Government eforts to negotiate
and in 1991 the EPL initiated a process to participate in politics; in this con-
text, FARC started killing all people involved in the process and consolidated
their presence in the region. Ten, in the 1990s, paramilitary forces from the
northeast emerged.
During this time, drug trafcking became an important economic income
for all illegal bands. After Pablo Escobar’s death in 1993, Carlos Castaño beca-
me the main leader and, with the support of EPL’s former combatants, fghting
began against FARC. Te violence perpetrated by paramilitary forces was es-
calating; Darién and Urabá was a place known for torture and captivity, and
was the region in Colombia that sufered the most from this kind of paramili-
tary violence. (Gobernación de Antioquia 2011: 20–45).
Te complexity of the confict is enormous. Between 1988 and 2002 there
were 103 massacres and 697 people were killed. 2001 was the year with the
most displaced people in Colombia and specifcally in the Darién and Urabá
region. Te consolidation of the paramilitary forces has a complex analysis; in
common with military Government forces they were fghting against FARC,
and this common goal facilitated their position in the region. Some violent
actions, connected with the responsibility of the military forces, are still being
brought to justice. At that time, Elmer Cardenas Block and its leader Freddy
Rendón Herrera, alias ‘El Alemán’, was the main force. According to a report
of the Intereclesial Justice and Peace Commission, paramilitary forces killed
600 people annually from 2001 to 2005. Between 2002 and 2005, paramilita-
ry forces started to negotiate and also started productive projects in the area.
(ibid.).
Te region is a place where diferent forces collided, from guerrilla to para-
military; in the middle of this struggle were farmers, indigenous people and
local people fghting for their right to land access and basic needs. Nowadays,
it seems that the worst part of the confict has ended even though drug traf-
fcking still persists. Te challenges now are the restitution of land and rights
to all victims of confict, and the bringing of productive alternatives to drug
trafcking and illegal activities to the local communities.
146 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
The Benefts of a Tourism Local Development Model
Te Global Code of Ethics for Tourism points out the important role of tou-
rism “towards alleviation of poverty and the improvement of the quality of life
… its potential to make a contribution to economic and social development, es-
pecially of the developing countries … the need for the promotion of a respon-
sible and sustainable tourism that could be benefcial to all sectors of society”
(WTO, Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, 2).
Te value chain of tourism implies economic, cultural and social relations
with diferent participants: farmers, fshermen, health services, security forces,
guides, transportation, commerce, handicraft workers, the educational sys-
tem, and commerce in general. Tourism is an activity that generates multiple
benefts to the various economic sectors of society.
Besides that process, tourism helps to identify and promote the value of lo-
cal culture, the territory, the natural resources and landscapes; helping com-
munities to care, watch and protect their land, their culture, their roots and
identity.
Te World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates that tourism has
been growing in emerging countries. In Colombia, foreign visitors are an in-
creasing trend in recent years: 7.3% more from 2010 to 2011, and 7.16% from
2011 to 2012 according to migratory data; in total 1,692,821 visitors were re-
gistered in 2012. (Migración Colombia 2013). Tis represents an enormous
potential to develop and improve the quality of life in Colombia. Tourism also
presents huge possibilities to stimulate local development – from cities to ru-
ral areas – due to Colombia’s great natural and cultural diversity and potential.
Tourism is a tool for economic and social development that has increased in
importance in the world. It’s one of the sectors which has a greater impact on
the social structure due to its wide reach into society.
Te positive efects of tourism are stronger if the community gets involved.
Tat’s why communitarian tourism is a good alternative – because local peo-
ple can manage their resources, thereby allowing the preservation of environ-
mental and cultural assets, and enabling the benefts of the tourism activity to
ft more closely with the communitarian needs. If the local people have a main
role, then it’s possible to promote endogenous development models, which
strengthen their roots and identity. Community-based tourism, constructed
for and by the local people – who thus have control of decisions and have an
active role – makes it possible to establish relationships based on dialogue and
interaction between them and the visitors.
World Wide Fund International defnes communitarian-based tourism as
the activity where local societies have efective control over their territory,
their development and management (World Wide Fund 2001). Trough local
active participation, tourism projects bring most of the benefts to the local
communities.
In this kind of tourism, other economic activities of the local community
are necessarily involved, such as agriculture, fshery, artisan crafts, commer-
ce, transportation, guided tours and others. Tourism, then, generates local in-
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 147
come, jobs and a dynamic economy. Te innovation and initiatives for local
employment and opportunities could be more suitable to their needs, their
vocation and their economic possibilities and abilities. Te process then beco-
mes a continuous endogenous development, looking for what the local peop-
le want with a signifcant contribution for them and their locality. If tourism
is responsible and planned, it articulates an equitable economic development
and preserves culture and environment (Da Silva 2012, 181–99).
Nowadays, Colombia is trying to strengthen the normative frame for com-
munitarian tourism and nature tourism. According to the UNWTO, nature
tourism is one of the fastest-growing types of tourism worldwide; and eco-
tourism is defned as nature-based, containing educational and interpretati-
on features, organised usually for small groups, minimising negative impacts
upon the natural and socio-cultural environment, generating local income to
communities and increasing awareness towards conservation.
Nature and communitarian tourism tend to preserve natural and cultural
resources and improve local income in a sustainable way. Tese types of tou-
rism characterise the function of the ecotourism centres in the Darién and
Urabá region.
Tourism in the Darién and Urabá Region
Even though tourism is not the most important economic activity in the Da-
rién and Urabá region, Capurganá, Sapzurro, San Francisco and Necoclí have
been identifed as local destinations. Te main economic activities in the area
are commerce, banana farming, fshing and agriculture. Due to the extensive
banana farming and the commerce, the region is a place where many people
from Apartadó and Medellín come to vacation with their families; Capurganá
has also received some international tourists, but there is no data available
about the number of tourists in the area.
In this region, there is a basic level of infrastructure, with some hostels, ho-
tels, campsites and restaurants; local inhabitants and residents generally have
been employed by these, but they are usually not the main participants in tou-
rism. Nowadays, the community has the possibility of getting involved in the
service as main participants in their territory. Te United Nations Ofce On
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) supports an initiative, which promotes alterna-
tive development through communitarian projects on artisan fshing, han-
dicrafts and ecotourism managed by social organisations, working towards
establishing a value chain.
Tere are four ecotourism centres managed by social organisations in the area,
as follows:
• ‘El Carlos’ Ecotourism and Archaeological Centre – El Carlos, Necoclí, An-
tioquia
• ‘Iracas de Belén’ Ecotourism Cabins – Capurganá, Acandí, Chocó
• ‘Posadas del Río’ – San Francisco, Acandí, Chocó
• ‘Playa Caná’ Ecotourism Centre – Playona, Acandí, Chocó
148 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Te centres have cabins, restaurant service, paths and ecotourism activities
covered by a local development course of action to build up management and
operational abilities for local sustainability. Te construction has low impact
on the environment, and the residents control and measure water, energy and
waste, trying to work in a sustainable way. Currently, this operation is the frst
and only one in Colombia with an international certifcation: ‘Smart Voyager’
for Sustainable Tourism is the certifcation chosen for the ecotourism centres.
Tis is a certifcation programme for the whole of South America, which has its
origins in Ecuador and is given by Smart Voyager Certifed. Smart Voyager is
recognised by UNESCO, and one of its frst programmes was in the Galapagos
Islands; it is part of the Sustainable Tourism Certifcation Network of the Ame-
ricas promoted by Rainforest Alliance. Tis certifcation has been considered to
be a big step for the community, and refects the great work that they have been
doing to promote tourism in a sustainable way, working together as a group.
Te four ecotourism centres in more detail are:
1 El Carlos Ecotourism and Archaeological Centre, Necoclí
Tis centre is managed by a cooperative and 22 families are directly involved
in the project. Tese are mainly farmers, some of whom used to work with
drug trafcking and paramilitary forces. El Carlos is a rural village; Adven-
tism is the main religion there and, for this reason, there is no loud music
around, unlike in the Caribbean and on the Colombian coast. People are
friendly, simple and kind; they are learning about tourism. Tey keep trying
to bring groups to visit and experience their quiet life. People from schools,
enterprises and families from Medellín and Apartadó come to visit. Te main
attractions here are the landscapes, the food, the rural way of life, the archa-
eological museum and the ecological paths leading towards a waterfall. Te
artefacts in the museum were found in the village and originally one of the
leaders took care of them. Later they were legalised and the community is now
the administrator of all the legacy of ancestral inhabitants of the area. Some
local people work in handicrafts and their products are sold at the Centre. Te
tourists buy agricultural products from the locals and fsh from the local fs-
hery association in town.
2 Iracas de Belén in Capurganá, Acandí
Tis centre is managed by an association; 32 families are directly involved in
the project. Tese people are mainly Afrodescents, farmers and some fsher-
men. Te territory is a communitarian afrodescent area, and the Centre is lo-
cated between the sea and the forest. Te main attractions are the beaches
and the sea, the forest, the culture, and the diverse fauna and fora; there are
also some activities like diving, snorkelling, bird watching and nature walks.
Te tourists buy agricultural products from the area, fsh from the local asso-
ciation and handicrafts from the local people.
3 Posadas del Rio in San Francisco, Acandí
Tis centre is managed by an association. 35 families are involved directly in
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 149
the project; these people are mostly women. Tis ecotourism centre is located
in a beautiful area in the middle of the forest, close to the San Francisco River.
It’s a corridor for fauna and fora, and is visited from time to time by howling
monkeys and titis (small monkeys). It’s a quiet place surrounded by nature,
ideal for resting, nature walks, snorkelling and bird watching.
4 Playa Caná, Acandí
Tis centre is also managed by an association. 35 families are directly involved
in the project; these are mostly displaced people who are returning to their
land. Due to this factor, however, more conficts have arisen; the roots and
the networks are fragile, and this makes the dialogue and problem-solving
difcult. Te land is right by the beach, where there was once a school and
a community; nowadays there is a 10 kilometre, beautiful but isolated beach.
Here, the Cana turtles (a big kind of marine turtle) come to leave their eggs
that hatch once a year between May and July. People are trying to protect the
eggs, learn, and teach others to respect the beach and nature. Today the area
has been declared a national natural reserve for the protection of the turtles.
Tere is an organisation in charge of the commercialisation of all four eco-
tourism centres. Tis is very challenging – because guaranteeing visitors, and
a stable income to the communities, is not at all easy in a place with difcult
access and stigmatisation.
Te objectives of the various organisations are to improve the quality of
life, and to generate employment and alternative income – as well as social,
cultural and environmental preservation. Te people involved are organised
through a board and committees; amongst other things, they have the ability
to make decisions, and they show communicational skills, management capa-
cities, leadership and teamwork. Te active community participation in the
project’s process of identifcation, diagnosis and creation promotes the empo-
werment and strength of the communitarian concept.
Each ecotourism centre has its own dynamic and refects a diferent reali-
ty. Te most important objective in the process is to strengthen communita-
rian capacities for a common goal; this process is a long-term action for so-
cial change through tourism. In some cases, it’s important to reincorporate
people who were involved in confict directly. In other cases the confdence
and return to the territory are the main objectives. Empowerment of women
and leadership bring opportunities to the families; in all of them network and
identity strength are essential.
All the families involved in the ecotourism centres have high levels of un-
satisfed needs, according to the statistics managed by the Government. Tey
are a vulnerable-based population, according to the Colombian Government
– meaning that they have no protection or capacity to face a threat to their
psychological, physical or mental status due to diverse factors that could be
institutional, educational, health-related, cultural, environmental, and educa-
tional. Te presence of women, children and people afected by the confict
is therefore essential: without the active participation of the community the
project wouldn’t make sense.
150 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
Social Change Through Communitarian Tourism
Tourism could provide collective benefts:
• Sustainable development and the preservation of cultures and the natural
habitat
• Economic local growth
• An integral experience for visitors and host communities
• A leisure activity that has efects on the culture and the spirit
UNWTO emphasises in the Code of Ethics, that tourism can be an efcient
tool to advance international peace and understanding and that its social, cul-
tural and ethical dimensions are an important potential contribution to pro-
mote values such as tolerance, respect of diversity and respect of nature.
Te organisational associative structures promote solidarity values though
a qualifcation process that includes personal, familiar, communitarian and
entrepreneurial aspects. Furthermore, tourism is a service, and its focus is on
human interaction and personal experience. It also implicates human skills,
abilities and capacities both as an individual and as a group. When people
start a process working together with others, it starts to create an internal
process for the development of confdence and self-esteem.
Tis case experience in the Darién and Urabá region has diferent compo-
nents that promote social change through communitarian tourism:
Personal skills
Every single person involved in the ecotourism centres has gained confdence
and self-esteem by developing their personal skills; this could be linked to the
participation in a wider group, where each opinion is taken into account, and
where the decision-making process involves each member of the group. Wo-
men don’t usually have time to work because of their family duties, but here
they have a space to talk, participate, and make important decisions for the
community. Teir role is essential at the centres: in service, reception, gastro-
nomy and administration, among others; they could also bring their children
who could get involved in some duties.
Communitarian work and participation
Te positive aspects of the participation in communitarian activities promote
feelings of wellbeing, and of being useful. Te associations and groups provi-
de the possibility for people to get involved and, in turn, to be given a sense
of empowerment in the community. Te communitarian participation brings
individual welfare through a higher self-esteem and useful feeling. (Sánchez
1999, 254)
Identity
Tis is the way people defne themself; its how their fundamental characte-
ristics make a person a human being. Tis identity could be infuenced by the
existence of recognition from others. Tis recognition could shape the identi-
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 151
ty of individuals and groups. Taylor refers to the understanding between peo-
ple as being shaped by meaningful dialogue and interaction with others; this
helps to consolidate identity and dialogue through recognition. (Sánchez 1999,
252–253)
Te strength of the identity linked to the territory through tourism is ano-
ther important contribution. Tis territorial identity in rural areas is essential,
and even more so, if it’s a strategy regarding peace-building. When this pro-
cess to rediscover landscapes and surroundings means you could walk again
without fear along the paths leading to the forest and the sea, along the paths
to rice crops and banana farms, along the paths where you could show outsi-
ders and visitors the birds, the plants that heal, and maybe the endemic frog
that only you could fnd in your territory, where you live, then your territorial
identity is strengthened and reconfrmed.
Territorial identity could be interpreted as a ‘sense of belonging, social
identifcation, shared representation of a collective self’ (Pollice 2003, 109); the
author points out that territorial identity helps to strengthen locally-shared
ethical and behavioural values, that improve productivity, and allow commer-
cial relationships and collaboration. It also helps to improve inter-generational
transfer of knowledge, and to create and improve the mechanism of change
and adaptation – and is therefore a sound basis for innovation.
Tourism could help in an active way to promote territorial identity through
two specifc activities:
• Gastronomy
• Guiding as an interpretation of culture and nature
It’s a great experience for local communities to identify their local products
for their restaurant menu, and to rediscover favours and use their ancestral
knowledge in recipes, with local plants and domestic animals. Tey feel proud
to let visitors know that the vegetable was planted by families and neighbours,
and was taken care of by their children, perhaps; letting them know their fa-
mily recipes, and how the husband fshes in the morning, may also be wor-
thwhile. Some other options could be the identifcation of routes and paths
around their homes, to show visitors the best view of their town and lands-
capes, and to show how the sea provides food and is sometimes calm or not
so calm to navigate. Tey could also show how they plant a tree, or diferent
fruits and vegetables, or how they live from agriculture, or maybe how the
forest is their ancestral land.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Te Darién and Urabá region in Colombia has for years been sufering from
the consequences of a complex confict. People there have been developing
survival strategies to get through all these years. Afro-Colombian people in
Capurganá are organised in a communitarian entity and have remained the-
re, in the middle of confict. People in Playona have been returning to their
152 NATALI A NARANJ O RAMOS
land and restructuring family and communitarian networks. In San Francisco,
where the women have been resisting war and inequity, and where there are
neither police nor hospital, the people have been developing ways of living in
a mixed community with people from the interior, including Afro-Colombi-
ans, indigenous people and farmers. El Carlos in Necoclí has witnessed the
emergence of violence in the middle of the paramilitary forces and has been
resigned to losing fathers, brothers and sisters. With on-going violence, these
communities have been living in perpetual silence to try and survive without
becoming a target of war.
In the last six years, the worst of the confict has seemed to be over; peo-
ple are recovering from their wounds and Colombia’s Government is trying
to reach a solution for victims. Tourism as an alternative for communities,
linked to other associated initiatives like fshing and handicrafts, has been de-
veloping little by little; the area has been identifed as an attractive destination
for visitors. Tere is some basic infrastructure and tourism has been a tool
for strengthening networks, for the preservation of nature and culture, and
as an economic alternative for families. Te process is long and, after years of
community work in tourism, there are both tangible and intangible changes
in the territory, in the society and individually. Tis changing process through
tourism, improving personal and entrepreneurial skills based on local resour-
ces in an endogenous development frame, creates identity, feelings of security,
a sense of community and belonging, helping to reconstruct society and to
build the foundations for peace. Te reinterpretation of life to show to visi-
tors their positive aspects of everyday life and surroundings helps to reinforce
their sense of life as a community.
In a place where violence has its roots and people try to overcome this
devastation, it’s very important to restore confdence, strengthen networks
of support and give people the means to empower a life project that could
be an efective tool for communities to work together for a common goal. In
this case, tourism provides the tools for economic growth, social and cultu-
ral strength, and environmental preservation. Te strong feeling that local
communities in the Darién and Urabá region are creating through tourism
for their territory, their rich diversity, their cultural values, their local pro-
ducts and all the resources involved in the service they give to visitors, is an
invaluable feeling that helps them to be proud of themselves, their origin, their
territory, their community and their own decisions in life.
Tese communitarian initiatives present multiple challenges. Te support
in commercialisation and entrepreneurial aspects is essential to maintain a
stable income for local people. On the other hand, local public institutions
and even private ones have to start a process of trust and support of these
initiatives. Usually people in rural communities are subjects of subsidiary po-
licies, but they are not seen as main participants in their own development. It’s
important to start the movement towards this by giving the means to grow
and develop self-esteem and self-confdence in their own territory. If local ru-
ral development is not based on communitarian values and abilities, and local
communities are not the main participants in their own destiny, peace will be
Ecotourism in the Colombian Darién and Urabá Region 153
a difcult achievement. Tey, like everyone else, have to fnd their own path in
life, and be able to integrate their own resources, both territorial and symbolic,
to lead productive lives. If they could fnd the means to live harmoniously in
their territory, people would have less interest in self-destructive or illegal ac-
tions.
It’s essential to support these rural communities; to help strengthen their
roots and value their land. Leaving them alone only contributes to the pos-
sibility of war and confict. Tourism implemented the right way is a tool for
development, for understanding, for sustainability and for peace.
References:
Da Silva, Rosijane E., and Moema M. Badaro. 2012.
‘Tierras de Preto de Filipa (MA) – Brasil. Identidad,
territorialidad y turismo comunitario en la lucha
por el reconocimiento.’ Estudios y perspectivas en
turismo no. 21:180:202.
Gobernación de Antioquia and Universidad EAFIT.
Urabá: Entre la abundancia y la disputa territorial.
Medellín: Gobernación de Antioquia and Universi-
dad EAFIT, 2011.
Migracion Colombia, http://www.migracioncolom-
bia.gov.co/ acessed February 2013.
Pollice, Fabio. 2003. ‘The role of territorial identity in
local development processes.’ Proceedings of the
Conference “The cultural turn in geography”. Go-
rizia Campus, Italy.
Sánchez, Emilio. 1999. ‘Relación entre la autoestima
personal, la autoestima colectiva y la participación
en la comunidad’. Anales de Psicología No. 15 (2):
251- 260.
World Tourism Organization. Global Code of Ethics
for Tourism. 2001. Spain: World Tourism Organiza-
tion.
World Wide Fund, WWF. 2001. Guidelines for com-
munity-based ecotourism development. United
Kingdom: World Wide Fund.
EMMANUEL J. BWASI RI
The Confict Among Local People
and Hunting Tourism Companies in
Northern Tanzania
Introduction
Tis paper seeks to address the problem of management at the Loliondo Game
Controlled Area (LGCA) in Northern Tanzania. It focuses on exploring the
cause of conficts between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism
through the Wildlife Department, the indigenous people (the Masai) and tou-
rism companies working in the LGCA. Te results from this paper indicate
that the decision made by the Government through the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Tourism to allocate and give land to the hunting companies
in 1992 is the source of confict. Te paper provides recommendations of how
game areas in Tanzania could be controlled and, in particular, how the LGCA
could be managed in order to keep its attractiveness for tourists.
Tanzania and its National Parks
Tanzania is a big country covering a total area of 945,234 square kilometres
of which 942,832 square kilometres is Tanzania mainland (Tanganyika) and
2,402 square kilometres forms the Island of Zanzibar. Approximately 25% of
the total area of the country is occupied by Protected Areas. Tere are 16 na-
tional parks, 28 game reserves, 44 game controlled areas, 1 conservation area,
2 marine parks and 16 protected cultural heritage sites. Te country also has
various natural features such as sandy beaches, lakes and mountains. Additi-
onally, Tanzania ofers interesting culture and craft – notably the Masai and
Makonde sculptures – as well as carving done in ebony. All these make the
country an exclusive tourism destination in Africa.
Tanzania national parks are amongst the leading wildlife resources in the
world and have been widely known for many centuries. For example, the Ser-
engeti Plain is a world-famous area in which numerous diversifed species live.
Here, the annual migration of wildebeest can be seen and this has been recog-
nised as one of the seven African natural wonders. Other areas with a high
concentration of wild animals include the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire Na-
tional Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Mikumi and Ruaha National Parks
and the Selous Game Reserve. Tree quarters of the parks and reserves are
located in the northern part of the country, notably near Arusha and Kiliman-
jaro.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 155
Te two regions also contain important archaeological and paleontologi-
cal remains ranging from Oldowan to Iron Age, including rock painting sites.
Te fnest sites are Oldupai Gorge, Laetoli and Engaresero, where footprints
date from many thousands of years ago (Leakey 1951; Leakey & Hay 1979). In
2011 the President of the United Republic of Tanzania re-opened the Laetoli
footprint project, with the aim of providing access and attracting both local
and international tourists. In addition, the indigenous Masai people have lived
in the national parks, game reserves and controlled areas in these regions for
many years.
Te people and their culture, the ecology, wildlife, rock art sites, historical
buildings and archaeological signifcance prompted the World Heritage Com-
mittee (WHC) to declare seven protected areas as World Heritage Sites. Tis
ranks Tanzania as third in Africa and frst in East Africa in terms of num-
bers of World Heritage Sites. Among these seven areas, four are natural sites:
Mount Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National
Park (these three are included within the seven African Natural wonders) and
the Selous Game Reserve; the other three are cultural sites, notably Zanzibar
Stone Town, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara ruins as well as Kondoa Rock
Art Sites. Tese World Heritage Sites (natural and cultural heritage) and the
Masai people attract large numbers of tourists who visit the country for leisu-
re and enjoyment.
Te Masai form a group of Eastern Nilotic people whose linguistic origins
can be traced to the East Nile valley. Tey lived at the border between Uganda
and Sudan before arriving in northern Tanzania around 1500 AD (Ehret 1974,
1998; Ambrose 1982, 115) and living there for centuries. In recent decades they
migrated to other regions seeking fresh pasture and water for their cattle. Ma-
sai are warm, open, friendly people with a long tradition of generous hospitali-
ty and a wealth of folklore, which attracts tourists who visit the national parks
and reserve areas. A strong relationship exists between the Masai, the tourists
and the wild animals in the northern part of the country and there is no doubt
that the Masai culture contributes to income from tourism through the sale of
souvenirs to tourists.
A Brief History of Tourism in Tanzania
It is unclear when tourism began in Tanzania. Noel Lwoga (2011, 8; see also
Smith 1995, 21) defnes the tourist as a person who travels away from the area
of his / her origins to another for whatever reasons: leisure / holiday and busi-
ness. Movement of the tourist takes place both within and out of the country.
Based on that, Lwoga has traced the beginnings of tourism in Tanzania to the
time before the colonial era. In Tanzania people travelled from one area to
another for various purposes including leisure and business and this, perhaps,
was the foundation of domestic tourism.
In early times, the coastal communities of Tanzania interacted with people
from Asia and the Middle East through trade along the Indian Ocean. Tis in-
teraction may also be considered as the beginning of foreign tourism along the
156 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
Indian Ocean, raising the Swahili culture and its towns such Kilwa (see also
Chami 1998). Te remains of this early town and its historical buildings form
an important cultural heritage site, attracting numerous tourists (Lwoga 2011).
For example, Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara World Heritage Site is one of
the fnest tourist attractions in the southern part of the country connected to
the early traveller from the Middle East. Te missionaries from Europe also
visited Tanzania, notably in the central and north of the regions where they
documented Mount Kilimanjaro and put Tanzania on the global tourism map
(Lwoga 2011, 121).
During the colonial era, in the late 19th century, Tanganyika (now the Tan-
zanian mainland) was under German administration. Tis was a period when
the country began to experience modern tourist trips from abroad coming for
adventure and leisure. ‘Hunting tourism’ was introduced and encouraged by
the people from Europe and America (Lwoga 2011, 122). According to Lwoga
(ibid, 122; see also Chachage 2003) hunting tourism became one of the main
activities. Te Germans established a Game Ordinance and published this in
their ofcial Gazettes number 3 and 25 of 1912 (Lwoga 2011; Ouma 1970), with
the aim of protecting wildlife and its environments. Te Germans also built
architectural buildings for various purposes: administration ofces, residenti-
al houses, churches, schools, health facilities, hotels and railways. Such infra-
structure and its facilities ensured the availability of accommodation and inter-
nal transport for travellers visiting Tanzania, as tourists or for other reasons.
Architectural buildings left by the Germans in most Tanzanian towns are
now protected by the Government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Na-
tural Resources and Tourism (Antiquities Division) by the Antiquities Act of
1964 and its amendments of 1979. Various visitors from both within and out-
side Tanzania visit these buildings to see past German styles and designs in
Tanzania. Te Government has been using the buildings as tourist attractions.
Most are located in Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, Ujiji and Tabora, to mention
just a few.
After the end of World War I, the British took over the administration of
the Territory of Tanganyika. Te Germans left the country and handed po-
wer to the British Government in December 1921. Te British introduced an
indirect rule where local chiefs were given power to rule and administer other
local people. Amendments were made to both wildlife and cultural heritage
legislations. Classifying, declaring and adding more wildlife reserve areas
went hand in hand with these legislations: Kilimanjaro Reserve, Mount Meru
Reserve, Engurdoto Crater Reserve, Lake Natron Reserve, and Selous Game
Reserve are such good examples. In 1951, the Serengeti Plain was named as a
national park. Te Masai people who live on the Serengeti Plain were recog-
nised by the Act and allowed to remain in these protected areas.
Tanganyika gained independence from the British colony on 9 December
1961, followed by Zanzibar in 1964. On 26 April 1964 the two countries for-
med a union and the United Republic of Tanzania was born.
To encourage the tourism sector, soon after independence in 1962, the Tan-
zania National Tourist Board (TNTB) was formed (Salazar 2009). Te Natio-
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 157
nal Development Corporation (NDC) was given the task of building hotels to
ensure sufcient accommodation for tourists. A number of hotels were built
in Dar es Salaam. Several lodges were also built in national parks and reserve
areas such as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti National
Park. Soon after, in 1969, Kilimanjaro international airport was constructed.
Government eforts resulted in an increase in the number of tourists visit-
ing the north circuit centres such as Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Tarangi-
re, Manyara and Mount Kilimanjaro (Ranja 2003; URT 2012). In addition, the
coastal circuit – which encompasses cultural heritage towns, game reserves,
national parks such Selous Game Reserve, Mikumi National Park, Bagamo-
yo historical town and Dar es Salaam beaches – was developed. In the 1960s,
tourism became the fourth largest industry contributing income to the nation,
after agricultural products such as cofee, cotton and sisal (Lwoga 2011).
In 1991 the Government formulated the National Tourism Policy. Te po-
licy emphasises private participation and the empowerment of local people
to become involved in the tourism project (Anderson 2010). In 1998, the 1991
policy was reviewed and a new policy was formulated in 1999, encouraging
promotion of the economy and poverty alleviation (URT 1999). Te policy
also aimed to increase the number of tourists and to boost the economy (ibid).
Since 2000, the numbers of international tourists have increased (Table 1).
Table: International Visitor Arrivals and Receipts in Tanzania, 2004–2012
Year Number of
Visitor Arrivals
Annual Change
(%)
Receipts
(US $ Mill)
Receipts
(TZS Mill)
2004 582,807 1.18 746.02 812,676.89
2005 612,754 4.80 823.05 929,058.84
2006 644,124 5.12 950.00 1,079,137.00
2007 719,031 11.62 1,198.76 1,290,542.25
2008 770,376 7.14 1,288.70 1,520,429.10
2009 714,367 - 7.27 1,159.82 1,511,704.59
2010 782,699 9.50 1,254.50 1,767,967.85
2011 867,994 10.89 1,353.29 2,107,613.85
2012 1,077,058 24.00 1,712.75 2,691,929.18
Te table above shows the increase in the number of visitors and income asso-
ciated to tourism. Te decline of more than 7% in 2009 was partly attributed
to the global fnancial crisis and the A (H1N1) infuenza pandemic (URT 2009).
However, scholars have varying opinions regarding the benefts of tourism
to local people. For instance, Chachage (2003, 2007) and Salazar (2009) argued
that tourism businesses such as hunting, tour operators, hotels and leisure are
foreign owned. In the same vein Luvanga & Shitundu (2003) also showed com-
158 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
petition for resources between local communities, conservators and tourism
companies. Tis has happened in protected areas where the rate of population
growth of local people is becoming higher than in the past. I will use the Lu-
vanga and Shitundu idea to address the issue of confict in the Loliondo area.
Wildlife and Tourism Land Use at Loliondo
Te Loliondo Game Controlled Area (LGCA) consists of a high concentration
of biodiversity plus the indigenous people, the Masai. Te LGCA was initially
established under the Fauna Conservation Ordinance No. 7 of 1951 by the Bri-
tish Colonial Government in Tanganyika, covering an area of 4,000 square
kilometres. Since 1951, the area has been used for hunting activities. After in-
dependence in 1961, the Government continued to use the LGCA in the same
way. It is protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009 (URT
2009), replacing the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974. Te 2009 Wildlife
Conservation Act (WCA) prohibits human activities in all game controlled
areas. Te LGCA is also recognised as government land according to the Land
Act of No. 4 of 1999 (URT 1999), which requires conservation protection.
Te LGCA is situated in the Ngorongoro district in the northern part of
the country along the border with Kenya. Te Loliondo highland where the
LGCA is situated lies between two jewels of the Tanzanian tourism industry:
Serengeti National Park to the west and Ngorongoro Conservation Area to
the south. It is also bordered by Lake Natron to the east and the Masai Mara
Natural Reserve in Kenya to north.
Te LGCA forms part of the Serengeti ecosystem, covering about 25,000
square kilometres and including the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and
the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya (Homewood & Rodgers 1991). Te
Serengeti National Park has an abundance of wild animals such as the now
world-famous wildebeest, which move between the Serengeti plains and the
Masai Mara annually, notably April to June. Te wildebeest migration from
the Serengeti to the Masai Mara passes through the LGCA. Other wildebeest
move from Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the Sale Plains of Loliondo to
graze during the rainy season (Sinclair 1995).
Tis seasonal movement of the wild animals – passing through the Loli-
ondo highlands – attracts tourists / visitors whose interests include hunting
and photography. Tese two activities have been carried out in the LGCA ever
since the colonial period. After independence, the LGCA was divided into two
hunting blocks until 1992: North and South. LGCA ‘North’ was under Safa-
ri East Africa Tanzania Limited and Chasse de Afrique Safaris whilst ‘South’
was under the Tanzania Wildlife Corporation (TAWICO). At the same time,
the LGCA was also used by the Government Wildlife College – Mweka, to
hunt animals for practical teaching purposes. Additionally, the Government
took ofcial visitors to the country, who had an interest in hunting, to the
LGCA. Te activities were operated without consultation with the local peop-
le, but no confict arose. Tis made the LGCA a centre for hunting tourism in
northern regions.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 159
Hunting tourism in Tanzania was prohibited for few years from 1973 but
re-opened again in 1978. It was then under the management of TAWICO.
However, from 1988 to the present time, the Wildlife Department (WD) of the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, a Government institution, has
had the authority to manage and conserve the LGCA. Te WD minister res-
ponsible also has the authority to issue permits to the tourist hunting opera-
tors to conduct hunting business in the area.
In 1992, the abundance of wild animals surrounding the Loliondo area in-
fuenced the Government of Tanzania, through the Wildlife Department, to
lease hunting permits to the tourist companies at the LGCA blocks for hun-
ting business. Local people of the area claimed that the process of issuing per-
mits was not transparent and was therefore not accepted. Te lease of the land
within the LGCA to hunting companies created controversy in 1992 between
the Government, the residents of the area and tourism hunting companies,
because the local people were not consulted – despite holding the land title
deeds. Tis controversy led to a confict between the three groups. Essentially,
the confict at the LGCA is that the foreign hunting companies have the right
to conduct various activities without consultation with, or approval from, the
villagers surrounding the hunting block. As a result the companies have come
into confict with local people concerning the reduction of their livestock gra-
zing areas (Alexander 1993; URT 1994; Honey 2008; TNRF 2011).
At the same time, the tourist hunting companies pay an annual revenue to
the Government and help to build and create social services such as hospitals
and schools (Ihucha 2010; TNRF 2011). Some of the hunting companies have
built lodges and constructed airstrips. Local people claim that these activi-
ties reduce grazing land, which leads to confrontation between the pastoralist
community and the tourist companies (Alexander 1993). Tis situation has
been brought to the attention of the policy-maker, media, non-government in-
stitutions and local and international media (TNRF 2011).
Te grazing of domesticated animals is the third main activity practised
within the LGCA. About 80% of the people of Loliondo are pastoralists who
depend upon pastoralism as their main form of livelihood. Te Masai group
practise pastoralism through what is known as transhumance. Tis is the
seasonal movement of the Masai people and their cattle in the Loliondo high-
land and plains between wet and dry seasons (Homewood & Rodgers 1991).
In 2009, Tanzania experienced a serious drought, which caused the reduction
of grazing land and vegetation. Large numbers of livestock died in the nort-
hern part of the country, including the Loliondo area. Te Masai were forced
to graze their cattle within the protected areas, including the Serengeti Na-
tional Park and the LGCA. Tis is against the Wildlife Conservation Act of
2009, whereby human activities are strictly prohibited. Te hunting compa-
nies’ authority at the LGCA restricted pastoralist groups from accessing land
for grazing and from obtaining water for their livestock. Tis situation raised
a series of questions about ownership, which has added confict to the previ-
ous situation of 1992 (TNRF 2011; Kitabu 2013).
160 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
To try and solve the problem which arose between the hunting companies
and the residents of the area in 2009, the Government, through the Minis-
try of Natural Resources and Tourism, promised to overcome the problem
through meeting with local people and discussing issues related to land use
for the beneft of everyone. However, a solution was not obtained between Mi-
nistry ofcers and local people. In a similar manner, in 2010, a Parliamentary
Investigatory Committee was tasked to research the Loliondo matter. No re-
port was announced to the public.
In 2013, the Government of Tanzania, through the Minister of Natural
Resources and Tourism, considered reducing the LGCA from 4,000 square
kilometres to 1,500 square kilometres. Tis, it was hoped, would solve the
problem. According to the Minister, the 1,500 square kilometres of the LGCA
would be controlled by the Wildlife Act of 2009, under the Ministry of Na-
tural Resources and Tourism. Te minister outlined the reasons for protec-
ting the 1,500 square kilometres: it contains a water catchment area, a wildlife
breeding area and a wildlife corridor area. Te remaining 2,500 square kilo-
metres were to be given to the pastoral group, the Masai people, to use for gra-
zing their cattle and for other social and economic activities. Te minister’s
decision was entirely based on wisdom, and was part of the efort to resolve
the existing problem and to create peace between the Government, the local
people and the hunting companies. However, the decision was declined by the
Masai community, leaving 21 years of confict unresolved.
Te local inhabitants, the Masai, claim that the 1,500 square kilometres are
part of the pastureland for their livestock and are not for conservation and
hunting purposes. Te refusal is also supported by non-governmental insti-
tutions working in Loliondo. In May 2013, the representatives from the Masai
group in Loliondo decided to meet the Prime Minister during a parliamentary
meeting in Dodoma, aiming to seek solutions. By the end of the meeting the
Prime Minister hadn’t provided a solution to the on-going confict. It seems
the Prime Minister is probably trying to think and fnd a proper diplomatic
(negotiated) way of solving the problem.
It seems there is no easy way to solve this problem. Perhaps the only soluti-
on is to use a participatory approach, by involving all stakeholders in decision-
making related to the management of the LGCA. Te stakeholders are those
people and institutions involved, who have an interest in the protection of the
LGCA. Tese can include Government institutions (the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Tourism and the Loliondo District Authority), the indigenous
Masai (Masai people living in Loliondo before 1863), tourism companies, ho-
tels and non-government institutions working at Loliondo.
A participatory approach requires all the key stakeholders to work together
and share responsibility related to tourism activities in the Loliondo area (see
also Smith 2006; Taruvinga 2007; Bwasiri 2011a,b). I am using a participatory
approach to address the new framework, which I think will be a solution to
management and conservation of the LGCA. I propose the following recom-
mendations to overcome the problem and bring harmony and peace to all sta-
keholders.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 161
Application of Legislation
In these legislative recommendation policies, the Wildlife Department will
continue to be the government authority responsible for the preservation
and protection of wildlife and its environments at the LGCA. Te minister
responsible for wildlife should declare the boundaries of the protected area
at the LGCA through consultation and agreement with the indigenous peo-
ple and all stakeholders connected with the conservation area. A ‘bottom-up”
approach will be more practical than a ‘top-down’ approach. In this approach,
consultation should start with the local people before reaching a higher level
for fnal decision. Te consultation should be done also before any project or
development activities are approved at the LGCA. Tis is due to the fact that
the LGCA forms an important part of the pastoralists’ grazing area. Recogni-
tion, therefore, of the rights of the associated people through consultation and
negotiation will be an important tool for the management of the LGCA.
Community Involvement
A sufcient mechanism must be adopted to ensure that the indigenous people
(the Masai) and all stakeholders participate in decision-making and become
involved in issues related to the conservation and management of the LGCA.
Tere are rumours that some Masai groups migrated to the LGCA from neigh-
bouring countries and now claim to be indigenous to the area. To solve this
problem, a decision on any confict associated with the origins of the people
should be made by the village authority, comprising elders and Government
staf members. If one group / person does not accept the decision made, the
village authority should refer the matter to the ward authority and eventu-
ally to the district authority if necessary. Te criteria for making the decision
should be based on tracing the history of the ethnic group / person and their
historical links with the LGCA.
Co-governance
A system of co-management must be established with indigenous people at-
tached to the LGCA and interested parties to determine the roles, responsibi-
lities and levels of involvement of each category in the protection and preser-
vation of the LGCA for present and future generations. Tis committee should
oversee all aspects of conservation and management of the LGCA and advise
on how best to protect the area and share the benefts, while at the same time
promoting the continuation of tourism. Tey should determine how best the
LGCA should be used for tourism, awareness, education and research.
In cases where traditional activities such as grazing practices may dama-
ge the physical state of the land (water catchment areas, wildlife breeding si-
tes and wildlife corridor areas), negotiation needs to take place between the
Masai leader / elders and all stakeholders. Te co-management should raise
awareness for the local people and tourist companies about how they can con-
162 EMMANUEL J . BWASI RI
tinue to use the LGCA for tourism and grazing without afecting wildlife. For
instance, the pastoralist groups should be sensitised to the fact that grazing
cattle in water catchment and wildlife breeding places / corridors might have
negative efects on the environment and wild animals.
Additionally, the tourist companies operating in the LGCA should be sen-
sitised to respect the local people and their sacred places. Tis will bring mu-
tual cooperation to all interested parties working at the LGCA. All these re-
commendations regarding current management practices will help to create
a better relationship between local people and tourism investors, to create a
better experience at the LGCA and to promote better tourism development at
Loliondo and Tanzania in general.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I consider that joint management between all key stakeholders
will balance the interests of the Government authorities responsible for ma-
nagement of the LGCA, the pastoralist groups, the tourism / hunting compa-
nies and the non-government institutions. Te recommendations made can
provide for successful management of the LGCA.
To promote hunting tourism, and to maximise its values within a society,
needs dynamic and visionary management. In this case, I argue that the sur-
vival of the Ngorongoro-Serengeti ecosystem and its wildlife is linked to the
existence and health of the Loliondo corridor and of the indigenous people,
the Masai. Likewise, the survival of the Masai group depends upon the protec-
tion and preservation of their land for economic benefts such as tourism and
pastoralism. It would therefore be a mistake not to involve the Masai commu-
nity in the management of the LGCA when their economy, and indeed their
whole way of life, are centred around the LGCA, where they have lived for
centuries. My vision is one which encourages the management of the LGCA
by including both the local people (the Masai) with their cattle, and also the
hunting tourism companies. Te presence of wildlife at the LGCA should also
play a key role in the present and future of income generation through tou-
rism for local people. Te vision of joint management can assist in resolving
the current confict between stakeholders.
Hunting Tourism Companies in Northern Tanzania 163
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Part III
Tourism, Democracy and
Confict Resolution
CRAI G WEBSTER, STANI SLAV H. I VANOV
Tourism as a Force for Political
Stability
Introduction
Whilst there is substantial literature investigating the economic benefts of
tourism for countries, less literature delves into the political benefts of tou-
rism. In this paper, the authors investigate the issue of political confict and
the theoretical reasons behind the belief that tourism should lead to peace-
building and political stability. Te authors also explore several case studies in
which tourism has played, or could play, a role in political stability or peace-
building. Tese are illustrated with examples from Cyprus, Korea and Ireland
showing that there are situations in which tourism has played, or could play,
a role in supporting political cooperation and stability. Te authors conclude,
noting general observations regarding the relationship between tourism and
political stability and the related concept of peace-building. In addition, the
authors make comments regarding the concrete and practical measures coun-
tries can take in order to utilise the engine of tourism to bolster political sta-
bility and encourage the building of peace both within and between societies.
Outline
Tere are many diferent ways to view tourism and its relationship with peace
and political stability. In this frst section, we will link the relationship of tou-
rism with peace and political stability to paradigms in international relations.
We will show that the schools of international relations play a key role in un-
derstanding the link between the economic activity of tourism and the social
and political outcome of peace and political stability.
Te issue of the relationship between the two concepts of political stability /
peace-building and tourism is not an entirely new concept to be brought up
in the study of tourism, although there is an indication that it is becoming
increasingly prolifc. For example, in recent years there are a number of edited
books (see for example, Butler and Suntikul 2010, 2013; Moufakkir and Kelly
2010; Blanchard and Higgins-Desbiolles 2013) and research papers (Askjel-
lerud 2003; D’Amore 1988; Causevic and Lynch 2011; Clements and Georgiou
1998; Higgins-Desbiolles 2006; Higgins-Desbiolles 2007; Kelly 2006; Salazar
2006; Sarkar and George 2010) that concentrate on political conficts / peace-
building and tourism and there is likely to be an increasingly interesting and
hopefully fruitful debate on tourism and political stability / peace. Although
168 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
traditionally tourism was mostly thought of merely as an economic activity, it
seems that it is increasingly viewed as an economic activity with political and
social consequences. Here, we explore tourism and some of its political and
social consequences using approaches taken from International Relations.
We begin with a discussion of the prevailing ideologies of the feld of In-
ternational Relations and attempt to show how tourism can be viewed from
each of these ideologies. We then illustrate that the ideologies of International
Relations have implications for tourism. We focus closely on liberalism and its
perception of tourism as a force for peace and political stability. We then turn
to examples in the world in which the liberal thinking of tourism leading to
peace has been attempted, albeit with varying degrees of success. We conclu-
de, illustrating what the cases of tourism have taught us about the link bet-
ween tourism and the creation of political stability and the building of peace.
International Relations Schools and Tourism
A book by E.H. Carr (2001), written between the two world wars, set the sta-
ge for the division of schools of thought in the growing feld of International
Relations. Te Twenty Years’ Crisis is a key book in the feld of International
Relations because it defnes two diferent ways of looking at international
events – one from the perspective of the idealist and one from the perspective
of the realist. For Carr, there was a division in thinking about how internati-
onal relations could be conceived, from the perspective of state-centred thin-
king and from the perspective of non-state-centred thinking with the intent
to reach an ideal international community that would be inherently peaceful
and cooperative.
Following World War Two and the institutionalisation of International Re-
lations in universities throughout the world, there has been a lot of thinking
and writing about the divisions of perceptions regarding the analysis of in-
ternational events. At present, there are either three or four recognised para-
digms of International Relations and they have been discussed and continue
to be discussed to a great extent (see for example, Guzzini 1998, Guzzini 2013;
Walt 1998). Te prevailing paradigms are realism, liberalism, and neo-Mar-
xism, as outlined by Holsti (1985), although they are referred to by diferent
names at times. While constructivism is also frequently cited as a substantial
paradigm, for our purposes here, we leave it aside, since its application to the
issue of political stability / peace / peace-building and tourism is a bit more
convoluted and indirect than the more established paradigms.
While International Relations scholars generally accept that there is no
longer a dichotomy of schools in the feld but a division among three to four
schools, the major division that persists is the division between realists and
the idealists of diferent sorts. Holsti (1985) divided the prevailing strands of
idealist thinking into the liberals and neo-Marxists. For him and for many
others, the division between the two was natural and needed, since they both
have very diferent views on the desirability of markets and capitalism, with
liberals viewing capitalism and liberal democratic political and legal institu-
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 169
tions as benefcial things, leading to peace and prosperity, while neo-Marxists
view them as tools of exploitation used by the owners of the means of produc-
tion. Table 1 below illustrates the divisions and diferences.
Table 1: Schools of International Relations and Tourism
Dichotomy of schools Realism Idealism
Trichotomy of schools Realism /
Classical Tradition
Liberalism /
Global Society
Neo-Marxism/ Historical
Materialism
Units of analysis States Markets, MNCs, IGOs Socio-economic classes
Assumption regarding
human nature
Humans are self-interested Humans are cooperative Humans are cooperative
Normative end Relative peace Global government, regional
integration
Socio-economic equality
Future trajectory of world Continuation of conficts
between states
Strong international legal
system
Collapse of capitalism,
rise of global socialism
Example of theory from
the school
Balance of power Democratic peace Dependency theory
Role of Tourism Revenue for states. Facilities
and infrastructure to assist
diplomacy
A pathway to mutual
understanding and creation
of greater interaction
between peoples of diferent
countries
Economic exchange
with social and negative
consequences for much of
humanity
Source: Based upon the paradigms Holsti (1985)
Realists largely difer from others as they view humans as self-interested and
value-maximising entities. As an extension of this, there is the notion that sta-
tes are and should be thought of as self-interested value-maximising entities.
Because of this perspective, realists tend to focus upon issues linked with se-
curity, war, and diplomacy. Te realist perspective also views confict as a na-
tural part of the human experience and feels that humans will never outgrow
this behaviour. At best, realists expect humans to use diplomacy and state-
craft in ways to limit confict. Balance of power is a typical approach associ-
ated with realist thinking, whereby states either use or should use their war-
making capacity and diplomacy in ways that create relative peace and stability,
given that war and the state are inherent parts of the social world. Since this is
a state-centred view of the world focussing upon political / military conficts
between states, there is little room for tourism in this view of the world, alt-
hough tourism may be seen as a way for the state to develop economically or
using infrastructure to assist in diplomacy.
Te prevailing schools of idealist thought in international relations, in con-
trast with realism, have much to say about tourism. Liberalism is a market-
oriented view of the world, arguing that liberal markets and liberal democratic
170 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
political institutions are the general organising principles that will assist in
creating a better world. Te ‘Liberal’s’ view difers from that of the neo-Mar-
xists in that neo- marxist view markets and liberal democratic institutions as
institutions that favour the class owning the means of production, and these
institutions (markets and liberal democratic social and political institutions)
create economic, social, and political disruptions and distortions. Tus, while
liberals may view markets, global governance structures (including internati-
onal law) and multinational corporations as means of bringing about wealth,
progress, and democracy, neo-Marxists view these same institutions as vehic-
les of oppression, impoverishment, racism, sexism, and social and economic
exclusion.
Tourism, as an economic, social, and (ultimately) political exercise, is thus
perceived diferently by liberals and neo-Marxists. Liberals, predictably, will
see tourism as a positive thing, as it works largely on market principles, crea-
ting wealth, employment and social encounters that will lead to closer social
relationships between peoples. Te net social and cultural outcome of such
economic and social exchange, for liberals, is mutual understanding. Tus, for
liberals, the market transactions between people for tourism purposes lead to
mutual understanding and peace.
One of the key liberal approaches to the creation of stable and meaning-
ful peace is the notion of the contact hypothesis. Te contact hypothesis
holds that contact between people under certain conditions will lead to an
amicable and cooperative atmosphere in which individuals can work togeth-
er (Tomljenovi? 2010, 19). Essentially, this contact approach holds that when
people are exposed to each other and cooperate, mutual understanding and
cooperation emerges. Tere are several works that look upon this as a realis-
tic way of increasing peace, political stability, and mutual understanding (see
for example, Pizam, Jafari and Milman 1991; Pizam, Uriely, and Reichel 2000;
Kim, Prideaux, and Prideaux 2007; Maoz 2010).
As opposed to a liberal approach, neo-Marxists (and dependency theorists,
as a subset of the neo-Marxists) concentrate on the negative outcomes of the
market processes upon the majority of the world’s population. Tere are many
examples from the literature that explain how neo-Marxists view the mar-
ket system and its relationship to underdevelopment and exclusion and the
role of tourism in the process (see, for example, Akama 2004; Bianchi 2011,
2002; Britton 1981, 1982; Chaperon and Bramwell 2013; Hall 2011; Munt 1994).
Tere are also several works taking this approach to explain specifc case stud-
ies, illustrating the value of the neo-Marxist perspective in terms of creating
social and economic exclusion (see, for example, Akama 1999; Meyer 2011; Bi-
anchi 2004; Mbaiwa 2005).
All in all, the idealist approach to International Relations informs us best of
the relationship between tourism and political stability. For realists, tourism
is an afterthought, since it is an activity outside the realm of the central pur-
poses of the state (security and war). However, the two major diferent strands
of idealism (liberalism and neo-Marxism) illustrate that tourism may play an
important role in either generating peace and stability (liberalism) or under-
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 171
mining them (neo-Marxism), depending upon which strand of idealism is fol-
lowed. Now, we turn to some examples of tourism and political stability to
determine what the most recent literature has to say about the issue and how
the two strands of idealism view their successes and failures.
Case Studies
Ireland
Probably one of the most cited and respected success stories in terms of peace-
building (Power 2011) and the use of tourism as a driver of peace and cross-
border cooperation is the island of Ireland (Greer 2002; McCall and O’Dowd
2008; Tannam 2006; Teague and Henderson 2006). Divided between the Re-
public of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ire-
land, the island was the scene of terrorism / political violence for two-and-a
half decades (1969–1993, sometimes referred to euphemistically as the ‘Trou-
bles’) with profound negative impact on its economic and tourism develop-
ment (Boyd 2000).
After the IRA ceasefre in 1994 and the subsequent Good Friday Agree-
ment on 10 April 1998, hopes for peace in Ireland materialised, capitalising
on the peace dividend for the economy as a whole and tourism in particular
(Leslie 1996, 1999; Muckley 2011). As a result of Strand 2 of the Good Friday
Agreement, the North / South Ministerial Council was established with the
goal ‘to develop consultation, co-operation and action within the island of Ire-
land’ (North / South Ministerial Council 2013) within 12 areas of mutual inte-
rest between both sides of the border. Six of the areas of mutual interest have
joint implementation bodies, while for the other six areas of co-operation –
including tourism – common policies and approaches are agreed in the North
/ South Ministerial Council but implemented separately in each jurisdiction
(the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).
In 2002, under the framework of the Good Friday Agreement, Tourism
Ireland Ltd was formed – a cross-border institution responsible for the mar-
keting of Ireland as one tourist destination. It is jointly funded by the Irish
Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on a two-to-one ratio, and
operates under the auspices of the North / South Ministerial Council through
the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and
the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in the South (Tourism Ire-
land 2013). In achieving its objectives, Tourism Ireland works closely with the
two tourist authorities from both sides of the border – Fáilte Ireland (Fáilte
Ireland 2013a) and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB 2013). Tannam
(2006) emphasises that tourism cooperation between the two political enti-
ties of Ireland has not been impeded signifcantly by bureaucratic, business or
political conficts of interest, mostly because Tourism Ireland has successfully
contributed to the dramatic increase of visitor numbers on both sides of the
border – the increased economic benefts of tourism helped partially ofset
the political and bureaucratic obstacles for the cross-border cooperation.
172 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
In its corporate plan, Tourism Ireland has explicitly included the objective
of overcoming consumers’ concerns about safety and security while in Nort-
hern Ireland (Tourism Ireland 2011, 31). Te plan acknowledges that tourists
still hold negative images of the past about the North and these perceptions
should be overcome. With the enduring peace and the pro-active behaviour of
the tourism stakeholders on the island, tourists’ perceptions could be success-
fully reversed in a more positive direction. However, while acknowledging that
cooperation between the two entities on the island increased after the Belfast
agreement, Teague and Henderson (2006) conclude that this has not led to
a radical change in the business or institutional dynamics of the sector on
either side of the border, and that the depth of cooperation is questionable as
it does not always touch the core strategic activities of Fáilte Ireland and the
Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
Table 2: Key tourism indicators for Ireland for 2011–2012
Year
Indicator Entity 2011 2012
Number of visitors from outside the entity
(in thousands)
Northern Ireland 1931 1984
Republic of Ireland 6505 6517
Tourism revenues from visitors
from outside the entity (in millions of pounds for
Northern Ireland and euros for the Republic)
Northern Ireland 463 488
Republic of Ireland 2970.7 n.a.
Total tourism revenues of the entity (in millions
of pounds for Northern Ireland and euros for the
Republic)
Northern Ireland 640 683
Republic of Ireland 5735.8 n.a.
Number of hotels Northern Ireland 135 138
Republic of Ireland 883 856
Sources: Tourism Ireland 2012; NISRA 2013a, 2013b; Fáilte Ireland 2013b
Table 2 presents some key tourism economic indicators for both entities for
the last couple of years. Numbers reveal that the Republic of Ireland has a
more developed tourism industry which partially results, not only from the
sheer size of the Republic of Ireland compared to Northern Ireland, but also
from the hostilities that took place in the North, thereby hindering the deve-
lopment of its tourism industry.
Currently, besides the more conventional cultural, visiting friends and re-
latives, rural, cycling, fshing and other types of tourism, the island is now
developing dark / political tourism (McDowell 2008; Simone-Charteris and
Boyd 2010a, b), concentrated in Northern Ireland and related to the legacy of
the ‘Troubles’. Of course, such portrayal of conficting heritage is not accep-
ted unambiguously – as Simone-Charteris and Boyd (2010b) elaborate, some
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 173
perceive this type of tourism as a positive transformation of the legacy of the
past, while others consider it as a means of deepening the diferences in the
society (McDowell 2008). Considering the political overcharge of this confic-
ting and very recent historical period, such division in people’s perceptions
about ‘Troubles’-related tours and sites is quite understandable [similar divisi-
ons have been reported for communist heritage tourism by Ivanov (2009) and
Poria, Ivanov and Webster (2013)]. Nevertheless, such trips could serve as a
tool for peace as long as the travel guides’ and tourist sites’ narratives present
a balanced view of the history, without giving preference to any sides of the
confict.
In the case of Ireland, it is obvious that the tourism industry has benef-
ted from the peace process. Te decrease of political tension and politically
motivated violence has created a peaceful environment that has contributed
to the increase of tourist fows to both sides of the border, but especially to
Northern Ireland (cf. Boyd 2000). However, the reverse link can also be obser-
ved – the increase in cross-border travel and cooperation between Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the feld of tourism contributes to the
strengthening of the peace process. Paraphrasing one of Marx’s seven basic
forms of commodity trade ‘money => commodity => money prime’ we can say
that for Ireland the formula is ‘peace => tourism => peace prime’.
Cyprus
Cyprus, as a politically divided island and a major tourism destination, has
attracted attention for those interested in the issue of tourism and the ability
of tourism to generate political stability. Cyprus, since the inception of the
Republic of Cyprus in 1960, has sufered from major political clashes based
upon the two major ethnicities on the island (Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cy-
priots). In 1974, a Turkish invasion began an occupation of the island that led
to the creation of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in the northern
part of the island. From 1974 until 2003, there was very limited movement of
the populations between these two political entities (the ‘Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus’ and the internationally-recognised Republic of Cyprus).
Starting in 2003, there was a relaxation of the perceived restrictions for
crossing the checkpoints and many Turkish Cypriots were able to visit the
southern parts of the island while many Greek Cypriots crossed to the north.
For the frst time since 2003, signifcant numbers of Greek Cypriots and Tur-
kish Cypriots were interacting and visiting the opposite part of the island. Alt-
hough, from the contact hypothesis point of view, this would ofer opportu-
nities to develop liberal peace or develop liberal peace-building capabilities,
many have chosen not to cross the ‘Green Line’ (Webster and Timothy 2006).
Tere is substantial attention given to the impact of the political and ethnic
division of the island on tourism development in Cyprus, given the impor-
tance of the tourism industry in Cyprus (see, for example Alipour and Kilic
2003; Ekiz, Hussain and Ivanov 2010; Ioannides 1992; Ioannides and Holcomb
2001; Ioannides 2002; Ioannides and Apostolopoulos 1999; Lockhart 1997;
Yasarata et al. 2010). However, the political division and the link with tourism,
174 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
plus the possibilities raised by co-operation on the island via tourism have
attracted a lot of attention (see, for example, Altinay and Bowen 2006; Diko-
mitis 2005; Jacobson et al. 2010; Jacobson et al. 2010; Mehmet et al. 2008; Mu-
syck et al. 2010; Scott 2012; Sonmez and Apostolopoulos 2000; Webster et al.
2009; Webster and Timothy 2006; Yildizian and Ehteshami 2004).
While there are some mixed results suggesting that the tourism industry
on both sides of the ethnic divide may be willing to work together, there is
also some indication of resistance to cooperation within the tourism industry,
illustrating that the conditions under which participants are willing to coope-
rate is limited (Webster, Musyck, Orphanides, and Jacobson 2009). In general,
it seems that even while there is stable peace, there is still enough ethnic re-
sistance to cooperation (at least on the part of Greek Cypriots). Terefore tou-
rism, as a force leading to continued contacts and the building of peace on the
island, seems unlikely. Whilst there is some indication on the part of Greek
Cypriots that they are willing to cooperate with Turkish Cypriots, there is also
evidence that this is not desired by all (Webster 2005).
All in all, there is some indication that tourism may have the potential to
bring about political stability from the contact hypothesis point of view in Cy-
prus. However, there is substantial social resistance and suspicion on the part
of the major ethnicities on the island. Tus, while there is the possibility of
contact and cooperation via tourism, the perceptions of many Cypriots and
the uncertainty as to whether business contacts between Greek Cypriots and
Turkish Cypriots are permitted by the authorities mean that Greek Cypriots,
at least, are wary of exploring more than the most superfcial of business rela-
tionships with their counterparts in the Turkish sector.
While there are few or no real obstacles stopping Greek Cypriots and Tur-
kish Cypriots from crossing the Green Line, many do not do so (Webster and
Timothy 2006; Flynn et al. 2012). Since 2003, only about 65% of Greek Cyp-
riots have crossed the Green Line and a quarter of Greek Cypriots have only
crossed once (Flynn et al. 2012, 32). Only about 55% of Turkish Cypriots have
crossed the Green Line (Flynn et al. 2012, 33). So, while contact could occur,
there is still signifcant social resistance to contact with the ‘other’ ethnicity,
although there are very diferent patterns for the reasons for not crossing the
Green Line for both ethnicities. Greek Cypriots refuse to cross either due to
not wanting to show a passport to a Turkish Cypriot ofcial or out of a matter
of principle, whilst Turkish Cypriots simply display a general lack of interest
in crossing (Webster and Timothy 2006, 174; Flynn et al. 2012, 34).
In addition, it is not clear from the fndings of the literature whether there
is a realistic expectation that tourism between the two political entities on the
island could lead to contacts that would improve the political situation, lea-
ding to a more stable and self-sustaining peace. However, there is continued
hope in many circles that this would be true. One major, remaining obstacle
is the fact that the legal problems of doing business with a state that is not in-
ternationally recognised prevents many in the private sector of Greek Cyprus
from cooperating more with Turkish Cypriots, especially given an environ-
ment where there could be unpleasant legal repercussions for Greek Cypriots
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 175
if business contacts are too visible. In addition, the taboo for Greek Cypriot
authorities regarding ofcial cooperation with the ‘Turkish Republic of Nort-
hern Cyprus’ means that ofcial cooperation remains ‘unworkable’, even if sel-
ling the Cypriot tourism product to the world as one product, based upon the
Irish model, is theoretically possible.
Korea
For many years the two countries on the highly militarised peninsula had few
economic and political interactions. While some attempts have been made
to rectify this in recent years, political occurances have been an impediment.
Tere is a small amount of literature that focuses upon the possibility that
tourism could help Korea to move toward a more peaceful and possibly uni-
fed peninsula (see, for example, Kim and Crompton 1990; Kim, Prideaux and
Prideaux 2007; Park 2011; Shin 2010). One of the key problems in terms of
establishing liberal peace and political stability is the issue of the ability of
people to meet and humanise the ‘other.’ While Koreans may share a cultural
heritage and language, they have few chances for direct face-to-face contact.
Te tourism that has developed with foreigners arriving in North Korea is very
closely managed, for the most part preventing meaningful interactions bet-
ween tourists and hosts. Kim and Crompton (1990) suggested that tourism
could assist in reunifcation, since it allows contacts between citizens, thus
creating room for future interaction.
Apart from some limited interaction, there has been some change starting
in November 1998. In 1998, the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region opened in
North Korea. Tis is an area of 530 sq km
and is designed as a place to enable
South Koreans and others to visit the North. In a way, it is a tourism equivalent
to the Kaes?ng Industrial Region, a region in North Korea in which South Ko-
rean companies employ about 53,000 workers from North Korea and 800 staf
members from South Korea. When tourists visit the Mount Kumgang Tourist
Region, many attractions and amenities (circus, spa, shop etc) are available
for tourists but there are restrictions and limitations upon contacts (Kim, Pri-
deaux and Prideaux 2007). In July 2008, a South Korean in this Tourist Region
was shot to death by North Korean authorities, sparking unpleasant political
rows and the seizure of South Korean property in the region. Since 2011, it has
been managed solely by North Koreans and is an international tourist zone
that largely caters for Chinese tourists, as South Korea has suspended trips to
the resort.
Apart from the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, there are other opportu-
nities to travel in North Korea, but there are many restrictions and all require
escorts by local tour guides. While the political situation remains tense bet-
ween the Koreas, with international journalists and South Koreans being rou-
tinely denied entry into North Korea, very few tourist opportunities remain.
What the political situation in the Koreas means, in terms of building political
stability and peace, is that the state (particularly the North Korean State) still
prevents contacts that could lead to the outcome suggested by the contact hy-
pothesis. It seems that the strong, politically opposed states and the highly li-
176 CRAI G WEBS TER, S TANI SL AV H. I VANOV
mited contacts between tourists from the Koreas will continue to have almost
negligible impact on the creation of political stability and peace in the Koreas,
as long as tourist fows remain minimal and highly choreographed afairs.
Conclusion
Does tourism lead to political stability and peace, as liberals would suggest?
Do contacts between peoples lead to political stability, mutual understanding
and peace? Te general fndings suggest that there may be some merit to the
liberal approach, although this must be given the ability to function, both by
the state as well as by the citizens.
Governments should put more emphasis on the well-being of local popula-
tions by stimulating (or at least not hindering) both inbound and outbound in-
ternational tourism that leads ultimately to understanding and peace among
peoples. Governments could adopt various activities that would make their
countries more accessible, such as:
• Visa waiving programmes
• Simplifed and fast visa issue procedures
• Free / low fee visas
• Increased access to tourist attractions
• Decreased airport / road / ferry taxes for passengers
Governments could also establish cross-border tourism bodies (as in the ex-
ample of Ireland) to deal with tourism issues in the partitioned states.
Of course, these are difcult decisions as visas and taxes on visitors are
direct budget revenues from levies on non-voters and, as such, are very poli-
tically acceptable. Moreover, ‘national security’, ‘protection of national inte-
rests’, and ‘saving the country’s ideology / culture’ are very high in the political
agenda in many countries. It would be difcult for governments to swallow
the liberalism pill, and this would defnitely not happen overnight. Te poli-
tical history of Europe shows that liberal ideas and cross-border cooperation
among formerly hostile countries has been a gradual and long-term process.
When governments understand the long-term benefts of peace, stability and
tourism for the well-being of local populations, then they will be more prone
to undertake measures to stimulate cross-border cooperation in international
tourism.
Te biggest success story of the liberal tourism and political stability and
peace is the story of Ireland. Once the political forces there were able to co-
ordinate in order to market something that the world would be interested in,
political stability and economic interdependence began to emerge. Whilst in
Ireland tourism is seen as a ‘win / win’ situation by the state, this view is some-
what diferent in the other countries looked at. For example, for the authori-
ties in Cyprus, cooperation with the other political entity on the island is po-
litically taboo, as it is linked with recognition of the other entity as politically
legitimate; also, there is some indication that citizens will not get involved in
cooperating either out of personal beliefs or for fear of retribution by the state.
Tourism as a Force for Political Stability 177
In the Koreas, the states still dominate and manage tourist interactions, with
North Korea especially keen to manage tourists and minimise interactions
between North Koreans and South Koreans.
Te interesting political story that emerges, generally, is that liberal ap-
proaches may have some merit. Te only problem is that the state has to per-
mit or perhaps even encourage this, in order for appropriate interactions to
occur, enabling the creation of political stability through tourism. However,
major obstacles still persist, such as physical barriers. For example, the stron-
gest forms of separation – concrete walls in the Middle East and impenetra-
ble boundaries as in the Koreas – hinder contacts. Tere are, of course, other
obstacles that are not physical in nature, such as persisting attitudes. Further
investigations into the success of Ireland relative to the other cases could
help to defne the reasons behind this. Te conditions under which sustained
contacts led to a vision of a ‘win / win’ relationship in tourism development
should be studied to see if they can be replicated successfully in other places,
creating a more peaceful and politically stable world via tourism.
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NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI STI AN BAUMGARTNER
Myanmar on its Way to Responsible
Tourism Management:
The Important Role of Stakeholder
Dialogues
Introduction
Ask yourself this question: ‘How can a country that has been facing calls for
sanctions and boycotts by Western human rights organisations for the past 20
years conceivably be involved in sustainable tourism planning?’
In 2000, Tourism Concern and Burma Campaign designed a postcard to
support their calls to boycott the travel guide publisher Lonely Planet. Te
card showed tourists being warmly welcomed by locals after their plane had
landed. On this same postcard, behind a fence and invisible to the tourists,
one could see various kinds of human rights violations being committed. Tou-
rism, it was argued, would cause severe violations of human rights, such as
forced labour and displacement, so tourists were advised against visiting the
country, and foreign companies were told not to invest there.
Now, however, only one decade later, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
(MoHT) has published a Responsible Tourism Policy and a Policy on Commu-
nity Involvement in Tourism. Te question is, what to make of these measures
– and how exactly were these policies developed? Was it a job for tourism con-
sultants who, behind closed doors, formulated some well-phrased documents
which were then attractively laid out, printed and presented to the public as a
showpiece – but totally unrepresentative of reality? To make it clear from the
start, this was not the way it happened. In fact, the policies were the result of
a stakeholder process which, in this form, has probably never been accomplis-
hed in any other country before at such a level in tourism, and which may be
an important platform, not only for sustainable tourism development in My-
anmar, but also for an important contribution to the internal peace-building
process in the country.
Tis paper presents an overview of this stakeholder process. One of the
authors witnessed the development of these two tourism policies over recent
months as a tourism consultant and co-author; the other did on-site research
during the boycott. Tis paper is therefore not just a review of academic publi-
cations or systematic in-depth feld research but, rather, it refects the authors’
subjective, frst-hand experiences of a country in the process of transition. Te
paper begins with an introduction to the key theoretical concepts used in the
182 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
research on stakeholder dialogues. It then provides a brief overview of tourism
development in Myanmar and background information on the attempted tou-
rism boycott since 1996. Te main part describes the processes, experiences,
and lessons learned in connection with the development of the policies on res-
ponsible tourism and community involvement in tourism as an important tool
for the promotion of democracy and peace in this country of transition. Te f-
nal part discusses the challenges that arise and possible future steps to be taken.
Stakeholder Processes in Tourism:
A Tool for Democratic Development and Peace-Building
Sustainability in all its aspects – social, institutional, economic, and environ-
mental – involves important elements of strategies designed to achieve long-
term peace between countries, regions or ethnic groups. A higher level of sus-
tainability in a society requires a change in the mind-set of those involved,
as well as innovation, inventiveness, and, above all, people who are not only
inspired by the potential of sustainability but are also willing to implement
change at all levels of the society in which they live.
Te same applies for the implementation of responsible and sustainable
tourism. Our globalised world needs innovation to promote sustainability in
tourism, and to do so, people must be able to think together, to cooperate both
across sectors (hotels, transport, restaurants, guides, etc.) and across cultu-
res, and to respect diferences. According to the Collective Leadership Insti-
tute, working towards a more sustainable world makes it necessary to bring
together diferent worldviews and to resolve conficts of interest in order to
promote responsible business activities, people-oriented public services, and
a strong civil society (Kuenkel et al. 2011). Tis also applies to the develop-
ment of responsible tourism. Te key stakeholders in tourism planning are the
private sector, national and international NGOs, government at all levels, lo-
cal communities, development agencies, international organisations such as
UNWTO and the Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA), and of course the
tourists themselves – although it is difcult to integrate ‘the tourists’ into a
stakeholder dialogue, due to lack of representation.
Given this, stakeholder relationships must be based on trust to increase the
ability of those involved to communicate and partner with multi-stakeholders:
‘Te diferent actors […] need to communicate respectfully, in a way that shows
that they appreciate each other, despite serious diferences in opinion’ (Kuen-
kel et al. 2011, 13). Such a collaborative approach can become the norm in the
daily business of dealing with the challenges of sustainable development, such
as peace-building, democratisation, sustainable economic development, and
good governance, all of which are important elements of responsible tourism
development for any destination.
According to the Collective Leadership Institute, at the core of stakeholder
dialogue is the principle of ‘collective leadership’, meaning that a group of lea-
ders contributes to a more sustainable future by assuming joint and fexible
leadership for the beneft of all involved. Leaders do not necessarily have to
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 183
be political or business leaders; more importantly they need the strength, the
willingness, and the ability to contribute to the sustainability of society. In the
case of tourism, leaders can be representatives of ministries, tourism associa-
tions, local communities, destination management organisations, local guides,
and so on.
Stakeholder dialogues are structured conversations about certain issues of
common interest or concern between:
• People from diferent sectors or constituencies
• People with diferent perspectives and points of view
• People with diferent interests.
Tese conversations support planning and decision making, help to resolve
problems, and contribute to fnding innovative solutions or to the design and
implementation of joint interventions for change. Ideally, stakeholder dia-
logues lead to a practical outcome, such as a tourism policy which could other-
wise not have been achieved and which is easier to implement because all the
stakeholders involved have experienced a higher degree of ownership. In high-
quality stakeholder dialogues diferences, sometime even conficts, hold the
potential for innovative solutions and can achieve goals that ultimately beneft
everyone. Tis can lead to:
• Trust-building between diferent stakeholders
• Forward-looking and constructive cooperation between participants
• Innovative solutions to existing economic or social challenges
• A higher quality, and broader acceptance, of decisions
• Ownership of and commitment to implementing agreed-upon results
• Collective responsibility for change
• Sustainable outcomes
• Long-lasting cooperative structures (Kuenkel et al. 2011, 18).
According to Hemmati (2007), the value base of stakeholder dialogues inclu-
des the following elements:
• Being transparent and accountable
• Ensuring equity among all stakeholders
• Focusing on the contribution to the common cause
• Promoting collective leadership
• Ensuring reliable processes
• Being open to iterative learning (participants must adopt a learning atti-
tude which creates a favourable atmosphere for new ideas and solutions to
emerge which otherwise would not have emerged)
• Promoting consensus building
• Ensuring participation and engagement among the participants
• Respecting legitimacy (outcomes must be legitimate).
In order to ensure that stakeholder dialogues can be implemented successfully,
the Collective Leadership Institute has developed a Dialogic Change Model
that is divided into four phases.
184 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
Table 1: Overview: The Four Phases of Stakeholder Dialogue
Phase 1 Exploring and engaging Understanding the context, understanding
stakeholders, diferent viewpoints, engaging
them in preparatory conversations, raising
energy for action, building the case for change
Phase 2 Building and formalising Clarifying goals and commitment, establishing
resources, creating formal agreements, planning
process and joint implementation
Phase 3 Implementing and evaluating Implementing agreed-upon or recommended
activities, creating showcases for change,
evaluating progress and outcomes
Phase 4 Developing further;
replicating and institutionalising
Bringing the dialogue to the next level,
expanding or replicating dialogue activities,
creating long-lasting structures for change
Source: Kuenkel et al. (2011, 53)
Te Collective Leadership Institute uses a snail shell model to illustrate the
four phases as a spiral-like process of cyclical continuity, with the radius of
the shell exponentially increasing in size as the snail develops. Tis is to sig-
nify that the process starts of rather small and becomes more expansive over
time.
Figure 1: The Snail-Shell Model of Stakeholder Dialogue Processes
Source: Kuenkel et al. (2011, 54)
Create
resonance
Understand
the context
Build a container
for change
Clarify common
goals and resources
Plan the
future together
Consolidate agreements
and establish structure
Ensure transprarency
and communication
Create results and
celebrate success
Establish learning
mechanisms
Build next level
container
Create management
structures
Establish governance
and learning systems
THE DIALOGIC CHANGE MODEL:
IMPLEMENTING STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUES IN A RESULT-ORIENTED WAY
DEVELOPING
FURTHER,
REPLICATING OR
INSTITUTIONALISING
IMPLEMENTING
AND
EVALUATING
BUILDING
AND
FORMALISING
EXPLORING
AND
ENGAGING
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 185
Tese processes of the stakeholder dialogues were part of the formulation of
two tourism policies for Myanmar. Te phases are discussed in more detail in
the following sections.
Tourism Development in Myanmar
Myanmar is a country emerging from fve decades of inward-looking policies
and international isolation that have kept the international community, deve-
lopment agencies, global businesses – and the international tourism industry
– at bay. Te second-largest country in the Association of Southeast Asian Na-
tions (ASEAN), Myanmar has much more to ofer as a destination than most
of its neighbouring countries: snow-capped mountains, endless sandy beaches,
the pristine Myeik Archipelago, 36 protected areas, outstanding examples of
religious and secular architecture such as Bagan, a deep-rooted belief in Bud-
dhism, and a youthful population of about 60 million (Häusler, Nicole et al.
2013).
Myanmar is considered to have the richest ethnic diversity in Asia, with
ofcially 135 diferent ethnic groups living in the country, the Burmese being
by far the largest. Other ethnic groups include Shan (9% of the population),
Karen (7%), Mon, Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Karenni, Kayan, Chinese, Indian,
Danu, Akha, Kokang, Lahu, Naga, Palaung, Pao, Rohyinga, Tavoyan, and Wa
(each constituting 5% or less of the population; Ekeh and Smith (2007)). Ar-
med conficts between ethnic minority groups and the military regime were
at one time a serious issue in Myanmar. For decades, embassies, journalists,
travel writers, and tourism pressure groups had asked international visitors to
stay away.
In 2003, the mounting pressure eventually led Burma Campaign to try to
mobilise European media and NGOs to ‘boycott’ tourism after Lauda Air
started ofering the frst direct fight between Europe and Yangon. Te main
argument, besides the condemnation of the human right violations, was the
statement from the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi, clai-
ming that the country was not ready for tourism and that the greater part of
the money spent by the tourists was going directly to the regime.
At that time, most of the tourism businesses in Myanmar were directly ow-
ned by the government or like-minded persons, or were in the hands of foreig-
ners – mostly Chinese, but also some Westerners. Overnight stays in private
accommodation (B&B, community-based tourism, etc.) were prohibited, and
local guides did not dare talk about politics.
On-site analyses (e.g., Baumgartner et al. 2003) showed that, despite the ne-
gative aspects and even within a military regime, tourism development could
nevertheless beneft the population directly in several ways – for example:
• Job creation (albeit with rather low levels of income)
• Direct and indirect fnancial benefts for farmers and craftsmen
• Access to education (e.g. through in-house language training at companies)
• Access to information (e.g. through using the companies’ internet access).
186 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
Furthermore, a boycott as it was originally intended was unlikely to be suc-
cessful. According to Cortright and Lopez (2000, 2002) of the Kroc Institute
for International Peace Studies, fve criteria must be fulflled for sanctions to
be efective:
• Sanctions must cause costs of more than 2% of the target countries’ GDP
• Te most important boycotting country must have an economic power of at
least 10 times that of the target country
• Te target country must have more than 25% of its foreign trade with the
sanctioning countries
• Sanctions must be quick, comprehensive, and with full cooperation of all
trading partners that could eventually bypass the sanctions
• Caused costs for the sanctioning state(s) must be low.
At that time, tourism contributed only 1.6% to the GDP, so not even this crite-
rion would have been fulflled. Te only way was to appeal to the (European)
tour operators’ sense of responsibility to provide their clients with compre-
hensive – and accurate – information and to try to bring as much added value
as possible directly to the population.
Opening of the Country Leads to a Tourism Boom
Te process of political and economic reforms, which has been well underway
since 2011, has led directly to a sudden and rapid increase in the number of
international tourist arrivals. In 2011, encouraged by the changing political si-
tuation, the opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), an-
nounced the abolishment of the total travel boycott. By 2012, the country’s po-
litical opening-up had already resulted in an enormous increase in the number
of tourist arrivals as well as in the number of national and international inves-
tors willing to invest in tourism. Within 20 years, between 1990 and 2009, the
number of international visitor arrivals rose from 8,968 to 762,547. Roughly
one third of these arrivals are believed to have been individuals from neigh-
bouring communities crossing the border, and ‘border tourists’ from Tailand
entering the country for less than 24 hours on ‘visa runs’. By 2012, Myanmar
had recorded 1,058,995 international visitor arrivals, so that for the frst time
in the history of its tourism industry the country had received over one milli-
on international visitors.
In the past ten years, an average annual growth of 6.6% has been recorded;
by 2012, the growth rate had increased to 29.7%. Currently, the majority of in-
ternational tourists who come to Myanmar visit one or more of the following
destinations: Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Kyaiktiyo (‘Golden Rock’),
and Ngapali Beach. Te Master Plan has set a high target of 3.01 million in-
ternational visitors by 2015, and of 7.48 million by 2020. Based on this high
growth scenario, tourism income is projected to increase from a baseline of
$534 million in 2012 to $10.18 billion by 2020, with the corresponding num-
ber of tourism-related jobs rising from 293,700 to 1.49 million (MoHT, 2013b).
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 187
Figure 2: International visitor arrivals in Myanmar 2003–2012
Source: MoHT (2012)
Myanmar is perceived as an unspoiled land. Tis is not only a competitive
advantage, but also an important reason for maintaining Myanmar’s spiritual
values and culture. However, there is a risk that tourism growth may become
unsustainable, and may have massive negative impacts on the environment,
the culture, and the Myanmar society. Although as yet the country has no
mass tourism infrastructure, some negative impacts of tourism can already be
observed in Bagan, at Lake Inle, and at the ‘Golden Rock’ (Kyaiktiyo Pagoda),
particularly with regard to waste and water management.
MoHT and the Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF), an umbrella Orga-
nisation of various tourism associations, recognise that the rapid tourism de-
velopment may succeed in boosting the sector and creating swift economic
development, but may fail to make sustainable tourism development in the
country successful in the long run.
Numerous challenges were identifed in workshops conducted at several
destinations in Myanmar in 2012, which were organised by MoHT and MTF,
in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the German
Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), including:
• A demand for hotels outstripping supply during high season
• Insufcient measures to interpret, protect, and conserve heritage assets
• Poor waste management in all its forms
• Insufcient stakeholder involvement in planning processes
• A lack of tourism-related research
• A lack of human, technical, and fnancial resources.
Existing tourism products in Myanmar have also been found to comply only
partially with the criteria of sustainable tourism. But, with its enormous eco-
nomic power, tourism has the potential to create positive impacts in the fu-
ture – provided that regional value chains are involved, and small and medi-
um-sized tourism businesses and the informal tourism sector are engaged and
supported. Moreover, mechanisms must be identifed to ensure that appropri-
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
597,015
1,058,995
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
188 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
ate prices are paid for the use of natural resources and land by those involved
in tourism to ensure the long-term preservation of these resources.
Paving the Path Towards Responsible Tourism Management
To ensure a coordinated response to the transformation of the country and
the resulting increase in tourist arrivals since the political opening-up of My-
anmar, sustainable tourism development in the country requires new com-
petencies for locally responsible tourism leaders. Change initiatives towards
responsible tourism development must be created which can be supported
collectively by all parties involved. According to the Myanmar government,
conditions for the implementation of sustainable tourism immediately after
the political opening were favourable. Te rationale behind the current eforts
is that ‘the Ministry also recognises that the success of rapid tourism develop-
ment would not only have a boost on the sector and create a swift economic
development, but that it would also have challenges in the long-term success
for sustainable tourism development in the country’ (MoHT 2012, 2).
Since early 2012, MoHT, in collaboration with MTF and HSF, has initiated
coherent processes directed at responsible tourism practices and goals. Te
very frst meeting of the Tourism Working Group on the Greater Mekong
Sub-region (GMS) in Myanmar took place in Bagan over three days in No-
vember 2011. At this meeting, representatives from MoHT, PATA, GMS, and
ADB, international experts, and national tourism stakeholders discussed po-
tential directions for the industry. On one of the days the participants held an
open-minded and level-headed discussion on sustainable tourism planning in
Myanmar – something which just six months earlier would have been incon-
ceivable.
In February 2012 MoHT, in cooperation with MTF and HSF, held a three-
day event called Responsible Tourism Working Days in Nay Pyi Taw. Origi-
nally, MoHT had planned to organise a two-day conference with key speakers
well-known in the area of sustainable tourism, but it was decided that, rather
than just spend the time listening to experts, it would be better to hold an
event which would promote stakeholder dialogue to learn more about the sta-
tus-quo thinking of stakeholders in responsible tourism.
On the frst day representatives of no fewer than 22 ministries and other
public sector institutions hosted plenary sessions and workshops which fo-
cused on the contributions that their institutions would have to make to pro-
mote sustainable tourism development, and the activities that should be given
priority. On the second day, representatives of about 50 tour operators enga-
ged in an equally intensive discussion about the private sector’s contribution
to sustainable tourism development, and on the third day the 150-plus parti-
cipants summarised the results of the two workshops held at the conference,
producing a Joint Declaration on Responsible Tourism.
Despite their long years of professional experience, the international fa-
cilitators were surprised by the willingness of both the government and the
private-sector representatives to contribute and get involved; such an inten-
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 189
sive exchange was something they had rarely seen in any other country. Pro-
bably one of the main reasons why the Burmese were so eager to participate
in the discussions was that after decades of isolation they felt a real urge to
discuss things and engage in open dialogue. It felt as if the energy that had
been bottled up for decades was being released after the cork had fnally been
pulled out. And of course they were also testing the waters, so to speak, to see
how far they could go at a forum such as this.
Te Joint Declaration includes four action points, which must be accom-
plished as soon as possible to promote responsible tourism development:
• Establishment of a Myanmar Tourism Policy to create clear guidelines and
defne the responsibilities of the parties involved
• Creation of formal training and education opportunities for the hospitality
and tourism sector (quality improvement)
• Creation of informal training opportunities for local communities to raise
awareness of tourism benefts and costs, and to encourage local involve-
ment (community-based tourism, supply chain management)
• Implementation of regular stakeholder meetings of the public and private
sectors, with the goal of implementing the frst three action points as efci-
ently as possible through strong networking
Developing Policies: Working in Silence or Open Discussion?
Since the Responsible Tourism Working Days, MoHT and MTF have been
making concerted eforts to implement these four action points, with the pri-
mary focus being on the development of a policy. Why it is so important to
work on a tourism policy while a country is undergoing such a transformation
process is explained by Hall (2011, 39f.):
‘For many people tourism is perhaps the antithesis of politics. Te term
’tourism’ conjures up images of leisure, free time, and play. It is overseen
that tourism and tourism research are inseparably linked to issues of poli-
tics. Decisions afecting the location and character of tourism development
arise out of politics as does, of course, whether an individual is even al-
lowed to travel or whether certain locations, subjects or communities are
available to study. Politics is also closely related to the development of poli-
cies given that politics is concerned with both the exercise of power and in-
fuence in a society and in special decisions over policies. Policies are there-
fore what governments decide to do or not to do about issues and problems
that require government interventions. Policies are therefore more than
just a written document as they are extremely broad concepts that cover
such matters as (a) the purpose of government action; (b) the goals and end
that are to be achieved; (c) the means to achieve goals; usually referred to
as plans, proposals or strategies; (d) the decisions and actions that are taken
with respect to policy, including implementation’.
190 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
In May and June 2012, the development of the Responsible Tourism Policy
was facilitated by a team of three foreign and two local tourism consultants.
Over 350 participants from the public and private sectors attended ten semi-
nars in fve tourist destinations to discuss responsible tourism development in
Myanmar. Stakeholder dialogues often venture into unknown territory. Dife-
rent forms of organisations with diferent internal structures, mandates, pur-
poses, values, and decision-making procedures come together, in many cases
for the frst time, and they must understand and mediate between diferent,
and sometimes contradictory, worldviews. Diferent forms of planning must
be negotiated.
Although quite nervous at the beginning, the facilitators soon started to
feel comfortable in this unknown territory when the discussions during the
workshops became surprisingly open. Te tensions at the beginning were due
to the fact that for many years Myanmar’s national politics had been domina-
ted by the military, which had led to a very quiet society (albeit with disrup-
tions due to uprisings in 1988 and 2007). In interviews with representatives
from the private tourism sector conducted in May 2012, respondents descri-
bed how they perceived cooperation:
• ‘People from Myanmar are not team players; teamwork is only useful in mo-
nasteries, not in business’
• ‘Another thing we don’t understand is synergy: combining the strengths of
diferent aspects’ (Kasüske 2012, 77).
Tese statements show that stakeholder dialogue in general, and in tourism in
particular, had not been of great value to Myanmar society in the past.
Seating order was an interesting and very important element at the frst sta-
keholder workshops. Te setup of a room has a much greater infuence on the
results of a meeting than one would think. Te specifc seating order often de-
termines how people communicate with each other. In the past, the most fre-
quently used setup at meetings in Myanmar was the conference setting, usu-
ally comprising a panel or a speaker’s podium at the front of the room, with
the meeting facilitator standing in front of a row of chairs. Te most powerful
and high-ranking members of the military and government were ofered very
comfortable chairs or sofas in the frst few rows, while the other participants
silently listened to the speakers, with seldom a chance to ask questions.
At the beginning of the workshops on the policies, the facilitators preferred
a U-shape setting because it allowed a smaller number of stakeholders to en-
ter into a livelier exchange of perspectives and positions. However, this setup
also establishes a hierarchy between the ‘important’ people in the front (faci-
litators, resource persons, and politically high-ranking participants). Tis is
the recommended setup for the early stages of a stakeholder dialogue because
it maintains the hierarchy. Te ideal form is a round-table setting because it
allows for input, exchange, and conversation among the stakeholders sitting
around the table. For the afternoon sessions of the workshops, the facilitators
always divided the participants into sub-groups and used the round-table set-
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 191
ting. Te outcomes of the group work were presented to and discussed with all
the participants at the very end of the workshops.
Two fnal workshops were held to analyse and discuss the results of this ex-
change. Te draft of the policy was presented at the concluding national con-
ference in Nay Pyi Taw. Te draft was discussed sentence by sentence by all
participants, and further amendments and modifcations were made. Te po-
licy contains a strategic vision, nine overall aims, and 58 specifc action points
for the implementation of sustainable tourism practices. Te strategic vision
that inspired the guidelines of the policy is aimed at the improvement of living
standards, the economic empowerment of local communities, the conservati-
on of cultural and natural resources, and responsible behaviour of all tourism
stakeholders:
‘We intend to use tourism to make Myanmar a better place to live in – to
provide more employment and greater business opportunities for all our
people, to contribute to the conservation of our natural and cultural herit-
age and to share with us our rich cultural diversity. We warmly welcome
those who appreciate and enjoy our heritage, our way of life and who travel
with respect.’ (MoHT, 2012, 6)
Te policy has nine overall aims:
• To make tourism a national priority sector
• To promote broad-based local socio-economic development
• To maintain cultural diversity and authenticity
• To conserve and enhance the environment
• To compete on product richness, diversity, and quality, not just on price
• To ensure the health, safety, and security of visitors
• To strengthen institutions which manage tourism
• To create a well-trained and well-rewarded workforce
• To minimise unethical practices (MoHT 2012).
In addition, 58 action points were formulated, but it was not yet clear who
would be responsible for their implementation. When, at the fnal conference,
the facilitators asked who among the participants wanted to assume the dif-
ferent roles (leaders, advisors, liaisons) involved in the various action points,
the representatives of more than 25 ministries and MTF raised their hands
according to their areas of interest and responsibility. At conferences, such a
procedure can create an enormous level of ownership, great commitment to
implementing agreed-upon results, and the sense that all of those involved in
such a process share a collective responsibility for change.
Furthermore, the policy provides guidelines on how to evaluate and mo-
nitor tourism development. Surprisingly, terms such as ‘civil society,’ which
played no role in the politics of the former military government, were adopted
as a crucial component of the policy without argument. As the roles and tasks
of every single participant in the implementation of a sustainable tourism
strategy were explained, it became clear that the roles of local communities
and civil society organisations would be just as crucial to the process as the
192 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
roles of the government and the private sector. At the end of the process, the
policy was approved by the cabinet and published in English and the Myan-
mar language.
Tourism and Local-Community Involvement
After the publication of the Responsible Tourism Policy and the debates and
conferences held in the previous months, calls for stronger involvement of
local communities in tourism planning became louder. In response, it was
decided that a Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism with new re-
gulations would be developed, not only to create better opportunities for the
local population to participate in tourism, but also to prevent or minimise the
negative impacts of tourism growth.
Kasüske (2012) notes that the concept of community participation in tou-
rism is still associated primarily with income and employment generation.
Few of the people interviewed during her feld research even considered com-
munity involvement at self-reliant level. Tis may have to do with the prevai-
ling imbalance of power in the country, caused by the former military regime,
which prevented the empowerment of local communities. But there is also an
imbalance of power within the tourism industry. Te constraints identifed
include the dominance of a few major destinations and the small number of
private sector stakeholders. According to Kasüske (2012, 81f), “community
participation has been regarded as a means to achieve this for a long time be-
cause it is associated with fewer power disparities amongst stakeholders and
increased opportunities for economic benefts of local communities – in short,
with social, institutional and economic empowerment.” Given this, the deve-
lopment of the Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism by MoHT and
MTF was a major step towards redressing the imbalance of power in the area
of tourism.
In February 2013 a team of three national and international consultants
organised workshops in various destinations (Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake, Ky-
aing Tong, Loikaw). At a concluding conference in Nay Pyi Taw, the draft of
the policy was again discussed in great detail. During the afternoon session,
minimum and advanced standards for community projects in tourism were
defned in round-table-setting sub-groups, which were then discussed in the
forum at the end of the conference. Subsequently, the draft was also distribu-
ted via email, and the recipients were encouraged to comment. Critical and
important aspects, such as overnight stays of foreigners at local homes, were
discussed in detail with the minister himself and more than 20 employees of
MoHT. In May 2013 the policy was published in English and the Myanmar
language. Roles and responsibilities were defned again for all tourism stake-
holders, including domestic and international visitors. An advisory commit-
tee on community involvement in tourism will soon be set up to promote sta-
keholder dialogue at various levels.
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 193
Figure 3: Communication Process between Stakeholders and Advisory Committee on Community Involvement in Tourism to
review regularly the Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism in Myanmar
Source: MoHT (2013, 7)
Important elements for national peace-building processes in Myanmar inclu-
de, for example, one of the core principles:
‘Local Community Participation in Tourism Must be Informed and Will-
ing – Prior to any involvement in tourism, local communities must be pro-
vided with sufcient information about the tourism industry to be able to
make informed decisions regarding how their future will be impacted. Lo-
cal people should be willing to participate in tourism and be aware of the
potential impacts as well as learn about mechanisms to manage the im-
pacts from the very beginning’ (MoHT 2013a, 14)
Tis ofcially gives communities the opportunity to participate in decision-
making on tourism development in their region.
In response to the high level of ethnic conficts in the past, another core
principle was included which states that the culture, traditions, and beliefs of
every ethnic group must be respected:
‘Te culture, traditions and beliefs of every individual can contribute to a
person’s well-being, in other words: culture shapes and determines how a
person develops and manifests as a human being. Tourists – as well as the
private and public sector – need to respect the cultural heritage, traditions
and beliefs of every individual in Myanmar’ (MoHT 2013a, 14).
Te Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism is perhaps the only policy
of its kind in the world. Adapted to local circumstances, it could be used as a
blueprint in other destinations. In any case, it should be noted again that such
194 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
policies must be developed in a stakeholder dialogue – otherwise, it is unlikely
that they could be implemented successfully.
Finally, it is important to note that both policies must be regarded as ‘living’
documents, meaning that the aims, core principles, and action points they
contain are not ‘carved in stone.’ On the contrary, they should be continuously
adapted to the state of tourism development in Myanmar. In fact, as stated in
the policies, the documents should be continuously reviewed in close collabo-
ration with a wide range of tourism stakeholders. Currently, the plan is to hold
a tourism stakeholder forum every two years to review the action points and
priorities.
Lessons Learned
In the course of the process described in the previous section, the following
points were found to be particularly noticeable:
Seating order
During the Responsible Tourism Policy workshops, local co-ordinators at
some locations were still reluctant to accept the facilitators’ suggestion to ar-
range seats in a U-shape to break up hierarchical structures and to allow eye
contact during discussions. At subsequent workshops in these regions, this
was no longer an issue.
Fear
Te participants of the workshops were actively involved, showed a great in-
terest, and apparently were very eager to discuss the issues at hand. However,
while discussions were surprisingly open during some of the workshops, there
were still some limitations as to what could be said. Although some partici-
pants expressed more general criticism of the planned activities of ‘cronies’,
highly successful businessmen with close relationships to the military, they
did not dare mention names in public because they were afraid that this would
have repercussions for them and their families.
Selection of stakeholders
While invitees to the Responsible Tourism Policy meetings were almost ex-
clusively private- and public-sector representatives who had been selected
by MoHT, MTF, and local authorities, the subsequent workshops were also
attended by representatives of civil society organisations and even represen-
tatives of the communities. Ko Ko Tett (2012) criticises that, although the
workshops were held in major tourist destinations, the decision-making was
not a ‘bottom-up’ process because MoHT and MTF invited only participants
they knew.
However, this has changed very quickly. At a workshop in the ancient temp-
le city of Bagan in April 2013, local tour guides, tourist police, and representa-
tives of local communities (who are increasingly afected by visits of tourists
in their villages) were invited to discuss and decide on rules and regulations
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 195
for visits to local villages. After 50 years of military rule, it was a touching
moment for all involved to see representatives of the private sector (guides),
government (police), and civil society (representatives of communities) sit
around tables and discuss the do’s and don’ts for tourists. Representatives of
ethnic communities near Kyaing Tong (Golden Triangle: village tours are ex-
tremely popular among Tai tourists) were invited to the meetings that led to
the development of the Policy on Community Involvement in Tourism, but
it took a long time to persuade them to attend because they were not used to
being asked for their opinions. Eventually, some of them attended the work-
shop at a 3-star hotel ‘in their natural shoes’ (i.e. barefoot), and were surprised
by the interest shown by others in their opinions. Tis invitation defnitely
broke the ice.
Location
If local communities and representatives of the private and public sectors are
to meet for stakeholder dialogues on an equal footing, more meetings should
take place at communal places such as Buddhist monasteries or other com-
munal public places rather than at 3- or 4-star hotels. Although such events
are often more difcult to organise (catering, sufcient seating, the problem
of power cuts and heat etc.), they are more efcient overall, especially for the
communities.
Participation
Te issue of participation is still debated ‘diferently’. During the discussion
on the level of participation by the local population in tourism planning, most
of the parties involved took a pragmatic view. Tey clearly expressed that they
did not want to be kept out of the decision-making process. Typical state-
ments included, ‘No, we don’t want to go back to those times.’ However, it will
not be possible in the foreseeable future to achieve the (Western?) ideal of My-
anmar as a state that always gives its population good opportunities to parti-
cipate in decision-making. Terefore, they argued that the Buddhist Middle
Path should be taken, meaning that most decisions should still be made by
the government, but that the local communities should become increasingly
involved in decision making.
Phases of stakeholder dialogues
Myanmar has successfully implemented Phases 1 and 2 of the Dialogic Change
Model at the macro-level. During the implementation of Phase 1 (‘Exploring
and engaging’), the participants identifed common goals and resources, such
as the consolidation of common agreements (in this case, the two policies).
Core elements of a successful stakeholder dialogue were applied, such as invi-
ting stakeholders from diferent sectors and constituencies with diferent per-
spectives, points of view, and interests. Tis has clearly contributed to: buil-
ding trust among stakeholders; forward-looking and constructive cooperation
between various participants; a higher quality and broader acceptance of de-
cisions; and ownership of and commitment to implementing agreed-upon re-
196 NI COLE HÄUSLER, CHRI S TI AN BAUMGARTNER
sults. Te next steps (Phases 3 and 4) will be to ensure transparency and com-
munication; achieve the desired results; establish learning mechanisms and
systems; and create management structures.
Outlook and Recommendations
It might be said that very few countries have ever witnessed a debate on res-
ponsible tourism development that had a national scope as broad as the debate
that has taken place in Myanmar, a debate that involved nearly all state minis-
tries and also the private sector. Hopefully, more representatives of civil so-
ciety organisations and (ethnic) communities will be sitting around the table
when the policy is due for review in a few years.
Tere is no doubt that the policies recently developed provide a solid found-
ation, and not only for responsible tourism planning. If Myanmar could achie-
ve only half of the goals in the next few years – after all, the goals set in the po-
licies are demands for the desired maximum – it would already have achieved
more than most other tourist destinations.
Te good news – but also the challenge – is that the Ministry of Hotels
and Tourism, the Myanmar Tourism Federation, the Hanns Seidel Founda-
tion and, perhaps, some other partners are already planning to initiate such
stakeholder dialogues on responsible tourism management at the meso- and
micro-levels in destinations with a rich ethnic diversity. Most of these areas
have been afected by decades of military confict between the Myanmar and
ethnic armies. With ceasefre agreements having been signed in the past few
months, and more due to be signed in the near future, remote areas with a
large number of ethnic groups and nearly untouched biodiversity can become
‘untouched destinations’ for eco-, adventure, and cultural tourism.
Te aim of these stakeholder dialogues will be:
• To introduce responsible tourism to minimise or maximise certain envi-
ronmental, economic, and social impacts
• To teach local stakeholders the value of such dialogues in order to promote
not only sustainable tourism development but also confict resolution, regi-
onal development, and public-private dialogues.
What, then, are some of the ensuing challenges? At the moment, a dynamic
can be observed that is positive and fast-paced, but also (physically) exhaus-
ting for all stakeholders involved. In order to pursue this path, training and
workshops must be conducted to educate local trainers, not only on respon-
sible tourism, but also on how to facilitate stakeholder dialogues, which will
help ensure that tourism can continue to be responsible in the long run. In
the future, stakeholder dialogues in Myanmar will probably also involve more
stakeholders, such as local and international NGOs, development agencies,
and international organisations, which will give new impetus to the dialogue
process. Of course, the success of these eforts will depend largely on Phases
1 and 2.
The Important Role of Stakeholder Dialogues 197
It remains to be seen whether Myanmar’s tourism stakeholders will be able
to put these eforts into practice and, if they do, how and to what extent. After
all, the country is still experiencing political, economic, social, and environ-
mental changes, all of which must be dealt with simultaneously. Furthermo-
re, there are high expectations and some pressure coming from international
NGOs who expect the tourism sector to deliver sustainable tourism products
as soon as possible. According to Gössling et al. (2012, 900), long-term thin-
king (at least 25 years) is a necessary framework for shaping short-term policy.
Whilst Myanmar may not need 25 years to deliver the frst successful results,
it should be realised that such a process may need a few more years before suc-
cessful (= sustainable) outcomes can be achieved.
Tis paper has shown that Myanmar’s political situation has had a conside-
rable infuence on national and tourism development. Political and economic
opening and stability are thus critical in the country’s transformation to de-
mocracy, internal peace, the improvement of the well-being of its population,
and the growth of international tourism. Te world is extremely complex, and
so is the situation in Myanmar. Tere is no ‘one-size-fts-all’ solution, but it
is very likely that a process based on transparency, open dialogue, reliability,
mutual understanding, and participation in tourism will make an invaluable
contribution to the process of internal peace-building in Myanmar. In additi-
on, participants in the workshops expressed their interest in, and willingness
to use, this stakeholder process in tourism as a model for dialogue processes
in other sectors of Myanmar’s economy, which will hopefully lead to further
peace-building opportunities in the country.
References:
Baumgartner, Christian, Margit Leuthold, Daniel
Predota, and Astrid Winkler. 2003. Golden Burma
oder Terra non grata? – eine Auseinandersetzung mit
Argumenten gegen und für einen Tourismus nach
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tegrative Tourism and Development.
Cortright, David and George A. Lopez. 2000. The
Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the
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Cortright, David and George A. Lopez. 2002. Sanc-
tions and the Search for Security: Challenges to UN
Action. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Ekeh, Chizom and Martin Smith. 2007. Minorities in
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KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
Tourism and Peace: The Role of
Election Period Tourism Operating
Procedures in Promoting Peaceful
Elections in Kenya
Disclaimer: Te views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors
and do not represent the views of the Ministry of East African Afairs, Commer-
ce and Tourism or the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.
Abstract
Peace is one of the most important factors that tourists take into account be-
fore they travel to a destination; they want to enjoy a relaxing stay in a desti-
nation without undue concern for their safety and security. Te relationship
between tourism and peace is one of interdependence whereby they reinforce
each other. However, it is only recently that scholars have started to explore
the relationship between peace and tourism.
In the last four decades, it has been observed that the general elections in
Kenya, which are held every fve years, generate uncertainty and political fe-
ver with far reaching ramifcations on the economy. Given its fragile nature,
tourism is the sector that is most afected when such fevers escalate into vi-
olence between the diferent competing groups. Since the 1980’s, the country
has held elections that were either peaceful or followed by a wave of violence.
Whenever violence occurs, the tourist arrivals in Kenya tend to drop signif-
cantly. Most notably, the 2007 general elections were followed by post election
violence which caught the attention of the international media. In addition,
the key tourist generating countries issued negative travel advisories against
Kenya. Tis led to a signifcant drop in tourist arrivals to Kenya by over 30
percent. Consequently, the Government and private sector stakeholders had
to commit substantial resources for tourism recovery eforts; they normally
take a long time to yield positive results.
Tourism tends to create its own unique conditions under which it thrives. It
can contribute positively towards the overall peace-building process which is
a pre-requisite for its survival.
Since 2002, the tourism sector stakeholders in
Kenya have made serious eforts to promote peace during elections, by taking
200 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
cognizance of past election experiences. Tese eforts are manifested through
a programme referred to as Election Period Tourism Operating Procedures
(EPOP), executed by the private sector umbrella association, Kenya Tourism
Federation (KTF), the National Tourism Administration (Ministry of East
African Afairs, Commerce and Tourism), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
and the Kenya Police Service (KPS).
Tourism contributes signifcantly to the Gross Domestic Product (10 per-
cent), foreign exchange earnings (20 percent) and employment (9 percent)
in Kenya making it a priority sector in the country. Te sector has attracted
numerous investors in all its subsectors such as accommodation, food and
drinks, transport and handicraft among others. Its multiplier efect is quite
remarkable, which is why it requires protection of the sector from any likely
disturbance.
Te aim of this paper is to explore the role of election period operating pro-
cedures in promoting peaceful elections in Kenya. It looks at general elections
that have been conducted since 1980 and their impact on tourism. Additio-
nally, it looks at the role played by election operating procedures in promoting
peaceful elections from 2002, when the programme commenced. A case study
of the successes and failures of the Kenya’s Election Period Tourism Operating
Procedures (EPOP) would be instrumental in designing and possibly replica-
ting a model programme; not only in Kenya but also in other countries that
are negatively infuenced in their tourism sector due to political tensions.
Background
As stated above tourism is a key economic sector in Kenya that has attracted
numerous investors in all its sub-sectors such as accommodation, food and
drinks, transport and handicraft among others, making its multiplier efect
quite remarkable. Tourism has also been acknowledged as a stimulator of
growth in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and construction. Like
in many other developing economies, tourism in Kenya is recognised as a
vehicle for poverty reduction and achievement of the Millennium Develop-
ment Goals (GoK 2010, 1; WTO 2001, 30). Between 2003 and 2007, the sector
witnessed unprecedented annual average growth of about 15 percent and de-
monstrated potential for quick gains. Consequently, tourism was recognised
as one of the sectors to drive economic growth under the national economic
blueprint, Kenya Vision 2030 (GoK 2007, 28; GoK 2011, 10–11).
Te Vision projected the sector to grow from 1.8 million tourist arrivals in
2007 to 3 million by 2012. Correspondingly, tourist earnings were projected
to increase from Kshs 65 billon to Kshs 200 billion over the same period. Te
broader Vision is to make Kenya one of the top long haul destinations (GoK
2007, 28). Tis calls for sustained growth of the sector in terms of tourist ar-
rivals and earnings. In turn, it would be imperative to reinforce the determi-
nants of growth while mitigating the impact of the negative factors.
Te past tourist trends demonstrate that there are periods of intermittent
growth and decline prompted by various factors. One highly evident trend is
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 201
the contemporaneous or lagged decline in tourist arrivals and earnings du-
ring election periods. Figure 1.1 below illustrates the tourism trends in terms
of international arrivals and tourism earnings from 1983 to 2012.
Figure 1: Tourism Trends (Arrivals and Receipts) from 1983 -2012
0.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
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(
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Year
Tourist Arrivals Tourism Earnings (Kshs bn)
Sources: Economic Survey (various years)
It is quite evident from the above graph that there was a steady growth in both
arrivals and receipts in the 1980’s. However, there was a 3 percent decline
in terms of tourist arrivals in 1992, which was incidentally an election year
marked by violence in some parts of the country. Te following general elec-
tions were held in 1997, when there was no growth in tourist arrivals, whereas
earnings dipped by 11.6 percent. A major decline of 10.6 percent in tourist
arrivals and 22.7 percent in earnings was registered in the 1998. Furthermore,
this being an election period largely characterised by civil strife, there were
adverse weather conditions (El Niño weather phenomenon) and simultaneous
terrorist attacks of USA Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
Whilst there was a marginal growth of 0.8 percent in tourist arrivals in
2002, which was an election year, a signifcant decrease of 10.4 percent in ear-
nings was recorded. Tis was attributed to both the election fever and ter-
rorism- related attacks at the Kenya Coast, resulting in travel advisories by
several tourist generating countries (GoK 2004, 175). Te most signifcant of
the declines was that of 2008, with tourist arrivals dropping by 33.8 percent
and tourism earnings by 19.4 percent; this was attributed to the post- election
violence that took place earlier that year. Te latest general elections were held
in March 2013; there was a decline of about 6.1 percent in tourist arrivals and
1.9 percent in tourism earnings.
Te above trends indicate a somewhat predictable fve-year cyclical dip in
tourist arrivals and earnings that correspond to general elections held in Ke-
nya. It is important to note that the magnitude of the declines seems to follow
the intensity of electoral violence at the respective time.
202 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
The Problem
General elections in Kenya, marked with electoral violence or apprehension
of the same trend, interrupt the envisioned tourism growth. For instance, the
projected 3 million tourist arrivals and Kshs 200 billion by 2012 were not re-
alised. Tis has been mainly attributed to the post-election violence of 2008,
when arrivals dropped by 33.8 percent and earnings by 19.4 percent. Given
this massive drop, the investments made by the Government and the private
sector towards recovery did not put the tourism sector back to the projected
growth trajectory. It can also be argued that the recovery eforts were also
dampened by the Constitutional referendum of August 2010. Te growth was
8 percent compared to 23.9 percent of the previous year.
Once a decline emanating from electoral violence occurs, the Government
and tourism industry operators have to make huge investments for recovery
even though this was not planned for. Te recovery eforts require a lot of re-
sources due to the fact they involve correcting a damaged image and repositi-
oning the destination in the market. It is also worth noting that the marketing
budget for Kenya as a destination is relatively small compared to its competi-
tors. Terefore, there is a need to ensure efciency in utilisation of available
resources. With frequent recurrence, electoral violence may become embed-
ded in the psyche of the tourism market and be interpreted as a permanent
feature of the destination brand.
Despite the recognition that general elections in Kenya normally lead to ne-
gative impacts on growth of tourism, it was only in 2002 that the Government
and private sector stakeholders frst started to make attempts to mitigate such
impacts. For this purpose, they came up with the Election Period Operating
Procedures (EPOP) for the tourism sector. As little research has been direc-
ted to the impact of elections on tourism, the procedures are yet to be fna-
lised and theoretically grounded. Whilst EPOP is a step in the right direction,
it needs to be built up into a tool that can signifcantly contribute towards
peaceful elections.
Objective Of The Study
Te objective of this paper is to review the Election Period Operating Proce-
dures and their role in stopping violence during elections. Te specifc objec-
tives are:
• Review the evolution and structure of the Election Period Operating Pro-
cedures.
• Assess how the Election Period Operating Procedures have been executed
since 2002 and their successes and failures.
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 203
Peace And Crisis Management Concepts
Despite the fact that peace is a necessary precondition for tourism to thrive
and that tourism contributes to peace in many destinations, literature on
tourism and peace remains rare. Peace creates the optimum environment in
which activities contributing to human growth take place. Peace theorists per-
ceive two diferent types of peace: a positive peace and negative peace (Gal-
tung 1967, 12–13; Upadhayaya 2011, 17). According to Upadhayaya (2011, 17),
a positive peace signifes the presence of justice, harmony and equity within
and between societal groups. On the other hand, Galtung (1967, 12) defnes
negative peace as the “absence of organised violence” between major human
groups, classes, or racial and ethnic groups.
It is a violation of negative peace that normally escalates into crisis and
violence, afecting human activities such as tourism. Tis calls for manage-
ment of the crisis to ensure minimal impact on development. Consequent-
ly, attempts have been made to come up with models on crisis management.
However, most of these models, as observed by Paraskevas and Arendell (2007,
1560–1573) have only managed to explain crises but do not always ofer an
approach to manage them. Tey note that the most referred- to model in the
literature is the one originally proposed by Pauchant and Mitrof (1992), and
later by Mitrof (2005), with the following fve distinct mechanisms:
• Signal Detection, when warning signs can be identifed and acted upon to
prevent a crisis
• Probing and Prevention, where searching for known crisis risk factors and
working to reduce potential harm takes place
• Damage Containment, the onset of crisis when limitation of damage is
done
• Recovery, working to return to normal business operation as soon as pos-
sible
• Learning, Reviewing, Critiquing and Redesigning the crisis management
process.
Tourism and Peace
According to tourism analysts (WTO 1996, 11; Fletcher and Morakabati 2008,
537; Alluri 2009, 11; Upadhayaya et al 2011, 23), one pre-requisite of a suc-
cessful tourism industry is a peaceful environment; international and national
tourists are usually concerned with their personal safety. Tey note that peace
is one of the most important factors that tourists take into account before they
travel to a destination, as tourists want to enjoy a relaxing stay in the destina-
tion without concern for their safety and security.
204 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
As noted by several authors (Neumayer 2004, 5; Chauhan and Khanna
2008, 72; Upadhayaya et al. 2011, 23), the relationship between tourism and
peace is one of interdependence whereby each reinforces the other. Upadhaya-
ya et al. (2011, 23) go further and observe that tourism, confict and peace exist
in a triangular relationship. With this understanding, they have developed the
following conceptual framework that illustrates this relationship.
Figure 2: Conceptual Framework for Inter-relationship Peace, Confict and Tourism
Source: Upadhayaya et al. (2011, 23)
Tey observe that tourism is confict- sensitive and positively responsive to
peace. Confict decelerates growth of tourism if it leads to violence and th-
reatens peace. Tus, peace, confict and tourism are indisputably linked, as a
disturbance in any of the three elements imbalances the other two.
Neumayer (2004,5) observes that events of violence are likely to impact
tourism with both immediate and lagging efects. He further underscores
that as tourists are sensitive towards the negative image of a tourist destinati-
on, events of violence can afect a destination long after the event has passed
and stability has in fact been restored. To tourists, a destination which is not
peaceful due to political unrest becomes less appealing regardless of the abun-
dance of natural or cultural attractions (Upadhayaya et al 2011, 23).
It is apparent from literature that the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks in
the US were the most notable act of violence to have afected tourism world-
wide since World War II (Bohman et al. 2006, 4). Te event has triggered
of renewed interest in research on the impact of violence on the travel and
tourism industry. Tough these attacks were not targeted specifcally at the
tourist industry, their impact on the industry was far-reaching and has signi-
fcantly altered tourists’ behaviour. According to Bennett and Bray (undated),
the total economic impact of 9/11 is realistically immeasurable. However, they
note that the World Travel and Tourism Council estimated the decrease of the
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 205
travel and tourism demand worldwide to have been 10 percent. Tis equates
to the job loss of 8.8 million people globally, afecting airlines, hotels, tour
operators, car rental and credit card companies, creating a 1.7 percent decrea-
se of total GDP for the world economy.
In view of the signifcance of peace as a determinant for sustainable growth
in tourism, it is imperative that all stakeholders in the sector come together
with a common goal and concentrated efort on fostering peace. According
to Wan and Li (2008, 54), such stakeholders should include the government,
local communities, private sector operators and tourists who are all benefci-
aries of a sustainable tourism sector. Te government benefts from tourism
through tax revenue, foreign exchange earnings, employment generation and
wealth creation. Local communities draw benefts, such as local economic de-
velopment and infrastructural development from tourism especially when it is
pro-poor oriented (Etter 2007, 3). Te sector is a source of income to an array
of tourism operators and investors, including hoteliers, tour operators and air-
lines, among others. At the end of the tourism value chain are tourists whose
aspiration is to enjoy uninterrupted experience in a destination. Moreover, the
role of tourists, whether international or domestic, as ambassadors of peace
has been underscored in literature (Kim et al 2007, 294; Chauhan and Khanna
2008, 69–71).
Tourism and Electoral Violence
Besides terrorist- related attacks, other forms of violence have been observed
to afect tourism. For instance, in most developing countries whose demo-
cratic processes are not yet mature, electoral violence is a common feature
(Bekoe 2010, 1-5) and it impacts negatively on economic development (Adol-
fo et al. 2013, 1-4) which includes tourism. Bekoe (2010, 1) further elaborates
confict and tension during elections as being common in Africa’s new demo-
cracies, especially since the 1990’s with the emergence of new clamour for de-
mocratic governance. Tis mainly afects the countries with strong authori-
tarian leadership or deep ethnic cleavages which make it difcult for them to
manage political opposition. Te manner in which such conficts and tensions
are managed determines whether an election will be conducted peacefully or
will collapse into violence. Te elections essentially act as a trigger to violence
whose real causes are largely systematic in nature, such as unfair land tenure
laws, economic and ethnic marginalisation.
Trends in electoral violence in sub-Saharan Africa indicate that intense vi-
olence afects between 19 and 25 percent of elections, while 39 percent are
deemed to be less severe (Bekoe 2010, 1). However, the media has a tendency
to exaggerate and sensationalise incidences of electoral violence leading to ne-
gative perception of the countries involved. Tis mainly emanates from lack of
accurate and timely information, poor media management and lack of adhe-
rence to professional ethics (Fletcher and Morakabati 2008, 546).
Since 1964, Kenya has been a one-party state. However, the situation chan-
ged in the 1990’s. Following intense pressure from the political activists and
206 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
the international community on the Kenyan Government, multi- party elec-
tions were introduced in 1991. Several parties emerged to oppose the ruling
party in the general elections that took place in 1992. Nevertheless, the ruling
party retained power amidst claims of electoral irregularities and pockets of
violence in the country. Much of the violence occurred during the pre-election
period and was ethnically instigated by politicians. Tis scenario was repeated
in the 1997 general elections where the ruling party retained power (Dercon
and Gutierrez-Romero 2012, 6).
Conversely, the 2002 general elections presented a diferent scenario where
the opposition ousted the ruling party and the elections were hailed as ge-
nerally free, fair and peaceful. Analysts observed that the conglomeration of
political parties into one major multi-ethnic coalition, National Rainbow Co-
alition (NARC), played a major role in lessening the ethnic tension and conse-
quently peaceful elections (Dercon and Gutierrez-Romero 2012, 7). A reversal
of this took place in the subsequent general elections of 2007 which have been
widely acknowledged as the most violent in the Kenyan history (Adolfo et al.
2013, 4).
In 2010, a new constitution was passed through a national referendum,
which was peaceful despite tensions between the two major political rivals.
Kenya conducted its frst general elections under this new constitution in
2012. Although the country was deemed highly polarized through intense po-
litical campaigns, the elections were generally peaceful. However, the narrow
winning margin between the two major contestants may have spilt the coun-
try along ethnic lines with simmering tensions which re-afrms the negative
peace theory.
As previously stated, it is apparent that general elections and the tourism
trends are intrinsically linked. All general elections lead either to a decline
or sluggish growth of Kenya’s tourism in terms of both tourist arrivals and
earnings. Te magnitude of the impact depends on the intensity of electoral
violence during a particular electoral period. It can also be argued that even
when a given general election is not marked by electoral violence, the election
fever itself and uncertainties tend to dampen tourism growth.
Methodology
Te approach taken in this paper is desk research, whereby existing literature
on Kenya’s past general elections in relationship to tourism trends is reviewed.
Te paper combines this with a case study of the Election Period Operating
Procedures (EPOP) of the tourism sector in Kenya which was developed in
2002. Te research reviews the diferent components of EPOP and assesses its
success and failures.
Te methodology is, however, faced with a number of limitations. For in-
stance, EPOP is a security- linked system and therefore the researchers could
not access all the intricate details of the system. Tus, the general components
of the system are reviewed, as they are of signifcance to this study. Te fact
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 207
that the system is relatively new and still evolving makes it difcult to empiri-
cally evaluate its impact and efectiveness.
Review of Kenya’s Election Period Operating Procedures: Case Study
In 2002, the tourism stakeholders in Kenya realised that there are normally
pockets of disturbance of peace in the country during election periods, with
adverse efects on tourism safety and security. Tis led to a Public- Private
Partnership initiative referred to as Election Period Operating Procedures.
Tis initiative is carried out before, during and post elections and is aimed at
tourists. Te goal is to ensure that tourists in the country are safe. Terefore,
the purpose of this section is to review the evolution, structure and imple-
mentation of the initiative.
Evolution of EPOP
Te evolution of EPOP can be traced back to the formation of the Kenya Tou-
rism Federation in 1996. Kenya Tourism Federation is an umbrella body that
represents the interests of the private sector in tourism. One of the main func-
tions of the Federation is to advocate for enabling policies and frameworks,
by engaging and lobbying the Government and other stakeholders in order to
grow, protect and sustain the tourism industry.
As part of its mandate, KTF came up with a Tourism Safety and Commu-
nication Centre in 1999. Te purpose of the Centre is managing information
fow and controlling how tourism is afected by the security situation in the
country. Furthermore, it addresses security needs of the sector in partnership
with the Government. It is under this system that EPOP was developed in
2002 to specifcally focus on tourism insecurities emanating from elections.
EPOP was used in the 2002, 2007 and 2013 general elections as well as in the
2010 Constitutional Referendum.
Structure and Operations of EPOP
EPOP was developed through a collaborative efort between the Kenya Tou-
rism Federation, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Ministry of East African Af-
fairs Commerce and Tourism, and the Kenya Police Service. Kenya Wildlife
Service is a state corporation that is mandated to conserve and manage wild-
life in the Country. Te Ministry is the Destination Management Organisa-
tion (National Tourism Administration agency) that is charged with tourism
policy development and regulation of the tourism sector. Te Kenya Police
Service is the Government agency that is responsible for the maintaining of
law and order in the Kenya.
Te Election Period Operating Procedures are a countrywide communica-
tion network that is strategically positioned on all the important routes used
by tourists around the country. Te system uses mobile High Frequency and
Very High Frequency radio systems that are ftted into observation and con-
trol vehicles. Tese units monitor the tourists’ movement routes and report to
208 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
central communication nerve centres. Te centres in turn disseminate up- to-
date, credible and specifc information on diferent tourist routings.
Te system is manned by Communication ofcers located at Fixed Obser-
vation Points (FOP) and Mobile Observation Points (MOP) across the main
tourist circuits. Besides the Communication ofcers, there are Government
security agents, tour operators, hotel operators and other partners stationed at
these points. Following some improvements and expansions, the main tourist
circuits are sub-divided into 12 circuits and each is further subdivided into an
average of three observation units giving a total of about 36 observation units.
Illustrated here below is the schematic fow of the EPOP Communication
System.
Figure 3: Schematic Flow of the EPOP Communication System
13
The system is manned by Communication officers located at Fixed Observation Points (FOP)
and Mobile Observation Points (MOP) across the main tourist circuits. Besides the
Communication officers, there are Government security agents, tour operators, hotel
operators and other partners stationed at these points. Following some improvements and
expansions, the main tourist circuits are sub-divided into 12 circuits and each is further
subdivided into an average of three observation units giving a total of about 36 observation
units.
Illustrated here below is the schematic flow of the EPOP Communication System.
Figure 4.1: Schematic Flow of the EPOP Communication System
Key:
Source: KTF 2010 and author conceptualization
Kenya Tourism Federation Security Communication Centres (KTF-SC) are located in Nairobi
and Mombasa and act as the main terminals for all forms of communication.
Communications received here from the observation points through base stations are
processed and released to the Kenya Police, the Kenya wildlife Service, the media and the
rescue service providers. Each observation point is linked to either a Police Station or a Police
OBSERVATION
POINTS
OBSERVATION
POINTS
OBSERVATION
POINTS
BASE STATIONS KTF-SC
RESCUE OPERATIONS
Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Police
Service, Media
Flow of Communication
Rescue Information
Source: KTF 2010 and author conceptualisation
Kenya Tourism Federation Security Communication Centres (KTF-SC) are lo-
cated in Nairobi and Mombasa and act as the main terminals for all forms of
communication. Communications received here from the observation points
through base stations are processed and released to the Kenya Police, the Ke-
nya wildlife Service, the media and the rescue service providers. Each obser-
vation point is linked to either a Police Station or a Police Post. Te telephone
numbers for each of the police stations and the mobile phone of the ofcer
commanding the station is provided. In addition, there are mobile observation
units where a vehicle moves between diferent observation points. About 103
fxed and mobile telephone lines are dedicated to the system communication
in addition to the VHF and HF ftted at the observation points and at the mo-
bile observation units.
Tis system has three categories of procedures that guide its general opera-
tions. Tese include basic operating procedures, communication procedures
and conduct- of- driver guides. Tese are documented and detailed in the Ke-
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 209
nya Tourism Federation Election Period Operating Procedures manual (KTF
2010, 1-30). Te Basic Operating Procedures, which are outlined in the table
below, are normally circulated to all tourism stakeholders including hoteliers,
tour operators, police and other relevant Government agencies.
Table 1: Basic Operating Procedures
• Tour Operators are to consult KTF-SCC on circuits not covered by the EPOP
• Ferrying of tourists is restricted to daylight hours (06:00 AM to 06:00 PM) apart from city transfers and any vehicle that has
not checked into hotel or lodge by 06:30PM to be reported to the KTF-SCC.
• Activation of any emergency is to be simultaneous by both the operator and the KTF-SCC
• Tourist vehicles are to be advised on particular circuit closures and escape routes at the observations points.
• Tour operators are to ensure that the tour driver guides park entry smart cards pre-loaded in Nairobi or Mombasa
• All agencies, companies, individuals involved in designing the EPOP are to cascade the necessary information and
responsibilities to their staf through briefngs
• All observation vehicles must be clearly marked with sticker “Kenya Tourism Federation Mobile Unit” while feld observers
are issued with KTF identifcation cards
• A debrief of all Committee members must be done the last week before the elections
Source: KTF (2010,4-6)
Field communications ofcers are expected to remain at the exact location
as per the allocated sketches, and report any disturbance that is a threat to
guests. An elaborate logging system with log references provided from the
KTF-SCC Communications Ofcer to Field communication ofcers helps
in the logging of vehicle movements. Signed handover briefngs during shift
changes are mandatory to ensure incoming Communication Personnel are on
the same platform. Te following communication procedures have to be ad-
hered to:
Table 2: Communication Procedures
• All feld observation and mobile watch vehicles are to be ftted with VHF/HF radios that are accessible to Base Stations
and KTF-SC each station with a call sign
• All communications are to be directed to KTF-SCC
• Only KTF-SC in Nairobi and in Mombasa are to be authorised to relay operational reports to Kenya Police or KWS radio room
• Sensitive information is to be passed to KTF-SC by either land line or mobile phone and not on the HF which is considered
not completely secure. However, in case of emergency even the HF can be used
210 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
• All communications are to be short, precise and in the English language
• All communication radios are to be turned on at all times and tuned into the right frequencies
Source: KTF (2010, 6)
All tourist vehicles are expected to stop and brief the feld observers located
at the observation units. Te observation points are located in areas frequen-
ted by tour vehicles such as fuel reflling stations, handicraft shops, and hotel
parking bays. Te whole exchange of information at these points is to be done
discretely to avoid causing apprehension to the tourists. Te driver guides are
provided with the following set of guidelines:
Table 3: Expected Conduct of Driver Guides
P R E - DE PAR T UR E B R I E F
• Driver guides to counter check their essential kits (e.g. frst aid).
• Call to nearest base station to provide details on state of guests, vehicle condition, state of weather, day schedule.
• Travel in convoy .
• Remain calm in event of encountering rowdy crowds and advise guests to enter into spirit of the crowd excitement and
support.
• Advise guests to avoid ostentatious display of valuables like jewellery, cameras.
I T I NE R AR Y
• Strict adherence to prescribed routes and timelines unless authorized by KTF-SC.
• All communication systems to be turned on and driver to listen for trouble spots .
• Avoid any reaction or heroism that could endanger guests.
• Take note of the situation, timing, area location, crowd characteristics, security agents presence and call the Base station to
advise on situation.
• Warn other drivers and stay together.
• On managing to leave the spot immediately report to Filed Observation Points and fle a report for transmission to KTF-SCC.
J OUR NE Y C OMP L E T I ON
• Immediately report to operations department detailing the safety and any problems experienced. Any tour vehicle not
reporting will be assumed missing and a KTF-SCC Search and Rescue procedure is to be activated.
• Elaborate Re- routing and Escape routes are to be provided at the Filed Observation points on a need basis.
Source: KTF (2010, 20–21)
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 211
Analysis, Findings and Discussions
Since the inception of EPOP, no tourist has fallen victim to election-related
violence. Tis can be attributed to the role played by the EPOP by providing
an early warning system that has kept tourists out of electoral violence hot-
spots. Tis was particularly evident during the 2007/2008 post election vio-
lence, which was quite intense, where over 1000 Kenyans lost their lives and
more than 300,000 were displaced.
EPOP provides a platform for the public and private stakeholders; it allows
them to work together in order to promote and maintain peace around the
popular tourism circuits during the period surrounding politically heightened
periods. Te Government and tourism private stakeholders involved contribu-
te their resources to ensure that violence within the tourism areas is avoided.
Tough a small attempt in magnitude, it nevertheless plays a role in stopping
the violence that has in certain instances accompanied political disturbances
in Kenya. In case violence occurs and tourism is afected, EPOP becomes im-
portant as an existing structure for executing tourism recovery eforts. It pro-
vides up-to-date information on general security around the tourist circuits
during the electoral period, and ofers pre-determined alternative courses of
action in case a particular area is afected. Tis plays a crucial role in building
confdence among both the tourism industry and the tourists. Consequently,
this reduces the turnaround time for recovery if violence occurs.
In view of the peace theories and the crisis management cycle, it is evident
that EPOP is highly reactionary as opposed to being pro-active in nature.
EPOP is a short- term measure that is usually activated only a few weeks be-
fore and after the election period. It largely focuses on dealing with the safety
and rescue of tourists in case they are involved in incidences of electoral vio-
lence. Little attention is given to the signal detection and prevention phases of
the crisis management cycle before the elections or to the review and redesi-
gning phase after the elections. Tis implies that there is room for widening
the scope of EPOP from a short- term intervention to a more comprehensive
General Elections Tourism Operating Programme (GETOP) with longer cyc-
les running between elections, as illustrated below:
212 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
Figure 4: Election Tourism Operating Procedures Cycles
Source: Author conceptualisation
Te cycles of EPOP, as currently implemented in Kenya, are illustrated by the
continuous line whereas the dotted line illustrates a more encompassed ge-
neral elections tourism operating programme that could be adopted with the
following additional activities:
• Review and re-design the Programme to commence soon after the
elections
• Education and awareness- creation on the role of tourism on both the
national and local economies
• Continuous monitoring of political environment in the known hotspots.
• Media- education on the need for accurate and objective reporting.
Te expanded programme also applies whenever there are major political
elections, such as general elections in parts of the country, or constitutional
referendums.
Te positive peace theory emphasises the promotion of justice, harmony and
equity between conficting societal groups. Tis could be done, for instance, by
addressing the systematic causes and underlying factors of confict such as eco-
nomic marginalisation. Despite the fact that tourism in general has enormous
potential to help in the alleviation of such problems, EPOP is silent on this.
Where attempts are made under EPOP in terms of sensitisation of communi-
ties and media regarding the need for peaceful elections in order to safeguard
the sector, the focus here is to address negative peace. In this case, the tensions
could already be too high, while underlying factors remain ignored.
EPOP does not have a sustainable funding mechanism either from the pub-
lic or private sector institutions involved; it depends on goodwill contributions
from these institutions. As was realised during the recent general elections,
where an estimated budget of Kshs 11.8 million (US $ 140,000) was proposed
for funding, it is difcult to raise the funds on an ad hoc basis. Proposed ac-
tivities had to be scaled down, hence not achieving their expected outcomes.
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 213
Similarly, EPOP lacks a legal basis despite its security relevance. Te fact that
it is mainly centred on the KTF Safety and Communication system, which is
a private sector- led initiative, its lack of legal basis restricts the enforcement
mechanisms for the procedures.
Tis study reveals that the spatial coverage of the system is confned to the
most- visited tourist circuits. Moreover, most of the private sector stakehol-
ders involved in the system are the big operators, leaving out the small ope-
rators and local communities whose operations are most vulnerable to the
electoral violence. Despite the recognition that tourists are key stakeholders
in the development of a destination according to the stakeholder theory, only
minimal attempt has been made to include them in the EPOP.
It has also been noted that the communication equipment used in the sys-
tem, especially the HF and VHF, is not very secure, and susceptible to the
leakage of sensitive information during transmission. In addition to the HF
and VHF equipment, mobile and fxed telephone lines are used, implying dif-
ferent communication platforms that are not interoperable. Te possibility of
deploying a modern technology based communication system that is more se-
cure should be explored. Tis could include use of Global Information System
and Global Position Remote System and involve mapping of all tourist circuits
in the country, including the less visited ones, to ensure comprehensive spatial
coverage.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Tis study reveals that EPOP plays an important role in shielding tourists
from electoral violence. It provides a platform for public-private partnership
where stakeholders come together to campaign for peaceful elections. How-
ever, it has been observed that EPOP is a short- term initiative that is only
activated a few weeks before and after the elections. EPOP confnes itself to
short-term interventions and mitigation measures that do not fully address
the fundamentals. If widened in scope, both in terms of activities and time,
EPOP could signifcantly contribute to peaceful elections.
Te study recommends that EPOP be made a continuous programme that
runs from one general election to the next covering all the phases of the Crisis
Management cycle. Te activities related to signal detection, prevention, re-
view and redesigning should be deepened. In addition, EPOP should integrate
some activities geared towards addressing the underlying factors for electoral
violence, such as economic marginalisation. Te programme should incorpo-
rate a separate component that is on-going and attempts to highlight the im-
portance of peace as a pre-requisite for sustainable tourism. A capacity and
awareness programme through diferent media should highlight the direct
correlation between violence, country image and tourism performance.
Te proposed Programme should be entrenched in a tourism law
containing relevant regulations. In the case of Kenya, the programme can be
mainstreamed in the Tourism Crisis Management Centre established by the
Kenya Tourism Act 2011. Tis will ensure that it is funded sustainably under
214 KI PKORI R L AGAT, SI MON W. KI ARI E, PE TER NJ I RAI NI
the Government fnancial mechanism. Te private sector should continue
playing their role in the system under public-private partnership framework.
Under this framework, it is important that the local communities and
tourists are involved in the programme. In this regard, the local authorities
should develop mechanisms for education and public awareness of tourism
as a source of livelihood at the local level, and the need to maintain peace
for its continued growth. Local opinion leaders and representatives of special
groups (e.g. youth, women and religious entities) can be included right from
the planning stages to the observation points where they can work with the
EPOP support teams.
Inclusion of tourists should be through giving them accurate informati-
on and guidelines on how to conduct themselves as stipulated in the EPOP
driver guide procedures. To build meaningful, local, economic linkages, tou-
rists should be sensitised to consume and purchase goods and services that
are sourced from the local communities. Even in instances where conficts
escalate to violence, tourists can create impacts through “parallel diplomacy”
that involve lobbying their governments for peace initiatives. For long-term
impact resulting in positive peace, tourists can engage development agencies
in their countries of origin to intervene; for instance, by fnancing tourism
development programmes that are ‘pro-poor’. Promotion of domestic tourism
can play a signifcant role in easing tensions among ethnic groups during elec-
toral periods through person- to- person contacts.
In spite of its limited scope, the implementation of EPOP since 2002 has
demonstrated that while violence cannot be totally eliminated, tourists’ safety
can be ensured. Expansion of EPOP under a common goal shared by all stake-
holders can transform it into a major political force that fosters peace during
elections, which is a pre-condition for sustained tourism growth. Tis will be
possible when all the stakeholders realise that they stand to gain when they
co-operate to maintain peace but that they would all lose when peace is viola-
ted. Tere is no evidence of the existence of such a model in any other country.
Terefore, the modifed EPOP can be invaluable to many other destinations
that experience politically-related violence.
Areas of Further Research
In recognition of the importance of peace and tourism interplay, which is an
unexplored study area with several knowledge gaps, further research is re-
commended in the following:
• Empirical investigation into the cost of electoral violence to the tourism
sector and wider economy
• Te role of stakeholders, including local communities, small tourism enter-
prises and tourists, within the electoral violence prevention and mitigation
framework.
Promoting Peaceful Elections in Kenya 215
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WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
War and Peace – and Tourism in
Southeast Asia
Introduction
Te relationship between tourism and confict, both past and present, is com-
plex and multi-layered (Butler & Suntikul, 2013). Because it both necessitates
and has the potential to facilitate international understanding and cooperati-
on, tourism has been seen as intrinsically promoting peaceful coexistence bet-
ween nations (D’Amore, 1988; Jafari, 1989; Richter, 2000) and supporting an
understanding of foreign cultures and their values (Askjellerud, 2006). Based
on the idea that every tourist is an ‘Ambassador of Peace’, the non-proft In-
ternational Institute of Peace through Tourism (IIPT) was founded in 1986 to
support initiatives in the tourism industry that would contribute to peace in
the world. While such a proposition is understandably attractive, particularly
to tourism promoters such as the UNWTO and other organisations like IIPT,
there is limited evidence at best that such a claim is anything more than wis-
hful thinking. After all, the last two world wars were begun by the invasion of
neighbouring countries with which the protagonist had considerable tourism
and other links and frequent visits by residents of all countries involved. On
the other hand, it can be argued convincingly that the relationship between
tourism and war can in many ways be benefcial to tourism and that the re-
turn of peace after confict often results in new or increased tourism between
former antagonists.
Proponents of the contribution of tourism to peace suggest a number of
ways in which tourism has helped avoid confict. It has been proposed that
the exchange of tourists contributed to the normalisation of relations between
former enemies such as the USA and the Soviet Union (Pizam et al., 1991) and
Israel and Egypt (Milman et al., 1990), and that tourism between North and
South Korea shows promise of encouraging a relaxing of tensions between the
two countries (Kim et al., 2007; Lee, 2006; Prideaux et al., 2010), though this
promise has yet to achieve any demonstrable and lasting progress towards
peace on the peninsula (Lee & Kang, 2013). However, despite several decades
of visits by western tourists to Russia, peace agreements between Egypt and
Israel, and many attempts at building bridges between North and South Ko-
rea, one can argue that friendly relations in all three of these examples are no
further advanced in 2013 than they were in 1973. Relations between Russia
and the USA are becoming increasingly cool, the relationship between Egypt
and Israel is at best uncertain, and North Korea has resumed a more bellige-
Tourism in Southeast Asia 217
rent approach to South Korea and its western allies in recent years. None of
these negative attitudes is due to tourism but, more pertinently, decades of
tourism links and tourist visits appear to have made little lasting contribution
towards permanent peace, particularly in the case of the Korean peninsula.
While the tenability of claims that tourism can make a substantial contribu-
tion to peace may be unproven, the role of peace as a prerequisite for tourism
is more directly apparent (Litvin 1998). A sense of security has been shown
to be of overriding importance in tourists’ decisions to visit a place (Hall &
O’Sullivan, 1996; Sönmez et al. 1999). Safety is the ‘frst and central require-
ment of tourism’ (Richter & Waugh, 1986), a view also argued by Crotts (2003)
in commenting on the need for peace to exist for tourism take place. However,
safety for tourists in a country does not always correspond to peace in that
country, especially when peace is defned as more than the absence of war. In
Myanmar, under the military junta, tourists have enjoyed a safe environment
for their leisure, even as tourism dollars support the oppressive regime and
its violent suppression of its own people (Salazar, 2005). In the past two ye-
ars tourism has grown considerably in Myanmar, generally with the support
of residents who, understandably, often place a higher emphasis on economic
growth and general economic improvement than on western protests.
Confict can of course exist within a country as well as between countries.
Robinson (1999: 20) notes that “tourism retains a capacity for catalysing host
cultural disputes … because of its ability to contribute to the marginalisation
and trivialisation of cultural groups, its innate selectivity and its capability to
shape the economic, environmental and political agendas of destinations”. It
can also generate opposition or induce confict for the reasons noted by Ryan
et al (1991), namely the fact that tourism symbolises capitalism, tourists gene-
rally come from rich (capitalist) countries and because it is often supported
by the state, thus becoming symbolic of the ‘powers that be’ in a country. In
contrast, as Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) point out, tourism may aid the cessa-
tion of confict by contributing to development, alleviating poverty, dispersing
growth to remoter areas, providing considerable employment (particularly for
women), integrating well with other economic activities, encouraging com-
munity pride and assisting the protection of natural resources. In reality, in
many cases, tourism is both a blessing and a curse because of its greatly va-
rying nature, and what may be highly suitable and benefcial in one situation
may be unwelcome and problematic in another.
Tourism and the Aftermath of War
While the presence of war and unrest at a destination is a deterrent to most
tourists, there are many examples of tourism destinations built on the heri-
tage of past conficts (Smith 1996). Sites such as battlefelds and cemeteries
are associated with personal memories for those who may have participated
in or been otherwise afected by the confict, and can also be sites represen-
ting poignant universal messages for humanity in general (Ryan, 2007, Winter,
2011). In Vietnam, for example, places associated with the Vietnam-US War,
218 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
such as the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Hoa Lo Prison, are popular attractions
on the country’s tourism circuit (Suntikul et al., 2010; Lema & Agrusa, 2013).
Tough based on reminders of wars, many of these destinations are consi-
dered as sites of ‘peace tourism’, defned by Lollis (2013) as “travelling to expe-
rience the places and activities that authentically represent peace stories and
peacemakers of the past and present” (see also Lollis and van den Dungen in
this volume). Tis type of tourism encompasses a wide range of places / acti-
vities, such as peace monuments, peace memorials, peace museums and peace
studies programmes. One can distinguish between sites celebrating ‘negati-
ve’ themes of peace (the absence or cessation of violence) and those promo-
ting ‘positive’ themes of peace (reconciliation and promotion of human rights)
(Lollis, 2013). Te forthcoming ‘commemorations’ of the centenary of the frst
World War (1914) illustrate clearly the divergent views about the nature of the
themes to be associated with such events (Jansen-Verbeke and George 2013;
Vanneste and Foote 2013). A newspaper article (Sage 2012), entitled ‘Village
starts a battle over enemy dead for Great War centenary’ showed that some
events take more than a century for forgiveness, let alone forgetting, to take
place. Te sensitive natures of confict and peace mean that tourism can be
found in locations as varied as the location of Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a
dream’ speech, and the site of his assassination, the site of Nelson Mandela’s
imprisonment (Robben Island), the site of John F Kennedy’s murder in Texas,
the Amsterdam hotel where ‘Give Peace a Chance’ was recorded, and also at
the Dakota Building in New York where John Lennon was murdered. Whether
tourism to sites such as these has any real efect on the subsequent percep-
tions and behaviour of the visitors and is driven by a deep desire to share in
the message being sent by the person involved, or is simply symbolic of wan-
ting a vicarious thrill by being in a well known location, is unclear (Poria et al.
2004).
Tough battlefelds and other sites of violence provide opportunities for the
powerful presentation of messages of peace, such places may not be intrinsi-
cally considered sites of ‘peace tourism’. Indeed, they also lend themselves to
the glorifcation of militarism and the heroics of violence. Te message that is
conveyed at such sites hinges on the way the site is presented to the visitor and
how site interpretation is applied to give a particular perspective on the part
of history that the site represents – and how that message is interpreted by
tourists (Poria et al. 2005). Te aftermath of the relatively recent conficts in
South East Asia provides evidence of how tourism can help to heal the legacies
of war and promote development and stability through economic growth, as
shown below.
Confict Issues in South East Asia:
The Examples of Preah Vihear and Viengxay
Disputes over territory and property are often one of the causes of confict
between and within nations, with disputed ownership of resources frequent-
ly being at the core of disagreements. As tourism has grown greatly in value
Tourism in Southeast Asia 219
with accompanying economic benefts, sites of potential tourist interest have
gained in value and are seen as major economic resources. Tus places which
may have had little signifcance earlier can become locations of disagreement,
as their potential value to attract tourists is suddenly appreciated. Where such
sites are located in border areas or in already disputed territory, the potential
for confict is often high and can easily escalate to involve neighbouring coun-
tries and their allies. Te demarcation of national boundaries is tied up with
processes of negotiation between nations and legitimisation of rights to given
pieces of territory based on logics of common history, geographical proprie-
ty, and cultural afnities (Timothy, 2013). Te regulation of the movement of
people and goods across national borders is one of the mechanisms by which
governments assert their sovereignty (Hall, 2005). Borders are also often sites
of confict and confrontation between nations, as witnessed by the deaths of
eastern Europeans attempting to cross the Berlin Wall from east to west, and
indeed by the Wall itself. Te few remaining segments of that structure, parti-
cularly the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, are now tourist attractions, despite
the desire of many Berlin residents to obliterate all traces of the Wall (Sunti-
kul, 2010: 30). Sites of past border conficts can become tourism attractions,
which can serve to validate and memorialise battles won, or to lament and
protest battles lost (Wallerstein, 1990).
Many contemporary developments in tourism, though, are concerned with
the negation or spanning of borders, rather than their memorialisation (Ti-
mothy, 1999). To illustrate this point, discussion now focuses on South East
Asia in particular and two specifc examples of the relationship between tou-
rism and confict. In this spirit, based on the model of the European Union,
the six countries along Southeast Asia’s Mekong River (Myanmar, Tailand,
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China’s Yunnan Province) formed the Greater
Mekong Subregion (GMS) in 2001 to promote policies, cooperation and lin-
kages that would enable the nations to work together, especially in achieving
the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of poverty reduction and
biodiversity development (Maekawa, 2001).
Within this context, Vietnam, Tailand, Laos and Cambodia signed an ag-
reement to allow the free transport and exchange of people and goods. Te
Greater Mekong Tourism Strategy of 2005 addressed the integration of tou-
rism in the GMS, including ‘Te Mekong Heritage Necklace Circuit’ incor-
porating all of the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Mekong countries,
as well as the integration and augmentation of transport networks to create
north-south and east-west tourism corridors spanning the region. Tis area in
general is one which has sufered greatly from confict, both in the form of in-
ternational war (in particular what is known as the Vietnam War in the west,
or the War of Independence in Vietnam) and in terms of internal ideological
conficts such as that which took place in Cambodia, infamous for the ‘Killing
Fields’ in the 1980s. One of the implied goals of the strategy discussed above
was to increase cooperation between participating countries and reduce the
risk of future confict, as is one of the goals of the European Union, the model
on which the GMS is based. A clear example of a potential confict site is Pre-
220 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
ah Vihear on the border between Tailand and Cambodia, which has conside-
rable tourism potential.
Preah Vihear and the Thai-Cambodian Border Dispute
Te Khmer Empire was one of the great pre-modern civilisations of Southeast
Asia. Its territory incorporated all of present-day Cambodia as well as parts
of what are now Tailand, Laos and Vietnam. Te Empire endured from 802
A.D. to the early 15th century, when it was conquered by the Tai kingdom of
Ayutthaya. It was a French colony from 1863 until 1953, when it gained inde-
pendence as the nation of Cambodia.
Te primary surviving relics of the Khmer civilisation are the many temp-
les in the distinctive Khmer architectural style. Whilst Cambodia’s Angkor
Wat, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, is the most famous, ela-
borate and signifcant of these temple complexes, there are hundreds of others
located across Southeast Asia. Aside from Angkor, the most signifcant of
these temples are clustered near the border between Cambodia and Tailand.
Among these is the Khmer temple complex of Preah Vihear, spectacularly si-
ted on the edge of the Dangrek Mountains overlooking the Cambodian plain,
just a few hundred meters from the country’s border with Tailand (Timothy,
2013).
Te location of the border between Tailand and Cambodia has fuctua-
ted over the years. Te current boundary between the two countries emerged
incrementally through a series of Franco-Siamese treaties between 1867 and
1907. Te mapping of the present boundary in 1907 set Preah Vihear within
what was then the French colony of Cambodia.
Claiming that the path of the border at Preah Vihear did not follow the
watershed, and thus violated the declared principle of the 1907 agreement as
shown on the map of that date, Tailand demanded in 1934 that Preah Vi-
hear should rightly be considered as Tai territory and should be handed over
to Tailand. During the Second World War, Tailand occupied Preah Vihear,
among other parts of Cambodia, but was forced to return the territory to
Cambodia after the war. Tailand again occupied the site in 1954, in the wake
of the French colonial power’s withdrawal. In 1962, however, the International
Court of Justice decided in Cambodia’s favour on the question of ownership of
the Preah Vihear Temple (without explicitly deciding on the ownership of 4.6
square kilometres surrounding the temple). Tis decision was based largely
on Tailand’s long delay in appealing the 1907 map and on other signals of
Siamese / Tai tacit acceptance of the map over the years (Osborne, 2008).
Silverman (2010) has proposed that Cambodia’s 2002 submission reques-
ting World Heritage listing of Preah Vihear was motivated less by a concern
for heritage as such and more with achieving a symbolic fnal victory over the
Khmer Rouge – the Communist group that killed nearly 2 million Cambodi-
ans while it ruled the country from 1975 until it was deposed by Vietnamese
forces in 1979, but which continued to operate from bases in remote areas of
the country until the fnal stand at Preah Vihear in 1998. Another motive was
the re-assertion of Cambodia’s dominion over the temple and the afrmation
Tourism in Southeast Asia 221
of Cambodia’s national identity as heir and descendant of the Khmer Empire.
Te two nations agreed to jointly develop the site with tourism in mind.
Preah Vihear is seen as having the potential to become an important tou-
rism site in Cambodia, second only to Angkor (Soeun, 2011). However, the
temple location is far from Angkor and Cambodia’s other centres of tourism.
Te main axial approach and entrance to the temple is from the Tai side, with
access from the Cambodian side approaching along a dangerous and underde-
veloped road. Silverman (2010) has suggested that Preah Vihear belongs to the
array of Khmer sites distributed across the Khorat Plateau in the Isan region
of eastern Tailand, indeed constituting the ‘ jewel in the crown’ of this region,
and could be easily integrated into a circuit taking in the other main Khmer
temples in Isan. Te establishment of such a circuit, and Tai-Cambodian
cooperation in the development of Preah Vihear as suggested by both Saikia
(2012) and Silverman (2010), would give the two countries an opportunity to
demonstrate a shared commitment to the GMS ethos.
On 8 July 2008, UNESCO ratifed Cambodia’s application for World Heri-
tage Listing for the Preah Vihear Temple. Street protests took place in Bang-
kok and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva objected to the listing, fearing that it
could lend legitimacy to Cambodian claims on the site. One week later, three
Tai protesters were arrested while climbing a fence to enter the temple site,
sparking an escalating series of military engagements between the two coun-
tries at or near the temple site in 2009 and 2010. Te most intense and deadly
hostilities in this confrontation broke out between 4 and 7 February 2011, du-
ring which a number of local houses were damaged and local people killed and
injured, while others were fnancially ruined.
As would be expected, tourist numbers declined steeply with the outbreak
of confict, with not a single tourist visiting the site in February 2011 (Makara,
2011). In the frst six months of 2011 only 27,980 tourists visited the site, as
compared to 46,400 in the same period of the previous year (Say, 2011). A 30%
increase in foreign tourists was primarily attributable to the infux of archaeo-
logists and other specialists involved with assessing the damage to the temple
(Reuy, 2012).
Tourism to Preah Vihear has been quick to rebound. By the third quarter of
2012, the number of domestic tourists had increased 57.7% from the previous
year, to 142,910. Te number of foreign tourists had increased by over 77%, to
13,140. Tis was the greatest gain of any province of the country during this
period, and well over the countrywide increase of 23.6% (Reuy, 2012). While
the number of foreign visitors to Preah Vihear continued to increase into the
following year, with a growth of 56% for the frst half of 2013 as compared to
the same period of 2012, the number of domestic tourists fell by 36% (Kunt-
hear, 2013).
An ofcial of the Preah Vihear tourism department explained that foreig-
ners were motivated by curiosity to see how the confict had afected the site
after the area had once again become ‘safe’, while domestic tourists were more
motivated to visit the site ‘out of a sense of solidarity when tensions with Tai-
land were greater’ (Kunthear, 2013). Te same ofcial also saw improvements
222 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
in infrastructure and accessibility as promoting the feeling of safety and en-
couraging tourists to come.
Te hostility between the two national governments involved in this dis-
pute is contrasted by the attitude of the local people most directly afected by
the fghting, and whose local economy benefted from tourism. Te primary
concern of the headman of one local Tambon (group of villages) was to re-
establish relations with local people on the Cambodian side of the border and
to perform a joint religious ceremony to ‘improve the atmosphere’ (Kanparit,
2013). As in many cases, the views of local participants in such issues is often
more appropriate than ofcial political positions taken in capital cities unaf-
fected by such local conficts. Te sharing of tourism-generated revenues and
employment is seen as being of greater local beneft by residents on opposite
sides of the border than continued hostilities at the national level.
Viengxay, Laos
Te second example of the problems and potential arising from confict can
be illustrated by the case of Viengxay in Laos. Viengxay is a district within the
remote, mountainous and forested province of Houaphanh in north eastern
Laos, the poorest province in that country, with 74.6% of the population living
below the poverty line in 2004 (Rogers et al., 2004: 6). Houaphanh in gene-
ral is characterised by its unspoilt nature, the presence of several local ethnic
groups including the Hmong and Khmu, and its landscape of limestone karst
formations. At Viengxay, these formations are riddled with a network of caves.
Viengxay was the Laotian communist headquarters during the ‘secret war’
that paralleled the 1963–1973 confict in Vietnam, and was thus a key US
bombing target. To escape the bombardment, more than 23,000 people took
up residence in the around 480 caves in Viengxay from 1964 until the end of
the war in 1973, creating a complete ‘hidden city’ containing political, milita-
ry, educational, commercial and residential functions (Pontin, 2005: 5) as well
as a hospital to care for the sick and injured. Beyond a place of refuge for local
people, the caves served as the headquarters from which the nationalist Com-
munist Pathet Lao was able to coordinate the resistance to the US and the
Western-aligned royal Laotian government, eventually taking over the coun-
try and abolishing the monarchy in 1975. Te Viengxay caves are therefore
considered the birthplace of the Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) and
a place of high nationalist signifcance. Te caves were abandoned at the end
of the war, but some of them were re-opened for visitors starting in the late
1990s, refecting the growing international interest, particularly in the Ameri-
can market, in the areas afected by the conficts of the 1960s and 1970s.
As a result of this growing interest in South East Asia, tourism has become
Laos’ second largest economic sector after mining, earning USD514 million
in 2012, with 3.3 million tourists entering the country during that year as
compared to 1.2 million fve years earlier (Vientiane Times, 2013). Tourism
has contributed to the development of Laos and to the reduction of poverty in
host communities (ibid). Te Asian Development Bank (ADB) envisions that
Houaphanh will become one of the Lao PDR’s top three most visited provin-
Tourism in Southeast Asia 223
ces, proposing that, with careful planning, an increase of tourist arrivals by
about 100,000 per year could be achieved, bringing a yearly increase in tou-
rism revenues of USD10–18 million yearly (ADB, 2005: 261–262).
Tourism development in Viengxay has received ample attention, support
and advice from NGOs and academic institutions. Te SNV saw highly sig-
nifcant potential for the application of tourism for poverty alleviation in Vi-
engxay (SNV, 2005), and also aspired to develop Viengxay as a ‘World Peace
Site’. Te Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA), the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Dutch Development Orga-
nisation SNV were also collaborating on the implementation of two focused
Sustainable Tourism Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) projects in Viengxay and
Houaphanh Province (SNV, 2005), comprising tasks such as: the drafting of a
master plan for the town; a heritage interpretation plan for the caves; training
on issues such as site interpretation, tourism development and English lan-
guage communication; and organising media visits that led to reports by the
New York Times, the BBC and other news media outlets (Leijzer, 2009). Te
Australian landscape design frm Hansen Partners won an Australian Insti-
tute of Landscape Architects Award in 2010 for the master plan for Viengxay
town that was drafted as a part of the ST-EP project.
Te involvement of a number of major international organisations in hel-
ping the development of such sites refects both the importance of tourism as
a development tool to help alleviate poverty and the desire of such groups to
mitigate the efects of past conficts on afected areas and populations. Te
fact that much of the harm and damage of this confict was inficted by a Wes-
tern industrialised nation on an impoverished, under-developed country may
contribute to a sense of duty and urgency for NGOs to redress past wrongs.
Aside from the ethical dimensions of tourism development assistance, this ex-
ample also illustrates the vivid appeal of war-related artefacts and structures
from the point of view of the tourist experience. Tis is reconfrmed by the
international interest and attention that the caves have been receiving, with,
for example, a Lonely Planet article listing the Viengxay caves among the ‘top
10 underground experiences in the world’ (Lonely Planet, 2010).
In 2007, the Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA) awarded a grant to the
Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial Tour Cave Ofce to develop an audio tour
and associated materials in Lao, Vietnamese and English, based on the perso-
nal stories of those who endured life in the caves during the ‘secret war’ (PATA,
2007). Tis ‘Voices of Viengxay’ audio tour was produced under the UNWTO
/ SNV ST-EP project with the collaboration of researchers from Australia’s
Deakin University, and features interviews with people who lived in the caves
throughout the intensive US bombings, recounting their frst-hand experien-
ces of that harrowing time (UNWTO, 2007). Te tour has been praised by Lo-
nely Planet as being balanced in perspective and very professional in quality.
In its personalisation of the stories of war, the interpretation ofered through
the audio tour encourages the visitor to experience the site as a peace destina-
tion (Bush, et al., 2010). However, the symbolism of peace remains entangled
with the still-present scars and reminders of war. Te recording ends with an
224 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
explanation of the on-going danger of unexploded ordnance (UXO), infor-
ming the visitor that “It is estimated that UXO kills and injures one person
a day, every day in Laos, and that it will take another 20 years to clear them”
(Mekong Responsible Tourism, N.D.). Such a comment demonstrates very
dramatically the problems generated by war and the fact that such problems
do not automatically disappear when the confict itself ceases. Whilst tourists
may wish to see the aftermath of war, such dangers should usefully alert them
to the fact that the aftermath of wars often remain for a long period and pre-
sent particular problems to the development of such sites for tourist purposes
(or indeed, for any other activities).
As the above-mentioned development projects fulfl their remit and phase-
out, however, Viengxay is faced with difculties in raising funds to continue
progress in the development of the site according to these plans and initiatives,
and is increasingly turning to private funding. Several of the caves may now
be rented out for private functions (Latsaphao, 2013). A Viengxay Revolutio-
nary Museum is currently under construction, to commemorate the patriotic
signifcance of the site, funded by the Lao-Viet Bank, which will recoup its
costs over the following years in the form of tax deductions. Te provincial
Deputy Governor admits, though, that they still have no source of funds with
which to provide exhibits to fll the building (Times Reporters, 2013). A recent
article cited the Houaphanh Provincial Planning and Investment Department
Deputy Director, Mr Khonthong Manivone, as stating that a local construc-
tion company, PVP Construction, had been contracted to conduct a study,
produce a design and carry out construction to convert Viengxay into ‘an im-
portant historical tourist attraction’, citing a lack of funding sources as the
inspiration for turning this project over to a private sector company (Times
Reporters, 2013).
Discussion and Recommendations
In Southeast Asia, as envisioned by the GMS, there is no place in the future
for the xenophobic nationalism and petty politics that led to the disruptions
and confrontations discussed in the cases above. Te Preah Vihear case de-
picts the consequences, losses and missed opportunities associated with the
re-enforcement, rather than dissolution, of the divisive and contentious na-
ture of boundaries. A jointly managed, spectacularly sited Khmer temple at
the border between Tailand and Cambodia would be an ideal site to embody
the bonds between these two countries linked by a shared cultural heritage as
well as a common vision of a more integrated future. Where the logic of bor-
ders fails to ofer up a satisfactory resolution, the integrative logic of the regio-
nal network reveals potentials that could not be discerned within the frame of
reference of exclusive sovereignty.
Te case of Viengxay demonstrates the power of peace sites as rallying
points for international attention and funding, which can be of great help
to developing countries, but also shows that the infusion of expertise and
knowledge brought by these projects has limited efect without a fnancially
Tourism in Southeast Asia 225
and socially sustainable mechanism to maintain the requisite principles and
practices for a peace site. As in the discussion of Preah Vihear above, regional
networks will also be the key to the sustainability of tourism at Viengxay. A
new regional airport due to open in 2015, and the on-going construction of
new roads, will greatly increase the accessibility of this remote location and
help raise tourism numbers. Te promise of a quantum increase in visitors
may inspire a sense of urgency for the development outlined in the current
projects discussed above, but it is hoped that Viengxay will take a measured
and gradual approach to development of the site to accommodate more vi-
sitors, which would require less reliance on large infusions of ready private
capital.
Tourism contributes to the economic sustenance of the local communities
around Preah Vihear, and the better accessibility and increased tourism fows
that would be brought by peaceful collaboration could increase the potential
of income gain from tourism. Te efectiveness of Preah Vihear as a peace site
would be bolstered by its real-time demonstration of the fnancial, political
and social dividends of peaceful cooperation between nations. Te greater the
economic beneft brought by tourism, the greater the incentive for continued
peace, cooperation and dialogue. In terms of the distinction made by Lollis
(2013), the site would lend itself to demonstrating ‘negative’ themes of peace in
marking the suspension of hostilities, as well as ‘positive’ themes of peace in
the human benefts of cross-border integration and cooperation.
Preah Vihear’s recent history of confict brings another layer of meaning
to the site that may be difcult to ‘read’ from the physical structures of the
site (in contrast to Viengxay) but which is important to visitors’ appreciation
of the site’s message. Development of tour products like the Viengxay Story
would allow visitors to understand the geography of confict on the site and
the experiences of those whose lives were directly impacted by the hostilities.
With appropriate interpretation, as has been achieved to such acclaim in Vi-
engxay, Preah Vihear as a confict site could present visitors not with a celeb-
ration of victory or a lamentation of defeat, but rather with a shared statement
of commitment never again to resort to violence to address diferences. Te
site could demonstrate the follies of the past with creative tours and site inter-
pretation through which visitors could experience, in a visceral way, the con-
trast between the fading signifcance of borders in the GMS and the growing
integration between people and nations in the Sub-region.
Whilst both the tourism asset and the site interpretation of the caves at
Viengxay have been lauded internationally, there are two aspects of current
tourism development at the site that, if not carefully and correctly monitored
and controlled, could be very detrimental to its integrity as a peace site. Te
frst trend is the increasing infuence of private fnancial interests, for whom
proft and expedience can be expected to take precedence over ideological is-
sues and sensitivity to the unique nature of the site. Te second issue is the
construction of the Viengxay Revolutionary Museum on the site, which could
indicate a shift to a nationalism-centred message in site interpretation that
contradicts the very lessons in peace revealed in the analysis of the Preah Vi-
226 WANTANEE SUNTI KUL, RI CHARD BUTLER
hear case. Whilst acknowledging the need to identify practicable ways of fun-
ding development, it is hoped that the rich and multifaceted learning and re-
commendations produced by the years of research by various NGOs and other
institutions will form the basis upon which future development is founded.
Conclusion
Te specifc cases discussed above are only two of many such examples of the
way that confict has impacted upon tourism and potential tourism develop-
ment. If the negative efects of war and confict in general are to be overcome,
then it is clear that peace is required. In the present day almost no visitors
travel for pleasure to zones of war or confict, unlike the situation some cen-
turies ago when people would fock to watch battles take place (Seaton, 1999).
Dark tourism (Lennon and Foley, 2000) is now generally confned to visiting
places of tragedy and atrocity such as concentration camps, battlefeld sites
and cemeteries and, even then, the motivation of visitors may not be dark in
the pejorative sense, but more for recognition of sacrifce, of personal heritage,
or for greater understanding of how such events came to take place (Winter,
2009). Locations that have sufered because of conficts, not only such as war,
but also through internal strife and cultural and religious bigotry, often be-
come major tourist attractions when peace ensues. Te most vivid example of
this in recent times is probably that of Vietnam, which has seen major growth
as a tourist destination with both internal and external investment and de-
velopment of facilities, often using artefacts and structures related to the Vi-
etnam War as tourist attractions. Air force bases, rest and relaxation centres
and even surfboards left over from a war flm (Te Times, 2013) become im-
portant elements in the development of tourism in the post-war era. Tis is a
pattern that has been seen throughout the world, whereby both participants
in, and victims of, confict return to scenes and features of violence and atro-
city, perhaps to remember and by remembering, to gain personal peace and
forgiveness.
If tourism is to have a role to play in easing confict and encouraging peace,
both between hostile neighbours and also between hostile groups within
the same state, then it is more likely to come about because of the benefts of
tourism in terms of its development potential than because people become
friends with residents of other countries by travelling abroad. As noted ear-
lier, such interchange did not prevent the two world wars of the 20th century.
Even if individual people do change their opinions about the residents of other
countries because they have visited those countries, it is naïve to imagine that
such a change in attitude would prevent confict, which is generally between
governments and armies under their control rather than the general populati-
ons involved. Te difering opinions at the local and national levels in the case
of Preah Vihear illustrate this problem clearly. It is much more likely that the
potential value of tourism as a force for peace in the wider sense of the term
(beyond absence of confict that is) lies in the way that it can transform the
economic and social structure of places and populations.
Tourism in Southeast Asia 227
In this sense the benefts of tourism, as described by Moufakkir and Kelly
(2010) and noted earlier, are likely to increase the general well-being of local
populations, perhaps reducing inequalities and injustices because of a general
improvement in economic conditions, and perhaps lowering the likelihood of
civil unrest and even international confict. While tourism may not always be
seen as benefcial, particularly to those who view it as a form of colonialism
or neo-conservatism, continuing the domination of the western capitalistic
countries, for many residents of tourist destination countries, it is one of what
is often a very limited range of development options. Tis is even more true
in those countries that have been blighted by wars and internal conficts and
have limited resources. It is a sad irony that while war deters tourism, the re-
lics and memories of war serve to attract tourists in ever increasing numbers.
Te appropriate development of tourism at specifc locations in South East
Asia and other parts of the world, utilising the relics of confict in particular,
holds considerable potential to improve the lot of residents of often blighted
regions, who have sufered heavily in past conficts. While tourism is not al-
ways the perfect solution for development problems, it does hold very conside-
rable potential in specifc areas and can perhaps, in some manner, compensate
residents of former confict areas for past mistakes by the international com-
munity at large.
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PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
Peace Sensitivity in Tourism Codes of
Conduct at Destinations in Confict:
A Case Study of Partnership Actions
in Pokhara, Western Nepal
Introduction
Peace and prosperity are the most cherished aspirations for tourist destina-
tions in confict. Te reason is that tourism in these destinations is both sensi-
tive to confict and responsive to peace. Te potential of tourism for mitigating
confict and strengthening peace is not only signifcant but also challenging,
especially for those tourist destinations which are bound towards growth and
maturity. However, peace sensitivity in tourism in growth-bound destinations
that are also confict areas can be promoted by making tourism responsible
and sustainable. An ethical foundation and a commitment to responsibility
are important to ensure that tourism’s enormous potential to do well is har-
nessed, and any negative impact curtailed (Lea 1993; UNWTO 2011). Te ap-
plication of ethical codes of conduct in tourism is fundamental in making tou-
rism responsible, sustainable and peace-promoting. A peace-sensitive Code of
Conduct (CoC) in tourism includes strategic actions, policies, and adaptations
related to the tourism sector that minimise the negative efects of confict and
promote peace (Sharma et al. 2011). Te CoC of tourism undeniably demands
voluntary, disciplinary and moral commitments of multiple stakeholders of
tourism for their responsible tourism management and practices.
With unique nature and age-old culture, Nepal is a destination with tre-
mendous potential for tourism. Te arrival of international tourists to Nepal
had been more or less continuously growing since the time Nepal opened to
the outside world in mid 20
th
century. However, the country saw a number of
persistent conficts in the history of the formation of modern Nepal. Amidst
these conficts, a decade (1996–2006) of Maoist armed confict was the most
challenging for the tourism sector. It caused the fuctuation in arrival of tou-
rists. Tourism in Nepal has rebounded since peace agreements were reached
in 2006 after the Maoist armed confict. However, structural conficts even
within the tourism sector itself persist and continue to compromise its res-
ponsible growth and sustainability and pose a challenge to rediscovery of the
potential of tourism for socio-economic prosperity and peace.
Pokhara, the second most popular tourist destination in western Nepal, is
no exception and serves as a solid case study. Tere are apparent direct con-
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 231
ficts within this sector as well as indirect disagreements between tourism and
non-tourism sectors. Pokhara has recently produced and applied a CoC ma-
nual at the destination level in partnership actions. Te partnership actions
not only succeeded in formulating the CoC manual and applying it, but also in
bringing various key players in tourism such as practitioners, researchers, local
government and non-tourism protagonists together. Tis approach has secu-
red all relevant protagonists to a responsible tourism pathway on a voluntary
basis and institutionalised and strengthened the peace potential of tourism.
In the context of the unavoidable relationship of tourism with peace and con-
fict, this chapter frst attempts to generate knowledge at this level and then
highlights the strong link between peace responsive tourism and the issue of
its CoC at destination level. In particular, this chapter gives an overview of the
ethical aspects of tourism in Pokhara and addresses the following questions.
• What are the potentials of tourism for peace-building in Pokhara?
• Why and how have conficts arisen in the context of the development of
tourism in Pokhara?
• How has tourism in Pokhara become responsive to peace through its CoC-
related responsible tourism strategy at the destination level?
Tis article concludes with thoughts on the understanding of peace-building
through ethical aspects of tourism. It recommends a CoC as a vital strate-
gy at destinations for strengthening and increasing their potential for peace
through tourism. It particularly remarks on the fact that tourism is not only
negatively afected by and sensitive to confict, but also responsive to peace if
protagonists in tourism collectively act to identify problems and build respon-
sible strategies in the form of CoC guidelines and their application.
Methodological approach
Te information in the article is mostly qualitative data, which has been coll-
ected from both secondary and primary sources. Te secondary information
consists mainly of the conceptual aspects of the codes of conduct for tourism.
Te information has been derived from books and internet sources. Te prima-
ry information makes up most of the information, which was acquired largely
through face-to-face interactions during the process of implementation of a
Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS) project titled “Meeting
the challenges of Peace-building in Tourism in Pokhara – Strengthening the
Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Business Operation” in the years
2011–12. Te PAMS project was conceptualised on the basis of the knowledge
fndings of the PhD research on the thematic area of ‘Tourism, Confict and
Peace’. PAMS was based on transdisciplinary approach, which pulled scienti-
fc researchers [e.g. this author, as the PhD researcher and senior scientist of
Kathmandu University and the South Asia Regional Ofce of the Swiss Natio-
nal Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South], tourism indus-
try practitioners (e.g. 22 varied tourism and non-tourism professional associa-
232 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
tions under the umbrella Organisation – Pokhara Tourism Council) and local
governmental actors in the action research in integrated approaches.
PAMS was endorsed by Kaski District Tourism Development Committee
(KDTDC) before its commencement. KDTDC is headed by the Chief District
Ofcer and represented by all key stakeholders of tourism. With the com-
mencement of the PAMS project, the platform served as a space that bridged
the gap between the local community and researchers to allow the start of
dialogue and knowledge exchange. Conceptualisation of the experience (good
and best practices) of various destinations in Nepal (as applicable) and in
other countries is one of the methodological processes in the formulation of
the CoC manual.
Te project had previously carried out SWOT analysis and thus identifed
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a total of 22 tourism and
semi-tourism professions under their respective professional associations
through the continuous bilateral consultations. Te refned outcomes of the
SWOT analysis were published under the title ‘Proceedings of a regional con-
ference on facing the challenges of sustainable peace and prosperity in tou-
rism’ [In Nepali] (Upadhayaya and Khatiwada 2012). Tis publication came
prior to starting the formulation of the draft of the CoC. Te information
from the SWOT analysis was signifcant for the proper implementation of the
project in formulating codes of conduct for a total of 13 stakeholders of tou-
rism including tourists in Pokhara.
Overview of tourism from the perspective of peace and confict
Te exponential growth of international tourism both in terms of internati-
onal tourist arrivals and their reception is astonishing in the present peace
time. Tis trend of continuous growth of the modern tourism industry has
not only ofered restorative holidays to tourists of developing regions but also
created wide- ranging, positive benefts in socio-cultural, economic and envi-
ronmental spheres in receiving (host) regions.
Tourism is established today as one of the largest and fastest growing in-
dustries in the world. Te international tourists’ arrivals grew from 25 million
in 1950 to 1.035 billion in 2012 with a 39.14 fold increase. Tis counted for the
growth of 2.318 percent per annum in the last 62 years. Likewise, the revenue
has gone from a mere few million to 1.3 trillion US$ in 2012 (UNWTO 2013).
Tis fashion of modern tourism indicates that it is not only a leading industry
as well as a social force of the 21st century, but also one with various socio-
economic benefts.
Tourism and Peace
Tourism is related to both peace and confict as these three elements are inter-
woven. Tere is increased attention and continuing discussions on the interre-
lationships of these components (Upadhayaya 2013).
Te peace potential through tourism has recently received increased attention
in a number of works (Alluri 2009; Askjellerud 2010; D’Amore 2007; Hall et al.
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 233
2009; Higgins-Desbiolles and Blanchard 2010; Honey and Gilpin 2009; Joras
2009; Kelly 2012, 32–49; Leong 2008; Levy and Hawkins 2010, 570; Moufak-
kir and Kelly 2010; Salazar 2006; Tarlow 2011; Tomljenovi? 2010; UNWTO
2012). Tere are discussions on the socio-cultural, economic and environmen-
tal wellness of tourism in these documents. Furthermore, there are positive
outlooks on the peace potential of tourism in countries in the post-confict
period. Tourism is resilient in nature and is the frst category of the business
sector to recommence trading in the aftermath of violence once the violent
confict ends and reconstruction phase starts in post-confict settings. (Bray
2009). Furthermore, numerous wishes and desires are expressed by several
tourism experts, world leaders, policy-makers, institutions, associations, in-
ternational summits, declarations, charters, protocols and conventions on the
peace sensitivity of tourism (Kunwar 2010).
Te positive relationship between tourism and peace is guided by the be-
lief that responsible tourism can make a meaningful contribution to people’s
lives and our planet, and support for inviting peace and prosperity (Respon-
sible Tourism 2012). UNWTO states that ‘tourism represents a vital force for
peace and a factor of friendship and understanding among the peoples of the
world’ (UNWTO 2012, 1). However, it is observable that the role of tourism for
peace-building is often narrow, indirect and focused. For example, Sharma et
al. (2011, 1) reveal that ‘a broad shift from mainstream conventional tourism
to community-based rural tourism with local participation and ownership is
crucial to fulfl Nepal’s tourism potential for peace-building’. In this context,
Hall et al. (2009) precisely state that peace through tourism is feasible, parti-
cularly at a micro-level as the appropriate tourism development may serve as a
means to ward of potential confict over resource and environmental security.
Such feasibility of peace through tourism at a micro-level is brought about lar-
gely due to the compliance of voluntary and disciplinary standards and ethical
‘road map’.
Tourism and confict
Tourism not only has potential for peace but is also contributory to confict.
Tese negative consequences are visible mainly on the social, cultural, phy-
sical and natural environments in which tourism operates (Castaneda 2012;
Eriksson et al. 2009; Günnemann 2006; Leong 2008; McKercher 1993). As the
traditional holiday destinations are gradually becoming oversaturated (Gün-
nemann 2006), tourism is also a contributing factor in damaging environ-
ments, stressing societies, eroding culture, undermining moral values, weake-
ning collective traditional lifestyles, manifesting confict and also heightening
it. Te more the global tourism industry grows at an ever-faster pace, the more
chances there are of generating confict due to the weak notion of sustainable
tourism practices.
Tere are a number of examples to verify this view on the difcult relation-
ship between tourism and peace. Confict and the closure of tourist resorts at
Chitwan National Park in 2009 (Upadhayaya 2011), confict with the ‘light-a-
fre’ movement of political opposition to Marcos-owned luxury hotels in the
234 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
Philippines in 2006 (Richter 1997), tourism-induced confict on Lombok, an
island east of Bali in Indonesia (Fallon 1992) and tourism-led confict in Kullu
(Himachal Pradesh) and Lavasa (Maharashtra) in India in 2008 (Chanchani
2009) are some prominent examples. A review of these case studies reveals
that tourism, apart from being a cause of confict and impunity, can also exa-
cerbate other underlying conficts and tensions in society.
Conficts continue to occur in the tourism sector regardless of the eforts
made by tourism practitioners to prevent and solve them. However, its proper
management with the concerted eforts of local stakeholders for responsib-
le tourism guidelines can persuade people as to the peace responsiveness of
tourism. In this context, Kelly (2006, 1) clearly states on the thorough peace
tourism propositions that ‘with appropriate management, tourism has greater
potential than any other human activity’ and there is a need for tourism to be
purposefully managed if it is to help meet the peace objective. A CoC, which
is the focus of this article, is considered a vital tool for the proper management
of tourism.
Peace sensitivity of tourism codes of conduct at destinations in confict:
A conceptual overview
Te potential of codes of conduct for peace-sensitivity of tourism have been
intensely discussed and are highly necessary in the context of the multiface-
ted, diverse, and highly unregulated trends of the modern tourism industry
(Budeanu 2005; Cleverdon and Kalisch 2000; Dodds and Joppe 2005; Fennel
2010; Goodwin and Francis 2003; Harrison and Husbands 1996; Malloy and
Fennel 1998; UNWTO 2011). Tis literature highlights the essence of codes of
conduct (ethical aspects) for sustainable and responsible tourism management
and interdependence of sustainable tourism practices and characteristics and
peace-building. Earlier scholars, such as Ahmed et al. (1994) describe ethi-
cal problems within the tourism industry in third-world countries, and raise
questions about the ethics for quality tourism products, services and marke-
ting, which are prerequisites for peace- promoting tourism. In their discus-
sion of the conceptual framework for linking tourism with confict and peace,
Upreti et al. (2013) show the necessity of the compliance of a CoC for local
voluntary and disciplinary standards and argue for the application of additio-
nal confict-sensitive measurements to the activities in post-confict societies.
Te codes of conduct- related voluntary and moral interventions are appa-
rently important for the responsible and sustainable development of tourism.
Te tourism codes of conduct are defned as an “Ethical Road Map” to guide
the sector’s key-players through the tourism landscape in minimising the ne-
gative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage, while
maximising the benefts for residents of tourist destinations. Te term “ethics”
refers to a set of standards and values that an individual or a group follows to
identify what is right and what is wrong. Te objective of responsible tourism
is to create better places for people to live in and to visit where CoC guidelines
emerge as the blueprint for their voluntary contributions (UNWTO 2011).
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 235
Dawid de Villiers (2010), the former Chairman of the World Committee
of Tourism Ethics, former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and former Tourism Minister under
Nelson Mandela alludes to the immense value of tourism CoC in his state-
ment as “Tourism without moral and ethical principles is like a ship without
radar; it can cause great harm to the industry, people, and the environment“. A
number of such moral issues in the tourism industry are clearly stated in the
United Nations (UN) 10- point principles of "Global Code of Ethics for Tou-
rism (GCET)".
Te UNWTO (2012, 1) defnes the GCET for tourism as a ‘frame of refe-
rence for the responsible and sustainable development of tourism. It is a com-
prehensive set of principles designed to guide and address key-players in tou-
rism development like governments, the travel industry, communities, and
tourists alike’. Te GCET provides guidelines for the morally responsible de-
velopment of tourism. It has been instrumental in promoting and developing
sustainable forms of tourism based on ethical principles. However, UNWTO
focuses on the implementation of the GCET mainly at the central government
level. Te adaptation of the principles of CoC by the private sector and their
implementation at the destination level is still to be realised.
Tere are increasing ideological and practical opinions on the need and va-
lue of the ethical codes of conduct for responsible tourism, occupation and
business, not only at global but also at national and local levels (MoTCA 2012;
NCCR North-South 2013; Shrestha 2009; UNWTO 2012; Upadhayaya 2012;
Upadhayaya and Upreti 2009). Te Paryatan Niti 2065 (Tourism Policy 2009)
gives importance to the need of tourism codes of conduct at the national level.
(MoTCA 2009, 12). Such statements refer to situations such as that in Pokha-
ra. Te Home-stay Sanchalan Karyabidhi 2067 (Home-stay Operation Work
Procedure 2010) has clearly stated the CoC for tourists in all destinations, in-
cluding Pokhara, under its Annex 4 (MoTCA 2010). Furthermore, the concept
paper of the National Planning Commission also clearly states that ‘Codes of
Conduct for tourism business will be implemented through their own associa-
tions’ (NPC 2010, 98). Nonetheless, the visions of these documents were previ-
ously left without being addressed and without materialising them in practice
in the context of Nepalese tourism. Tese initiations are largely confned to
macro level. Te policy thrusts have very little impact on practical applica-
tions of codes of conduct at micro level tourist destinations like Pokhara.
Tourism in Pokhara:
Setting context of peace and confict through tourism
Te picturesque town of Pokhara lies at the base of the snow-capped moun-
tains of the Himalayan range. It is one of the most attractive tourist desti-
nations and second biggest tourist hub for both domestic and international
tourists in Nepal. As shown in fgure 1, Pokhara is geographically located in
the central part of Nepal at an altitude of 827m and in an area of 123 sq km. It
is popular as the headquarters of the Western development region from the
236 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
perspective of the national development plan of Nepal. Tis plan has divided
the entire nation into a total of fve development regions.
Figure 1: Central location of Pokhara on the map of Nepal
Source: Developed by author
Te abundance of tourism resources, pleasant weather conditions all year
round, non-stop tourism- related events and activities and well-established
service and hospitality standards are strengths and opportunities which make
Pokhara a popular tourist destination (Fort 2010; NTB 2011). Today, Pokhara
is the main starting and fnishing point for trekking to Annapurna Conserva-
tion Area, Mt. Annapurna Base Camp (4090 m) and Mt. Machhapuchhre Base
Camp (3700 m) and the main resting and relaxation point on the aftermath
of trekking (NCCR North-South and TAAN WRC 2010; Tripathi 2007). Te
number of tourists visiting Pokhara has been increasing steadily since 1970.
Tending towards volume tourism, it has observed the growth in the number of
tourists from 6,179 in 1962 to 500,000 in 2012 (MoTCA 2012). Tese trends of
growth in the last three and half decades have ofered both opportunities for
prosperity and peace, and challenges for conficts in its tourism sector (Tripa-
thi 2007; Upadhyaya and Khatiwada 2012).
Peace inclination of tourism in Pokhara
Tere has been continuous growth in tourist arrivals since the 1980s when the
commercialisation of tourism started in Pokhara. Tis growth is notable in
the sense that it has not only ofered restorative holidays for incoming tourists
with the increased activities and events of tourism, but also created opportu-
nities for unlimited tourism entrepreneurs, workers, suppliers, and contrac-
tors. As a result, there has been tremendous growth in the tourism- service
providing industry for various professions. Altogether 673 accommodation
units (hotels, resorts, lodges, and guesthouses), 21 tourist restaurants, 116
travel agencies, 81 trekking agencies, 18 paragliding companies, 59 trekking
equipment shops, 75 embroidery and garment services, 750 boat services, 52
money changers, 62 tourist cyber cafés, 12 tourist shopping complexes, 2154
Rara National
Park
Chitwan
National Park
Bardiya
National Park
Sukla Phanta
Wildlife Reserve
Dhorpatan
Hunting Reserve
Lumbini
Mustang
Manang
Kathmandu
Shey-Phoksundo
National Park
Khaptad
National Park
Pokhara
E ASTERN
WE STERN
I NDI A
CHI NA
N
CENTRAL
MI D WE STERN
FAR WE STERN
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 237
taxis and micro bus services, and 3 home-stays in Pokhara (PTO 2011) are
available for tourists. With this growth comes an expansion of the tourism-
related infrastructure, amenities, occupational skills and hospitality services,
and land and air accessibility.
Te increase in tourist facilities and services amidst the excellent natural,
cultural and bio-diverse attractions has also increased the satisfaction of the
tourists. Furthermore, it has also rendered enormous benefts to host commu-
nities by creating thousands of tourism-based jobs, income, foreign exchange
earnings, local supply linkages, increased local absorptive capacities, and so
on. Tere have also been some developments in linking tourism with rural
areas, strengthening local supply linkages, enhancing absorptive capacity, and
up-scaling cross-cultural interaction and learning between guests and hosts.
Tese elements are seen as helpful in building economic prosperity and peace
in the local society in Pokhara. Even various non tourism-related practices are
also indirectly benefting from tourism (Upreti et al. 2013). With, and also bey-
ond, these opportunities, tourism-related growth has simultaneously brought
enormous challenges and with it, ultimately, various resulting conficts.
Tourism-led confict in Pokhara
As a multifaceted industry comprising its own diferent dimensions and
functionally interdependent sub-sectors, Pokhara’s tourism constitutes the
overlapping roles of various protagonists in developing and managing. Te
growing tourism industry with almost 500,000 tourist (domestic and interna-
tional) arrivals in 2012 is countered with a number of challenges in transfor-
ming its tourism as a responsible industry and social force (Upadhayaya and
Khatiwada 2012). Tere are various negative implications for the environment
with environmental degradation, for society with acculturation and trivialisa-
tion of local culture, and the economy with export and import leakages. Te-
re are observable sporadic shortages of responsible and sustainable tourism
practices of multiple tourism participants. Tese challenges appear precisely
in following two forms: (a) challenges emerging from the immediate environ-
ment (within the tourism sector at local level) and (b) challenges emerging
from the wider (external) environment (outside of tourism) (Upadhayaya and
Khatiwada 2012). Te development of such challenges has ultimately resulted
in conficts within and outside of the tourism sector in Pokhara.
Te fast and unmanaged developments brought about by tourism (e.g. con-
struction works without proper permission and guidelines, etc.) are problema-
tic in generating conficts. Such socio-cultural impacts and impressions are
largely visible in Fewa Lakeside, the major tourist area in Pokhara (Sharma
2010). Moreover, there is lack of common goals and understanding in various
tourism associations. Te lack of amicable labour-management relationships,
increased labour unionisation and its politicisation are identical amidst large
numbers of small and medium tourism enterprises. Te internal challenges
emerging from immediate or local environment of tourism have resulted in
structural conficts within the tourism sector. Such structural conficts also
238 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
included the inter-organisational conficts (e.g. unhealthy competition on
price and management) between similar categories of tourism enterprises in
the tourism sector. All these internal challenges showing a lack of responsible
tourism practices in the corporate business sector, are bitter truths in tourism
(NCCR North-South 2013).
As well as internal, there are also some external challenges. Nepal has seen
a number of conficts (e.g. political movements in 1950, 1980, 1990, 1996–
2006, and 2006) on a backdrop of unitary and centralised political system,
socio-political exclusion, age-old feudal socio-economic system, political fai-
lures and bad governance. Te tourism sector could not remain untouched
by this structural change. Amidst a number of persistent conficts, a decade
(1996–2006) of Maoist armed confict was the most challenging in the history
of tourism. Te confict, which was less destructive till 1999, became violent
and destructive in the year 2000. Tourism was vulnerable, with fuctuations in
tourist arrivals due to the highly unstable and sensitive character of tourism
(Bhattarai, Conway and Shrestha 2005; Tapa 2009). Nepal entered a post-
confict stage after a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between
the Government of Nepal and Maoist rebels on 21 November 2006. Although
the tourism sector has been gradually recovering since the CPA during the
current transition phase, the nation has been confronted with some new forms
of conficts: a plethora of strikes, banda (closures), vandalism, transportation
strikes, as well as social and political unrest led by political parties and social
institutions (KC 2007). In addition to these, there are various other external
challenges such as encroachments into open spaces and cultural and natural
heritage sites (lake, river, religious sites etc.), whose presence and timely pro-
tection are prerequisites for the development of tourism. Te tourism sector
could not grow as fast as expected because of the “fuid” political situation
(Bhattarai and Dahal 2007; Grandon 2007). As the second biggest tourist des-
tination, Pokhara is not free from the efects of these external challenges. Te-
se issues are triggers of confict in Pokhara’s tourism sector.
Table 1 in more detail depicts a mix of these internal and external challenges
for tourism in Pokhara, which have perpetuated the conficts.
Table 1: Apparent conficts in context of tourism development in Pokhara
S. N. Pertaining issues Apparent confict Tangible and intangible
repercussions
1. Absence of commonly accepted
organisational codes of conduct
Sporadic disputes between labourers
and management
Lack of coordination and sensitivity
on the destination image
2. Lack of proper manners in receiving
guests and recommending them to
particular hotels by the members of
the hotel representatives society
Observable confict among the
representatives of hotels and
between hoteliers and hotel
representatives. Inconvenience and
bad impression to tourists at the
destination
Possibility of the low rating of the
standard of services of the tourist
destination
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 239
S. N. Pertaining issues Apparent confict Tangible and intangible
repercussions
3. Reservations and sales being made
by various diferent intermediary
tourism entrepreneurs going beyond
the scope of their professional areas
Apparent confict among travel
agencies, small hoteliers, trekking
agencies, rafting agencies,
communications centres, etc.
Degradation of quality on customer
care (e.g. efcient communications,
dominance of irresponsible trends,
and possibility of price cutting) and
deterioration of quality service
4. Lack of minimum rates in majority
of Small and Medium tourism
Enterprises
Confusion among tourists due to the
lack of credibility at the destination,
and apparent psychological confict
among tourists
Lack of attention to humans and
social and environmental aspects
5. Inability to gain optimum utilisation
of natural resources and heritages
for tourism
Confnement of benefts to limited
stakeholders that appear as the
source of future conficts
Limitation to expand the prospect of
inclusion and participation on a large
(holistic) scale
6. Unhealthy inter-organisational
competitions (among
entrepreneurships like restaurants,
tour agencies, trekking agencies, etc.)
and lack of coordination
Lack of professionalism and confict
among each other
Tourist restaurants run by families
without being registered, which are
also not monitored for service quality
and professionalism
7. Apathy and defciency in proper
management of rubbish
Sporadic confict due to the
inappropriate dumping of rubbish
Negative implication on the healthy
appearance and work environment
of the Fewa Lake side and its
surroundings
8. Occasional use of drugs and ear-
phones by trekking guides while
on duty
Inconvenience and observable
dissatisfaction with service level
Possible unfriendly image with
regard to the standard of service in
the long run
Source: Compiled by author
Te accumulation of these internal and external challenges has even resulted
in the bad manners and occasional disagreements between the tourism and
non-tourism sectors. In this context, the PAMS research project identifed
the needs of tourism entrepreneurships, their operations and management in
such a way, which not only ensured economic success, but also optimised the
level of its environmental and social compatibility. Meeting such needs is even
more vital in a context where a vast number of tourists want to visit an area
that has the recreational possibilities that they want but with no efect or with
minimum negative efects on the environmental resources and socio-cultural
heritages. Te lack of codes of conduct related guidelines and practices are at-
tributed as major factors that result in conficts in the tourism sector. Te lack
of proper awareness, knowledge, extensive debates, social dialogues, social in-
teractions, confdence, common agendas, cooperation, concerted institutional
actions, training skills, institutional eforts and social learning are related de-
240 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
fciencies, which have caused the tourism sector to be unenthusiastic in apply-
ing codes of conduct as ethical practices.
Codes of conduct for peace responsive tourism in Pokhara:
Empirical evidence
Pokhara has recently entered into the category of responsible tourism through
the introduction of codes of conduct in its planning, management and opera-
tion at the destination level. Te guidelines for responsible tourism in Pokhara
come in the form of ‘Codes of Conduct (CoC) for Peace Responsive Tourism
in Pokhara: A Manual’ at destination level, which take efect from 20
th
April
2013. Tis manual has been released and brought into operation by the Mi-
nister of Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal as part of a grand programme
entitled ‘Pokhara Tourism Declaration 2013’. Te manual consists of the state-
ment of declaration in which there is a public announcement on its production
through joint participation and the consent of members of PTC at destination
level in Pokhara. It also states the names of all 15 tourism and semi-tourism
associations with ofcial stamps, names and the posts of the ofciating chiefs
of these associations, their signatures, and the joint endorsements and full
commitments on the application of all provisions.
Te guidelines in this manual are formulated for 13 diferent sub-sectors
of tourism by joint efort of Pokhara Tourism Council, Nepal Tourism Board,
and Switzerland-based National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR)
North-South in association with 15 tourism-related professional associations
in Pokhara. Tese sub-sectors of tourism for which such conducts are formu-
lated in this manual include hotels, trekking agencies, tour and travel agents,
tourist restaurants and bars, tourism-related media, trekking equipment
shops, embroidery and garments, paragliding companies, workers in all cate-
gories of tourism enterprises, general stakeholders of tourism (including non-
tourist sectors), tourists, taxi operators, and bus entrepreneurs. Te guidelines
in this manual are conceptually and theoretically based on the 10-point Glo-
bal Code of Ethics for Tourism laid down by United Nations World Tourism
Organization for the sustainability of tourism in the world.
Tis partnership, action-based manual aims to strengthen the peace poten-
tial of tourism through mitigating the development of irresponsible tourism
and by bringing the intra- and inter-organisational coordination and harmony
into the tourism sector in Pokhara. For example, the codes of conduct ma-
nual highlights the CoC for the media sector by stating the agreement and
commitments of ‘media houses’ to follow Do’s (guidelines as to what is desi-
rable) and Don’ts (guidelines as to what is not desirable) in their work (news
collection, editing, disseminating, etc.) for the sustainable development and
promotion of tourism. It clearly states the media’s responsibility to give higher
priority to news on responsible tourism products, awareness and sensitivity of
hosts and guests regarding responsible tourism practices, support for tourists
on their right to information, increasing awareness of local civil society on
the value of tourism, responsible reporting on sustainable news, highlighting
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 241
of successful stories, exercise of caution on reporting the sensitive news on
the destination's image, prohibition of negative media exaggeration, and avoi-
dance of media hype of legally and socially unacceptable news.
One of the CoC related guidelines of Paschimanchal Hotel Association
(PHA) in Pokhara states that ‘all members of PHA will necessarily avoid the
use of child labour, women, elderly and physically challenged people for work,
which is risky and unsafe for them in tourist accommodation’ (Upadhayaya
et. al 2013, 24). Te manual on the responsibility of tourists states that they
must respect local cultures, customs, social structures, norms, values and
beliefs; be sensitively aware of the feelings of local people and host cultures
and do not do anything that might be ofensive on their part. One other
provision for the general stakeholders of tourism in Pokhara states that ‘all
general participants in Pokhara will give priority and encouragement to
the forms of tourism development, which are conducive to saving rare and
precious resources, in particular water and energy, as well as avoiding waste
production and disposal’ (Upadhayaya et. al 2013, 58). For the tourism
workers’ unions, irrespective of their afliations to any political party, the
manual states that no labourer or worker will drink alcohol, smoke or use
earphones while on duty or with their guests so that they can perform to
their level best and can prevent guests’ dissatisfaction, complaints and other
unexpected weak job performances. In summary, the manual clearly refects
the roles and responsibilities (with Do’s and Don’ts) of all tourism enterprises
towards their employees, local environments, tourists and local non-tourist
practitioners. It states the responsibilities of tourism workers towards their
employers, service-receiving tourists, and local environment. Furthermore,
it asks local non-tourist practitioners to be responsible towards the tourism
industry and the media towards responsible tourism. Finally, it stresses
incoming tourists’ responsibility to save local traditions, norms and cultural
values and environmental resources in Pokhara.
Te collaborative efort in formulating these guidelines has not only
opened the avenue for peace but also strengthened the mutual relationships
between responsible tourism and sustainable peace and prosperity through
tourism in greater Pokhara valley. Te whole process of the PAMS project,
from the beginning of proposal formulation till the end in formulating these
CoC guidelines, was largely based on continuous interactions, dialogues,
exchange of knowledge, and networking. Such careful steps were crucial
in achieving operational unity, forming common understanding, building
confict mitigation strategy, efectuating collective and concerted actions
between tourism practitioners and researchers, and gaining societal learning.
Tese eforts have supported the institutionalisation of peace responsive
tourism at destination level. Te bottom- up approach in the process of PAMS
has brought some remarkable changes to the existing confict situations
in the tourism sector. It has helped in generating mutual understanding,
appreciating diferences, fostering knowledge, enhancing societal learning
and boosting concerted actions on the various aspects of codes of conduct for
responsible tourism management.
242 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
At the ‘Pokhara Tourism Declaration 2013’ event, the Presidents (as heads)
of a total of 12 tourism associations showed their public commitment by ta-
king an oath to apply tourism codes of conduct in their planning, manage-
ment and operations for the sustainability of tourism in Pokhara.
Te oath stated:
“We, as responsible tourism enterprises give full consent and endorsement
on Codes of Conduct for Peace Responsive Tourism in Pokhara: A Manual’.
We publicly commit to abide by it in our operation and management at des-
tination level, which is produced jointly by the tourism industry of Pokhara
in association with Nepal Tourism Board and NCCR North-South under
the banner of Pokhara Tourism Council and efectuated from 20 April
2013.”
Te declaration has particularly urged all concerned, including tourism ent-
repreneurs, workers, owners, management, governmental bodies, NGOs and
foreign tourism promotional agencies, to comply with the voluntary standard
measures of CoC. Tough these ethics difer according to the nature of pro-
fessions, there has a been collective commitment to its application through
‘Pokhara Tourism Declaration 2013’.
Tis CoC endeavour of Pokhara tourism has succeeded in sensitising, brin-
ging awareness, building confdence and allowing lessons to be learned regar-
ding the peace-promoting aspects of tourism. It has opened a new opportunity
to beneft the local people by promoting, protecting and sustaining the value
of peace and harmony in a responsible approach. After the ofcial launch and
application of commonly agreed CoC; PTC is all set to formulate “CoC Imple-
mentation and Monitoring Sub-Committee” under the Kaski district Tourism
Development Committee very soon, according to Surya Bahadur Bhujel (per-
sonal communication, 17 July 2013).
Conclusions
Tourism can be responsive to peace even in destinations in confict if it (tou-
rism) is responsible and sustainable in its practices. Responsible tourism with
purposeful management can be the source of common good, prosperity, har-
mony and peace. Te institutionalisation of responsible tourism awareness
and practices, apart from increasing the number of tourists and their average
stays, is an undeniable necessity in making tourist destinations responsive to
peace. On the other hand, tourism is also unstable and sensitive to confict
due to various political, socio-cultural, economic, and environmental related
internal and external factors. As such, tourism can itself become the trigger
that exacerbates the other underlying conficts and tensions in a tourism-
based society.
Achieving lasting peace and prosperity through tourism is largely depen-
dent on crafting a peace-building or peace-sensitive tourism strategy. Te
A Case Study of Partnership Actions in Pokhara, Western Nepal 243
ethical codes of conduct, apart from legal or regulatory framework, can be
efective intervention on this strategy for making tourism responsible. In this
context, it is the integrated approach, which is infuential in formulating such
conducts at the destination level for achieving peace and prosperity and so-
cietal stability in tourist destinations. Referring to the connection between
tourism and peace, Honey (2009, 1) correctly states that ‘there is a natural link
between tourism and peace. However, tourism must be appropriately mana-
ged so that it truly benefts local communities and the environment’
As illustrated in this article, Pokhara ofers a case study of one such tourist
destination in Nepal, which has entered the mainstream responsible tourism
pathway through crafting and applying codes of conduct at the destination
level. Te process of the formulation of codes of conduct for the tourism
industry was based on partnerships and a transdisciplinary approach. Te
whole process in this integrated efort has taught us that there are some
prerequisites in the process of the formulation and application of codes of
conduct. Such basics include insight, visualisation, awareness, collective
(integrated) commitment, continual mutual dialogues, mutual consent,
training and capacity buildings, learning from the satisfaction level of tourists
(service users), mutual feedback on positive and challenging experiences
among similar entrepreneurs, documentations, publications and so on. Te
transdisciplinary approach, due to mutual cooperation of science and society,
generally supports the transformation of tourist destinations into peace-
builders. Such an integrated approach in the process of codes of conduct
formulation can itself help to bring about common attitudes, unifcation
and integration among the diverse practitioners (e.g. tourism practitioners,
researchers, community organisations, community service centre and so on)
involved in tourism sector.
To conclude, the commonly agreed codes of conduct can generate peace-
sensitivity and sustainability in tourist destinations in times of confict. It
is particularly important to formulate and apply voluntary and disciplinary
codes of conduct in tourist destinations, which are growing but on the verge
of conficts in their lifecycles. Tis chapter also stresses the fundamental need
for the codes of conduct in tourism to be widely read, circulated and adop-
ted for the beneft of all forms and levels of tourism, all kinds of tourists, all
levels of tourism enterprises, all kinds of workers in tourism and entire host
communities (including non-tourist communities) and their environments in
other growing destinations in Nepal and elsewhere.
244 PRANI L KUMAR UPADHAYAYA
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ROSALI ND NEWL ANDS
The Role of the Tourist Guide in
Promotion of Dialogue between
Civilisations: South Caucasus
Introduction
In this article it is intended to showcase that the role of tourist guides is es-
sential in the promotion of dialogue between civilisations and in the neutral
interpretation of cultural diferences. Te World Federation of Tourist Gui-
des (WFTGA) was founded to foster good relations between tourist guides
worldwide and to promote cooperation and professional standards. In addi-
tion, WFTGA provides practical training for tourist guides and tourist guide
trainers. Tis article focuses on the South Caucasus, an area with a history
of confict and it highlights the successes and challenges that WFTGA faces
when working in such a complex setting.
World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA)
WFTGA was founded in 1985. It is a non-political not-for-proft NGO in
Ofcial Relations with UNESCO and is an Afliate Member of UNWTO.
WFTGA’s members are independent tourist guide associations in 79 countries
worldwide and WFTGA represents more than 200,000 Area Specifc Tourist
Guides.
WFTGA has had experience with holding training courses, attended by
guides from countries that have had a history of confict e.g. Greek and Tur-
kish Cypriots attended courses together in Cyprus. WFTGA is a member of
the UNWTO Silk Road Task Force and as such is aware of the UNESCO /
UNWTO initiative to develop a cultural corridor in the Silk Road, which of
course included the area we were working with. WFTGA believes strongly in
the infuence of cultural exchange through tourism in the fostering of peace
and cultural understanding.
In some countries the tourist guide profession is regulated but in others it is
not. WFTGA works within the laws or accepted practice within the member
countries and encourages professional training and recognition of Area Spe-
cifc Tourist Guides. To be members of WFTGA, tourist guide associations
must be independent of governments or other authorities but at the same time
be recognised by those authorities if they exist in the country concerned.
248 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
Defnition of a Tourist Guide
It is important to understand the defnition of a tourist guide as a separate
profession from a tour manager as defned by the European Committee for
Standardisation in the Tourism Services – Travel Agencies and Tour Opera-
tors – Terminology (EN 13809 2003 / ENISO 18513 2003)
• Tourist Guide: A person who guides visitors in the language of their choice
and interprets the cultural and natural heritage of an area which person
normally possesses an area-specifc qualifcation usually issued and / or re-
cognised by the appropriate authority.
• Tour Manager / Tour Director or Escort: A person who manages an itinera-
ry on behalf of the tour operator ensuring the programme is carried out as
described in the tour operator's literature and sold to the traveller / consu-
mer and who gives local practical information.
Te Area Specifcity of the tourist guide profession is an essential component
of their ability to interpret the cultural and natural heritage of the area for
which they are trained. WFTGA’s training programme gives them the skills to
do this in a neutral way.
Role of Tourist Guides
Tourist guides are ambassadors for their city, region or country and are the
people that visitors engage with and relate to. Visitors listen to tourist guides,
trust them and follow their example. Tourist guides create memories for visi-
tors and infuence their behaviour and opinions. Professional tourist guides
follow a Code of Practice and members of WFTGA also adhere to the UN-
WTO Code of Ethics, which means they must avoid any prejudice or politi-
cal statements. Tey also support sustainability, a worldwide efort to ensure
the survival of our planet. Te WFTGA Training Division organises practical
training for tourist guides which includes an understanding of cultural and
religious diferences and how to interpret in a non-judgemental manner. Tis
is particularly important when working in areas of former confict.
Non-prejudicial interpretation by properly trained tourist guides contribu-
tes to peace and inter-cultural understanding because it afects the understan-
ding and behaviour of visitors from various cultures and religions and encou-
rages interaction between visitors and local communities. Being an advocate
and example for neutral facts helps to reconsider misconceptions and open
the mind of listeners for new ideas. WFTGA practical training courses Hands
On Tourist Guiding (HOT) and Train the Trainer (TtT) help tourist guides
and trainers to understand the importance of neutral cultural interpretation
and teach them how to avoid creating misunderstandings and how to dispel
prejudice. Tey learn how to interpret without allowing their own personal
opinions to impinge on the commentary but still bringing their local experi-
ence and understanding to the visitors.
Tourist guides are in a unique position to promote the understanding of
culture and to promote peace in that they are experts in their own culture and
history and can communicate it in a neutral way to visitors from other cul-
Promotion of Dialogue between Civilisations: South Caucasus 249
tures. All members of WFTGA adhere to the WFTGA Code of Professional
Practice:
• To provide a professional service to visitors, professional in care and com-
mitment, and professional in providing an objective understanding of the
place visited, free from prejudice or propaganda.
• To ensure that as far as possible what is presented as fact is true, and that a
clear distinction is made between this truth and stories, legends, traditions,
or opinions.
• To act fairly and reasonably in all dealings with all those who engage the
services of guides and with colleagues working in all aspects of tourism.
• To protect the reputation of tourism in our country by making every en-
deavour to ensure that guided groups treat with respect the environment,
wildlife, sights and monuments, and also local customs and sensitivities.
• As representatives of the host country to welcome visitors and act in such
a way as to bring credit to the country visited and promote it as a tourist
destination.
Te requirement that tourist guides who adhere to this Code of Practice must
interpret in a neutral way without prejudice or propaganda will promote real
understanding of cultural diferences and allow visitors to understand the cul-
tures they are visiting.
Tourist guides are often the only people that visitors actually speak to and
their infuence has been shown to be very efective in changing visitors under-
standing and perception of the places they are in (Ham & Weiler 2007).
WFTGA Training Division
WFTGA set up its training division to meet the need for practical training
for tourist guides around the world. WFTGA has a network of International
and National Trainers who have been trained to WFTGA standards and can
deliver WFTGA training internationally or to guides in their own countries.
Te Training Division is led by the Head of Training (a member of the WFT-
GA Executive Board) and the Training Committee (appointed by EXBO). Te
courses currently ofered by the WFTGA Training Division are as follows:
• Hands on Tourist Guiding (HOT) – a 7-day course which teaches practical
guiding skills, best practice and WFTGA ethics for tourist guides.
• Train the Trainer (TtT) – a 10-day course which trains guides to deliver
WFTGA training, using the skills gained in HOT courses. Tis course
can be taken as a 3- day add- on to a HOT course or incorporate the HOT
course within the 10 days. Successful completion of this course qualifes
trainers as WFTGA National Trainers and if they are also members of
WFTGA allows them to use WFTGA materials to train guides in their own
countries.
• International Train the Trainer (ITtT) – a 10-day course for experienced
tourist guide trainers, who have already completed the WFTGA Train the
250 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
Trainer course and conducted a minimum of 100 hours practical training
of tourist guides in their own countries. Tis qualifcation is only open to
members of member associations of WFTGA. Successful candidates are
appointed as WFTGA International Trainers and are permitted to use
WFTGA materials to train guides internationally. Experienced WFTGA
International Trainers are appointed as Lead International Trainers at the
discretion of the WFTGA Executive Board.
HOT and TtT courses are ofered at the WFTGA International Training Cen-
tres (currently Armenia, Cyprus and Malaysia) as well as on request around
the world. ITtT courses are only ofered at the WFTGA International Trai-
ning Centres.
WFTGA has clear policies and procedures for the delivery of its training
courses, setting, marking and moderation of examinations and awarding of
certifcates. Te training team includes Lead International Trainers as well as
other International or National Trainers, who are appointed by the Head of
Training.
Case-Study:
South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia: 2010–2013
Te South Caucasus region comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and
has a rich diversity of cultural and natural heritage, within relatively short
distances. Te region has sufered from confict and governmental changes,
which can hinder cross-border tourism development and travel. In December
2010 the frst cross-border meeting for tourist guides, in the region, was held
in Georgia for participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
Tis was initiated by the Georgian Association of Tourist Guides, with the
support and encouragement of WFTGA and was attended by representatives
of WFTGA and USAID as well as representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Turkey. WFTGA saw this as an opportunity to strengthen links
with members in the area and to develop new contacts with non-member
countries. WFTGA was, of course, aware of historical conficts between Ar-
menia and Turkey as well as more recently between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Georgia was a good neutral location for the frst meeting.
At the time of the meeting, the tourist guide situation in the region was as
follows:
• Te Turkish Tourist Guide Association (TUREB) is a long-term member of
WFTGA with more than 3000 members and the former President, Serif Ye-
nen is a former member of WFTGA EXBO. Turkey also has a long history
of professional tourist guide training and is the only regulated country for
tourist guides in the region. TUREB showed interest in helping but they
were not yet active in the region. At the meeting, Serif Yenen explained the
current system in Turkey and was concerned with regard to cross-border
guiding, which was against their regulations.
Promotion of Dialogue between Civilisations: South Caucasus 251
• Te Georgia Association of Guides (GAG) was newly formed and had 27
members. Tere was no professional training or regulation in Georgia but
GAG had just joined WFTGA during 2010. WFTGA gave advice about pro-
moting the association and how to include tourism partners. Tere was a
request by GAG to have Georgian Tourist Guides permitted to work in the
N-E of Turkey. Tis would be against Turkish regulations and also against
the principles of Area Specifc Tourist Guiding. Special training would
have to be introduced and agreement would have to be made with regard to
current regulations in Turkey. Any such proposal was opposed by TUREB.
• Te Armenian Guild of Tourist Guides has been a member of WFTGA for
several years. Te Guild already had three members qualifed as WFTGA
International Trainers and they were running voluntary tourist guide cour-
ses. Te Guild supports the introduction of regulation of tourist guides in
Armenia. WFTGA HOT courses had been held in 2006 in Yerevan.
• Azerbaijan has a tourism authority and a tourism association, which was
interested in working on professional acceptance for tourist guides. Te
guides present would like to join WFTGA but need to form a separate and
independent association for tourist guides.
During the meeting, the Armenian Guild ofered Armenia as a site for cross-
border training but this was not acceptable to the Azeri delegation. It was
suggested that the frst course be held in Turkey and this was agreed. In No-
vember 2010, the WFTGA President met members of the Azerbaijan Tourism
Authority at the World Travel Market and further information was requested.
Discussions continued with all four countries.
Te suggested courses in Turkey did not materialise. Te Georgian Tourist
Guides Association was very keen to develop as well as foster cooperation with
the neighbouring countries. Tere was further discussion and negotiation and
funding became available through GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internati-
onale Zusammenarbeit – the German Society for International Cooperation)
and it was agreed that joint WFTGA HOT and TtT courses would be held and
funded by GIZ. A course was planned for May 2011 in Azerbaijan but it was
unable to take place because the WFTGA Lead International Trainer was una-
ble to get a visa. Te course was re-located to Georgia. During 2011 successful
courses were held: in Armenia (attended by participants from Armenia and
Georgia); in Georgia (attended by participants from Azerbaijan and Georgia);
and in Armenia (attended by participants from Armenia and Georgia). Tis
resulted in a total of 47 guides being trained, including 12 from Armenia and
Georgia who met the WFTGA standard to become National Trainers.
WFTGA was very aware of the political sensitivities in the region and alt-
hough participants were invited to join all the courses from all the countries
involved, it was not surprising that this joint approach was not fully realised.
After the frst stages of training, WFTGA had new WFTGA National Trai-
ners qualifed in Armenia and Georgia allowing further courses to take place –
thus spreading the WFTGA ethics and standards further across the region.
Further discussion took place and funding issues were eventually resolved.
252 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
Azerbaijan was still keen to host a course prior to the Eurovision Song Contest,
being held in Baku, and it was agreed this would be conducted in April 2012.
In September 2012, the WFTGA President attended the UNWTO Silk Road
meeting in Baku and conducted negotiations with the tourism authorities for
further training in Azerbaijan. Tere was governmental concern that some
candidates had not been successful in Georgia but agreement was reached for
further training in Azerbaijan, jointly funded by GIZ and the Azeri Tourism
Authorities.
As a result further courses were held during 2012 in Azerbaijan (with 31
participants from Azerbaijan) and in Georgia (with 12 participants from Geor-
gia). Tis resulted in a further 12 meeting the WFTGA standard as National
Trainers. Tis meant that there were now guide trainers in all three countries
trained to WFTGA standards, although until the Azeri tourist guides form
an independent association in membership of WFTGA, they will be unable to
train using WFTGA materials.
Conclusions
Tere were a number of challenges in delivering the training to WFTGA stan-
dards in the region of the South Caucasus. Tere was of course a history of a
diferent type of guiding, related to government policy in some of the coun-
tries whereas WFTGA operates very clear standards for the accreditation of
its training courses and strict guidelines on the moderation of the training.
WFTGA had to negotiate with the authorities, who were new to this type of
tourist guide training – especially in Azerbaijan – so as to help them under-
stand the advantages of having independent, well-trained tourist guides with
a good understanding not only of their own history and culture but also of
the needs of the visitors. It was also important to emphasise the non-political
nature of WFTGA and the requirement for member tourist guides to adhere
to the WFTGA Code of Conduct and avoid political statements or prejudicial
comments on colleagues or visitors from other countries.
Tere were some funding issues, with courses being arranged at the last
minute when funding was fnalised, which made it difcult to organise the
training at times due to short notice for the WFTGA Lead International Trai-
ner. WFTGA hopes this work will continue but as the main sponsor GIZ- has
now withdrawn due to budget limitations – new funders will have to be found
for the training to continue.
Tere were also visa issues, particularly in Azerbaijan, as the government
was insisting that visas were collected in person at the appropriate embassy.
Tis situation has now been resolved as visas can be ordered by post and the
government can expedite their issue.
It was necessary to conduct some of the training in Russian. WFTGA has
Russian-speaking International Trainers in Armenia.
Some governments fnd it hard to understand the need for independent
tourist guides and that it is not possible to compromise WFTGA standards
to meet requirements for guides in the country. If candidates do not meet
Promotion of Dialogue between Civilisations: South Caucasus 253
the standard, they will not receive a WFTGA certifcate of completion. Tis
caused some confict, which has now been resolved through continued discus-
sion. Te fact that WFTGA is part of the Silk Road project has aided this be-
cause several meetings took place and good contacts were made with govern-
ment ofcials.
In January 2013 the Armenian Guild of Tourist Guides proposed that WFT-
GA open an International Training Centre in Armenia, which would enable
further cross-border cooperation. Tis work is continuing although WFTGA
is aware that there may be some resistance from participants to attend from
all the countries involved. Armenia are currently in the best position to obtain
funding for a WFTGA Training Centre – they also have the only WFTGA
International Trainers in the region, speaking Russian, German and English
and they have the support of their government, authorities and university as
well as several years of membership of WFTGA and international exposure.
Te need for a new sponsor may ofer opportunities in the region for the ITC
Armenia which could allow guides from Azerbaijan and Georgia to attend the
training courses as well as from Central Asian countries.
It is hoped that the frst courses at the new International Training Centre
will take place in 2014 and that they will also be able to welcome guides from
Central Asia.
Tere are also issues of ‘cross-border’ guiding and lack of overall knowledge
of the region which is particularly important for visitors who are, for examp-
le, travelling part of the Silk Road, where appropriate connections can and
should be made. Some of the issues for visitors include poor interpretation
and understanding of cultural issues and history. Te solution is not to have
cross-border guides but rather to train all-area specifc guides in the overall
knowledge of the region. In Europe there is already a standard for the Training
and Qualifcation of Tourist Guides (EN15565) and this includes the provision
that guides study overall European issues, even though they are qualifed for
their own city, region or country.
Tis model could be used for the Silk Road countries as well as in the South
Caucasus.
General Recommendations
WFTGA must continue to make and extend contacts with local tourist guides
in the region with the objective of helping to form new Tourist Guide Associ-
ations. When there is an Association the request for upgrading and improving
professional skills by training is seen as a prerequisite for developing and in-
creasing tourism. Tourist Guide Associations play a key role in the continued
organisation of WFTGA training courses and their local expertise is necessa-
ry for organisation and marketing of the training courses. Tis is the case in
Cyprus (where the frst WFTGA International Training Centre was establis-
hed in 2005) and will be the case in the new WFTGA International Training
Centres in Armenia. Te lack of independent tourist guide associations in
several countries including Azerbaijan is a limiting factor on future training
254 ROSALI ND NE WL ANDS
and development of standards. It is important that any such association is in-
dependent to avoid potential conficts of interest with government, tourism
authorities or tour operators. Instead it should work with these organisations
for the overall beneft of tourism in the country.
Tourist guides must be involved in planning for national and international
interpretation especially in issues of sustainability and cultural understan-
ding. Tourist boards and ministries should help to improve and upgrade the
status and position of professional tourist guides and to recognise that they
are a valued profession, often the only people that visitors really speak to.
It is important that tourist guides are trained to take account of political
and cultural sensitivities in a region but to then interpret them in a neutral
way to visitors. Tis helps in the visitors understanding and promotes dia-
logue between cultures and civilisations.
As can be seen from the South Caucasus Case Study, and future develop-
ment plans, tourist guides have a strong role in the promotion of cultural di-
alogue and cooperation between cultures and regions, but this is dependent
on training as well as cooperation with governments and other authorities.
Tourist Guides are the strongest infuencers of visitor behaviour and attitudes
and can really afect the impression that visitors take back of a region, coun-
try or culture. Tere are good opportunities to use the model from the South
Caucasus to further international cooperation and understanding as well as
to spread best practice and professionalism. Te fact that it was possible to
have representatives from various countries and for them to work together is
a positive omen for the future. However, work will continue to be required to
overcome historic conficts and challenges and to promote peaceful coopera-
tion. Tis will require the support of international bodies such as UNWTO
and UNESCO as well as governments.
WFTGA experience shows that the tourist guides themselves are very
keen to work in an intra-cultural way but this has limitations if funding is not
available for training and / or if there are implicit or explicit restrictions on
the formation and maintenance of independent tourist guides associations. If
tourist guides are to be able to interpret cultural issues in a neutral and sen-
sitive way they must be free of any governmental interference in the material
they present and the way in which it is presented. Tey must be non-political
and free of religious or other prejudice and for this to happen training to in-
ternational standards is necessary.
References
Ham, Sam. H., Betty Weiler, Michael Hughes, Terry
Brown, Jim Curtis and Mark Poll. 2007. Asking Visi-
tors to Help: Research to Guide Strategic Communi-
cation in Protected Area Management. Brisbane:
STCRC Report.
CEN: EN 13809 2003 -/ ENISO 18513 2003 Tourism Servic-
es: Travel Agencies and Tour Operators Terminology
CEN: EN 15565 2005 Training and Qualifcation of Tour-
ist Guides
GORDON SI LLENCE
Mainstreaming Sustainability
through Peace-Building at Large-
Scale Tourism Events – The Case of
the Olympic Games
Introduction
Tis article links the peace and sustainability eforts over the Agenda 21 deca-
des from Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to the 20-year review process known as Rio+20,
including the parallel development of the quadrennial United Nations-sup-
ported Olympic Truce process. It weighs up how far large-scale events, such as
the Olympics, can really contribute to sustainability and poverty alleviation,
especially when the organising institutions and countries have value systems
that support and conceal a highly militarised global economy in which war is
a constant feature.
Te frst part of the article looks at the policy regarding the process of main-
streaming sustainability at the Olympic Games, describing the relevance of
contemporary Agenda 21 processes, then at the stakeholder interest groups
that were in evidence in the planning and execution of the London Games, and
their policies and programmes dealing with the Truce issue. Tere is a specifc
focus on the tourism and sports stakeholders who control and infuence the
world’s largest sports tourism event, i.e. the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), the host country, the United Nations (UN) and the corporate sponsors.
It highlights the eforts of NGOs and concerned individuals to build the Truce
in confict areas in practice, and in doing so to found the Olympic Truce Youth
Peace Ambassador network as a legacy of the London 2012 Games.
Te second section examines challenges to implementing the Truce, show-
ing that a value system dominated by narrow government and corporate com-
mercial interests led to the lack of a practical strategy to implement the UN
resolution at the London Games. Looking behind the rhetoric of each of the
key responsible stakeholders, it is clear that the economic and political im-
plications of truly standing up for peace at this level threatens those arms-
manufacturing countries and job-conscious ofcials who prefer to maintain
an economic status quo, supported by a culture of violence, rather than take
up the challenge of truly implementing Agenda 21 and its culture of peace.
Te fnal section, based on the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 experien-
ces, explores how we can move the global economy from a state of tolerating
low-level warfare and violence to a peace-based, green economy using larger
scale Olympic tourism events to make the necessary impact in the future. It
256 GORDON SI LLENCE
presents a strategy to work on the Truce for Brazil 2016 that has been formu-
lated as the work programme of the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors
International Network. Issues of capacity-building and development of this
network are considered in practical terms to improve tourism, sports, and cul-
ture stakeholder participation in – and benefts from – the Brazil 2016 Games.
Importantly, there is a set of 16 recommendations, introducing international
as well as national level strategic actions, targeted at the key stakeholders re-
sponsible for the Truce in the modern Games, and focused on the major con-
fict areas and cities of violence across the world.
Background – Linking Peace and Tourism
Whenever the word sustainable is linked to the word tourism, we could discuss
the development of sustainable tourism activities, or the contribution of travel
and tourism activities to the overall process of sustainable development. If we
then add the word peace, we recognise that peace is a precondition of sustai-
nable tourism development whilst being simultaneously an objective of those
using tourism to implement sustainable development. To articulate how tou-
rism activities could be designed to promote sustainability by fostering peace is
a key objective of this article. It is based on the hypothesis that these two fun-
damental contemporary development processes can be successfully combined
to fashion a just, equitable, and prosperous planet in line with the objectives of
Agenda 21, the Millennium Declaration and other global sustainable develop-
ment policy lines, and manifested in the global, peace-based, green economy.
Te contemporary, globalised, socio-economic growth of society has
reached a stage where violence dominates the lives of billions throughout the
world, wars ravage country after country on the African continent, mega-city
street life is marred by systemic and random violence, and even domestic vi-
olence is generationally transferred, making the issue of personal and societal
peace the most urgent priority of modern civilisation. Tis violence is both
subjectively and objectively experienced, and has been statistically captured
and analysed by the work of the organisation Vision of Humanity in collabora-
tion with the Institute of Economics and Peace in Sydney, and expressed in the
Global Peace Index. Te Index is a landmark online tool, released in May 2011,
graphically showing 22 indicators of violence, mapped by country. It shows
how far we have come in measuring the violence of our world, and also in
realising the socio-economic and environmental benefts of reducing violence,
with studies revealing that the total economic impact of containing violence is
estimated to be a staggering US$9.46 trillion (in 2012) (GPI 2013), more than
enough to fund the global green economic transformation we see in UN poli-
cy but not in government or corporate practice.
On the other hand, the travel and tourism industry has come to dominate
development patterns as much as the new technology that enables us to travel
and tour on an unprecedented international scale. Travel and tourism acti-
vities now shape whole landscapes with travel, accommodation and service
infrastructure, channelling billions of dollars and supporting millions of jobs.
The Case of the Olympic Games 257
Te global scale of the economic, environmental and socio-cultural impact of
travel and tourism promotes both positive and negative inter-cultural exchan-
ges, and clearly stands out over other sectors as a means of promoting civil
society and global awareness in all countries.
Travel and tourism can only fourish in conditions of peace, and thereby the
interests of both peace and tourism stakeholders can be inextricably linked to
ensure mutual benefcial exchanges wherever the need for peace and the op-
portunity for travel and tourism coincide. Tere is nothing more damaging to
the industry as a whole than violence and war and, in contrast, travel and tou-
rism can ofer many regions an economically, environmentally and socially be-
nefcial – as well as practical – means of replacing confict and restoring harm-
ony. A country example such as Mozambique (Wikipedia 2013) would be a case
in point, where it is only in the last few years that tourism has recovered to its
pre-confict levels of the 1970s, and is set to fourish under conditions of peace.
Te move from a culture of violence to a culture of peace requires that we
develop international multi-stakeholder involvement. It is a logical progression
that, to work at this scale, sustainable development stakeholders working with
the processes of peace and tourism development will be attracted to use large
scale travel and tourism events such as international level sporting, cultural
and political gatherings as vehicles for mainstreaming sustainability. Tis is in
fact the stated policy of the UN in relation to the Olympic Games (UN Olym-
pic Truce Commitment in the Millennium Declaration 2000), a process which
we can now examine in detail to shed light on the challenges and opportuni-
ties these large-scale actions can have in terms of addressing our current eco-
nomic, environmental, social and institutional challenges. Also, in Marrakesh
in 2009 (UNEP 2009), the former UN Task Force on Sustainable Tourism
committed itself to mainstreaming sustainability at large scale events as part
of the overall UN sustainable consumption and production efort. Te deve-
lopment of an event-related communication strategy should be encouraged in
order to mainstream the sustainability message, particularly encouraging the
use of the media in major sports events to promote sustainable tourism.
Mainstreaming Sustainability Through Tourism and Peace at the Olympics
Using the Rio+20 Process
Felix Dodds, who led the civil society UN dialogue at the Agenda 21 10-year
follow up conference (known as the World Summit on Sustainable Develop-
ment) as chair of the Stakeholder Forum, said “the prerequisite for sustainable
development is peace – without that we will never be able to address the major
challenges we face of eradicating poverty and moving to a more sustainab-
le way of life.“ (Felix Dodds, former Chair of the Stakeholder Forum for the
WSSD and Rio+20 events, personal interview 7 June 2013.)
Global crises and challenges get bigger by the day, and the human capability
to meet these challenges must similarly develop in scale. Te UN Agenda for
the 21st Century – Agenda 21 – is the policy framework at this level, and had
its 20-year review just a month before the Olympics started in August 2012.
258 GORDON SI LLENCE
Te potential combination of the Rio+20 Agenda 21 review and the London
Olympic Games provided an opportunity to use these two large-scale events
synergistically, not only to shape a longer-term positive future vision for all glo-
bal citizens, but also to focus on those who need sustainable development most
by providing an immediate and pragmatic window of peace in confict zones.
The Olympic Tradition – A Pause for Peace
For the ancient Greeks the Olympics were a Holy Games, during which war was
stopped and nations competed together in the spirit of friendship. Te Olympic
Truce aspect of Olympic competitions was characterised in the sacred traditi-
on of the original spirit of the Games by the Greek word ‘Ekecheiria’ – meaning
a period of time-limited peace in all competing nations, including safe passage
for athletes and visitors for the duration of the Games. Te Olympic Games, as
a large-scale event that symbolises human excellence and inter-cultural har-
mony, has accordingly been singled out by the UN as a signifcant opportuni-
ty to address worldwide challenges of violence and poverty. Te UN recalled
this means of achieving peace on earth in the 90s and, even in the Millenni-
um Declaration, as part of the means to achieve the stated poverty eradication,
environmental stability and social equality targets. Furthermore, the policy is
embedded in a protocol whereby the Host country submits a UN Resolution
in the build-up to each Olympics (UN Declaration on Sport and Peace 2012).
However, it should be immediately noted that the IOC and UN have adopted
the position that the Truce is one ‘that is inspired, rather than enforced’, and
the task of the inspiration is left to the UN, the IOC’s International Olympic
Truce Centre, and the host country. Te Truce Resolution was formally sub-
mitted to the General Assembly by the Chair of the London Organising Com-
mittee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Lord Sebastian Coe, on behalf
of the United Kingdom (UN General Assembly 2011). On 17 October 2011 it
was passed by the most co-sponsoring states in the history of the UN, with all
193 member states signing up to the Resolution. Te Resolution called for an
ambitious six-week period of peace, and was achieved after great diplomatic
efort. Te text did not really provide guidance on how the Truce would be im-
plemented, and there is a large credibility gap to be flled between UN resolu-
tions and ‘on-the-ground’ actions. Yet from this basis, each country had a man-
date to defne and implement national programmes to make the Truce a reality.
Interested / Responsible Parties Regarding Achievement of The Olympic
Truce Linked to Sustainable Tourism Development
Key Global Organisations
• Te Host Nation and its organising committee
• International Olympic Committee
• UN bodies (UNESCO, UNICEF, UNEP, UN-WTO, UNDP)
• Main peace NGOs
• Sub-global regional organisations (e.g. European Union, ASEAN, Arab
League / ALESCO, British Commonwealth)
The Case of the Olympic Games 259
National Government Stakeholders
• Ministries of Foreign Afairs, Youth, Sport, Culture, Tourism, Education
• National Olympic Committee – Olympic Academy
• UNESCO national commissions
Businesses
• Olympic sponsors
• Multi-nationals with sustainable development programmes (e.g. Rio+20 si-
gnatories, WBCSD members, companies with CSR programmes)
• Travel & tourism – airlines, hotel chains
• Sportswear & equipment manufacturers
• Sports clubs / football clubs
• Chambers of commerce
• Local businesses
Academic Bodies
• Universities working on peace / tourism / sports / culture
• Students & High schools
• Individual academics working on peace
Media
• TV stations / Radio / Newspapers
• Internet – social media
NGOs
• NGOs working on peace / tourism / sports / culture
• Faith groups from the spectrum of beliefs in each country
• Individuals working for peace
The London 2012 Olympic Peace Campaign:
Building a Common Truce Realisation Strategy
Te London 2102 Olympic Peace Campaign was formulated to defne and ma-
nage a strategy to implement the Olympic Truce. Tis was developed at the
end of the Beijing Olympics of 2008, in the ‘Olympic Rings of Light Project’,
within the Janela Aberta 21 Education for Sustainable Development Centre’s
‘Global Citizenship Programme’. It was promoted by the Ecotrans Network for
Sustainable Tourism Development, with input from the International Institu-
te for Peace through Tourism. An Olympic peace support team was set up to
back the Campaign, focusing on:
• One Minute Silence for Global Peace
at the Olympic opening ceremony to mark and honour the state of global
peace on earth, and to remember those places and people who may have not
been able to achieve the Truce.
260 GORDON SI LLENCE
• Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors Campaign
in which one Youth from each of the 40-plus confict zones / areas of violence
is sponsored to attend the Olympics as youth peace ambassadors, and share
the camaraderie and support of the world for those days.
• Building the Green Economy through Showcasing Sustainable Tourism
under the heading ‘Taking Sustainable Tourism to the Global Stage – A Mo-
saic of the Global Green Economy’, a map of international certifed and awar-
ded tourism destinations, products and services can be developed and then
showcased at Rio+20 and the London Olympics as a global ofering of peace-
ful, green tourism destinations.
• The Global Peace Index
All stakeholders can refer to the Global Peace Index to objectively assess the
move from a culture of violence to a culture of peace. A snapshot of society
at the time of the Olympics would provide the most comprehensive objective
overview of this process.
Te London 2012 Olympic Truce Campaign succeeded in building a global co-
alition of organisations that represented the largest single London 2012 efort
to implement the Truce. Tis efort was spearheaded by Lord Michael Bates,
a Conservative MP sitting in the House of Lords, who personally showed the
Olympic efort necessary to implement the Truce by walking from Athens to
London to raise awareness of the importance of the issue. Te coalition inclu-
ded (Sillence 2012):
• Walk for Truce
• UNESCO Regional Unit for Social and Human Sciences in Asia and the
Pacifc
• UNEP -Youth Exchange
• UNEP – DTIE SCP Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism
• Global Sports Partners
• International Institute of Peace through Tourism (IIPT)
• Te Ecotrans Network for Sustainable Tourism Development
• Peace Support Network
• Wonders of Egypt
• Vision on Sustainable Tourism
• ETurbo News
• Association of Travel Writers
• TravelVideo TV
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• Ecoism
• Eubios Ethics Institute Youth Peace Ambassadors International
• UK Green Party
• Sri Guru Singh Gurdwara, with the blessing of Yogachayra Sri BKS Iyengar
and patronage of Lord Bates, Conservative MP in the UK House of Lords
Tree fnancing scenarios were envisaged to support the Campaign, involving:
The Case of the Olympic Games 261
• A key corporate or government sponsor emerging to fund the overall pro-
gramme
• Individual elements of the programme to be covered by specifc organisa-
tions and companies donating fnancial resources or their services
• Several small-scale funding initiatives undertaken to sponsor individual
youths to attend the training event.
Te estimated cost was in the region of €500,000 over 2 years, though the
Campaign only eventually received a tenth of that sum through ad hoc dona-
tions of time and money.
Seeing the UN Agenda 21 Rio+20 process as a unifying stepping stone, a
part of the London 2012 Olympic Peace strategy was that the June 2012
Rio+20 International gathering was to be a key milestone on the way to im-
plementation of the Truce Campaign. But by the time Rio+20 happened, the
Campaign was far from implementing all of its plans. Tough the coalition
team had worked as much on the strategy as resources and time permitted,
the Campaign failed to receive any signifcant fnancial support, and largely
relied on voluntary efort, whilst meeting resistance to implementation sup-
port by all the key Olympic organisers.
However, by the time of the London Olympic event itself the coalition had
managed to successfully establish a core group of the Olympic Truce Youth
Peace Ambassadors network (9 people), with the support of the broader Youth
Peace Ambassadors International (YPA) of the Eubios Ethics Institute, and of
UNESCO.
Logistical, fnancial and visa difculties reduced the number to a group
of seven Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors (from Iran, Israel, France,
Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Tailand) who were trained to be UN-
recognised Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors. As a key legacy of the
2012 Games, the network provides the foundation to continue the Olympic
Truce work of the 2012 coalition and work directly on the Brazil 2016 Truce,
and its strategic approach is presented later in this article.
The London 2012 Olympic Spectacle
Meanwhile, as the Olympics kicked of in London, the confict in Syria grab-
bed the headlines. Britain had its armed forces actively engaged in combat in
Afghanistan and Iraq. In Africa, a genocide was taking place again in Sudan,
this time by the Sudanese Government against the Nuer, and war raged in
the Congo; the Middle East was experiencing the violence of the Arab Spring
Revolutions; in Mexico the army was fghting a public war with drug gangs. In
Asia, Tibet was still under occupation by the Chinese, and the Burmese peo-
ple were still sufering under the state violence of the Generals. Te UN had
active peace-keeping missions in 16 countries, with an estimated forty confict
zones active around the world (Nobel Media AB 2013) . As such the Truce by-
passed those who needed it most, whilst the western media made a consumer
feast of distracting and eye-catching publicity in a classic ‘Panem e Circen-
sis’ (‘give them bread & games’) London 2012 entertainment spectacle, with
262 GORDON SI LLENCE
the single opening event costing £27 million, mixing fairy-tale Britain with
A-grade celebrities and a populist pop music back-catalogue designed to sell
Great Britain to the estimated 1 billion global TV audience. Six weeks and 27
UK Gold medal superhuman performances later, another celebrity circus clo-
sing ceremony in September was held to sell London as an international party
town, whose residents and visitors had just experienced all the social highs of
carefully manipulated mass stimulation. Te global public had been duped by
the Olympic propaganda extravaganza on a grand scale.
Of the traditional call for peace not one word was mentioned; in fact it must
have been proactively erased from the Hollywood rhetoric that concealed the
complete lack of meaningful action on making the Olympic peace a reality.
Tat a host nation should conduct deceit on a grand scale alongside the IOC at
the Olympic Games has many historic precedents, the most recent being the
Beijing 2008 state power display and media cover-up of the Chinese role in the
Darfur genocide, and the most famous being, of course, the Berlin Olympics
of 1936, which set the standard for state manipulation of the masses through
large-scale events.
From Policy to Strategy to Implementation:
Why the Truce Never Happens …
2012 was a historic opportunity to use the two large-scale events to main-
stream sustainability, as the London 2012 Games coincided with the Rio+20
event, with only one month separating the two events. Unfortunately, the
Atlantic was not the only gulf in between the two processes – a policy gap
of similar size was in full evidence, as these two world-wide events remained
unlinked, three Olympics since the Millennium Declaration and a decade af-
ter the WSSD plan of Implementation. In stark contrast to the Truce rhetoric
around the London Games, a meaningful Truce did not materialise. Conse-
quently, there was no boost for responsible tourism, and an inconsequential
contribution to the poverty eradication programme linked to the Olympics by
the UN. A brief look at the preceding World Peace Day reveals the viewpoints
and actions of diferent stakeholders.
World Peace Day:
A Snapshot of Stakeholder Actions for Developing a Global Peace
With the British UN Truce Resolution being endorsed in October 2012, the
last International Peace Day before the Olympics on 21 September 2011 show-
ed that UN bodies reacting to this UN Peace Day were efectively dysfunc-
tional on this issue. Just looking at the two peace and tourism directorates in
the UN – UNESCO and the UNWTO (tourism) – responsible respectively
for communicating the Truce mandate and for implementing sustainable tou-
rism development, and therefore also responsible for joining the two issues
in a horizontal inter-directorate fle – we see institutional inadequacies from
the level of member countries and Secretary-Generals downward. No policies,
no programmes, no projects and no resources were made available for Truce
The Case of the Olympic Games 263
implementation, whether by the Secretary General of the UN, or by UNEP, or
by UNWTO, or, for that matter, by any other UN body. Tere were just state-
ments at best, not even a focused conference. What one would expect at the
heart of the world’s peace keeping organisation is that the process of peace be
made transparent – by mapping the wars and violence, then by exposing the
corporations and nations of war, and fnally by steering the development of
a clear strategy to bring peace in our generation. It is the tall order that goes
with the height of the institutional ofce, but it was not in evidence even at
this late stage of preparations for the Truce.
Tis left the Peace Day eforts up to NGOs and concerned individuals, with
the consequent lack of resources to run efective campaigns. ‘PeaceOneDay’
received the headline attention. Tis NGO action was media friendly and has
a good general message, calling on people to focus on achieving a single day
of peace on this day next year. However, there was no mention of the massive
Olympic opportunity for peace in 2012, which PeaceOneDay was supporting
and was also actively promoting. Several other NGO actions were also noted,
including those of the ‘Peace Day Global Broadcast’, and the ‘International In-
stitute of Peace Trough Tourism’. In this process, there was more sentiment
than strategy presented by the NGO stakeholders contributions, yet still the
NGO efort was more apt in vision and content with regard to the Truce im-
plementation, borne out at the Olympics themselves by the United Nations
Association UK efort, Lord Michael Bates ‘Walk for Truce’ and a ‘Moments
Peace’ action, all reaching the heart of the issue, from the heart.
Behind the Institutional Rhetoric and Policy Gaps
Te main reasons for the lack of UN action are to do with the processes and
value systems outside the UN, as well as with the value systems and policies of
its administrators and member states. Te most accurate of all the 21 Septem-
ber UN Peace Day websites was found in a (satirical) journalistic investigation
of the values and activities of the dominant nation state – the USA – which to
a large extent sets the UN agenda on this issue:
“Since International Peace Day was frst established by the United Nations
in 1981, this September 21 represents its 30th anniversary and another at-
tempt to undermine the value of war, especially for the extraordinary US.
Peace on earth needs to stay where it belongs (on holiday cards). Otherwise,
Americans might muster the spirit to develop a sustainable, green, peace-
based economy, and who wants that when our vibrant military-industrial
complex thrives so well on war?” (Turner)
After International Peace Day there was no mainstream coverage of UN ac-
tivities, but PeaceOneDay made headlines briefy, overshadowing any ofcial
administrative web hits. In short, the internet site analysis of key stakeholder
activity showed how the new knowledge economy / internet media age enab-
les individuals and NGOs to match and exceed the institutional machinery of
national and global administrations in their power to send out a clear message
of what reality is out there.
264 GORDON SI LLENCE
Institutional Stakeholder Failure on a Grand Scale
We can now see that, in the build-up to the Olympics itself, these UN orga-
nisations were not only doing a poor job of linking Agenda 21 to a large-scale
event, but then were also marginalised, as the key event players – the IOC,
the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), and the
corporate partners – shaped their Olympic power play. Teir blatantly com-
mercial agenda could not have been further from the socially-concerned value
system of Agenda 21.
As indicated by the weakness of their World Peace Day eforts, the UN as a
whole did not manage to play any pragmatic role in development of the Tru-
ce, despite the resolution and media statements from the Secretary General
urging action – but then not following through with strategy and resources.
UNESCO, as the responsible UN agency, had been made inefective by its bud-
get cuts over its stance on Palestine, and although some other member states
contributed extra funds to make up the budget defcit, it remained insufcient.
In addition other UN agencies failed to pick up the issue. Even UN-CSD and
UN-DESA were similarly incapable of making the link to peace, travel and
tourism from their Rio+20 overview. Te lack of any joined-up policy linkages
to the Rio+20 process – which took place at the same time – showed further
gaps between UN words and actions, underlined by a lack of any clear policy,
vision and value system to match the occasions.
However, it should be mentioned that certain UN ofcers made the neces-
sary personal commitments that enabled the London 2012 Campaign to run
its fagship training event, even though they were unable to mobilise high-le-
vel institutional political commitment and resources. More clearly still, there
is a long way to go before the sum total of peace actions focused through UN
declarations have a tangible efect, and fnding a way to make the UN Reso-
lution process bridge the policy-implementation gap must remain a ‘work in
progress’. Te same actions over successive Olympics by the UN bodies regar-
ding the peace issue continue to refect a conservatism that favours the status
quo, favours rhetoric rather than action, and is complicit in playing the issue
down – complicit, that is, with nationalist and corporate interests, as visibly
demonstrated at the Olympics to a global audience.
Behind the pomp and circumstance, the IOC failed to put any resources
into the Truce-building efort at the country level, choosing just a few super-
fcial actions via the International Olympic Truce Centre (IOTC) – belatedly
renewing the Olympic Truce website, building a peace wall in the Olympic
Village, hosting an academic discussion, and working with some children on
peace issues. Te IOTC is responsible for promoting peace as part of the work
of the IOC. Tis is where one would expect to see the main coordination ef-
fort. However, when looking at the practical actions being taken by the IOTC,
it boils down to a token partnership agreement focused on sports, which has
no public strategy or resources to mainstream the Truce through either inspi-
ration or enforcement.
Te UK, as host country, managed the Truce through the London Organis-
ing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the Foreign Ofce. LO-
The Case of the Olympic Games 265
COG addressed the issue with their London 2012 Olympic Truce programme,
which ofered young people the chance to learn about the Olympic Truce and
to take part in sporting and cultural activities. Tis LOCOG initiative was wel-
comed for building inter-cultural understanding amongst youth, and belonged
to the Games organisers’ INSPIRE legacy programme. More than 70 worldwi-
de events marking the Truce took place. However, none of these eforts were
designed to meet the challenges of creating peace in practice during the time of
the Games, but rather were cultural, artistic or school level activities.
Even Lord Bates considered that, despite being a member of the ruling par-
ty in the UK and sitting in the highest political institution, his eforts were
inefective in making the issue mainstream. Tis shows how deeply entren-
ched are the values and lobbies that keep the issue of genuine peace-building
of the agenda. It was noted in the build-up to the Olympics during the 2011
International Peace Day that no politicians or institutions were willing or able
to disturb the workings of the international low-level war economy that has
been in place since 1945. With the host Government currently at war, a politi-
cal spin process was conceived to cleverly manipulate the diplomatic process
and media messages by passing the historic UN resolution to hold the Truce,
and then claiming the country was not technically at war despite its presence
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tellingly, there was not one single mainstream media mention of the Truce
during the entire 6-week Olympic competition period, and the opening and
closing ceremonies notably omitted any signifcant peace message. Between
the Ministry of Sports and Culture, the Foreign Ofce and LOCOG, the plan
to neutralise the Truce was completed, fnally hidden in a blaze of pop culture.
LOCOG efectively became the marketing face of Great Britain PLC, and the
mention of war or peace would have spoiled their media-friendly messaging.
Te call for a one-minute silence at the opening or closing ceremonies to mark
the Truce was left unheard, and the Truce was buried for another 4 years.
Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Control
Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, there has been a corporate sponsor-
ship model in place for the Olympics and, over the years, we have witnessed
the commodifcation of the Games by these companies to an unprecedented
level in history. Te success of the Los Angeles Olympic fnancial model in
delivering the IOC event has meant that the corporates have not only bought
themselves a seat at the table, but they have bought the restaurant the table is
in. Te Olympic sponsorship deals are very lucrative, and money abounds for
developing the Olympic ideal. As such, the corporate sponsors – such as Visa
and Coca-Cola – have an enormous potential to use the Games to support
peace, but the IOC self-regulatory policy of not supporting anything ‘politi-
cal’ makes their support difcult if not impossible. Te corporate marketing
machine ultimately combined with and shaped government spin to give no
oxygen of publicity to the Truce process whatsoever.
Tis stakeholder behaviour should be viewed in the light of the agenda of
Rio+20, which focused on the two key themes of the ‘Green Economy’ and
266 GORDON SI LLENCE
‘Institutional Change’. Looking behind the rhetoric of each of the key respon-
sible stakeholders, lack of action was covered up by the usual media spin and
tokenism done more to protect institutional or professional reputation than
to work towards a genuine peace, and the green economy and institutional
change remained as paper concepts.
Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors Survey
Te lack of awareness of the Truce, even in Olympic venues, was revealed by
the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors London 2012 survey, taken
during Olympic and Para-Olympic competitions, asking over 1000 people
if they knew about the Olympic Truce. Te results showed that fewer than
5% had heard about it, a poor indictment of the UN, the IOC and the Host
Government communications strategy – which, when reported by UNESCO
in the press, led to a formal complaint by the British Ambassador in Paris to
UNESCO, and to the Olympic Truce site being removed from the ofcial pa-
ges of UNESCO for 3 days.
Table 1: Breakdown of Face-to-Face Interview Survey Results Among Adults Aged 18 Years and Above, Asked ‘Have You Heard of
The Olympic Truce?’
Visitors by Nationality Total Yes % Yes
Africa 27 6 22
Oceania 26 1 3.8
Asia 136 3 2.2
Europe (excluding UK) 162 18 11
Middle East 17 3 18
UK total 610 26 4.3
76 cou 1034 57 5.5
Male 528 29 5.5
Female 506 28 5.5
Overall non-UK 424 31 7.3
Te survey can be seen as one of the successes of the Campaign. It was con-
ducted by the Truce Ambassador Trainees themselves at the Olympic venue.
In reality, most of the 5.5% who had heard of the Truce had heard of it in histo-
ry lessons, and not through current media.
The Need for Coherence
Although we rely on governments to create peace, civil society needs to be a
driving force. Te Olympic Truce is tied to the Millennium Goals Develop-
ment approach and, as with all large-scale events, has the possibility of main-
The Case of the Olympic Games 267
streaming sustainable development. However, altogether, the sum total of
government, business and civil society eforts are in need of greater coherence,
and the lack of a clear global will or strategy to make the Truce happen in
reality means that well-intentioned but uncoordinated and piecemeal eforts
are frustrated.
What Can be Done:
Mainstreaming Peace and Sustainability during the Brazil 2016 Olympics
Te concept of a peace-based, knowledge-driven, green global economy will
need to be a strong feature of post Rio+20 peace and security development
actions, well embedded in the institutional value systems as good governance
(See Post Rio+20 Peace and Security Development Agenda.). Tese themes
need to be practically addressed in volatile states if the Truce is to be use-
ful, using sectoral interventions in policy synchrony with territorial needs and
opportunities e.g. a tourism and agricultural development programme in a
post-confict area. For the Truce to become reality, the next steps need to in-
clude the establishment of a support network that brings together experienced
peace-building organisations and individuals to shape the institutional value
system and to assist the youth peace ambassadors in implementing the Truce
on a country-by-country basis.
Figure 1: Time-Line of Truce-Building Activities 2004–2016
Key events on the road to Brazil 2016 include Sochi (Russia) 2014, and the
China Youth Olympics in 2015. Tere will be a global Truce-building process
developed by the core Olympic Truce YPAs and supporters group, which will
Olympic Truce 2016 – A New World Value System
behind a multi-stakeholder strategy for peace and
tourism in 21 countries who need it most?
Save Darfur Campaign calls for a
Truce in South Sudan, exposing the
Corporate & Government co-option
of the Olympics
Change of Greek Government leads to
scrapping of global Truce planning
China complicit in genocide in Dafur,
Russia-Georgia confict on Opening Day
Britain at war in Iraq and
Afghanistan
National and continental
issues of war, poverty,
inequality, social unrest and
streetviolence
2004 2008 2012 2016
Athens,
Greece
Beijing,
China
Time Line for the
Brazil 2016 Olympic Truce
London
UK
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil Lord Michael Bates walks from Athens to London
to highlight the Truce, Olympic Peace Campaign sets up
global Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors Network
Demos Think-tank
produces
Handbook on
implementing the
Truce
268 GORDON SI LLENCE
continue to identify and link to existing international Truce-building proces-
ses. Some of the other sports-related action plans of the YPA network are also
being linked to the Olympic Truce YPA network, and other sporting events
may also be great occasions for peace. Tese peace-building and Olympic pre-
paration processes will be identifed and co-ordinated by Olympic Truce YPAs
as both national level processes and sector processes (Peace though Tourism,
Peace though Sport, Peace through the Arts, etc.), and a series of global / re-
gional and national events should be timetabled and resourced, in line with
the IOC and corporate build-up to the 2016 games in Brazil. National Olym-
pic committees and corporate interests working in these same countries need
to be aligned with the Truce efort and supportive of the peace development
work programme.
The Tourism Sector Contribution to Peace-Building
With global peace in mind, tourism policy developers, together with destina-
tions and businesses, can develop programmes to build the mosaic of the sus-
tainable tourism supply chain, including businesses, destinations and travel-
lers market-place to facilitate sustainable global cultural and environmental
progress, and economic equity. Te aim would be to invite governments to
shape this model in post Rio+20 development actions, and then mainstream
the message at the Brazil Olympics in 2016, bringing tourism stakeholders
and the dimension of the need for a peace-based global economy together.
In making the link with tourism activities, showcasing community-based
responsible and sustainable tourism best practice next to a country’s Olympic
icons ofers the chance to boost sustainable travel and tourism business inter-
nationally. Responsible tourism programmes can be developed by appropriate
ministries and experts, then targeted at the poorest nations to give a boost for
local communities to beneft from Olympic exposure. In the spirit of making
the national contribution to tourism activity and development more respon-
sible, sustainable and competitive, each participating country can profle its
responsible / sustainable tourism ofers in an Olympic showcase of the best
that country has to ofer on a safe and welcoming global tourism trail. Te
UN Type II DestiNet Partnerships’ ‘Sustainable & Responsible Tourism Por-
tal’
(See DestiNet Site to promote Sustainable & Responsible Tourism. http://
www.destinet.eu) has created the tools to develop good practice transfer and
make these national maps in the post Rio+20 linkage to the Olympics. Te
aim is to show how the Agenda 21 / WSSD sustainable tourism process is de-
veloping globally, and then take it to mainstream markets via the events’ large-
scale publicity machinery to boost that development process.
Recommendations for the Olympic Truce Brazil 2016
Based on the London 2012 experience, the following 16 recommendations for
successive Olympics – and especially for Brazil 2016 – can be made:
The Case of the Olympic Games 269
International level
• Tere is a need for an updated institutional value system in the UN that
places the interests of global civil society above the narrow, nationalistic
and corporate interests that dominate its current policy making, immedi-
ately prioritising the Truce process across, as well as with, its Directorates
• Te IOC should make a stronger commitment and emphasis to the imple-
mentation of the Truce, making peace-building eforts in the country a con-
dition of participation and part of a country’s strategic preparation, using
both inspiration and UN enforcement as a means of achieving the Truce
• At each successive Olympics, the host nation traditionally presents a UN re-
solution afrming the Truce as part of the Games. Tis resolution, signed by
foreign ministers / ambassadors, should include a statement that each coun-
try will implement a national strategy to realise the Truce in their country
• Te Global Peace Index should be adopted as a measurement index of peace
during the Olympics
• A time-tabled global peace awareness-raising campaign should be run
jointly by the IOC, the UN and the host country, starting at the Winter
Olympics in Sochi up to Brazil 2016, and focusing on the key confict zones,
linking to the g7+ UN post-2015 peace and security initiative pilot coun-
tries as well as ofcially-recognised UN confict areas
• Te IOTC should be re-developed as the central coordination system of the
action, establishing and overseeing a monitoring system to be put in place
showing which countries are making genuine Truce-building eforts, with a
prize being given to the country which does the most to implement peace-
building activities
• Te corporate Olympic sponsors should collaborate with governments and
NGOs to fund the process
• Te UN should improve the commitment and collaborative working of its
various agencies, giving more resources to UNESCO specifcally for peace
and youth activities, assisting UN confict zone feld agencies such as
UNICEF, UNHCR and UNDP to follow up the Truce-building processes. It
should also ensure full commitment of the UNWTO to support promotion
and implementation of the Truce, given its link to the world’s biggest sports
travel and tourism event, and the dependence of travel and tourism on the
absence of confict. Also UNEP, in recognition of the impacts of confict
on the environment, and UN-DESA / UN-CSD, in preparation for the 2015
adoption of peace and security as part of the Agenda 21 sustainable deve-
lopment process, should be given resources to mainstream peace-building
implementation according to the Olympic preparation time table
• Public-private partnerships and NGOs should form a broad coalition and
work with governments to raise awareness and mobilise grassroots support
270 GORDON SI LLENCE
for the Truce, as well as to assist the development of the Olympic Truce
Campaign Network
• Sector initiatives should be developed, particularly in the felds of sports,
tourism and culture.
National Level
• Each country should defne and resource a national peace-building strategy,
again starting at the Winter Olympics in 2014. An example of such a stra-
tegy can be found in the Olympic Youth Peace Ambassadors Truce imple-
mentation programme
• Te National Olympic Committee in collaboration with government de-
partments such as the foreign afairs / sports / culture ministries should
allocate resources to appoint a National Olympic Truce Coordinator and
fund the workings of a national coordination committee
• Te coordination committee should run a multi-stakeholder countrywide
networking process in collaboration with the media to promote awareness
of the Truce and to create participative opportunities for citizens to celeb-
rate peace
• A national monitoring system based on the Global Peace Index should be
used to report on the reduction of in-country violence during the period of
the Truce
• Olympic athletic competitors, politicians and media celebrities should be
selected to promote the Truce-building process
• More Youth Peace Ambassadors (YPA) and in particular Olympic Truce
Youth Peace Ambassadors should be trained to assist national and interna-
tional networking processes.
Conclusions
Although the London 2012 Olympic Peace Campaign did not make a substan-
tial contribution to achieving real peace on the ground in confict zones during
the 2012 Games, it became clear that this urgent objective requires individual
eforts from thousands of YPAs and greater support from more powerful of-
fces. Multi-stakeholder actions, demanded by civil society and led by the key
Olympic stakeholders – including the IOC, the host country, the UN and the
corporate sponsors – could be appropriate, long-lasting ways to establish efec-
tive peace in the worlds’ confict areas. Also, stakeholders need to act in a time-
ly manner with a clear value system, policy and strategy – linked to the UN
commitments and properly resourced in those countries which need it most.
Once again it was shown that the committed eforts of a few individuals
working together with a common purpose and timetable can make a dife-
rence. Te London 2012 Campaign succeeded in laying a fragile but potenti-
The Case of the Olympic Games 271
ally lasting foundation for focused and coherent international Truce-building
eforts at future Olympics in the establishment of the Olympic Truce Youth
Peace Ambassadors Network, and has a strong argument and networking
tools to make the links between tourism, peace and sustainable development.
Irony has it that we need now the cohesive power of the United Nations
more then ever, yet its lack of policy follow-through needs to be urgently
addressed, by ensuring that the next Olympics is backed by a strategic plan
and the resources to implement it. Te UN value system is overly shaped by
governments and corporates at a time when it must balance this by accept-
ing and adopting wider civil society’s vision of sustainable development – one
where peace, education, travel, and cultural understanding is put at the fore-
front of policy-making. Tis can be applied to those countries now recognised
as pilots for the post-2015 peace and security development in the G7+, a group
of so-called ‘fragile’ states who will pilot the UN’s peace and security agenda
in the New Deal Peace-Building Initiative (Afghanistan, CAR, Congo, Sierra
Leone and East Timor). It is clear the Olympic Truce is an ideal implementati-
on vehicle for this new policy round in these and other confict zones.
Regrettably, as a demonstration of the spirit of the UN’s real commitment
to Olympic peace-building, UNESCO terminated its support for the success-
ful Youth Peace Ambassador (YPA) Programme and its founder, Dr. Darryl
Macer; however, he has continued this through Eubios Ethics Institute with
youth from around the world. Te YPA training programmes continue to ex-
pand, and these will also support the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassa-
dors network. Te YPA network includes 500 individuals plus the 10 trained
in the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassador workshop and these youth
peace ambassadors will continue to remind the UN of the youth mandate of
the UN.
When the Youth Peace Ambassadors were informed of the details of the
removal of support by UNESCO, they reacted positively to build a strong and
unifed apolitical group of ‘youth united for peace through action’, which is
the hope of youth that needs to be harnessed. Instead of using a UN logo they
have made their own logo, and hold workshops almost every month in difer-
ent countries of the world. (See http://www.eubios.info/youth_peace_ambas-
sadors_international)
Te failure to mainstream either peace or tourism in the UN’s own Rio+20
discussion should lead to a complete policy review of how it conducts its remit
to link tourism to peace. Te diplomatic but largely symbolic eforts of the
UN and its peace rhetoric without substance has worn thin with the new in-
ternet-bred youth generations, whose diminishing belief in – and then respect
for – government administration has created a credibility gap that nowadays
is being flled by more internet-informed interactive audiences.
A concluding message would urge those seeking to move the world from a
culture of violence to a culture of peace to combine tourism and peace pro-
cesses, and in particular to use large-scale events to cultivate this most basic
premise of sustainability. Te work should be undertaken with urgency and
priority, given the seriousness of confict and violence, with awareness of tho-
272 GORDON SI LLENCE
se in powerful institutions who maintain the status quo of fear and confict.
Learning from the history of the Games, especially the most recent Beijing
2008 and London 2012 experiences, a strategy to work on peace every year
until the Truce in Brazil 2016 has been formulated in the work programme of
the Olympic Truce Youth Peace Ambassadors International Network. Issues
of capacity-building and development of this network should be given prio-
rity, as part of the wider efort to bring about a change in the institutional
value system of the key stakeholders – the IOC, the host country, the UN and
its member states, and the Olympic corporate sponsors. For the Truce imple-
mentation to be a transparent process, the Global Peace Index can provide an
objective measurement of peace during the Olympics, focused on those coun-
tries and cities hardest hit by low-level warfare and violence. Ten, with the
growth of peace, travel and tourism can prosper in place of confict.
References
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ment/desa/policy/untaskteam_undf/untt_report.
Part IV
Culture, Heritage and Education
OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
Tourism as Peace Education:
A Role for Interpretation
Introduction
Troughout history, humankind has sought a path to sustainable peace
through the perspectives of religion, political science, geography, economics
and sociology, and too often, by resorting to war. More recently, tourism has
been explored as a strategy able to contribute to a more harmonious world.
Tere are two major elements in the peace and tourism proposition – tourism
and peace – and academics have struggled to fnd universally accepted def-
nitions for both. Tourism may be simply defned as all behaviours associated
with travel for leisure purposes, a practice which has become particularly per-
vasive in afuent societies and increasingly adopted in developing economies.
It should be noted that this defnition allows for the inclusion of industrial
activities directed to facilitating leisure travel. Tere are also two sub-pro-
positions in the peace and tourism proposition: peace through tourism and
peace in tourism. Tourism has the potential to contribute to world peace, but
tourism would be detrimental to peace if it is not itself conducted in peaceful
ways. Te tourism and peace proposition frst starts within tourism. Terefo-
re, the major questions scholars writing about peace and tourism face revolve
around how tourism can be responsible, and how tourism can contribute to a
wider peace.
Te uncertainty about tourism as an agent of peace might have arisen from
a defnitional problem with the term ‘peace’ (Litvin, 1998; Moufakkir and Kel-
ly, 2010; Var et al, 1998). It is commonly suggested that ‘peace’ should be un-
derstood as the absence of war (organised lethal confict between sovereign
groups). However, such a limited defnition is contrary to the way peace is un-
derstood by many in the discipline of Peace and Confict Studies (PACS) and
much energy has been invested in expanding the concept of peace and, con-
currently, the concepts of violence and confict.
Haessly (2010) questions the common defnition of peace as the absence of
war and confict. She argues that peace is best defned in terms of presence
rather than absence, maintaining that peace as presence needs to be mani-
fested in all the daily activities of an individual’s personal, professional and
political life. She suggests fve thematic expressions of peace as presence: ju-
stice in relationships, respect for human rights, caring for the common good,
protection of global security, and engagement in actions which promote peace.
With respect to the ffth theme, she notes the extent to which peacemaking is
276 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
apparent in everyday household, community and employment activities, and
in the work of international organisations.
Galtung (1996) distinguishes between negative peace (nothing more than
the absence of physical violence) and positive peace (which exists where in-
dividuals and states are purposefully working together to promote harmony
and mutual beneft). Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) submit that negative peace
may involve the presence of peacelessness; a situation in which, while there
is no violence, there is discord between and within communities, and a situ-
ation in which confict is likely to emerge. Tey have conceptualised peace as
a hierarchy in which the highest level, mostly neglected but highly desired, is
participatory peace. In participatory peace, peace becomes a way of life rather
than merely a condition for a harmonious environment. Just as participati-
on is essential to the success of democracy, participation is what makes peace
work in a sustainable way. Participatory peace is simply defned as a situation
in which ordinary people as world citizens work independently and with each
other to the extent that peace becomes integrated into their way of life.
Te United Nations (1998) defnes a culture of peace “as a set of values, at-
titudes, modes of behavior and ways of life that reject violence and prevent
conficts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and
negotiation among individuals, groups and nations … For peace and non-vi-
olence to prevail, we need to foster a culture of peace through education”. It
is submitted here that tourism, as an increasingly common activity with an
important element of informal learning, provides a platform for the establish-
ment of a culture of peace.
Tourism as peace education
Te world in general cannot be seen as peaceful, and the more restricted world
of tourism also has its share of confict. UNESCO (2002) has identifed eight
action areas to foster a culture of peace; the frst of these is fostering a culture
of peace through education. As noted above, peace, with its multifaceted na-
ture, needs participation by all people at all levels of society. Likewise, peace
education through tourism needs to be incorporated at all levels of tourism
activity, including planning, management, marketing, vacationing, and in the
classroom, the workplace, the destination and the street.
As stated previously, there are two aspects to the tourism and peace pro-
position: (a) maintaining peace in tourism; and (b) making, promoting and
contributing to peace through tourism. While the latter is concerned with
tourism as an agent of peace, the former’s focus relates more to the impacts
of tourism. Tis chapter ofers examples of both approaches. In the frst ap-
proach we discuss tourism education designed to pursue peace through tou-
rism. In the second, inspired by Galtung’s arguments on peace, environmental
interpretation and peace journalism, we discuss the incorporation of peace
education in the various modes of information provision and interpretation to
which tourists may be exposed, including a critical examination of the role of
peace tours.
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 277
It is recognised that while tourism does not automatically contribute to
peace, it has the potential to do so in many ways. Academics and policy ma-
kers aiming to position tourism as a facilitator of peace have sought to distin-
guish the myths and realities of the peace through tourism proposition, and to
efectively promote strategies and examples of practice that qualify tourism as
an agent of peace. Te peace through tourism proposition is a positive respon-
se which links tourism to the concept of participatory peace. Te issue now
is how tourism can be used to mitigate confict and contribute to peaceful
solutions and harmonious relations among people, communities and nations.
Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) contend that just as there is a variety of conficts
there must also be a variety of ameliorative approaches.
Tourism as a peacemaker
Te authors of this chapter depart from the question of whether or not tou-
rism contributes to peace to the more pragmatic one of how we can use tou-
rism to contribute to peace. Haessly (2010, p.14) suggests that, among other
contributions, people pursuing peace through their association with tourism:
• respect and work for the development, protection and support of traditions,
cultural heritage sites and sacred places;
• acknowledge and protect cultural diversity, and encourage travel for all (in-
cluding those with disabilities);
• reduce poverty by favouring local communities in employment and busi-
ness development;
• eliminate the conditions which lead to acts of violence and work to restore
damaged areas;
• plan carefully and adopt sustainable practices with respect to the environ-
ment;
• involve local people in decision-making; and
• develop visible symbols such as peace poles, peace parks and peace gardens.
Relevant literature (e.g., Mowforth and Munt, 1998. Higgings-Desbiolles,
2006; Moufakkir and Kelly, 2010) suggests that where tourism can contribute
to peace it will do so primarily by:
1. helping to raise living standards in destination communities;
2. respecting and helping to protect community biophysical and sociocultural
environments;
3. encouraging the development of favourable attitudes among visitors and
destination residents; and
4. cultivating, adopting and promoting a culture of peace among world citi-
zens.
It is important to distinguish between what might be termed the solid ele-
ments and the liquid elements of tourism-related confict. Te former, the
more visible issues, relate to the widely recognised social, cultural, economic,
and environmental impacts of tourism planning, development and practices,
278 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and the responses associated with sustainable and responsible tourism. Te
latter, less visible issues are concerned with impacts stemming from attitudi-
nal dispositions such as stereotyping, prejudice, hatred, xenophobia, racism,
religious extremism and bigotry.
Although the above approaches are inter-related, the primary focus of this
chapter is on the achievement of more harmonious relationships through mo-
difcation of attitudes by those involved in tourism, an objective regarded as
primarily educational. Sampson (1991, p.182) refers to the persuasion model
of attitude change, which argues that change may be brought about through
communication. Te efectiveness of communication aimed at changing an
attitude relates to three major factors:
• credibility of the source – based on expertise, trustworthiness, attractive-
ness, legitimacy, perceived objectivity, authority and closeness to the recei-
ver;
• attributes of the message – the type of appeal (positive or negative, use of
fear), the salience of the related group norm, and the evidence used to sup-
port conclusions; and
• attributes of the receiver – persuadability, level of self-esteem, the impor-
tance of group conformity, relevance of the issue, and mindful involvement.
Each problem emanating from tourism engenders peacelessness, but tou-
rism has the potential to contribute to a culture of peace beyond its frontiers.
Moufakkir and Kelly (2010) ofered the following fgure providing an example
of areas to advance research into and understanding of the macroscopic re-
lationship between tourism and peace (Figure 1). According to the authors:
“Since the pursuit of peace is a continuing endeavor, progress through tourism
appears to be a never-ending story. Tourism has the potential to contribute to
peace in many ways and these must be appropriately investigated and assessed
… As new forms of tourism emerge, there are new challenges and opportunities
…” (p. xxv). Such a view recognises that the potential of tourism to contribute
to peace is not limited to economic considerations. For example, how does/
can volunteer, pro- poor or community-based tourism contribute to peace?
Tese forms of tourism have the potential to contribute to poverty alleviati-
on in poor communities (Pro-poor Tourism, 2013) and foster hope (e.g., Isaac,
2010). Tourism has also the potential to contribute to confict resolution bet-
ween communities through the mechanisms of reconciliation and dialogue
(e.g., Kelly and Nkabahona, 2010), or the building of peace parks (Gelbman,
2010) or peace trails to bring people together and commemorate peace (Lash,
Kay Smith and Smith, 2010). Tourism education and education for responsible
tourism can be used as strategies to combat irresponsible tourism actions and
promote examples of good conduct (e.g., Fennell, 2006; Moufakkir, 2011). As
an agent of peace, tourism has the potential to promote democracy, reduce
confict, promote cross-cultural understanding, eradicate poverty, mitigate
global warming, and work for equality and against prejudice. Te goodness of
tourism must come to overweigh its negative impacts and genuinely overth-
row its dark side. Te benefts of tourism are too important to humanity, and
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 279
the ways to beneft from these benefts need to be systematically studied more
in relation to the peace proposition in all its facets. Broadly speaking, tourism
has the potential to respond to UNESCO’s call for action for a culture of peace
by: fostering a culture of peace through education, promoting sustainable eco-
nomic and social development, promoting respect for all human rights, en-
suring equality between women and men, fostering democratic participation,
advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity, supporting participatory
communication and the free fow of information and knowledge, and promo-
ting international peace and security (UNESCO, 2002).
Fig. I. The peace through tourism circle
Fig. I. The peace through tourism circle (Source: Moufakkir and Kelly, 2010, p. xxv)
The peace through tourism concept, insofar as it is concerned with attitude change, is primarily
based on the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) which argues that prejudice and stereotyping
stem largely from ignorance, and that intercultural relationships can become more harmonious if
there is sufficient contact between different groups. It is further argued that positive outcomes
are more likely if these contacts incorporate equality of status among participants; intergroup
cooperation; common goals; and support by authorities, law or custom. Later additions include
opportunities for personal acquaintance and the development of intergroup friendships. It follows
that tourism education designed to pursue peace through tourism should make use of strategies
and content which facilitate the provision of tourism experiences involving appropriate contact
situations.
The elements of the peace proposition in which they may play a part are listed in Table 1 and
include measures directed to awareness-raising and mindfulness among visitors and hosts,
encouragement of positive attitudes through appropriate intercultural contacts, recognition of
ethical concerns such as respect for the host community environment and human rights, and
assistance with community development and empowerment.
Source: Moufakkir and Kelly, 2010, p. xxv
Te peace through tourism concept, insofar as it is concerned with attitude
change, is primarily based on the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) which
argues that prejudice and stereotyping stem largely from ignorance, and that
intercultural relationships can become more harmonious if there is sufcient
contact between diferent groups. It is further argued that positive outcomes
are more likely if these contacts incorporate equality of status among partici-
pants; intergroup cooperation; common goals; and support by authorities, law
or custom. Later additions include opportunities for personal acquaintance
280 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and the development of intergroup friendships. It follows that tourism educa-
tion designed to pursue peace through tourism should make use of strategies
and content which facilitate the provision of tourism experiences involving
appropriate contact situations.
Te elements of the peace proposition in which they may play a part are lis-
ted in Table 1 and include measures directed to awareness-raising and mind-
fulness among visitors and hosts, encouragement of positive attitudes through
appropriate intercultural contacts, recognition of ethical concerns such as re-
spect for the host community environment and human rights, and assistance
with community development and empowerment.
Table 1: Peace through tourism implementation tools
To be included To be avoided
Peace content in tourism education
Pre-trip information (for hosts and guests)
Education on community culture
Reminders of peace ethic
Skillful mediation
Shared interests (hosts and tourists)
Planned experiential learning
Pervasive hospitality
Rejection of peace consideration
Superfciality, bias and misinformation
Contamination of community culture
Dismissal of peace ethic
Lack of or inefective mediation
Focus on diferences (‘othering’)
No learning element
Hostility and poor service
Community consultation and involvement
Delivery of benefts to community
Mutual respect (hosts and guests)
Limits to resource exploitation
Right to travel (with social inclusion)
Support for democratic regimes
Appropriate regulation
Consultative confict management
Supplier collaboration/partnerships
Traveller security
Community exclusion from decision-making
Benefts to a privileged few
Patronization, lack of respect
Uncontrolled or over-exploitation
Barriers to travel (and social exclusion)
Collusion with undemocratic regimes
A laissez-faire approach
Confict management by decree
Unbridled competition
Threats to traveller safety
Expansion of local/domestic markets
Distinctive products
Local access to training and credit
Over-dependence on international markets
Complete product standardisation
Lack of access to training and credit
Poverty/volunteer tourism, contacts
Adherence to codes of practice
Exclusive tourist enclaves
Ignorance/disregard of codes of practice
Source: Kelly (2012)
Arguing for the incorporation of the peace through tourism proposition into
tourism education , Kelly (2006) refers to conscientization, a term coined by
Paolo Freire (Galtung, 1996) for a process in which both consciousness and
conscience are aroused, refected in an awareness of how the world might be
improved and a willingness to work towards that end. Tis section focuses on
the role of potential contributors to peace through their educative role in tou-
rism – tourism educators, travel guides, travel literature and tour guides – and
on how they may make this contribution.
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 281
The role of formal education
According to Ring et al (2009, p.106), ‘Te design of a curriculum involves
many decisions on what to include and exclude and to what extent regional,
local and institutional contexts should be integrated.’ Questions to be con-
sidered in constructing a peace through tourism curriculum include: How
should it be designed? Is there room to accommodate signifcant diferences
of opinion? Is there a core knowledge element? What other content should be
included? What elements of tourism should be discouraged?
It has been argued that a major reason for the inclusion of the peace pro-
position in mainstream tourism courses is the opportunities thereby ofered
for the development in students of skills in critical thinking, analysis, prob-
lem-solving, creativity and coping with change. Processes for including peace
through tourism in tourism education courses were reviewed by Kelly (2006).
It may be achieved through development of one or more units presenting tou-
rism as a peace industry incorporating instruction in, for example, codes of
conduct, responsible tourism practices, volunteer contributions, the need for
regulation and responses to globalisation.
However, a more efective approach would integrate the peace message into
all units at all levels of study. Appropriate mindfulness can be encouraged by
intensive student involvement in Socratic-type discussion of issues contri-
buting to peacelessness, including, for example: the use of sex to promote a
destination; the development of tourist enclaves; group tours; sporting com-
petitions; sex tourism; visits to religious festivals, sacred sites and places of
worship; requirements for visas and passports; classes of accommodation on
trains and ships and in hotels; encouraging overindulgence in food and drink
consumption; tipping; refusal to give money to beggars; haggling over the
price of merchandise; taking photographs; rejecting the host community’s
dress standards; promotion of extreme sports; mass production of souvenirs;
and use of indigenous motifs in advertising. Case studies should be chosen
for their utility in illustrating subject content and encouraging interest in and
empathy with other people, pride in the role of tourism in bringing people to-
gether, and consciousness of the responsibilities associated with employment
in the industry (Kelly, 2006).
It should be noted that, for many problematic topics, there is no universally
accepted solution. Student involvement in discussion of these topics facilitates
transperceptual learning (Crews, 1989), developing an ability to perceive rea-
lity through the eyes of others. It will also encourage a dynamic multicultural
approach in which dualism is avoided, similarities and diferences are viewed
as relative, the inevitability of change is recognised and individuals question
their own neutrality (Moufakkir, 2010). Tese desirable outcomes can be en-
hanced by the provision of foreign language studies, even at an elementary
level. Tere are also distinct advantages in the inclusion of exchange arran-
gements or units of study which enable students to study in another country
(Askjellerud, 2003).
282 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
The role of the tour operator
Many of the elements of peace through tourism are apparent in the practices
of responsible tourism, a term which has been widely adopted in the industry.
For example, in 1990, Community Aid Abroad issued a booklet, Travel wise
and be welcome: A guide to responsible travel in the 90s. It draws attention to
the hidden (and not so hidden) social and environmental costs associated with
tourism, and provides advice on how these may be alleviated. Travellers are
encouraged to learn about the destination to be visited, learn a few words of
the local language, respect local customs, use locally owned accommodation
and services, deal fairly when shopping, avoid ofensive behaviour and mini-
mise waste.
Te aim of the booklet is consistent with those of other tourism suppliers
including those promoting sustainability. For example, there is the work of
Hostelling International (formerly the International Youth Hostels Federation
(IYHF), a global body representing associations in 85 countries. Its concerns
now go well beyond the provision of inexpensive backpacker accommodation
and incorporate the aim of fostering peace and understanding throughout the
world. Te mission statement refers to ‘youth hostelling for peace and under-
standing’ and ‘building bridges’, and some hostels have become learning cen-
tres for peace (Community Aid Abroad, 1990).
Blanchard (2004) describes the operations of the Peace Boat (Japan), a
cruise liner whose visits and on-board activities are designed to inform and
encourage travellers wishing to acquire clearer understanding of the world’s
problems and possible solutions. She commends the Peace Boat for its reco-
gnition of the tourist as someone who wants to learn. Te UK Federation of
Tour Operators (FTO), through its Responsible Tourism Committee, confrms
a commitment to practices which prevent economic, environmental, social
and cultural degradation and make a positive contribution to the livelihood of
the local people. Another British-based organisation, Tourism Concern, seeks
‘to efect change in the tourism industry by campaigning for fair and ethically
traded tourism.’ Te organisation works with the tourism industry to elimina-
te social and environmental problems associated with tourism, and a central
concern is the reduction of poverty, especially in developing countries. Edu-
cational campaigns have focused on the injustices generated by forcible dis-
placement without compensation for the development of resorts and conser-
vation areas in East Africa; the use of forced labour for infrastructure projects
in Myanmar (Burma); and the conditions which porters endure in providing
services for Himalayan trekkers. Tourism Concern makes available a range of
resource materials on:
• fair trade in tourism (and how the individual traveller can contribute);
• development of community tourism (and enhancement of local benefts);
and
• raising public awareness (and support for ethical travel).
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 283
The role of the travel writer
It is submitted that host community sensitivities and environments are bet-
ter protected if visitors are pre-informed of potential problems and ways of
avoiding them. Tere must be recognition of the value of planning, and of the
need to involve the local community in order to gain their support.
Travel writing includes brochures, whose primary purpose is to sell tou-
rism products or destinations, and guidebooks mainly concerned with the
provision of useful information. Tere are also products of travel journalism
which incorporate short reports published in newspaper travel supplements
(often sponsored and of an advertorial nature), articles in magazines (some of
which specialise in travel), and television travelogues (some of a highly infor-
mative documentary nature but often produced primarily to encouraging visi-
tation). Travel literature comprises lengthy and detailed descriptions of travel
or residence experiences in foreign environments, usually in book format, and
intended to entertain and inform readers.
Travel guides
In Anne Tyler’s novel, Te Accidental Tourist, her central character earns his
living by writing guidebooks for business travellers who wish to avoid dealing
with the unfamiliar surroundings. He identifes and recommends accommo-
dation, dining and other establishments whose facilities and services match as
closely as possible those available in metropolitan USA. Clearly there is little
potential in these for the mind-broadening, attitude-changing intercultural
experiences on which the peace proposition is based.
According to Weaver and Opperman (2000, p.163) ‘Travel guides are a par-
ticularly intriguing item of origin region merchandise since they exercise an
enormous infuence over the destination decision and tourist behavior once
in the destination.’ Terkelson and Sorensen (2005) note that guidebooks in
the past tended to focus on practicalities such as accommodation, transpor-
tation, food and dining, currency exchange and attractions, but have evolved
to include cultural and historical information, contributing some depth to the
visitor’s understanding. Te authors refer to an increase in user satisfaction
with a guidebook when ‘it surveys the atmosphere of the place.’ (p.55). More
recent travel guides, in addition to an abundance of practical information, in-
clude sections on history, geography, the economy, politics, education, the arts,
responsible tourism, social graces, legal matters and advice to disabled, gay
and lesbian, and senior travellers and those with children. Much of this mate-
rial is aimed at reducing or avoiding clashes attributable to cultural diferen-
ces. Travellers are invited to contribute amendments and updates for subse-
quent editions.
In general, travel guides may be seen as helping to meet the recognised
need for travellers to have some knowledge about and understanding of desti-
nation communities and cultures and of appropriate behaviour when visiting
them.
284 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
Travel journalism
Shinar and Kempe (2007, p.136) maintain that, “Journalists do not simply re-
port on the world, they also assign meaning to the facts they report and in-
terpret them according to a particular cognitive framework.“ Te authors ad-
vocate peace journalism which encourages a professional ethic incorporating
a commitment to accuracy, veracity, fairness, respect for human rights and a
peace activist role in building bridges of understanding.
Te products of travel journalism include television documentaries and the
relatively short articles contained in newspaper and magazine travel supple-
ments. Tese can be enjoyable, enlivened by lyrical styles, personal percep-
tions and the use of anecdotes. However, while some provide background his-
torical and cultural information, many are sponsored and of an advertorial
nature, focusing on the attributes of hotels and resorts, and tips on where to
go, what to do, what to buy and where to dine. Information on host cultures
often focuses on the more exotic elements, thereby emphasising diferences
rather than similarities between hosts and guests. It may be argued that even
those recognise the value of inner peace (freedom from tension and trouble-
some distractions) with frequent references to relaxation, recreation, escape
and getting away and the use of phrases such as ‘time to linger’, ‘strolling’, ‘a
carefree manner’, ‘watching the world go by’, ‘places to chill out’, ‘places to
recharge your batteries’, ‘space to be oneself’, ‘liberation from pressure’, and
‘opportunities to sit and contemplate.’
Te more conscientious travel journalist aims to convey a ‘sense of place’
(Farewell, 1992) by going beyond mere description and, in efect, presenting
the reader with a vicarious travel experience about whose impacts it is pos-
sible to speculate. A survey of travelogues (Kelly, 1998) identifed examples of
travelogue writing aimed at increasing the reader’s awareness of the potential
for environmental damage associated with travel; the vulnerability of people
in some Tird World communities to exploitation by tourism interests; the
processes of dependence, commodifcation and trivialisation which may ac-
company tourism development; and some approaches used in the search for
solutions to these problems.
Teir primary aim is to take readers on a vicarious journey which will at
least entertain and inform them. For the ‘armchair traveller’, this may be
enough, but the real objective is to encourage readers to undertake such jour-
neys themselves and to use such reports as sources of information on places
they plan to visit. Travelogues, if subjected by the reader to critical analysis,
can contribute to what Horne (1992) calls intelligent tourism, conducted by
travellers able to recognise the superfciality of much of what they see, aware
of the limitations of their knowledge, eager to seek opportunities for deeper
understanding and sensitive to the fragility of what they enjoy in the places
they visit.
Travel literature
Travel books are more substantial products which may even provide an al-
ternative to travel. Armstrong (2004) describes a tourism education module
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 285
which, as an alternative to feld trips, required students to identify in travel
writing the benefts and problems arising from tourism-related cultural in-
teraction. Benefts included the revival of local cultures and traditions, de-
mand for local products, and the preservation of historic artifacts while the
problems included the degradation of cultures through commercialisation
and bogus authenticity, segregation and opposition to tourism initiatives. It
is claimed that students acquired insights into cultural stereotyping, racism,
prejudice and preconceptions, the role of cultural go-betweens, guides and
mediators, and the relevance to tourism of Plog’s Psychographic Continuum.
Voysey (2006, pp.9-10), referring to the role of travel literature in peace
through tourism, laments the extent to which Western travel writers are guil-
ty of demeaning and patronising attitudes to other cultures, emphasising the
romantic and exotic, and maintains that, like good tour guides, good travel
writers are mediators, able to ‘negotiate the border regions between what we
think of as one culture and another.’ Te starting point is the writer’s aware-
ness of their culturally infuenced perceptions and judgments, and the process
involves rigorous research into the cultural, political and historic context of
what is being observed, or of that in which the writer has participated. Tere
is a need to recognise the tensions relating to authenticity and the ongoing
process of culture change.
The role of the tourist
Reporting to tour supplier Community Aid Abroad, Kelly (1995, p.22) referred
to the value of information sessions conducted by returned travellers in pro-
moting responsible tourism. It is submitted here that returned travellers with
an appropriate message to deliver could similarly contribute to the outcomes
sought under the peace proposition.
Tere is a specifc form of tourist reporting which does not ft into the abo-
ve categories, but could be seen as potentially instrumental in the pursuit of
peace. An example of this is given by Schwartz (1991), who describes eforts
by groups of travellers to ensure that events in Tibet in the late 1980s did not
remain hidden from the rest of the world. Te programme commenced with
travellers present in Lhasa during the nationalist demonstrations of 1987 and
the imposition of order by armed police. Tere were some fatalities among
the Tibetans, arrests, and confscation of flm and photographs taken by for-
eign observers. A number of these observers decided to prepare an accurate
account of the event, to be passed on to Western journalists. Although the
participants changed, these eforts continued until the declaration of martial
law in Lhasa in 1989.
Tose involved were individual travellers who, unlike group travellers, were
relatively free to move about and mingle with the Tibetan community. Tey
stayed in the country for extended periods, using locally- owned accommoda-
tion, made their own transport arrangements, and pursued engagement and
‘grassroots’ experiences. Tey included some with backgrounds (mainly Euro-
pean) in journalism, photography, human rights, law, languages, and medicine,
286 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and often with useful contacts in their home countries. Tere was some dis-
agreement over the level of activism deemed appropriate, the desire for per-
ceived objectivity and the need to protect the identities of Tibetan dissidents.
Nonetheless, specifc tasks were allocated and channels developed for delivery
of the reports to foreign correspondents in other countries.
Schwartz (1991) identifes a number of factors contributing to involvement.
Tese include:
• a view that status as foreigners provided some protection from the excesses
of the security forces;
• attributes such as self-confdence and independence;
• the desire to be a traveller rather than a tourist; and
• the opportunities presented to experience a ‘real-life adventure’.
Te author concludes by submitting that
“Individual travellers may have increasingly important roles to play in
closed societies that limit access to information and deal with unrest by
expelling professional information gatherers such as journalists … Tese
governments may fnd it far more difcult and costly to restrict the move-
ments of travellers than to restrict the movement of journalists. It may turn
out in the future that travellers, as a mobile international community, will
once again come to play socially signifcant roles as observers, witnesses,
and gatherers of information (p.603).”
The role of the tour guide
Te tour guide may be regarded as a front-line implementer of the peace
through tourism proposition. Tour-guiding is the core component of the vari-
ous services ofered by tour operators. According to the International Associ-
ation of Tour Managers (IATM), a tour guide is a person who “interprets in an
inspiring and entertaining manner, in the language of the visitors’ choice, the
cultural and natural heritage and environment“ (Reisinger and Steiner, 2006,
p.482).
Generally, “Tour guides are frontline employees in the tourism industry who
play an important role in shaping tourists’ experience in a destination. Whe-
ther tour guides can deliver quality service to tourists is not only essential to
the business success of the tour operators they are afliated with, but is also
critical to the overall image of the destination they represent” (Huang et al,
2010, p.3). It is clear that tour guides can be leaders in the practice and promo-
tion of peace through tourism and in tourism.
Examples of peace in tourism at the macro level have been discussed in the
relationship between tourists, tourism development and nature stewardship
(eg,Weiler et al, 1991). Haig and McIntyre (2002, p.40) refer to the two ele-
ments of interpretation and education as essential in motivating clients to pro-
tect the environment. Weiler et al (1991) note that environmental interpretati-
on is best delivered with high level communicative skills, enthusiasm, a sense
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 287
of humour and perspective, self-confdence and credibility, attributes likely to
be of value in encouraging positive attitude change. Tey also point to the
importance of the tour guide as a role model exhibiting appropriate attitudes.
Carmody et al (2010) emphasise a need for the nature guide to be able to moti-
vate the tourist emotionally and intellectually.
In their review of the literature on tour guiding, Chan and Baum (2004)
identify three roles for the tour guide. Te instrumental role is concerned with
leadership, communication and organisational tasks; the expressive role with
motivation, entertainment and encouraging bonding among participants; and
the needs-meeting role with a customer-oriented demonstration of empathy
and concern. All of these attributes have relevance in the pursuit of harmo-
nious relationships.
Tis may be seen as a somewhat daunting list of guide responsibilities. No-
netheless, the importance of the tour guide cannot be underestimated. It is
submitted here that the signifcance of the tour guide to the peace proposition
lies mainly in his or her role as mediator between visitors and hosts. Bartos
and Wehr (2002, p.166) defne mediation, in a confict management context,
as ‘negotiation facilitated by third, presumably impartial, parties.’ Te authors
refer to the practice of encouraging participants to ‘reform their reality’ – to
recognise that what they perceive as objective facts may merely refect dife-
ring perceptions.
Issue in focus: Peace tours
Tours can be diversionary, recreational, educational or inspirational (Suzuki,
2012) and may incorporate all these elements. However, it might be that the
expectations reviewed above would be most apparent in the educational role
of the peace tour guide, a role which has not attracted the attention of acade-
mics despite its importance. Below is an example of a ‘peace’ tour as experi-
enced by one of the authors of this chapter:
The peace tour experience: an illustrative example
During an academic tourism conference, one part of its social schedule was a
peace tour. What would one expect from a peace tour? From the start of the
tour until its end, there was practically nothing about peace. Te entire dis-
course of the tour guide and discussion with the tour participants was about
war. For about half a day, our tour guide, a well-mannered gentleman, seemed
to take his task seriously. For him, it seemed like it was the ultimate moment
to perform his skills of interpretation, and convince us about his interpretati-
on of the confict that took place in his country a few years ago. He was emo-
tional, giving us vivid details of a situation that he had personally experienced.
He was describing the atrocities of the war. He was very good in describing
the war. He could make it almost real. He took us to the exact places where
the war canons of the enemy were observing the moves of the locals. We visi-
ted the tunnels which his heroic local people dug to hide women and children,
and smuggle food and ammunition. He told us stories about the people killed
288 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
and how they got killed. We saw houses half standing with walls still bearing
the wounds of bullets. Certainly, some of us were moved by his stories and his
description of the atrocities of that war. I was not.
… And I kept thinking to myself: where is the peace tour and where is peace
in all this? Is the peace tour all about war? Te tour guide and his interpretati-
on had in fact hijacked the peace tour. His tour was all about stirring emotions.
I am still wondering how peaceful these emotions were. Tour participants in-
dicated their confusion as to “whether the tour was a peace tour or a war ‘me-
morial’ tour”; “Where is peace in all this?”; “Tis is not what I expected from a
peace tour”; “It’s all about the war and the confict”; “I already know the story
of the massacre”; “What has been done about it now?”; “What happened to the
women who survived the tragedy?”; “What programmes have been developed
for them?”; “how do people live together now despite the past and the diferen-
ces?”, or “How do people live with the past?”.
Te tour and its guide were giving voices to the voiceless dead, but tour
participants wanted to also hear the voices of the living. A peace tour which
focuses only on violence does not deserve to be called a peace tour. Despite its
‘peace tour’ designation, this one did not contribute to the search for peace.
Peace tours are mostly related to political activism and political tourism (Bel-
hassen and Santos, 2006; Brin, 2006). Tey are predominantly used to pro-
mote political agendas and interpretation is imbued with politics and ideolo-
gy (Belhassen and Santos, 2006; Brin, 2006). Moufakkir (2010) criticised the
subjectivity of peace tours, arguing that their objectives are often contradic-
tory and their goals counterproductive in the pursuit of peace. He cautioned
against acceptance of ‘political tours’, ‘solidarity tours’ and ‘ justice tours’ as
peace tours and suggested that while these focus on one side of a confict or
issue that divides people, genuine peace tours should transcend the notion
of side-taking and put the emphasis more on bridging gaps between groups
through empathy and understanding of the multiple realities involved. Te
interpretation delivered by the guides of political, solidarity and justice tours
is deliberately myopically constructed and orientated to serve the purpose
of one side. To arouse compassion in their audience, they use dramaturgical
elements and discourse focusing on violent examples and sites of tragedy. In
other words, they create a ‘spatiotemporal bubble’ (Edensor, 2000) that direct-
ly or indirectly invites tour participants to remain locked in the past and that
leads them to consider only the atrocities associated with war and confict. In-
terestingly, writing about peace guiding in Japan, Suzuki (2012) relates peace
tours to ‘dark tourism’.
Citing Hughes (2008), Suzuki (2012, p. 6) explains that visits to dark tou-
rism sites aim to “(re)construct the moral geographies with big events of the
past into proximity“. Te peace tour he analysed brings students to sites of tra-
gedy to learn about historical atrocities, with tour guides exclusively focusing
on military violence as the main feature of peace-building. Te observation
that follows is that this type of peace tour, although intended to develop a cul-
ture of peace in the participants, moves them more towards confict and war
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 289
and less towards peace and harmony, more oriented towards confict and con-
fict resolution than to peace, peace-building, peacemaking and peacekeeping.
According to Galtung, the search for peace should focus on the conditions
for moving closer to peace or at least not drifting closer to violence (1964, p.
2). While the theory of peace has undergone changes since 1964, some peace
tours today continue to emphasise the uglier aspects of confict resolution.
Discussing confict and war has always been easier than talking about peace
and harmony. Kof Anan, former Secretary General for the United Nations
noted that at any moment in contemporary history, the people of as many as
40 nations are engaged in armed confict or warfare. A failure to contemplate
peaceful possibilities for living with others in the world today results when
leaders and peoples of these countries engage in escalating acts of aggression,
violence, retaliation, terrorism, counter-terrorism, armed confict and warfa-
re instead of seeking peaceful alternatives to resolving conficts. However, he
then reminded us that this means that people of more than 160 nations not
engaged in armed confict do exhibit the values, knowledge and skills neces-
sary to resolve potential conficts peacefully; he lamented that these stories
receive so little public attention” (Haessly, 2010, p. 2). Te same observation
could be made about many so-called peace tours. What added value does such
a tour bring to a participant’s vision about peace?
In the “propaganda infected landscape” of today’s daily news and media
reporting, people often get frst impressions about a confict from the media,
and a peace tour that is focused on confict twists peace activism into a form
of advocacy journalism, where propaganda and public relations (PR) dominate.
Indeed, the locational elements of a tour, its carefully planned itinerary and
the immediacy of interpretation by the tour guide provide, for the tour parti-
cipants, an experience which may have even more damaging impact than an
unbalanced media report.
It is clear that guided tours have the power to transform the perceptions,
attitudes and behaviors of participants. However, a tour which is too heavily
focused on violence may transform participants into becoming more rather
than less angry; negatively sensitised rather than positively oriented towards
peace and peaceful solutions to a confict; and apathetic about the current si-
tuation rather than engaged in it. A tour guide who is interpreting on such a
tour does not deserve to be called a peace tour guide if his or her interpre-
tation does not incorporate elements of objectivity, mediation, empathy and
concern.
It is acknowledged in the work of Galtung (1964; 1966; 1988; 1973) on peace,
confict and war that an adequate understanding of violence is required in or-
der to understand and defne peace. Terefore, an efective peace tour should
include both peace and confict elements. However, peace tour participants
are involved in a search for peace, not violence, and a peace tour guide should
adapt the vocabulary of violence and confict to that of peace, harmony and
hope. Peace tour guides have, in addition to their classic interpretation job, a
duty to bridge cultural gaps, mediate between belligerent groups and cultivate
a continuing commitment to peace in tour participants.
290 OMAR MOUFAKKI R, I AN KELLY
A need for change in mainstream peace tour guiding is apparent. Visits
to tragic sites contextualise storytelling about confict while visits to sites of
hope contextualise storytelling about peace. A successful peace tour guide is
the guide who has left his audience with a sense of optimism and hope.
Based on this discussion, what elements should a peace tour aimed at de-
veloping a culture of peace possess in diferentiating itself from a mainstream,
confict or war tour? Te following are regarded as essential:
• A comprehensive presentation of valid facts about the history of the confict
or issue;
• Involvement of and participant interaction with the local community;
• Awareness and encouragement of peace initiatives in the community;
• Opportunities to hear and discuss the complete range of views on the con-
fict or issue; and
• Opportunities to experience community social, cultural, environmental
and political events.
Conclusions and recommendations
Leisure scholars of the 20th Century lamented the disregard of ethics in leisu-
re education, and not much has changed. “In the eras of the First and Second
World Wars, the focus of academic programmes was on war, confict and in-
ternational relations. During, and immediately following the Vietnam era, the
focus changed to a study of causes and prevention of regional and low-inten-
sity warfare” (Haessly, 2010, p. 2-3). In the 21st century, the focus of academic
programmes needs to shift towards the values, strategies and skills required
for making and sustaining peace.
Peace, with its comprehensive repertoire, is the business of us all, but peace
in tourism education remains largely ignored for the reasons discussed above.
Tere is an argument that tourism education should remain vocational; prepa-
ring students for a job and a career. Instructors fnd it difcult to incorporate
peace through tourism in their course work as a causal relationship between
the two is not always evident, especially if we continue to associate peace and
successful tourism industry programmes only with the absence of armed con-
fict. To advance the contribution of tourism to peace, tourism educators need
to recognise the difering implications for tourism of negative peace, positive
peace, and participatory peace.
It is acknowledged that, despite the tolerance mandated by cultural rela-
tivism, there are likely to be aspects of a host or guest culture (eg, treatment
of animals, gender and ethnic discrimination) seen as dysfunctional by some
travellers. It is not suggested that these should be avoided or ignored. Tese
may, in fact, provide opportunities for tourism to make a positive diference.
Voysey (2006) notes the challenges contained in what has become known
as poverty tourism. While accepting that the tourist should come into contact
with everyday life in the host community, he is critical of the approach which
Tourism as Peace Education: A Role for Interpretation 291
idealises poverty, presenting it as somehow more fulflling than afuence.
However, understanding and compassion can be stimulated by a realistic exa-
mination of the political and economic forces which create poverty and other
social problems.
According to UNESCO, the youth of the world want to create a culture of
peace. Tourism education should aim to develop tourism and hospitality lea-
ders of tomorrow who have a positive attitude, demonstrate strong work va-
lues, lead by example, encourage tolerance, celebrate diversity and promote
peace around the world. Tourism and hospitality providers have a responsibi-
lity to make the world a better place for all.
Peace Studies scholars have extended research to include community, raci-
al, ethnic, tribal and religious conficts, and intra- and inter-regional violence
and terrorism. Despite a few articles, chapters in edited volumes (Tourism,
Progress and Peace, 2010; Peace through tourism: Promoting Human Security
Trough International Citizenship, 2013), and the launching of an open access
journal (Te Journal of Tourism and Peace Research -www.icptr.com), schol-
arly writing about tourism and peace is still in its infancy. Tere is a tendency
among some tourism academics to defame the tourism and peace propositi-
on as unrealistic and impractical. Te reluctance to write about tourism and
peace also resonates in the difculty of publishing in established journals and
those with positivistic research anchorages. Tese observations not only limit
research on the tourism and peace proposition, but also discourage scholar-
ship in this area of study. Certainly, tourism is not a magic wand nor is it a
panacea for solving the world’s problems. However, tourism is not alone in
the pursuit of peace and can, along with other human activities, contribute in
many ways.
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EDWARD W. LOLLI S
Peace as a Destination: Peace
Tourism around the World
Summary
Peace tourism is travelling to experience the places and activities that au-
thentically represent peace stories and peacemakers of the past and present.
Peace activities require varying degrees of planning and preparation but peace
places, primarily monuments and museums, are static and available to the
tourist most of the time.
Public awareness has not caught up with peace scholarship which increa-
singly defnes ‘peace’ as having both positive and negative themes, only one of
which is the end of war. Te vast number of peace themes with 86 examples
being named here, confuses the public and prevents peace tourism from com-
peting with simpler tourism ‘brands’ like golf, beach resorts, U.S. Civil War
history, African safaris, and theme parks.
Peace tourism nevertheless already exists in places like New York City and
Hiroshima, which have concentrations of peace monuments and museums.
On a national level, an abundance of peace monuments and museums indica-
tes that the ten countries most likely to beneft from peace tourism develop-
ment (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Switzer-
land, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Canada, and Belgium
– in that order.
A case study is presented to demonstrate that peace tourism can also take
place on a regional scale. A 360 mile (583 kilometer) highway corridor in the
United States of America and Canada contains one hundred peace monu-
ments (including 15 ‘museums for peace’) and ‘authentically represents’ ten
diferent peace stories and at least 36 notable historic peacemakers. Similar
corridors also exist elsewhere.
Tis paper concludes that many cities and corridors with concentrations
of peace monuments are of sufcient interest to sustain peace tourism, pro-
vided that visitors appreciate the variety of peace themes which exist in any
given city or region. To increase visitors’ appreciation, the artists, city fathers,
and museum curators responsible for peace monuments and museums should
work together to promote peace tourism. Collectively, they could tell stories of
peace and justice which are far greater than the sum of the individual parts.
***
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 295
What is peace tourism?
If tourism is travel for pleasure or education, what does it mean to travel to
seek ‘peace’ as a destination? Granted, some tourists travel to fnd peace in the
sense of rest, repose, or enlightenment (‘getting away from it all’). But I wish
to consider travelling to see and experience peace in the same way that others
travel to see and experience, for example, sports, nature, music, art, and so
forth, even war. How does the tourist travel to see or experience war? Unless
he or she is a mercenary, the answer is vicariously, i.e. by visiting battlefelds,
re-enactments, and war museums. Can tourists not travel to see and experi-
ence peace in the same way?
Te National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States defnes
heritage tourism as “travelling to experience the places and activities that au-
thentically represent the stories and people of the past” and defnes cultural
heritage tourism as “travelling to experience the places and activities that au-
thentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.” (National
Trust for Historic Preservation 2011)
By modifying the latter defnition only slightly, we can say:
”Peace tourism is travelling to experience the places and activities that
authentically represent peace stories and peacemakers of the past and
present.”
One might wonder exactly how peace tourists can travel to experience peace
places and activities of the past and present. Based on the defnition of peace
tourism, this table suggests examples of some of the things a tourist might do
during a peace tourism excursion:
By defnition, peace tourism is travelling ...
... to experience PLACES ... ... to experience ACTIVITIES ...
... that authentically
represent peace stories
& peacemakers of the
PAST (i.e. Peace History)
Visit peace monuments
Visit museums for peace
Visit the sites of historic peace events
Visit peace art in galleries & museums
Celebrate peace holidays
Celebrate peace anniversaries
Study historic peacemakers
Attend peace history events
Attend lectures & seminars
... that authentically
represent peace stories
& peacemakers of the
PRESENT (i.e. Peace Issues)
Attend peace studies programmes
Visit places where injustice occurs
Visit UN & other ofcial agencies
Visit projects of non-govt. organisations
Meet with peace activists
Stay in peace activists’ homes
Attend peace workshops & festivals
Take part in peace actions & protests
Lobby government ofcials
Peace activities require varying degrees of planning and preparation. Tey are
events comparable to theatre performances and sports events in that the tou-
rist must plan to be at the right place at the right time. Anniversaries occur
only once a year; meetings with individuals or local organisations usually re-
quire pre-arrangement. Nevertheless, some tourists travel as part of well orga-
nised groups, and many local organisations advertise their activities and wel-
296 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
come out-of-town participants. So it is not inconceivable that a day or week of
‘peace tourism’ might include several of the time specifc activities suggested
by the foregoing table.
Trongs of tourists visit Berlin, Geneva, Hiroshima, and UN Headquarters
in New York City, but how many call themselves ‘peace tourists‘? Most like-
ly not very many. Te public visits battlefelds, golf courses, cathedrals, ope-
ra houses, and football stadia, and doing so in organised groups has created
commercial opportunities for tourism operators. But ‘peace’ is simply not a
‘brand’ that the public recognises today.
Peace places are static and available to the tourist most of the time. Tis
paper focuses on monuments and museums which exist in public space and
can be visited almost any day of the year without prearrangement.
What are peace monuments and museums?
Tere are several answers to this question.
Te frst answer is easy – almost any monument or museum named for
‘peace’. But this answer is deceptive. ‘Peace’ is a concept and ideal recognised
by many diferent cultures, and the word ‘peace’ has been used for many dif-
ferent meanings. What Ronald Dworkin said about “religion” applied equally
well to ‘peace‘: “[It is] an interpretive concept. Tat is, people who use the con-
cept do not agree about precisely what it means: When they use it they are
taking a stand about what it should mean.” (Dworkin 2013) Does the tranquil
Japanese ‘Peace Garden’ at UNESCO headquarters in Paris have the same me-
aning as the aggressive ‘Goddess of Peace’ (who is breaking a sword and stom-
ping on the head of a soldier) in Karlstad, Sweden?
Even though the aspiration for ‘peace’ may be universal, peace tourists soon
learn to encounter a wide variation in the many meanings and interpretations
of the word ‘peace’. And this accounts for some of the fascination of peace tou-
rism.
Te second answer is to include monuments and museums which represent
the same values as ‘peace’ but, for one reason or another, do not happen to
include ‘peace’ in their names. In 1913, the ‘Peace Palace’ was dedicated in Te
Hague to be the home of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. In 1952, Uni-
ted Nations headquarters opened in New York City without being named for
‘peace’ but is certainly no less a peace place than the palace in Te Hague. In
Hiroshima, many monuments and museums related to nuclear destruction in
1945 are named for ‘peace’ (heiwa), but in Europe, the many monuments and
museums related to the Holocaust are not specifcally named for ‘peace’ but
represent ‘peace’ in the very same way as ‘peace’ monuments in Japan.
Te third answer is to consider some of the various meanings of the word
‘peace’, the most obvious being the absence of war. Many peace monuments
have been constructed to celebrate the cessation of hostilities and the promise
of prosperity and progress after war. Te phrase ‘peace museum’ traditionally
connotes an ‘anti-war’ museum which exhibits the evils of war and the bene-
fts of ‘non-war’.
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 297
But modern scholarship has tended to defne ‘peace’ ever more broadly. As
noted by Professor Ikuro Anzai (the long- serving director of the Kyoto Muse-
um for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University in Japan), “‘peace’ is no longer
defned as the ‘absence of war’ but as the ‘absence of violence‘“; violence in this
context is understood as “causes to prevent people from making full use of
their ability.”(Anzai 2011)
‘Peace monuments’ represent this expanded defnition in two diferent
ways. Some peace monuments decry not only war but genocide, colonialism,
racism, or any of the many other evils which prevent the attainment of human
potential. To simplify, we might say that these monuments emphasise nega-
tive themes of peace. Tey deplore the tragedies of the past, warn about the
causes of the tragedies, and project the powerful message of ‘never again’. Te
other kind of peace monument celebrates the positive themes of peace: human
rights, reconciliation, the acts of individual peacemakers (or peace heroes),
and so forth.
Te following table lists 43 examples of each of the two kinds of peace mo-
numents. Te two lists are long but incomplete. Tey refect Johan Galtung’s
1964 defnitions of negative peace (“absence of violence, absence of war”) and
positive peace (“the integration of human society”). (Galtung 1964)
Some Positive & Negative Themes
Examples of Positive Peace
“Integration of Human Society”
Examples of Negative Peace
“Absence of Violence, Absence of War”
Abolition
Arbitration
Civil Rights
Democracy
Disarmament
Economic Development
Education
Emancipation
Environmentalism
Food & Shelter
Gay Rights
Golden Rule
Human Rights
Indigenous Peoples
Integration
International Friendship
International Law
Job Training
Justice
Liberation
Marriage Equality
Nobel Peace Prize
Non-Violence
Pacifsm
Peace After War
Peace Philanthropy
Peace Poles
Peace Treaties
Peacemakers / Heroes
Public Health
Quakers / Mennonites
Racial Diversity
Reconciliation
Red Cross / Red Crescent
Religious Freedom
Resistance
Sister Cities
Social Justice
Tolerance
UN Agencies
Women’s Rights
Workers’ Rights
World Peace
Abuse of Power
Aggression
Apartheid
Arms Race
Berlin Wall
Atrocity
Chemical Warfare
Child Abuse
Climate Change
Colonialism
Communism
Corruption
Crime & Gangs
Discrimination
Disease
Drug Trade
Eugenics
Fascism / Nazism
Genocide / Removal
Holocaust / Shoah
Hunger
Inequality
Injustice
Intolerance
Lack of Water
Landmines
Nuclear Weapons
National Occupation
9/11 Attack
Pollution
Poverty
Racism
Repression
Slavery
Species Extinction
Terrorism
Totalitarianism
Torture
Unemployment
Unfair Prosecution
Violence
War
War Crimes
Like all other monuments, museums are physical, permanent, and symbo-
lic. But they are also living institutions with complexity, multiple programmes,
and the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. In 2005, the Internati-
298 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
onal Network of Peace Museums changed its name to International Network
of Museums for Peace. Although INMP’s institutional membership and out-
reach programmes have not yet greatly expanded in keeping with the broader
defnition, the concept of ‘museum for peace’ nevertheless brings hundreds of
museums not specifcally named for “peace” (but related to any of the negative
or positive themes listed in the foregoing table) under the broad embrace of
peace tourism.
What cities are most likely for peace tourism?
Peace tourism is already happening in cities which have numerous peace mo-
numents and museums for peace: Atlanta, Belfast, Berlin, Chicago, Geneva,
Hiroshima, Jerusalem, London, Nagasaki, New Delhi, New York City, Ottawa,
Philadelphia, Te Hague, Tokyo, and Vienna.
More than a dozen cities in fve countries have recently created peace trails
by listing peace monuments and museums in a brochure or website for the
information of tourists: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge,
Christchurch, Coventry, Geneva, Indianapolis, Leeds, London, Manchester,
Montgomery, Rotterdam, and Wellington.
In the United States, long-distance motor or bicycle trails have been esta-
blished to trace the routes of the 1838–1839 Cherokee ‘Trail of Tears’, the cir-
ca 1850 ‘Underground Railroad’ of escaping slaves, and the 1965 voting rights
march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Michelin guides have ranked principal sights with three, two, or one stars.
Here are a dozen peace tourism destinations (cities) which, in the author’s opi-
nion, deserve three stars (‘Worth a journey’):
Top Dozen
Peace Tourism
Destinations
(Cities)
44 Examples of Notable
Peace Monuments & Museums for Peace
(with year of creation)
Approx.
# of Peace
Monu-
ments
Including
this # of
Museums
London, England 1945 – Housmans Bookshop, Peace House
1968 – Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Tavistock Square
2012 – “Peace Trails Through London”
92 2
Washington, DC, USA 1910 – Organisation of American States (Carnegie)
1993 – US Holocaust Memorial Museum
2011 – Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial
2012 – US Institute of Peace (USIP)
74 13
Hiroshima, Japan 1954 – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
1955 – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
2002 – National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
73 4
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 299
Top Dozen
Peace Tourism
Destinations
(Cities)
44 Examples of Notable
Peace Monuments & Museums for Peace
(with year of creation)
Approx.
# of Peace
Monu-
ments
Including
this # of
Museums
Jerusalem, Israel &
Bethlehem, West Bank
1953 – Yad Vashem Historical Memorial
2000 – “Tent of Nations,” Daher’s Vineyard
2001 – Bethlehem Peace Centre
2005 – Holocaust History Museum, Yad Vashem
2008 – Tolerance Park & Monument
2014? – Museum of Tolerance (Simon Wiesenthal Centre)
65 4
New York City, NY, USA 1952 – United Nations Headquarters
1997 – Museum of Jewish Heritage – Living Memorial to the Holocaust
2004 – Museum of Tolerance New York (Simon Wiesenthal Ctr)
64 20
Berlin & Potsdam,
Germany
1793 – “Goddess of Peace,” Brandenburger Tor
1962 – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
1982 – Anti-Kriegs Musuem / Anti-War Museum
2001 – Judisches Museum / Jewish Museum Berlin
2005 – Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
62 9
Nagasaki, Japan 1955 – Nagasaki Peace Park
1955 – Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
2002 – National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
51 3
Atlanta & Decatur, GA,
USA
1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change
1980 – Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site
1982 – Jimmy Carter Library & Museum
50 8
Chicago, Illinois, USA 1931 – Baha’i House of Worship for North America
1957 – DuSable Museum of African American History
1967? – Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
31 7
Tokyo & Yokohama, Japan 1976 – Display House of the Daigo Fukuryu-Maru
1983 – “Peace Boat” (SS Topaz), Yokohama
1992 – Kawasaki Peace Museum, Kawasaki
1993 – Peace Museum of Saitama, Saitama
2002 – Centre of the Tokyo Raid & War Damage
29 10
The Hague, Netherlands 1913 – Vredespaleis / Peace Palace (Carnegie)
1995 – Yi Jun Peace Museum
2012 – Peace Palace Visitors Centre
24 5
Geneva, Switzerland 1936 – Palais des Nations / Palace of Nations
1946 – League of Nations Museum
1988 – International Red Cross & Red Crescent Museum
18 2
Te 44 examples in the foregoing table (personal table) represent nine po-
sitive peace themes (civil rights, international law, indigenous peoples, No-
bel Peace Prize, peacemakers, Red Cross, tolerance, UN agencies, and world
peace) and eight negative peace themes (Berlin Wall, discrimination, Fascism/
Nazism, Holocaust, nuclear weapons, national occupation, 9/11, and racism).
Four of the 12 cities in the foregoing table (Geneva, New York City, Te
Hague, and Washington) host multiple international organisations. Four of
the cities (Berlin, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Tokyo) are the sites of hor-
300 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
rendous tragedy. And four (Atlanta, Chicago, Jerusalem, and London) make
the list largely as the result of notable peacemakers who lived or worked there.
What countries are most likely for peace tourism?
Peace places and peace activities are not evenly distributed around the world.
Te following table attempts to estimate the potential for peace tourism in 30
selected countries. Te data presented are extracted from on-line data sets
(http://www.peacepartnersintl.net/tourism.htm). Each source is presumed to
be reliable, but the results are inconsistent because defnitions are imprecise
and because researchers have sought information in diferent ways.
Te table contains data for the number of peace museums, museums for
peace, human rights museums, ‘sites of conscience’, peace monuments, Holo-
caust memorials and museums, and peace studies programmes in each of the
30 countries. Te totals at the right side of the table estimate of the number of
‘places and activities that authentically represent peace stories and peacema-
kers of the past and present’.
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Israel - - 4 - - 158 7 1 170 8,002 47,070 Yad Vashem
New Zealand - - - 2 - 36 - - 38 4,467 117,553 Nuclear Free Zone
Netherlands 5 9 18 1 - 65 5 - 103 16,784 162,951 Peace Palace
Switzerland - 4 5 - - 40 - - 49 8,037 164,020 UNO Geneva
Austria 1 3 5 - - 35 3 1 48 8,489 176,854 UNO Vienna
UK 2 3 14 16 1+4 266 4 5 315 63,182 200,578 Reformers
Norway 1 3 3 2 0+1 12 - 1 23 5,051 219,609 Morokulien
USA 5 18 227 2 6+67 958 35 82 1,400 315,779 225,556 UN Headquareters
Canada - - 13 - 0+3 126 3 6 151 35,056 232,159 UN Peacekeeping
Belgium 2 3 6 - 0+2 25 1 - 39 11,151 285,923 Edith Cavell
Sweden 3 2 4 - 0+1 13 1 2 26 9,567 367,962 Morokulien
Ireland - - - - - 9 - 3 12 4,585 382,083 Reconciliation
Japan 20 34 29 - 0+1 201 - - 285 127,340 446,807 Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Costa Rica - 1 1 - - 7 - 1 10 4,667 466,700 UN University
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 301
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France 1 4 20 2 0+1 52 54 ?! 2 136 65,619 482,493 UNESCO
Germany 5 12 27 1 0+1 114 3 1 164 82,029 500,177 Nazi desertions
Lebanon - - - - 0+1 5 - 1 7 4,324 617,714 Sabra & Shatilla
Australia - - 1 2 0+1 26 2 4 37 23,009 621,865 Nobel Peace Walk
Poland - 5 13 1 0+3 12 7 - 41 38,534 939,854 Holocaust
Greece - - 1 - - 7 1 - 9 10,815 1,201,667 Olympic Games
Spain 2 2 4 - 0+4 24 - 1 37 47,060 1,271,892 Guernika
South Africa - 1 10 - 2+5 18 3 - 39 51,771 1,327,462 Apartheid
South Korea 1 6 5 - 0+1 24 - - 37 50,004 1,351,459 Demilitarised Zone
Italy 2 2 8 1 1+4 23 3 - 44 59,500 1,352,272 Pax Romana
India 2 3 11 - 0+2 52 - - 70 1,210,193 1,728,847 Mahatma Gandhi
Mexico - - 1 2 0+3 24 - - 30 112,337 3,744,567 Amistad/Friendship
Russia - - 5 - 2+4 24 - - 35 143,370 4,096,286 Gulags
Turkey - - - - - 10 - 1 11 75,627 6,875,181 Atatürk’s “Peace at home”
Brazil - - 3 - 0+2 11 1 - 17 193,947 11,408,647 Tortura Nunca Mais
China 1 12 4 - - 19 - - 46 1,354,040 29,435,652 Japanese Aggression
30 Country
Total
53 127 442 32 122 2,396 133 112 3,417 4,144,336
30 Country
Average
1.8 4.2 14.7 1.1 4.1 79.9 4.4 3.7 113.9 138,145 1,212,862
212 Country
Total
- 27 49 14 52 many 14 - 2,869,080
242 = World
Total
53 154 491 46 174 2,396
many
147 112 7,013,416
Te table indicates that the ten countries most likely to beneft from peace
tourism development (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA,
Canada, and Belgium – in that order.
Can peace tourism thrive on a regional scale?
Te foregoing sections have named a number of cities and entire countries
where peace tourism takes place (or could take place) because of peace monu-
ment and museum concentration. But peace monuments and museums also
exist in small places, and indeed they are sometimes scattered over wide areas.
302 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
A case study is now presented to explore if peace tourism can also take
place on a regional scale. Tis study explores a hypothetical example of peace
tourism where “peace tourists” (travelling independently or as part of organi-
sed groups) would forego visiting a city of peace monument concentration and
would move (by car or bus) from town to town over a period of several days or
even a week at a time. Tis case study is hypothetical. Te author and his wife
are probably the only persons to have followed the itinerary outlined here.
As shown on the adjacent map, the study area is a 360 mile (583 kilometer)
highway corridor in the United States of America and Canada. Te area con-
tains 100 peace monuments (including 15 museums for peace) that ‘authen-
tically represents ten diferent peace stories and at least 36 notable historic
peacemakers. If a peace tourist were to stop at each and every monument, he
or she would be stopping, on average, every 3.6 miles (5.8 km).
Te southern edge of the study area borders the Ohio River, and its northern
edge borders the Detroit River. Ever since the American Revolution, the latter
river has been part of the international border. Before the American Civil War,
the former river was the boundary between slave and free states. Could these
geographic facts infuence what the ‘peace tourist’ would see when travelling
from one river to the other?
M Windsor, Ontario
--- Detroit River ---
L Detroit, Michigan
K Dearborn, Michigan
J Toledo, Ohio
I Blufton, Ohio
H Wapakoneta, Ohio
G Greenville, Ohio
F Dayton, Ohio
E Yellow Springs, Ohio
D Wilberforce, Ohio
C Wilmington, Ohio
B Cincinnati, Ohio
-- Ohio River ---
A Newtown, Kentucky
Source: Google Maps
A
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OHI O
L AK E E R I E
MI C HI G AN
Detroit
Toledo
Dayton
Cincinnati
Columbus
Ford Wayne
Cleveland
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 303
Te study area has never been ravaged by war (except for “Indian Wars” in
the late 18th century when settlements were few and far between). Te area
contains no huge city, no national park, no “world class” tourist attraction like
Disneyland or Las Vegas. Its largest cities – Detroit, Cincinnati, and Toledo –
are only the 18th, 64th, and 67th largest cities in the United States. Windsor is
only the 16th largest metropolitan area in Canada.
Yet the study area is not without many points of ‘peace tourism’ interest. It
contains the world’s largest Western style peace bell, the only peace museum
in North America, the only display of Hiroshima artifacts outside Japan, the
site of an important 1795 peace treaty, the frst mosque in North America to
use classic Islamic architecture, not one but three nationally recognised mu-
seums – the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the National
Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, and the Arab American Natio-
nal Museum – the B-29 bomber which destroyed Nagasaki, a town named for
British abolitionist William Wilberforce, and a small Mennonite university
(Blufton) which arguably has the highest per capita concentration of peace
monuments of any place on earth.
To some extent, therefore, the study area was chosen because it contains
some important points of peace interest. But it is not unique. Comparable areas
certainly exist, for example Civil Rights sites in the American South and Holo-
caust sites in Germany, Poland, and other countries of Eastern Europe. And the
author is confdent that he could identify many more corridors in California,
eastern North America, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, New Zeal-
and, India, Israel/Palestine, and Japan which would contain an equal (or even
greater) number of sites which could interest the hypothetical ‘peace tourist’.
One of the ‘problems’ identifed by the case study is that the travelling pu-
blic probably does not recognise that so many peace themes have something
in common – the ‘interpretive concept’ of ‘peace’. Monuments use symbols,
inscriptions, and physical presence to preserve an idea or event as interpreted
by someone in the more or less distant past. Te stories monuments tell are
never complete and – as vividly demonstrated in the study area – are scatte-
red geographically. So it takes some efort on the part of the peace traveller to
keep track of diferent peace stories.
Te study area’s 100 peace monuments and museums represent the fol-
lowing ten peace stories (listed here in historic order):
• Native Americans, peace treaties, and removal.
• Slavery, abolition, and emancipation.
• Education and institutional development.
• US-Canadian friendship and unfortifed boundary.
• Holocaust and World War II.
• Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the atomic bomb.
• Labour movement and workers’ rights.
• Afro-American emancipation and civil rights movement.
• Immigration and ethnic diversity.
• Recent conficts: Vietnam, Iraq, and the “9/11” terrorist attack
304 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
Here, from south to north, is a summary of peace places in the study area:
• At the southern end of the corridor, there are several monuments about sla-
very and emancipation from slavery, including an immense museum, the
National Underground Railway Freedom Center (NURFC). Indeed, the so-
called ‘underground railway’ (an indistinct network of farms and safe hou-
ses through which escaped slaves found their way to freedom in Canada) is
the single most important peace story in the study area, and 15 of the area’s
100 monuments are related to the underground railway. To the right and
left of the corridor (but not exactly on the route shown here) are historic
properties preserved to interpret the underground railroad. Near Windsor,
Ontario, at the north end of the corridor, are two or more farmsteads pre-
served as outdoor museums to represent the goal of the slaves feeing from
bondage south of the Ohio River to freedom on the Canadian side of the
Detroit River.
• Part way up the corridor are three cities (Wilberforce, Yellow Springs, and
Dayton) which made important contributions to civil rights and to the ad-
vancement of Afro-Americans.
• A little farther north are two cities (Greenville and Wapakoneta) associated
with Native American (Indoamerican) history and US Government remo-
vals of Native Americans to the West. In Wapakoneta, a private citizen has
gathered glacial boulders to construct an immense “Temple of Tolerance.”
• Tree cities at the northern end of the corridor (Toledo, Detroit, and Wind-
sor) are heavily industrialised, and some of their monuments refect the
struggle for workers’ rights.
• On the Detroit River are three monuments constructed between 1930 and
1941 in celebration of peace since 1814 along what is recognised as the
world’s longest unfortifed boundary. Alas, the remarkable record of the
USA and Canada to coexist in harmony and with a minimum number of
border restrictions is no longer the object of monument construction (with
the exception of some ‘Gardens for Peace’ further East occasioned by the
recent bicentennial of the War of 1812).
• Te remaining peace monuments along the corridor from the Ohio River
to the Detroit River represent a variety of peace themes and physical forms:
World peace (9), peace art (9), individual peacemakers (9), civil rights (7),
Martin Luther King, Jr. (6), personal peace (5), notable peace poles (5), Holo-
caust and anti-Semitism (3), atomic weapons (3), native Americans (3), paci-
fsm (3), peace bells (3), peace trails (3), sister cities (3), Islam (2), Berlin Wall
(2), labor movement (2), Mahatma Gandhi (2), peace parks and gardens (2),
environmentalism (2), the 9/11 attack (2), and women’s rights (2). Temes
represented by a single monument (until more are identifed) include Abra-
ham Lincoln, the war in Iraq, the Vietnam War, and peace fountains.
Te atomic bomb and peace art are represented here by more monuments
than one would expect in Europe and elsewhere in North America. Otherwise,
the list of themes noted above is typical of many other regions.
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 305
Te study area also shows a typical variety of physical forms. As already
noted, it boasts North America’s one and only anti-war “peace museum” (the
Dayton International Peace Museum) whose original raison d’etre is the Day-
ton Peace Accords which brought peace to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.
But the study area also has six other ‘museums for peace’, three peace art gal-
leries, two museum exhibits about peace themes, six historic houses which are
open to the public and operate as museums, and two historic farmsteads open
to the public.
Te seven museums for peace are in Cincinnati (holocaust and under-
ground railway), Dayton (peace), Dearborn (Arab-American culture and
history), Detroit (Afro-American history and holocaust), and Wilberforce
(Afro-American history). Te three peace art galleries are in Blufton, Dayton
and Detroit. Te two museum exhibits about peace themes are in Greenville
(Peace Treaty of 1795) and Wilmington (Hiroshima). Te four historic houses
which are open to the public and operate as museums are in Dayton (Afro-
American history), Cincinnati (emancipation), Waynesville (Quaker history),
and Wilberforce (Afro-American history). And the two farmsteads are both
near Windsor (and both related to the underground railway).
Te 100 monuments include six imports – cherry trees from Japan, an anci-
ent Roman column, a segment of the Berlin Wall from Germany, a peace bell
cast in France in 1999, and original French paintings from 1654 and 1840. One
of the French paintings depicts the slave trade and is complemented by Ame-
rican paintings of 1845 and 1893 showing the same injustice.
Except for the paintings, the oldest peace monument in the entire stu-
dy area was erectred in 1928, and the bulk of the monuments date from the
1980’s (22), 1990’s (11), and frst decade of the 21st century (28). But Asian and
European readers of this case history would be wrong to assume that the mo-
numents are relatively new because everything is new in the “New World.” In-
sofar as peace monuments are concerned, the very concept is relatively new,
and the bulk of peace monuments in Asia and Europe are similarly dated.
Te defnition of peace tourism includes places and activities that authen-
tically represent peacemakers of the past and present. Te study area has mo-
numents and/or museum displays preserving the memories of at least these 36
peacemakers (listed here in birth order):
Name Dates Peace Achievement
Cincinnatus 519–430 BC Resigned Roman dictatorship
BORN I N T HE 18T H C E NT URY
Black Hoof c1740–1831 Advised other Indians to avoid “Tecumseh’s War”
Little Turtle c1747–1812 Ended 40 years of war by signing Greenville peace treaty
William Wilberforce 1759–1833 Led British efort to end slavery in 1833. Member of Parliament.
Lyman Beecher 1775–1863 Famous minister & abolitionist. Father of accomplished family.
306 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
Name Dates Peace Achievement
Sir Thomas Buxton 1786–1845 Brewer, abolitionist & reformer. Member of Parliament.
Josiah Henson 1789–1883 Former slave. Settled in Ontario, Canada.
Frances Wright 1795–1852 Abolitionist & newspaper editor. Born in Scotland.
Horace Mann 1796–1859 “Father of the American public school system”
Levi Cofn 1798–1877 Quaker abolitionist. Ran Underground RR “Grand Central Station”
BORN I N T HE 19T H C E NT URY
James Bradley c1800-? Former slave. Captured in Africa. He bought his own freedom.
Abraham Lincoln 1809–1865 President of USA. Issued Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Isaac Harvey 1809–1883 Quaker farmer. Visited President Lincoln to end slavery.
Daniel Alexander Payne 1811–1893 Methodist bishop & educator. Founded Wilberforce College.
Harriet Beecher Stowe 1811–1896 Abolitionist. Wrote infuential novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
Martin Robinson Delaney 1812–1885 Physician. Ofcer in US Army. “Father of Black Nationalism.”
John Freeman Walls 1813–1911 Former slave. Settled in Ontario, Canada.
Elizabeth Blackwell 1821–1910 Born in England. First female medical graduate in USA.
Charles Young 1864–1922 West Point graduate. 1st Black national park superintendent.
Mahatma Gandhi 1869–1948 Led nonviolence in South Africa & India. Later sculpted in Ohio.
Nancy Brown 1870–1948 Newspaper columnist. Celebrated US-Canadian friendship.
Paul Lawrence Dunbar 1872–1906 Black poet & playwright. Built house in Dayton, Ohio.
Arthur Ernest Morgan 1878–1975 Engineer & educator. Founded Community Service Inc. (CSI).
BORN I N T HE 20T H C E NT URY
Theodore (Ted) Berry 1905–2000 First African-American mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio
Charles Brooks 1915–1977 Labour leader in Windsor, Ontario. Assassinated by opponent.
Barbara Leonard Reynolds 1915–1990 Quaker. Founded World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan.
Masahisa Goi 1916–1980 Philosopher. Started peace poles (“May Peace Prevail on Earth”).
Charles Howard Wright 1918–2002 Physician. Opened Museum of African-American Hist. in Detroit.
James W. Bristah 1919–2008 Minister. Opened Swords into Plowshares Peace Center in Detroit.
Charles H. Rosenzveig 1920–2008 Polish Rabbi. Opened Holocaust Memorial Center in Detroit.
Coretta Scott King 1927–2006 Wife of MLK, Jr. Attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs.
Martin Luther King. Jr. 1929–1968 Minister & civil rights leader. Assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
Richard Holbrooke 1941–2010 Diplomat. Negotiated Dayton Peace Accords to end war in Bosnia.
Wayne Carlisle 1941- Businessman. Erected 1999 World Peace Bell in Newport, KY
Sadako Sasaki 1943–1955 Hiroshima victim. Tried to fold 1,000 peace cranes before death.
A. Zziz Chowdhury ?- Librarian from Bangladesh. Donated Peace Clock to Windsor, ON
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 307
Conclusions
• Tourists travel to play golf, to take adventure tours, and to visit battlefelds,
but relatively few tourists currently seek peace as a destination. An obvious
reason is that the public is largely unaware of the tourism value of peace
places and peace activities.
• Te public is in fact largely unaware of ‘peace’ as a category of tourism in-
terest and of the many diferent meanings and themes of ‘peace’ ; to create
‘peace tourism’ the public needs to become increasingly aware of the many
meanings of “peace” and of the many interesting ‘peace tourism’ options.
• Tere is virtually no peace tourism industry today. Te existing tourism
industry (airlines, hotels, tourism promotion agencies, and travel writers)
overlooks ‘peace’ as a tourism destination. Peace places and activities are
rarely advertised or shown in popular guide books.
• University peace studies departments, peace activist associations, and
other Organisations which make a conscious efort to promote peace and
justice do so largely within their own boundaries and in isolation from the
travelling public.
• Public awareness has not caught up with peace scholarship which increa-
singly defnes ‘peace’ as having both positive and negative themes, only one
of which is the end of war. Te vast number of peace themes confuses the
public and prevents peace tourism from competing with simpler tourism
‘brands’ like golf, beach resorts, U.S. Civil War history, African safaris, and
theme parks.
• Peace tourism nevertheless already exists (knowingly or unknowingly) in
places like New York City and Hiroshima which have concentrations of
peace monuments and museums.
• On a national level, an abundance of peace monuments and museums in-
dicates that the ten countries most likely to beneft from peace tourism de-
velopment (on a per capita basis) are Israel, New Zealand, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, the USA, Canada, and
Belgium – in that order.
• Te case study proves that there are enough peace monuments and muse-
ums in one short (360 mile) stretch of highway to occupy a serious ‘peace
tourist’ for several days. Similar corridors exist elsewhere.
• Te 18 museums and 82 other peace monuments in the study area collec-
tively illustrate the history of mankind’s striving in multiple ways to bring
about peace and justice for all, and the peace stories they tell contribute to
an overall appreciation of ‘peace’ which is far greater than the sum of their
individual stories.
• Te study area is not unique. Doubtlessly, there are many other areas in
the USA and abroad where other peace monuments and museums (repre-
senting diferent peace stories) could also become the foundation of peace
tourism.
• Especially when interpreted by an experienced facilitator or guide, these
‘peace places’ could instruct, inspire, and/or entertain a variety of diferent
308 EDWARD W. LOLLI S
age and interest groups: children, students, history bufs, church groups,
peace activists, retirees, and others.
• Until peace tourism becomes established, tourists will continue to use the
same roads and hotels to seek and fnd forms of tourism with which they
are familiar (or which have been sold to them by professional marketers),
such as beaches, boating, theme parks, music festivals, competitive sports,
gun shows, the Civil War, military re-enactments, air shows, and battle-
felds. Te overall efect of such forms of tourism is to help perpetuate the
culture of war or violence.
Recommendations
• Find ways for stakeholders of the tourism industry and of peace organisa-
tions to interface and create innovative ways to market peace tourism to
the travelling public of all countries.
• Strengthen the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), the
Federation of International Human Rights Museums (FIHRM), the Inter-
national Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC), and other non-govern-
mental organisations which are trying to bring about cooperation and co-
ordination among museums for peace and other peace places.
• Encourage peace activist organisations and university peace studies depart-
ments to reach out to peace tourists and to welcome them into local peace
activities.
• Publish directories (in print and on-line) of peace places, peace sites, and
peace destinations. Create a multilingual, searchable on-line directory of
peace activities taking place in all countries throughout the year.
• Ensure that the public learns the peace stories (and peace tourism possibi-
lities) of cities with peace monument and museum concentration, for ex-
ample (in alphabetical order) Ahmedabad, Atlanta, Belfast, Berlin, Geneva,
Hiroshima, Jerusalem, Kyoto/Osaka, London, Nagasaki, New Delhi, New
York City, Philadelphia, Te Hague, San Juan (Costa Rica), Tokyo, Vienna,
and Washington, DC.
• Encourage the artists, city fathers, and museum curators responsible for
existing peace monuments and museums for peace to become acquainted
with each other and to promote themselves under a common theme, peace-
perhaps establishing a new brand to market themselves to potential peace
tourists.
• Create a peace tourism ‘brand’ or logo which could be used to identify or-
ganisations sponsoring study tours and workshops, peace studies depart-
ments and peace activists willing to meet with the public, the sites of peace
achievements, and of course peace monuments and museums for peace.
• Perhaps redefne and reinstate the ‘Banner of Peace’ originally promoted by
Russian artist Nicholas Roerich to identify and protect places of important
cultural heritage (Roerich 2013).
• Conduct research to identify additional peace places adding to the world’s
already impressive number of peace stories. (Te case study suggests that
Peace as a Destination: Peace Tourism around the World 309
places related, in particular, to the removal of Native Americans, to the
Underground Railroad, to women’s sufrage, to pacifsm and the anti-war
movement, and to the civil rights and labour movements are yet to be iden-
tifed).
• Encourage local colleges, universities, churches, and other institutions inte-
rested in ‘peace’ to become aware of their regions’ potential for peace tou-
rism (both near and far) and to adapt their programmes to help tell their
regions’ many peace stories to the public (residents and tourists alike).
• Create regional peace tourism associations to help bring about self-awa-
reness and public awareness of regional peace tourism potential. Advise
such associations to limit their initial actions (for example, a brochure and
website describing the region’s peace monuments and explaining what they
have in common) until information is obtained on further steps which
could be taken.
• Advise peace tourism advocates to reach out and form partnerships with
like-minded advocates in other areas in order to help bring about an appre-
ciation of peace tourism nationally and internationally, perhaps in concert
with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
References
National Trust for Historic Preservation. 2011. “Get-
ting Started: How to Succeed in Cultural Heritage
Tourism.” In Cultural heritage Tourism. Partners in
Tourism: Culture and Comerce. Available on http://
www.culturalheritagetourism.org/howtogetstart-
ed.htm
Dworkin, Ronald. 2013. “Religion Without God”. In
The New York Review of Books. Available on http://
www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/apr/04/
religion-without-god/?pagination=false
Anzai, Ikuro. 2011. “An Agenda for Peace Research in
Japan after 3/11”. In The Peace and Confict Review.
Volume 6, Issue 1 – ISSN: 1659–3995
Galtung, Johan. 1964. “An Editorial”. Journal of Peace
Research. doi:10.1177/002234336400100101
Roerich, Nicholas. 2013. “Where there is Peace, there
is Culture; Where is Culture, there is Peace.” The
banner of peace. SkyTime (503) 293 6460
GEERT BOURGEOI S
*
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–
2018: Commemorating the Past and
Inspiring the Future
Introduction
Te First World War (1914–1918) had a tremendous impact on the territory of
Belgium, most notoriously because of the infamous trench war which stret-
ched for four long years in the south-western part of Flanders, but also as a re-
sult of the senseless attacks against the civilian population and the deliberate
destruction of cities and cultural heritage by invading German troops. Up to
this day, the landscape of Flanders is still littered with the physical remnants
of this huge confict, both above and under the ground. Te upcoming cente-
nary of the First World War provides Flanders with a tremendous opportunity
to refect on the past and to draw lessons for the future. As the vice minister-
president of the Government of Flanders, I have been entrusted by my colle-
agues with the overall co-ordination of the commemoration eforts within the
government.
With this contribution, I want to share the Flemish experience and exper-
tise in gearing up for this momentous event, and I wish to present some ideas
to the international community to act upon in ensuring a lasting legacy of
the centenary period. Although I will primarily focus on the activities organi-
sed or fnanced by the Government of Flanders, it must be stressed that many
other groups and participants are in full preparation for the centenary. Speci-
fc reference should be made to the provinces, the cities and municipalities, lo-
cal historical societies, cultural groups and individuals. One good example is
the network of the so-called ‘martyr cities’, i.e. the Flemish cities of Aarschot,
Dendermonde and Leuven; these cities are preparing a joint programme in
collaboration with the Walloon martyr cities of Andenne, Dinant, Sambre-
ville and Visé. Te provinces are also very active, with the province of West-
Flanders taking the lead with an impressive calendar of events and substantial
funding. Te contributions of these local and regional stakeholders will obvi-
ously enrich the governmental calendar.
* The author is Vice-Minister-President of the Government of Flanders, and Flemish Minister for
Public Governance, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse
Rand.
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 311
Preparing for the Centenary of the First World War in Flanders Fields
Te First World War, or ‘the seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century’, as
the American historian and diplomat George F. Kennan labelled it, “was the
frst international confict on a global scale” (Kennan 1981, 3). Te territory of
Belgium was heavily impacted by the ‘‘Great War’. Te infamous trench war,
with the associated blood-drenched names of Ypres, Messines or Passchenda-
ele, was part of the long western front in Europe. Within Belgium the war was
mainly fought in the south-western region of Flanders, behind the river Yser.
Tis area is known worldwide as ‘Flanders Fields’, after the title of the famous
poem which was written in December 1915 by Canadian army physician John
McCrae (Poem 1915):
In Flanders felds the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
Tat mark our place; and in the sky
Te larks, still bravely singing, fy
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders felds.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
Te torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders felds.
Flanders Fields saw the killing of more than 500,000 soldiers, men assembled
there from the four corners of the globe, representing ffty actual nationalities.
We can, we must, and we will never forget them. On the contrary, indelibly,
we carry the memory of them, and of all the countless other victims of the
Great War, with us in our hearts and minds. Today, everywhere in the world
‘Flanders Fields’ is still considered synonymous with unprecedented human
sufering and utter material destruction.
Te efects of World War I on our society have been immense and can still
be felt to this present day. Families were ripped apart, cities were destroyed
and buildings had to be rebuilt; the horizon is lined with memorial sites and
war cemeteries, and still every year people are killed when they encounter un-
exploded ammunition from almost a hundred years ago.
Flanders wishes to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World
War in a ftting and serene manner, raising awareness of the events of almost
a century ago with the public at large and the younger generations as speci-
312 GEERT BOURGEOI S
fc target groups. Making this centenary a success requires paying adequate
attention to the needs of the actual visitor economy, but at the same time en-
suring that the core messages of the Great War are not getting lost, with due
respect for the ultimate sacrifce of its many victims.
In our eforts to develop the visitor economy, ‘tourism+’ (‘tourismPLUS’) is
the concept of reference, with Flanders wishing to pass on the core message
of the First World War to current and future generations: ‘no more senseless
war’. For tourism this means that we need to tell the story of the war in all
its versatility and that we provide room for meaning and refection. We open
up our heritage with respect for and protection of the intrinsic value of sites,
stories and personal memories. We give room to contemporary interpretation
and to innovative concepts and products. Our aim is to touch hearts and to
elicit emotions. We wish to show the magnitude of this war to people so that
they can understand it, to commemorate those who died, so those who com-
memorate them may learn from it.
Te lengthy time span of the commemoration period, the involvement of all
levels of governance within Belgium, the increasing planning of other coun-
tries to commemorate their involvement in the Great War, and the relevance
of the centenary to almost all policy competencies of the Government of Flan-
ders, present the commemoration as a huge challenge, but at the same time as
a unique opportunity for our region.
Te Government of Flanders wants to create amongst the present and
future generations, both in Flanders and abroad, a structural awareness on
themes such as tolerance, intercultural dialogue, and international under-
standing, with a view to fostering an open and tolerant society and an active
international orientation. Te centenary presents us with a unique opportuni-
ty to ensure the sustainable preservation of the war heritage relics for future
generations and to make them more accessible today to our own citizens and
foreign visitors alike.
For all of the strategic reasons mentioned above, the Government of Flan-
ders started preparations for the Great War centenary in 2007, an efort which
was – and continues to be - strongly supported across diferent political party
lines.
2008 saw the publication of a scientifc study by the Flemish Foreign Poli-
cy Research Centre on the diferences in commemorative traditions in ffty
present-day countries that had regular or auxiliary troops in Flanders Fields
(Van der Auwera 2007; 2008). Tis ‘multi-ethnic’ dimension of the Great War
wasn’t very well known with the public until a couple of years ago. In the same
year a joint study was published by Westtoer, Tourism Flanders-Brussels and
the province of West-Flanders on the development of a tourist visitor strategy
for Flanders Fields, stressing the important link between tourism and heritage
(Valorisatie 2009). Tis study served as the reference document for the call to
submit proposals for infrastructure projects (cf. infra).
In 2009 the Government of Flanders decided to set up a project ofce for
the Great War Centenary, stafed with four ofcers and operationally embed-
ded within the Flemish Department of Foreign Afairs (2). It serves as a one-
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 313
stop shop for the Government for the preparation, coordination and follow-up
of the project, and it operates at the international, the Flemish and the local
level (liaising with provinces, cities and municipalities). Te ofce also acts as
the central point of reference for an inter-ministerial working group, which
consists of liaison ofcers for the project in all Flemish ministries. It is entrus-
ted with the drafting of an inter-ministerial action plan, and it reports on its
execution every six months.
In 2009 the Flemish Parliament passed a resolution, urging the Govern-
ment to take all necessary measures to develop a coherent and strategic ap-
proach in building up to the centenary period (Verstreken, De Coene, and
De Klerck 2009). Tis appeal was adopted by the current Government, which
came into power in July 2009 and which has made the commemoration of the
Great War one of the central priorities for its term of ofce. Since 2009 the
centenary project has become a government-wide endeavour, involving all po-
licy areas of the Flemish administration. An action plan has been adopted by
the Government of Flanders. Te action plan groups together the initiatives
from several policy areas, such as tourism, foreign policy, culture, media, im-
movable heritage, agriculture, scientifc research and education. In this con-
tribution for the ‘International Handbook on Tourism and Peace’, I want to
present the reader with an overview of the most striking initiatives.
Tourism
Te First World War has left a great many visible scars in the landscape of
Flanders Fields. Te numerous military cemeteries, war memorials, visitor
centres, museums and a host of other landmarks remind people of the events
that happened almost a hundred years ago. Te Government of Flanders con-
siders it important that relics of the war be suitably preserved and maintained,
since they are the physical points of reference for explaining history. To achie-
ve that aim, investments are made to assist in the refurbishing, restoration
and maintenance of war-related sites. Further eforts are devoted to facilitate
access to such sites, unlocking them to visitors from home and abroad.
Given the predictable huge increase in the number of domestic and interna-
tional visitors to Flanders Fields, and acknowledging the need for substantial
funding, the Government decided to set up a Great War Centenary Impulse
Programme under the political supervision of the Minister of Tourism. Te
programme has allocated substantial funding for both infrastructure projects
and international events. Te operational management of the programme, in-
cluding the practical organisation of the calls for proposals and the evaluati-
on of the proposals submitted, has been entrusted to the government agency
Tourism Flanders-Brussels.
A budget of 15 million euros has been earmarked for the infrastructure
projects, which need to lead into as many attractive and high-quality tourism
products. A call for proposals was issued in June 2010, and it generated 69
proposals, 44 of which have been selected for funding. Tese include fve so-
called strategic projects:
314 GEERT BOURGEOI S
• the ‘In Flanders Fields Museum’ and the opening-up of the ‘Belfry Tower’
in Ypres
• the ‘Museum Garden and the Memorial Museum’ Passchendaele 1917 in
Zonnebeke
• the ‘Poperinge Centenary behind the Front Line’ with the ‘Lijssenthoek Ce-
metery’ and ‘Talbot House’ in Poperinge
• the modernisation of the ‘Yser Tower Museum’ and the ‘Yser Tower site’ in
Diksmuide
• the construction of a new visitor centre at the lock complex of the Ganze-
poot in Nieuwpoort.
Te Government’s investment has been topped up with another 35 million eu-
ros, made available by other participants, including local authorities and for-
eign governments.
In June 2012 a call for proposals was launched for international events to
take place in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Tis gives event managers ample time for
preparation. A second call will be launched later for events scheduled in 2017–
2018. Although events will be taking place in Flanders, they must be linked
to the historical time line of the Great War and they will have to generate the
necessary international exposure. Te frst call generated 75 proposals, 16 of
them receiving funding for a total amount of 6.7 million euros.
Heritage Sites and Territories
Te Heritage of the Great War project occupies a key position within the cen-
tenary programme. Because the last eyewitnesses have now all died, this heri-
tage constitutes our last link between past and present. Tangible traces, such
as military cemeteries, war memorials and (underground) defence works can
still be found all over Flanders. But the landscape itself is the most impor-
tant last witness, even more so than all these material relics. Tis landscape
in efect created the conditions and circumstances in which the battles of the
First World War were fought. Te project encompasses the whole territory of
Flanders, but its point of gravity, for obvious reasons, is to be found in the
Westhoek region.
In order to embed the Great War’s heritage in a sustainable and perma-
nent manner we have developed a four-track strategy. Te frst track concerns
research into the architectural, landscape and archaeological war heritage as
a scientifc basis for the next tracks. Te second track deals with the traditi-
onal protection and spatial integration of a selection of the war heritage. A
third track comprises the development of a management vision in terms of the
restoration, maintenance and opening up of the heritage. Te fourth track un-
derscores the importance of our war heritage by actively pursuing UNESCO
World Heritage recognition for the most important relics. Te synergy bet-
ween the four tracks (research, protection, management, and recognition) will
enable us to pass on the heritage of the First World War, under the best of
circumstances, to future generations.
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 315
As part of the frst track (research), the Flanders Heritage Agency is esta-
blishing an inventory of the material witnesses of the First World War in the
front line area, from Nieuwpoort to Messines. Although the architectural he-
ritage there has been mapped, this is less so in the case of the war landscape
and the archaeological remains within this landscape. From 2010 to 2012 a
multidisciplinary study was carried out to determine which landscapes still
bear testimony to the war landscape and the events from the 1914–1918 peri-
od; which valuable sections of land can be demarcated as heritage landscape;
and fnally how these landscapes can be translated in spatial terms.
Te study area has a surface of 560 km² and the research methodology
encompassed a combination of a thorough geographical information sys-
tem (GIS) analysis of trench maps from the 1914–1918 period, a comparison
with present-day GIS layers, the development of the historical knowledge of
the war landscape, site visits, and an archaeological evaluation study based
on fndings from test trenches. Te results of this research were presented at
the colloquium ‘Te heritage of the First World War in a spatial perspective’
which took place in Ypres on 1 and 2 March 2012.
Te third track (management) saw the development of the ‘Remembrance
Park 2014–18’ project in 2011. Te aim of this project was “to realise a master
plan for an integrated and comprehensive cultural-tourism project for the for-
mer frontline in the Westhoek” (Geurst 2012). Te Remembrance Park 2014–18
aims to highlight the war landscape as a determining and connecting factor,
so that both visitors and residents can (re)discover it. Te winner of the call
for tenders is the temporary association of companies ‘Park 14–18’; they will
further elaborate their winning design. Based on a very thorough analysis of the
historic and the existing context, they have developed a simple, yet powerful
overarching concept. Important landscape sites will be consolidated and incor-
porated in a network, thus contributing to the narration of the many storylines
about the relationship between the landscape and the war that unfolded in it.
As the fourth track (recognition) of the Heritage of the Great War project,
Flanders actively pursues the recognition of the ‘lieux de mémoire’ of the First
World War as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Te commemorative and re-
membrance landscape which has been created on the historic battlefelds is a
unique and valuable testimony. To explain and underscore the universal value
of the UNESCO candidacy, Flanders has chosen to develop this project in col-
laboration with Wallonia and France. Together with the World Heritage Tou-
rism Research Network, an international network of academics and experts, a
multilingual internet survey was launched in the spring of 2012 to examine
what initiatives are being taken worldwide to commemorate World War I.
Foreign Policy
Over the years Belgium has witnessed several phases of state reform, leading
to a gradual shift of political power from the national federal level to the regi-
ons and communities (devolution). According to the Belgian constitution, the
regions and communities of the country exert their domestic competencies
316 GEERT BOURGEOI S
also on the international level (‘in foro interno, in foro externo’). So it should
come as no surprise that foreign policy is also one of the areas of great rele-
vance to the centenary project.
It is the intention of the Government of Flanders to structurally anchor the
commemoration of the Great War in an international declaration. Geographi-
cally, emphasis is put on the 50 or so present-day nations that dispatched sol-
diers to fght in Flanders Fields. Te international declaration of universal mo-
ral appeal has the ambition to structurally anchor the commemoration of the
Great War at the international level. It testifes to the realisation that war and
human misery have not yet been banished, and that respect for international
law and human rights, cooperation amongst peoples, disarmament and regio-
nal integration remain the key towards unlocking the door to a better future.
Future signatories are expected to commit to cooperate on the commemorati-
on of the victims, the promotion of remembrance education and scientifc re-
search, the unlocking, preservation and interpretation of archives, documents
and materials, and the protection and access to war heritage sites.
Te draft version of the International Declaration on the Commemoration
of the First World War was presented ofcially on 6 November 2012 to the
countries that deployed regular or auxiliary troops on Belgian territory. Alt-
hough the initiative was taken by the Government of Flanders, the draft text
enjoys the support of all governments in Belgium. International negotiations
are currently in full swing, with the actual signing scheduled to take place
between 2014 and 2018.
On 4 November 2013 the Government of Flanders organised an internatio-
nal symposium in Brussels under the theme ‘Science for Peace’. Te symposium
brought together several Nobel Peace Prize winners with decision makers, sci-
entists and feld experts. Te event put the contribution of science as a catalyst
for peace frmly on the international agenda, both by formulating policy recom-
mendations for intergovernmental organisations and institutions, and at the
same time strengthening the links between policy-making, science and practice.
From a thematic point of view, the symposium focused on the contribu-
tions science can make towards trauma treatment and transformation. In this
context, the term ‘trauma’ is used to cover psychological traumas and post-
traumatic disorders associated with confict and disasters. Scientifc litera-
ture teaches us that the trauma of confict victims requires urgent and goal-
oriented treatment so as to prevent the sufered psychological damage from
becoming irreversible. ‘Transformation’ is to be understood as the variety of
multidisciplinary interventions which contribute to the structural redevelop-
ment or re-orientation of societies that have gone through periods of intense
confict. In practice, this implies the input of our economic, legal, adminis-
trative, cultural and social capacity. On the eve of the actual remembrance
period, this symposium provided an excellent opportunity to send a universal
message of peace around the world.
June 2012 marked the beginning of the project of the memorial gardens.
Te frst garden, to be established in London with soil from the battlefelds
of Flanders, is scheduled for ofcial inauguration in November 2014. Each of
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 317
these memorial gardens will be laid out in symbolically important locations
abroad, in order to honour and commemorate anyone who fought and died
during the war in Flanders Fields. It goes without saying that the physical han-
ding over of this sacred soil to the countries that sent their soldiers to fght in
Flanders Fields will carry a highly emotional and symbolic weight.
In 2007 and 2009 the Government of Flanders concluded specifc arran-
gements (‘memoranda of understanding’) with Australia and New Zealand,
providing a reference framework for bilateral cooperation in the feld of the
shared history of the world wars of the twentieth century. Talks are also on-
going with other countries, including Canada, Germany, France, South Africa,
India, Ireland and the United Kingdom, to identify areas for joint cooperation.
Education
One of the main goals of the centenary project is to raise awareness about the
First World War amongst youngsters and students. Flemish schools will de-
vote particular attention to the First World War and not only in their history
curriculum. Special attention will be given to tolerance and gaining insight
into the role of conficts, hence contributing to what is commonly known as
‘peace education’ or ‘remembrance education’. Flanders has a lot of expertise in
this feld, which however has traditionally been more oriented towards World
War II and the Holocaust. Taking on board the First World War will comple-
ment and deepen this scope.
To understand the full dimension and meaning of the events that took
place between 1914 and 1918, the Government of Flanders encourages school
trips to World War I related sites for secondary schools. Te Flemish Parlia-
ment passed a resolution in this regard on 23 January 2013. Te information
and atmosphere of the cemeteries, sites and museums will allow young people
to gain additional insight in the history of our region and country, and the
importance of peace-building and international cooperation.
To achieve these goals, the Flemish Department of Education has establis-
hed a task force to prepare concrete activities and events, including the crea-
tion of an overview of all educational project and content material on World
War I for schools and teachers.
Cultural Heritage
Te commemoration initiatives relating to cultural heritage are closely moni-
tored by the Department of Culture, Youth, Sport and Media and the Agency
for Arts and Heritage. In this context, in 2012, the Agency started the map-
ping of the planned actions of the cultural heritage participants and groups.
A number of ofcially recognised museums, such as the In Flanders Fields
Museum in Ypres, the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke,
the Talbot House in Poperinge, and the Yser Tower in Diksmuide are all located
in the historic front line area. Obviously, the Great War will continue to be key
in their programme of public and educational activities for the coming years.
318 GEERT BOURGEOI S
Te Centre for Flemish Architectural Archives, in collaboration with the
province of West Flanders and the Flemish Community, started a project that,
based on archival research, aims at studying and disseminating information
on the post-war reconstruction works in the Westhoek.
In cooperation with the Great War Centenary project ofce, the Flemish In-
terface Centre for Cultural Heritage, FARO, organised a number of provincial
workshops on daily life during the First World War. Te audience consisted of
professionals working in the local, cultural, heritage and tourism sectors. In
addition, FARO also organised a project around daily life in 1913, on the eve of
the Great War.
April 2012 witnessed the submission of the nomination fle for the Last Post
Ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, City of Peace, to be included
on the Register of Best Practices of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Sa-
feguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Scientifc Research
Te academic community in the Flemish universities will also be paying ade-
quate attention to the commemoration. Te strong tradition of historical re-
search in our region will ensure that a range of scientifc initiatives, including
projects, publications and conferences will be rolled out. Te topic is also high
on the agenda of the Fund for Scientifc Research, which acts as the central
funding agency for basic research at the universities in Flanders.
Special reference should be made to the so-called ‘Historikerdialog’, a series
of workshops which bring together historians from Flanders, Wallonia and
Germany to discuss the history of the war. Te series was launched in October
2012 at the Catholic University of Leuven. It enjoys strong support from the
German embassy in Brussels.
Media
For many years, the public broadcasting company of Flanders, VRT, has con-
tributed actively to the commemoration eforts. Each year during the month
of November, VRT devotes special attention to the theme, on radio, television
and through online communication media. For instance, the ceremonies in
commemoration of Armistice Day are broadcast directly from Ypres. In ad-
dition, one of the VRT’s channels will annually broadcast two episodes of the
documentary series ‘Niets is Zwart-Wit’ (‘Nothing is Black or White’), high-
lighting diferent aspects of the First World War.
Many other radio and television programmes also intend to provide broad
coverage of the commemoration. Tus VRT took part in the production of
‘Parade’s End’, a BBC/HBO series, which is set during the First World War and
which has to a large extent been flmed in Flanders.
2013 saw the airing of a new human interest programme ‘Ten Oorlog’ (‘Of
To War’), which takes viewers on a 1,500 kilometre- long walking voyage of
discovery along the Western front lines.
Remembering Flanders Fields 2014–2018 319
Special attention is being paid to the digital archiving and the release of
historical interviews with war veterans and other direct witnesses. In addition
to the interviews already recorded, the project ‘De Allerlaatste Getuigen’ (‘Te
Very Last Witnesses’) has been able to collect more than one hundred inter-
views with centenarians who, as children, experienced the First World War at
frst hand.
Also during the period 2014–2018, the public broadcasting company will
continue to pay close attention to the commemoration of the First World War
with several thematic radio and TV programmes. For example, a ten-episode
fctional series is to be produced, entitled ‘In Vlaamse Velden’ (‘In Flanders
Fields’).
Agriculture
Te Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Policy, in collaboration with the
Interfaculty Centre for Agrarian History at the Catholic University of Leuven,
started an innovative research study on the subject of agriculture, fsheries
and the provision of food supplies before, during, and shortly after the First
World War. Specifc themes include the evolution of agricultural policy during
this period and the impact of the war on it (also on the question of the inter-
national food situation), the state of the Belgian fshing feet, the war’s impact
on the (farming) landscape and the farmsteads in the front line area, and their
reconstruction.
Te fndings of the scientifc study will be used to initiate a number of pu-
blic outreach activities in collaboration with diverse partners. End products
will include lectures, publications, a biking and walking tour, and educational
packages for distribution in secondary schools.
An Appeal for International Action
With commemoration eforts for the centenary of the First World War well
underway in many countries, regions, provinces and cities across the globe,
and taking stock of our highly inspirational experiences of the last 7 years, we
consider it our duty to make sure that the centenary eforts generate a legacy
for generations to come. Tourism and heritage can play a crucial role in that
regard, as we all come to understand that, if used in an intelligent way, these
are policy areas with a huge potential of promoting intercultural understan-
ding, bridging societal gaps and contributing to the transformation of post-
confict societies. Specifc initiatives are needed to raise awareness and to de-
velop further this societal added value of tourism and heritage, on top of the
well-established common understanding of the economic return generated by
the tourism and heritage visitor economy.
We urge the international community to establish guidelines for a sound
policy framework in order to develop this societal added value. In particular,
the Government of Flanders strongly advocates studying the feasibility of de-
veloping a code of conduct for tourism to both historic confict-related sites,
320 GEERT BOURGEOI S
and to actual confict areas. Te United Nations World Tourism Organizati-
on is well placed to take the lead with this initiative. Te promotion of peace
through tourism is at the very heart of its mandate as stated in Article 3 of the
statutes: “Te fundamental aim of the Organisation shall be the promotion
and development of tourism with a view to contributing to economic deve-
lopment, international understanding, peace, prosperity…” (World Tourism
Organization 2012).
In recent years, UNWTO has already taken several steps in the feld of tou-
rism and peace. Te UNWTO Global Code of Ethics recognises the relation-
ship between tourism and peace. Te 14th session of the UNWTO General
Assembly adopted a Declaration on Peace and Tourism. Peace has been cho-
sen as the theme for World Tourism Days on several occasions. And as this
publication illustrates, UNWTO supports the ‘Tourism and Peace’ project in
collaboration with the Austrian Government and the University of Klagenfurt,
Austria.
Te Government of Flanders believes that UNWTO should place tourism
and peace high on its agenda. Peace is not only a basic prerequisite for the
development of safe and comfortable tourism activities, but tourism itself can
undeniably act as a driving force for building and maintaining peace. As a spe-
cialised agency of the United Nations, UNWTO should take up a leading role
in further investigating the relationship between peace and tourism and in
promoting global peace through tourism. Te Government of Flanders would
be delighted to support such an initiative, since it will ensure that the comme-
moration of the Great War of almost one hundred years ago is actively used as
a source of inspiration for present and future generations.
References
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Geurst, Jeroen. 2012. Masterplan herinneringspark
2014–18. Brussel: Onroerend erfgoed.
McCrae, John. 1915. “In Flanders felds”. Poem. Avail-
able on http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-
mccrae-in-fanders-felds.htm
Verstreken, Johan, Philippe De Coene, and Patrick
De Klerck. 2009. “Resolutie betrefende het Vlaam-
se beleid voor een levende herinnering aan de
Eerste Wereldoorlog”. Available on http://docs.
vlaamsparlement.be/docs/stukken/2008–2009/
g2205-6.pdf
World Tourism Organization. 2012. “Statutes of the
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docpdf/statutesweba5.pdf
Valorisatie. 2009. Toeristische valorisatie van erfgoed
uit de Eerste Wereldoorlog in de Westhoek met het
oog op 100 jaar Groote Oorlog (2014–18). Vlaamsec-
Regering: VIA en Regeerakkoord.
Van der Auwera, Sigrid. 2007. De herdenking van de
Grote Oorlog en Flanders Fields. Een beknopt over-
zicht in 25 staten. Rapport vooronderzoek. Antwer-
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Van der Auwera, Sigrid. 2008. De herdenking van de
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CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERSTEI NER,
MI RA WAGNER
*
Connected by the Trails that used to
Divide Us: Peace Trails in the Alps-
Adriatic Region
Introduction
Te following article explores the potential of using ‘mountain’ tourism as
an instrument for peace-building eforts in the Alps-Adriatic Region. During
World War I, this border region between Austria and Italy (and later Yugosla-
via, nowadays Slovenia) was the theatre of long-lasting, bloody battles, com-
parable to those of Verdun and the Flanders Fields at the German-Belgian-
French front (see Bourgeois in this volume). After World War I, and again
after World War II, the inhabitants of the Alps-Adriatic Region had to face
many signifcant realignments of borders which led to mass displacement and
created new minorities and endless struggles about minority rights, even until
recent times. Tis article will outline the development of reconciliation and
cooperation after 1945, including examples of tourism-based cooperation in
the region. Te focus will be on the so-called ‘Peace Trails’ in the Alps-Adri-
atic Region, which aim to foster benefcial interaction, mutual dialogue, coop-
eration and the building of positive relations between the formerly conficting
groups. Tis paper is based on the frst results of a bigger research project on
‘Tourism in the Alps- Adriatic region and its role in peace-building’, carried
out by the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education of the University of
Klagenfurt, Austria. Tis research project falls within the framework of the
project on ‘Tourism and Peace, an Initiative by the Austrian University of Kla-
genfurt and the World Tourism Organization’.
The Alps-Adriatic Region – a Violent Heritage
It is quite challenging to defne the exact geographical dimensions of the Alps-
Adriatic Region accurately. Tis difculty stems from several realignments of
borders in the region, which took place in the last century and geographically
transformed the area as a whole several times. However, the core (‘small’) of
the Alps-Adriatic Region, that is used in this chapter, can be located in the so-
called ‘three-country corner’, which spreads to cover distances of 20–50 km
* in cooperation with MARJETA SCHWARZ and VALERIE WOOP
322 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
from the point at which – since 1918 – the countries of Austria, Italy and Slo-
venia (until 1991, the former Yugoslavia) have converged (Moritsch 2006, 12).
In a wider defnition the region encompasses the Austrian provinces of Carin-
thia and Styria, the Italian autonomous regions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and
Veneto, the Republic of Slovenia and the northern parts of the Croatian coast.
The ‘small’ Alps-Adriatic Region
Source: d.maps.com
In the last four decades there has at last been a growing interest in attempts
at using the potential of the Alps-Adriatic Region to create a trans-national
and interregional conurbation based on cross-border cooperation. However,
the history of the region – which has been strongly characterised by violent
confict, war and repression of minorities – still afects the relations between
the states and the peoples.
During World War I, the region acted as a highly controversial front and
the setting for several ofensives and battles – the so-called ‘Isonzo’ or ‘So?a’
Front. Te twelve ‘Battles of the Isonzo’ between the Austro-Hungarian and
Italian armies took place mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, be-
tween 1915 and 1917. After the end of World War I, with the Treaty of Saint-
Germain, huge parts of German-speaking (South Tyrol) and Slovenian-speak-
ing (mainly the coastal area and the So?a Valley) regions were given to Italy,
as a victor country. Te borders between Austria and the newborn kingdom
Vienna
Ljubljana
Trieste
Klagenfurt
Rome
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 323
of Yugoslavia were, after violent struggles, defned according to the results of
a referendum in 1920. Te whole region was signifcantly transformed. People
who had been living in common neighbourhoods, for centuries, suddenly be-
longed to diferent, ofcially antagonistic and separate states. Flourishing cit-
ies – like Trieste, once the most important harbour of the Austro-Hungarian
monarchy – declined under Italian rule. ‘All these towns and areas, once the
heart of hundreds of years of long growing territory, were now transforming
into remote border regions, converted into entrenchments of the defence of
the nation state rather than valued as factors of economic and human integra-
tion.’ (Pirjevec 2001, 452)
Te interwar period in the Alps-Adriatic Region was characterised not only
by the attempts of Italian Fascists forcefully to ‘italianise’ the German and
Slovenian population, but also by the suppression of the respective minorities
in Austria and Yugoslavia.
During World War II, Slovenia was divided into two parts, one under Ger-
man and one under Italian administration (Provincia di Lubiana). Te Nazis
systematically tried to ‘germanise’ the whole Slovenian population, which
caused people to join Tito’s partisan movement; this also happened in Carin-
thia, Austria, in the area with a Slovenian population. In Italy as well, there
was an anti-fascist resistance, sometimes in cooperation and often in com-
petition with the Yugoslav partisans. Tis led, after the war, to long-lasting
border disputes between Italy and Yugoslavia, especially about the fate of the
Trieste region. Another case is the city Gorizia/Nova Gorica, which was di-
vided territorially into Italian and Yugoslavian sections in 1945.
During the Cold War the Alps-Adriatic Region was signifcantly afected as
well, despite Austria’s neutrality and Yugoslavia’s non-alignment. Te Eastern
part of Italy was used for large military base areas for both the US and NATO.
However, family ties, tourism and the need for economic cooperation led to
many initiatives aimed at improving neighbourly relations. In the 1990s, after
years of cooperation and rapprochement from the late 1960s to the 1980s, the
Alps-Adriatic Region was once again touched by violent confict: it was (more
or less directly) afected by the consequences of the Yugoslavian Wars.
Even nowadays, the regional borders are not just territorial divisions; they
also strongly infuence the identity of the local inhabitants. It seems that it is
not so much the idea of communality and similarity, but rather the separation
from ‘the other’ that defnes the national identity in these three neighbouring
countries. Despite many eforts (Wintersteiner 2012), the concept of an inte-
grated Alps-Adriatic Region identity has not really taken of; instead, we see
numerous identities based upon diferences from ‘the other’.
For this reason, the Alps-Adriatic Region is still in real need of specifc
transforming projects and cooperations that focus not only on economic col-
laboration but also on social and emotional dialogue and exchange, as well
as specifc reconciliation and peace-building eforts. A culture of peace and a
common Alps-Adriatic identity – not replacing, but complementing and su-
perimposing upon the existing national identities – should be the main goal;
this is the way to replace the mental and emotional barriers with positive rela-
324 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
tions, mutual dialogue and understanding. In recent years, several reconcilia-
tion and peace initiatives have emerged (Petritsch et al. 2012). Te fact that all
states are now members of the European Union (Italy as a founder, Austria in
1995, Slovenia in 2004 and Croatia in 2013) has fundamentally improved the
conditions for cooperation and understanding.
Cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic Region
Despite its long history of confict, the Alps-Adriatic Region nevertheless in-
volves huge – and sometimes still untapped – potential for mutual coopera-
tion and with it the opportunity for building positive relations. Te mixture
of Romanic, Slavic and Germanic culture in the region ofers a unique possi-
bility for mutual enrichment and benefcial exchange and inspiration. In the
middle of last century the frst attempts at collaboration had already begun.
Initially, the main focus was on cultural encounters and sporting events but
soon the issues of economy, including tourism, and politics were also invol-
ved. Early on, ‘Alps-Adriatic’ was chosen as a sort of umbrella term for the
three-country cooperation. In 1978, the Alps-Adriatic Working Community
was founded – an ofcial network of provinces, regions and districts, and an
important step against the still dominant cold war mentality. In the founding
year, the Working Community consisted of 9 participants: 2 countries; and
provinces from 4 other countries (Croatia, Slovenia; Bavaria, Carinthia, Friuli-
Venezia Giulia, Salzburg, Styria, Upper Austria and Veneto). Nowadays, after
the split of the Italian regions in 2012, there are still six actively participating
partners involved, covering an area with a population of about 9 million.
Since its establishment, the Alps-Adriatic Working Community has facilita-
ted over 600 projects, all of which include political and pedagogic objectives
rather then just focusing on economic benefts (important as these are). Te
projects and collaborations aspire throughout to secure peace, to guarantee
mutual understanding between the diverse participating people, to provide
national equality, and to support the linguistic and cultural diversity and re-
gional identities that exist in the region, as Hellwig Valentin, former general
secretary of the Working Community, argues (Valentin 2011, 162–163). With
reference to the Italian scholar Claudio Magris, Valentin presents the vision of
the Alps-Adriatic Region as a kind of a ‘laboratory’, where the people work on
the new essence of a Europe that is based on peace and the ability to ofer the
inhabitants a good and happy life (ibid., 166). However, the reality is very dife-
rent. By the end of 2012, the Italian regions had left the Working Community.
And in practice, old prejudices between the majorities and the minorities, as
well as between all three countries, still play an important role.
Nevertheless, the ambitious tasks defned by the Alps-Adriatic Working
Community (ARGE 2013) are inspired by the idea of peace and cooperation,
aiming to:
• Facilitate activities that support the development of a peaceful, common,
democratic, pluralistic Europe
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 325
• Demonstrate the importance of positive relation- building and diverse co-
operations in the region
• Use the advantages of the geographical position and the economical and
cultural potential and function as a bridge between the countries and pro-
vinces
• Support integration and abolish the real and virtual barriers between the
inhabitants of the region
• Develop and support the quality of life of, and exchanges between, the peo-
ple concerned.
According to Hellwig Valentin, cooperation between countries should not aim
to abolish the existing borders; these barriers function as a symbol of respect
and acceptance, and not just as a mechanism of segregation. Instead of trying
to destroy the borders themselves, the overall intention should be to tackle
the negative aspects related to the borders (Valentin 2011, 158). But how are
all these concepts to be put into practice, in particular in the feld of tourism?
Tourism Cooperation: Achievements and Challenges
For all countries involved, tourism plays a major role in their economies. Te
Austrian and Slovenian Alps, Italian cities and coastal regions, as well as the
capital cities and the Croatian coast are popular tourist destinations for peo-
ple from all over Europe. Within a very small geographical space, visitors can
fnd a wide variety of diferent landscapes, ranging from mountains with high-
alpine character to the sandy beaches of the Adriatic Sea. Tis, in combinati-
on with the diferent cultures, languages, traditions, gastronomy and climates,
ofers attractive elements for the creation of any tourism product.
Te idea of positioning this region as one single destination on the world
tourism map has been a point of discussion for many years amongst politici-
ans and tourism experts but, for a variety of reasons, this vision has not been
realised and remains as an idea only. Only once was it put into action when,
in 1998, the three countries applied for the Olympic Winter Games of 2006
under the slogan ‘Senza confni’ (without borders). Although this application
was rejected by the International Olympic Committee in favour of Torino, the
‘senza confni’ idea survived and was revived when the countries applied to
hold the World Skiing Cups in the area. In addition, remnants of this phrase
can be found with the ‘senza confni biking trail’ that goes from the Alps to
the sea, as well as with various sporting events. One outcome resulting from
this ‘senza confni’ project was the establishment, in 2002, of a joint online
platform under the name ‘playing together’ (Maurer 2008, 88). In this plat-
form the three countries represent themselves within certain thematic areas
(water, golf, culture, hiking, gastronomy and winter) but without any speci-
fc cooperation activities. In comparison the yearly tourism fair, the ‘Tourism
and Leisure Show’ in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, represents the central
tourism event of the Alps-Adriatic Region. It also awards the ‘Jakob Prize’, the
regional prize for quality and excellence in tourism. Another interesting event
326 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
in the framework of this annual fair is the international meeting of the tour
guides of the Alps- Adriatic area, a forum in which the representatives of each
part share their experiences and know- how.
Furthermore, for many years, locals from each part of the Region would
visit the others on a regular basis, often for gastronomy, shopping or cultural
reasons. Tus the Austrians and Slovenians would go to Italy for shopping and
dining, while the Austrians and Italians would go to Slovenia for their casinos
and gastronomy, and the Italians and Slovenians would come to Austria for
cultural reasons and shopping. Tis is on-going and now even easier for all
concerned, with all three countries within the Schengen region.
Te frst project that involved all countries in realising a common goal was
the recent creation of the long-distance ‘Alps-Adriatic Trail’ that was ofcially
launched in 2012. Tis trekking trail runs from the highest mountain in Aus-
tria – the Grossglockner – to the Adriatic Sea, in 46 stages, and goes through
all three countries. In this joint project, the relevant national or regional tou-
rism ofces were involved and met on a regular basis for this purpose. Specifc
cooperation agreements and fnancial plans were developed in order to ensure
its proper functioning. Some eforts are to be found in European Union fun-
ded projects, such as the initiative of holidays on farms in Carinthia and Slove-
nia. Apart from these undertakings, only limited concrete cooperation in the
feld of tourism in the Region is to be found. Te question as to why there are
limited eforts in the cooperation area of tourism might be explained by the
statement of an ofcial of the Austrian Marketing Agency that “the peoples
here in the region do not live the region, thus joint marketing strategies are
not sustainable“(Maurer 2008, 88). In addition, as argued by tourism profes-
sionals, the countries are in competition with each other, and this can be dif-
fcult to reconcile with increased cooperation.
In summary, for such a long period of understanding and organised con-
tacts in the Region, concrete results of cooperation in tourism remain rather
poor. Apart from some beacon projects, such as the Alps-Adriatic Trail, most
of the tourism is organised within the framework of the respective nation sta-
te. Tis is not only due to ‘ideological’ or historical reasons. A recent study
about Italian-Austrian cooperation to explore the Slovenian tourism market
comes to a rather disillusioning conclusion: “Te development of the coopera-
tion with Italian project partners shows how difcult it is to string together
shared packages despite geographic proximity and afliation with the same
ethnic group. Te cultural diferences are not insurmountable, but bigger than
assumed.” (Einspieler- Siegert 2010, 28). Te same is true for the presentation
of the socio-cultural heritage of each country. Interestingly enough, a keynote
speaker of an Alps-Adriatic tourism conference in 2010 still feels the need to
stress the necessity of “cultural openness throughout the Alps-Adriatic area.
Te guest no longer sees a blocked border, but rather a cross-border cultural
zone and interplay between various infuences of the last centuries. […] Tis
will be a particular challenge in the next ten years.“(Kresse 2010, 14)
Te need for cross-border cooperation is more obvious for city and moun-
tain tourism, where culture and history are more relevant issues, than for the
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 327
beach tourism, which focuses only on water, sun and fun. Mountain tourism
and its respective literature (tourism guides, popular history books, leafets
for tourists, small museums, war memorials and monuments) are still noti-
ceably afected by traces of the historic traumas of World Wars I and II. It is
still possible to fnd mountain huts named after fascists in the Italian Alps,
or Austrian guidebooks for hiking full of nationalist prejudices against the
‘enemy’. Te common history, though not actually experienced as a ‘common’
one, is still waiting to be discussed and worked through by the general public
in the three core countries. One should therefore particularly appreciate the
few initiatives which have succeeded, in which mountain tourism has been
used as an opportunity to deal with the violent past, and history as a warning
for national hatred and military solutions.
The Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails
Tere have been a few attempts at using tourism-based activities as an instru-
ment for dealing specifcally with the Region’s past history of confict, namely
the so-called ‘Peace Trails’. Te following section will frstly ofer a presentati-
on of three Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails that are located in the area of Carinthia,
Italy and Slovenia and will then go on to discuss the potential peace-building
eforts of these projects. But we start with a brief characterisation of the term
‘Peace Trail’ in general.
A ‘Peace Trail’ in the mountains (in contrast to peace trails in cities, see
van den Dungen and Lollis in this volume) can be defned as a particular hi-
king trail which ofers a specifc historical approach to a violent confict that
used to take place at this location. In most cases, Peace Trails are labelled and
equipped with information boards that guide visitors through the most cru-
cial historical events by providing information on the site of confict, the par-
ticular battles or the victims of the war. From time to time, museums which
focus on confict-related exhibitions are additionally located nearby, or on the
Peace Trail itself. By making the cruel parts of history accessible to the vi-
sitors, a Peace Trail tries to transform a former location of war and confict
into a setting in which the past can be reconsidered. Interaction and mutual
dialogue between the (formerly antagonised and sometimes still conficting)
neighbours is also an issue behind the purpose of a Peace Trail, as a specifc
historical method of dealing with the past. Te trail attempts in addition to
strengthen the visitor’s awareness of the importance of peace and reconcili-
ation in the Alps-Adriatic Region. Te construction of the trails was mostly
a multi-national endeavour, carried out by volunteers and therefore in itself a
contribution to peace.
Tese Peace Trail projects can be found in South Tyrol (where the initial
idea came from) and in the Alps-Adriatic Region. Tis goes back to the fact
that during World War I the South-West Front was erected across the whole
region – six hundred kilometres long, running from the Alps on the Swiss-
Italian-Austrian border across Tyrol, the Carnic Alps, and through the So?a
Region to the Adriatic Sea. Formerly functioning as a means of segregation,
328 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
some parts of the South-West Front now serve as the starting points for the
Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails. Some sections of the former front have been com-
pletely restored in the course of Peace Trail projects and can nowadays be vis-
ited by interested hikers and tourists.
Te invention and realisation of the Alps-Adriatic Peace Trails was main-
ly the work of Austrian alpinist, army ofcer and military historian Walther
Schaumann. As long ago as 1973, he had already started to evolve his ‘life-
work’ – the restoration of relicts from World War I and the ambition to make
them accessible for interested visitors, beginning with the front in the South
Tyrolean mountains (Schaumann and Schaumann 2006, 249). Several associa-
tions and projects within the Alps-Adriatic Region were directly infuenced
by Schaumann’s work, which paved the way for this specifc approach of the
restoration of mountain paths whilst at the same time providing relevant his-
torical information for visitors and tourists. Inspired by Schaumann’s work,
several hiking trails that are dedicated to mediating the history of confict to
the visitors and, in addition, creating peace awareness were installed along the
former South-West Front. Only a few of them are awarded with Schaumann’s
label ‘Peace Trail’. Tree of them will now be presented and discussed in the
following section: the Peace Trail of the association ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ (Aus-
tria), the Peace Trail ‘Itinerari di Pace sul Carso della Grande Guerra’ (Italy)
and the Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’ (Slovenia).
The ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ Peace Trails in Austria
Te frst project presented is the Peace Trails venture launched by the Aus-
trian association ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ (Friends of the Dolomite Mountains) in
Austria. Tis association was founded by Walther Schaumann in 1973 and is
dedicated to supporting international understanding and exchange between
the former enemies of World War I, ‘through historical research and docu-
mentation of the former area of war and confict, and by reducing prejudices
between the inhabitants of the neighbouring countries’ (Dolomitenfreunde
2013). Te main focus of the work is on transforming former ‘front’ trails,
which were the theatre of various battles and violent conficts, into Peace
Trails. Te ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ Peace Trails cover the geographical area of
the former Dolomites and Carnic Alps front at the Austrian-Italian border.
Tey attempt to highlight this historically crucial chapter of European history
while, at the same time, functioning as a concrete appeal for the importance
of a peaceful neighbourhood in the region. Te trails stand under the motto
‘Trails that used to separate the fronts are nowadays supposed to connect us.’
Tis statement also led to the symbolic naming of the trails: Peace Trails – le
vie della pace (ibid.).
Te association ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ defnes itself as a platform for active
and participatory peace work. Every summer, several international volunteers
from more than 20 countries around the world support the project by restor-
ing destroyed parts of the former front and making them accessible for visitors.
As soon as a section is completely restored and equipped, the new alpine trails
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 329
are ofcially handed over to other regional associations which, from then on,
are responsible for their maintenance. Trough this approach several collabo-
rations and cross-cultural projects between Austria and Italy have been set up
and nowadays function as an example for the strategic connection of former
enemies through tourism cooperation. An important point to mention is that
the summer volunteers are responsible not only for restoring the trails but
also for researching and documenting historically important aspects of the
region. Since its founding in 1973, the ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ association has not
only created about 300 km of Peace Trails but has also established some out-
door museums in South Tyrol (Monte Piana) as well as a World War I Muse-
um in Kötschach-Mauthen, Austria, supplemented by two outdoor museums.
Whilst the Peace Trails themselves aim to provide an opportunity for visi-
tors to actively experience the historical events of the region, the museums
allow for deeper insight, explaining the broader context and events in a more
systematic way. Both the Peace Trails and the museums ofer crucial informa-
tion on the conficts of the past, thereby making the cruelty of war accessible
to the post-war generation and, at the same time, highlighting the fact that
war is the most inappropriate way of dealing with conficts.
According to the association, the summer volunteer project itself functions
as a form of concrete peace-building event. Trough the work of transform-
ing the former frontiers into places for positive encounters, the participants
experience the concept of international cooperation at frst hand. Te fact that
so many people from diferent countries of origin all aim for a common peace-
building efort and mutual dialogue symbolises the fact that peaceful interac-
tion can indeed overcome physical and mental barriers of nationality, ethnic-
ity, language, religion and ideology. Te culmination of the cooperative work
is expected to be ‘mutual exchange and positive relationships that are called
‘Dolomite friendships’’ (ibid).
The Peace Trail ‘Itinerari di Pace sul Carso della Grande Guerra’ in Italy
Te Italian province of Gorizia was greatly afected by the events of World
War I, being as it was the centre of violent conficts and disputes from May
1915 to October 1917. Nowadays the local development association ‘Pro Loco
Fogliano-Redipuglia’ is located here and ofers diverse historical tourism
events in cooperation with the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the province
Gorizia. Since 1995 this collaboration has organised historical re-enactments
of war events, which are supposed to provide an insight into the events that
took place during World War I, including both the Italian and the Austrian
narratives of the war. Te aim is to demonstrate that the soldiers and the civil-
ian population sufered equally on both sides. Tese historical re-enactments
are performed at actual former sites of war in the region and in particular
are visited by local school classes. Moreover, the association annually facili-
tates steam engine rides from Redipuglia (Italy) to Kobarid (Slovenia) in the
so-called ‘Treno della Memoria’ (Train of Memory) with visits to the essential
sites of World War I. Tis is all in stark contrast to the huge ofcial World War
330 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
I memorial in Redipuglia, constructed in the spirit of revenge and with the
aesthetics of fascism.
In addition to these historical tourism oferings, ‘Pro Loco Fogliano-Redi-
puglia’ focuses on the regional project Peace Trails (Sentieri di Pace). With the
support of volunteers, several former sites of war were restored and are now
fnally accessible to visitors. Experts on World War I guide interested tourists
and visitors around the Peace Trail and provide an outline of the historical
events. Another possibility of gaining insight into the regional past is by book-
ing a Peace Trail tour led by historical actors. Te project ‘Itinerari di Pace sul
Carso della Grande Guerra’ in addition ofers diverse excursions to other his-
torical sites in the region, related to World War I. In doing this, the association
is attempting to use tourism as a way of promoting the regional history and to
emphasise the importance of reconciliation between the former enemies that
were involved in the confict (personal interview Franco Visintin and Roberto
Todero). Te so called ‘Path of Peace in the Karst’ is characterised by focus-
ing on a special form of commemorative work that deals openly with both the
Italian and the Austrian historical narratives related to World War I. Tis ap-
proach is intended to trigger the process of critically questioning political di-
mensions of social commemoration and gaining a broader horizon on this issue.
According to ‘Pro Loco Fogliano-Redipuglia’, the tourism related to the
Peace Trails not only attracts visitors and tourists to the sites of former con-
fict in order to develop the tourism in the region, but also aims to trigger a
positive shift in society by using tourism as a tool for mutual understanding
and dialogue. Te associated building of positive relations can be considered
as the basis for a benefcial connection of the nations. By emphasising the dark
sides of each country’s own history, the projects related to the Peace Trail are
aimed at educating the visitors by triggering a sensitivity and awareness for
peace. Tis can contribute to reconciliation between the former enemies of
the region. As the ofcial website of ‘Pro Loco’ puts it: ‘Te new Europe needs
to be based on solidarity and connectivity, also in the own region that once
used to be shaped by war, separation and national diferentiation for a long
time.’ (www.prolocofoglianoredipuglia.it/)
The Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’ in Slovenia
Te Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’ in Slovenia was set up by the foundation ‘Walk of
Peace in the So?a Valley’ in 2000. At this former site of cruel war and death,
the Foundation is nowadays creating several projects that aim to protect and
enrich the cultural and historical heritage of the region. In the course of this
plan, six outdoor museums were established in the surrounding area of the
So?a Valley. Te Foundation focuses on the combination of history, education
and tourism. Te overall aim is to create a positive and long-lasting legacy for
the region by establishing peace-sensitive tourism as a tool for positive devel-
opment and relation-building. In addition, another main focus is on specifc
regional research activities and historical documentation (personal interview
with Zdravko Likar and Tadej Koren).
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 331
Te Peace Trail foundation managed to restore a 100 km long hiking trail
across the So?a Valley in Slovenia and this connects several important loca-
tions related to World War I, commemoration sites and an established out-
door museum. Moreover, the Foundation set up an ofcial information centre
dealing with the project Peace Trails, which also includes a historical library
and ofers a guide service for tourists. Te information centre is situated in
front of the Kobarid Museum, which provides a unique insight into the histo-
ry of the Isonzo Front events. Te Trail, ofcially dedicated to the victims of
World War I, can be visited in 5 stages and aims to raise awareness regarding
the importance of peace in the region (Pot Miru).
As well as focusing on historical regional research activities and ofering
an educational hiking experience in the course of the Peace Trail walks, the
Foundation also facilitates several projects fostering peace in the region. Te
overall aim is to stimulate the visitors to critically question, and refect upon,
the regional history and to learn about the signifcance of regional peace (Ko-
ren 2007, 5). Currently the Peace Trail is being developed in the course of a
cross-cultural project that is trying to create a Peace Trail from the Alps to
the Adriatic Sea, by expanding the Peace Trail into the South until it reaches
Sistiana, Italy. In addition, there are ambitions for further developments, such
as a plan to set up a Peace Park at the mountain of Sabotin and the idea of
establishing a World War I theme park in Monfalcone, Italy – which should
both be integrated in the Peace Trail. Trough working closely with the neigh-
bouring state of Italy, the Peace Trail project actively uses tourism for mutu-
al cooperation in the Alps-Adriatic Region (personal interview with Zdravko
Likar and Tadej Koren). Tis aspect of cross-border peace tourism is probably
the most interesting one.
The Peace Trails in the Framework of a Movement of the Culture of
Remembrance, Reconciliation and Peace: a Critical Review
Te current situation in the Alps-Adriatic Region is characterised by a more
or less functional neighbourliness between the border nations (Winterstei-
ner 2011, 81). Initiatives like the three aforementioned Peace Trails in Austria,
Italy and Slovenia all claim to actively attempt the transformation of these
‘more or less functioning relations’ into a sustainable and peacefully connec-
ted neighbourhood. What impact do the Peace Trails have (or could they have)
in promoting this aim?
A path or a trail is always a central symbol for mutual dialogue. Created
and established by human beings, they have always connected villages, regi-
ons and societies and lead to economic and cultural exchange and enrichment.
To start along a path also means to be willing to get involved in something
new, sometimes even in something unknown. For this reason, the concept of
using trails for the systematic peaceful connection of the formerly antagoni-
stic and still segregated societies of bordering nations seems to ofer a chan-
ce for a new beginning in the Alps-Adriatic Region. All three projects clearly
announce their motivation with their names: ‘Friedensweg’, Itinerari di Pace’
332 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER, WERNER WI NTERS TEI NER, MI RA WAGNER
and ‘Pot Miru’ all mean ‘peace walk’ in their respective language. But interes-
tingly, they all try to achieve this goal using diferent approaches.
Whereas the ‘Dolomitenfreunde’ Peace Trail focuses on historical comme-
moration eforts on the trail itself and on specifc cross-cultural encounters
in the course of the volunteer work, the Peace Trail ‘Itinerari di Pace sul Car-
so della Grande Guerra’ in Italy merely tries to overcome one-sided histori-
cal myths relating to World War I by dealing with both narratives, from the
Austrian and the Italian points of view. Te Slovenian Peace Trail ‘Pot Miru’
in turn provides possibly the best level of information, focusing on a ‘neutral’
historical presentation of the region and aiming at strengthening a cultural
commemoration dimension through the project.
Obviously, there are some limitations to the impact of the Peace Trails, lea-
ding to critical questions about the very aims of these projects. We will there-
fore discuss these criticisms in detail.
In general, it is questionable as to whether visiting the Peace Trails can ac-
tually infuence established border perceptions and trigger a peace-sensitive
awareness of the past. In reality, it seems a little doubtful that deeply-rooted
(mis)perceptions and stereotypes formed as a consequence of decades of con-
fict and national segregation can be positively changed just by a visit to a
Peace Trail, dealing with the past conficts of that region. One answer to this
objection, however, is that even the fact that the Peace Trails have been estab-
lished is a signifcant step forward: volunteers, tourism managers and guides
are now referring to this new view on the region. A piece of the puzzle formed
by political activities, educational strategies, the work of numerous NGOs and
individuals has been put into place. It is in this context that peace-sensitive
tourism appears as a natural complement to other initiatives.
Secondly, many of the hikers who walk one of the Peace Trails are not spe-
cifcally aware of the peace-building eforts behind the trail. Some tourism ex-
perts argue that it is quite unrealistic to assume that tourists who come from
abroad decide to visit the Alps-Adriatic Region merely due to the Peace trails.
*
Terefore the Peace Trails are visited not only by people who are willing to
deal with peace-building eforts in the Region, but also by ‘normal’ hikers who
are attracted by the beauty of the mountains in the area – a fact that superf-
cially seems to diminish the efectiveness of the projects. Tis is true as well.
However, one can argue that although Peace Trails may not be so important
in attracting people from far away, nonetheless they gain their importance by
providing the regional population (of almost 10 million people) with a refe-
rence point for dealing with their past – and sometimes, probably, the frst
push towards seeing from a diferent side those events which are so deeply
rooted in the collective memory.
Peace Trails in the Alps-Adriatic Region 333
Conclusion
It is very challenging to fnd clear evidence to show whether or not the aim
of triggering positive relation-building and peace between the formerly an-
tagonistic nations can really be achieved with the Peace Trail projects. Te
success of the projects could be questioned on the grounds that they do not
directly provide specifc strategies to abolish mental and emotional barriers
between the inhabitants of the Alps-Adriatic Region. On their own, good so-
cial relations and many tourism contacts do not sufce; of course, this cannot
be denied. Nevertheless, it is crucial to stress that the concept of Peace Trails
in the Alps-Adriatic Region is a step in the right direction. An overall strategy
cannot be established by the tourism sector alone; it needs, as argued, more
partners and allies working on what we can call the ‘culture of peace’. Te
good news is that Peace Trails are not the only initiative working towards such
aims (Gruber/ Rippitsch 2011, Wintersteiner 2012, Gombos 2013).
Despite the known limitations of the projects, the Peace Trails still provi-
de huge further potential for improvement and development of the region. In
this context the Peace Trails should be frst theoretically, and then practically,
extended in order to be able to achieve the aim of mutual dialogue and under-
standing in the region. We suggest the following measures:
• Te establishment of regular mutual cooperation between the Peace Trails
in Austria, Italy and Slovenia, aiming for regular, cooperative peace-foste-
ring projects.
• Te involvement of experts in peace research and confict transformation
so as to provide international encounters between former enemies under
expert supervision.
• Te cooperation of tourism, politics, academia and education is most like-
ly to make the Peace Trails an important piece of an Alps-Adriatic ‘peace
puzzle’.
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HARALD A. FRI EDL
“I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy!”
Systemic Confict Training in Tourism
Education as a Paradigmatic
Approach to Stimulating Peace
Competence
Introduction
Beautiful people, smiling and sitting happily in the shade of a palm tree on a
picturesque sandy beach… Tis is surely one of the most widespread images
used in holiday brochures and also one of the most common ideas people have
when visualising their next holiday. Te vision behind tourism, according to
authors like Cohen (1995) and Connell (2003), suggests travelling as a means
to happiness and peace in a world free of problems, fears and conficts: in
other words, ‘a paradise on earth...’ If this were true, then we would be living
in the most peaceful time ever in history, as there have never been so many
people travelling as there are nowadays, and according to the UNWTO (2012)
prediction, international tourism is just going to keep on growing.
Reality, however, looks diferent, as the data shows. Whilst the numbers of
national and international travellers are growing, there are still many violent
conficts around the world. According to the German Institute of Global and
Area Studies (2013):
“organised violent conficts outside of Europe and North America will be-
come increasingly relevant since they involve a growing number of diferent
types of actors, they often display a transnational dimension, and in the
context of globalisation they have repercussions that go well beyond the
actual battlefelds.”
Many of these conficts are about natural resources like oil in Sudan, Iran, Iraq
and Kuwait, or uranium in Niger, while other violent conficts are about stra-
tegic positions like in Afghanistan; and, more recently, many violent conficts
have occurred as a result of a population demanding more civil rights, like the
civil war in Algeria or the ‘Arab Spring’ in some Arabian countries since 2012.
Violent conficts not only occur in spite of growing tourism, but some cur-
rent wars have actually started in order to afect important conditions for tou-
rism development, e.g. those related to the supply of the tourism and transport
industry with oil as in Iraq and Libya, and also in the ‘war against terrorism’
336 HARALD A. FRI EDL
in North and West Africa (Friedl 2010; Larsen and Urry 2011, 222). In the case
of the informal war over coltan in the Congo region, it is the communication
industry which takes the proft (Munn, 2007). Finally, some violent conficts
are even instrumental in causing the deliberate changes in regional tourism,
like the displacement of locals as a consequence of the declaration of protec-
ted areas in order to develop nature tourism attractions (Redford and Fearn,
2007), with examples in Tanzania (Hogan, 2011; Sirima and Backman, 2013),
Cameroon (Tazoacha, 2010) or Kenya, Tailand and Burma (Tourism Con-
cern, 2013).
Personal experience shows that to meet a local person for a very short time,
as is typical on a tourist trip, can never be enough to understand their life,
their motives, needs and problems, their determining circumstances and their
way of thinking. No holiday brochure or travel guide can ever present the ‘full’
or ‘true’ picture. Terefore the aim of this paper is to discuss, on the one hand,
the interrelation between conficts amongst tourist stakeholders and, on the
other hand, the way in which tourist stakeholders perceive their personal ‘re-
ality’. From this it is hoped to fnd out how tourist stakeholders could be sup-
ported by communication and perception training, in order to improve their
ability to communicate constructively, respectfully and willingly.
In order to achieve this aim, four important assumptions have been made:
• From a systemic perspective, conficts are the necessary expression of dif-
ferent perceptions, resulting from diferent life conditions and needs of the
involved stakeholders. As a consequence, the growing complexity of previ-
ously traditional societies, characterised by individualisation, is necessarily
leading to the diversity of styles of perception and therefore to a rise in po-
tential conficts.
• An important reason for the escalation of a confict is the lack of mutual
understanding or empathy, which is related to the widely-spread epistemo-
logical paradigm of positivism in our culture, both in daily life as well as in
many scientifc disciplines. According to this conviction, reality can be per-
ceived and recognised in an ‘objective’ manner as ‘it really is’. Te crucial
consequence of this conviction is the logical conclusion of a stakeholder
to be on the ‘right side’, while the opposition or counterpart only can be
‘wrong’ due to an error or to immoral reasons. As a consequence, stakehol-
ders ‘knowing themselves to be right’ only have the choice between enfor-
cing ‘their truth’, surrendering or – in the best case – fnding a compromise.
All of those solutions are unsatisfactory as one or both of the stakeholders
always has to lose in some way, either the weaker one, or in the best case
both of them equally – which could lead, sooner or later, into the resur-
gence of the confict.
• In contrast to this approach, the alternative epistemological paradigm of
constructivism can ofer a loophole. According to this paradigm, percepti-
on is determined by the individual personality of a human being, resulting
from individual environmental conditioning, specifc life circumstances
and personal experiences, always leading to a personal and necessarily sub-
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 337
jective view of ‘reality’. Terefore, experience, perception, knowledge and
judgements can never be ‘objective’ and ‘neutral’, but are always related to
a personal observer. Te price for this approach is the loss of the illusion
of certainty, but its main value is to open the loophole – away from the
question about who or what might be ‘right’ – to the question of which view
could be the most compatible to best satisfy the needs of all stakeholders.
As a consequence, the constructivist approach forces the stakeholders to
confront themselves and to attempt to understand the specifc situation
of their opponent. Opponents are thereby not perceived as ‘stupid’ or ‘bad’
persons anymore, but rather just as diferent human beings with diferent
needs. Tis more respectful approach provides an easier path to negotia-
tions in order to develop better solutions, which are fair and satisfying for
all stakeholders.
• Te ability to understand each other in a constructivist way is a cultural
competence which has to be learnt. As mentioned above, this approach is
unfortunately still not very widespread, since the positivist approach, re-
lated to natural science and technical disciplines, was very successful for
many decades. In more recent years, however, constructivist ideas have be-
come more popular. Tis is due to the incredible results of neurosciences
and their infuence on sciences in the feld of human behaviour which, in
turn, have led to the development of new disciplines like neuropsychology
(Prigatano 2003), neuroeducation (Battro 2011), neuromarketing (Lee, Bro-
derick and Chamberlain 2007; Lawton, Wilson and 2010) and neuroleader-
ship (Waldman, Balthazard and Peterson 2011; Ghadiri, Habermacher and
Peters 2012).
If tourism is planned and practised with the adequate integration of all stake-
holders, it can lead to mutual understanding and peace. In contrast, without
integration it can even lead to the emergence of additional conficts. Tus in
order to explain how stakeholders can be trained to think and communicate
in a constructive, respectful and fexible manner, it is necessary to discuss the
main problems of integration and participation. Due to the increasing com-
plexity of communication processes and the associated problems of time and
patience, many tourism managers carry out their tourism projects without
stakeholder participation.
In the last section of this paper, an example of a course used to teach and
train confict management in complex tourism settings is presented and ana-
lysed.
Tourism: The Industry of Conficts?
Te idea of international tourism as a tool of economic and social development
is as old as the idea of international development itself. It started in the late
1960s when airfares dropped to allow a broader access to international travel.
According to the former paradigm of ‘modernisation’, there was at that time
the belief that the local people in the tourist destination would more or less
338 HARALD A. FRI EDL
automatically proft from tourism, which itself was perceived as a strong pro-
moter of growth by stimulating industrialisation, developing a tertiary sector
and with it, many jobs. Te reality, however, was something else altogether.
Compared to local entrepreneurs, it was the strong international stakeholders
like hotel chains, airlines and tour operators in cooperation with the national
elites who had the know-how and the assets necessary to invest in tourism inf-
rastructure. Locals, in general with little or no qualifcation, got low-paid jobs.
Te national costs for the development of infrastructure, plus the costs of the
unwanted efects of the development of tourism, such as air and water polluti-
on, changes in local climate, loss of soil, extra water and energy consumption
and so on had to be paid for by the local population (Fennell, 2006, 174).
In summary, from the early development of international tourism, the idea
of tourism as the ‘white industry’ – so-called by national elites and the in-
ternational tourism industry – being promoted as the creator of wealth for
everybody with no negative environmental and social efects, was a myth (Op-
permann and Chon 1997, 1; Bundesamt für Umweltschutz, 1997, 3; Opaschow-
ski, Pries and Reinhardt, 2006, 32; Opaschowski, 2008, 16). Fennell (2006, 175)
explains the phenomenon of shifting the burden, e.g. pollution, from indust-
rial states or economic, powerful centres with more stringent environmental
regulations to poor states or to the peripheral, poorer and powerless regions
with more relaxed legal frameworks, as the expression of the modern econo-
mic paradigm realising ‘economic efciency’.
Te most important international tourism organisations nowadays, the
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Trav-
el and Tourism Council (WTTC) (Eckervogt 2009), along with many authors
and researchers (Freyer 2009, 31; Bieger 2006, 211, Smeral 2003, 181; Yeoman
2008, 41) describe the international tourism economy as a crucial promoter of
the global economy, supporting the creation of jobs and stability by enforcing
growth. Tis is not surprising, as in times of fnancial and other crises people
tend to turn to traditional solutions, promising security, stability and continu-
ity without mentioning the risks, even though the current global fnancial and
economic system in itself has caused the present crises, according to many
authors (Rademacher 2005; Solte 2007; Blundell-Wignall and Atkinson 2009).
Tourism, by its very nature, can only happen for populations rich enough to
spend money, time and energy on activities needing no economic reason. Tis
fact can contribute to or provoke confict, when the difering needs of tourists
and locals come together. On the one hand, tourists need and want a safe and
peaceful destination allowing the unhindered consumption of goods and en-
joyment of facilities and attractions; they perceive the visited destination like
the front stage of a theatre, where they want to consume and experience what
they have ‘paid for’. For them, locals are a part of the ‘play’, like background
actors. On the other hand, locals perceive tourists as a source of income, as do
all other stakeholders of the tourism system.
As long as everybody in this ‘play’ gets what he needs, it will be fne (Friedl
2005, 70–74). But as soon as the expectations of any of the stakeholders – be
it the tourist with his emotional needs, the locals with their desire for income,
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 339
or the big international tourism corporation looking to maximise its proft
(Petermann 1999) – are not met, then there will be a growing risk of confict
which could lead, in the long run, to a potential collapse of the local or re-
gional tourism system (Kozak and Baloglu 2010; Friedl 2002, 67).
Fennell (2006, 107) emphasises that:
“the very nature of tourism is defned by transnational corporations that
operate from the world’s most developed countries. Tey have both the re-
sources and power to radically transform the markets of any region. Tis
was the case in Sri Lanka … where the local soft drink market was taken
over by Coca Cola, and the sweet potato market was abandoned in favour of
chips (forcing the import of potatoes that cannot be grown there).”
For a long period this system of ‘exporting’ the social, economic and ecologi-
cal costs to marginal countries, former colonial states, and peripheral regions
in wealthy states worked quite well, by cooperation between governments and
investors with the particular political elites in the ‘Tird World’ tourism des-
tination, as well as in the poorer rural areas of rich countries where democrat-
ic traditions are often underdeveloped. Tis kind of cooperation was widely
criticised as post colonialism (Mäder 1987; Palmer 1994; Osagie and Buzinde
2011).
Fennell (2006, 102) underlines that tourism:
“is very much a justice issue … It is fraught with disparities, racism and
corporate power, which might in practice be the antithesis of what Rawls
would advocate in his theory of justice. It is also a place where essential
principles are shelved and community rights ignored. Te lack of respect
for the rights and autonomy of local people is often secondary to the con-
cern over the preservation of wildlife.”
In the meantime, the socio-political system in many peripheral regions of the
world is changing dramatically, as a result of fast-developing technology. Te
widespread distribution of mobile phones, the internet, Facebook and other
kinds of social media, especially amongst the younger population, has enabled
this formerly marginalised group of stakeholders to become more empowered
than ever before. In the case of the ‘Arab Spring’, Howard and Hussain (2013)
cite this as the main driving force behind this uprising. Tese widespread so-
cial unrests can be interpreted as a reaction to the lack of perspective and poor
integration into the social system of the state. Tese stakeholders have previ-
ously been marginalised but, with their new methods of communication, they
can now fght for their participation in the political system for the very frst
time. Similar phenomena can be observed amongst consumers, who are gain-
ing power to speak up against big industries e.g. through the boycotting of
unfair conditions of production.
Tis new development has crucial consequences for the tourism system:
formerly powerful participants and groups, as well as national, regional and
local elites, have to learn to accept previously ‘marginalised’ stakeholders as
equal partners in tourism development, in order to reach a certain level of
340 HARALD A. FRI EDL
sustainability in tourism development. If they choose to ignore the population
of a tourist destination, the government concerned, as well as the global tour-
ism players involved, risk losing that particular destination as a consequence
of social unrest – which can lead in turn to a travel warning, to a general loss
of bookings and ultimately to the disappearance of the destination from the
global tourism map. Tis happened with Yemen, Algeria, Libya, Niger, Mali
(Friedl 2012) and during the ‘Arab Spring’ with Tunisia and Egypt.
In other words, tourism can only support a proftable and peaceful develop-
ment if the stakeholders are involved in the search for answers to questions
such as the following:
• As there is no general defnition of ‘sustainable (tourism) development’
which is accurate enough to be understood, accepted and used by every
(tourism) stakeholder, what kind of (tourism) development then is best?
Saarinen (2006, 1127–1129) was able to show very clearly that there are
quite diferent and distinct traditions with diferent focuses behind the var-
ying levels of understanding of ‘sustainability’. He distinguishes in terms
of resource-, activity-, and community-based traditions of sustainability,
the distinction depending upon the focus of whom it is that profts from
the development. Today, the meaning of ‘sustainable tourism development’
should be the result of a fair, participative discourse, involving every stake-
holder in order to integrate each individual perspective of a sustainable
lifestyle or living culture into a common long-term perspective, e.g. like an
overall concept of regional policy.
• Which should be the ‘right’ priorities from the possible, but often confic-
ting, goals of tourism development? Such conficting goals could involve
short and long term proft, productivity, low prices for tourism products,
high employment rates, environmental protection, reliable energy supply,
development of new tourism attractions and so on, in order to satisfy the
demands of diferent stakeholders.
Just as stakeholders are defned by their specifc social, environmental and
economic circumstances, so also they expect diferent benefts from tour-
ism development in order to ft with their specifc needs; thus stakehold-
ers favour diferent priorities. As a result, regulations have to be decided
which are compatible with local realities regarding environmental, social
and tourism entities, and states and municipalities (Fennell, 2008, 145).
• Every decision in the process of tourism development has consequences for
every stakeholder, related to both wanted and unwanted efects. How, then,
can it be guaranteed that it is the stakeholders who beneft the most, who
are also required to meet the ever-increasing costs of the negative impacts
of tourism development? (E.g. those of climate change causing droughts,
fooding, hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena, often dama-
ging the livelihood of people in regions where they proft very little from
tourism.)
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 341
In summary, the tourism system has changed as a consequence of the empo-
werment of important but previously marginalised stakeholders, obliging the
former powerful stakeholders to learn to integrate so as to avoid the unwan-
ted costs of unresolved or escalating conficts. Te new challenge for these
many stakeholders is to learn how to solve complex confict scenarios in order
to reach a social, economic and environmental balance. It seems to be quite
challenging to managers, however, that such complex questions should have
to be discussed with locals – who probably understand very little about tou-
rism management, tourist behaviour and other important aspects of the tou-
rism industry. Could this participative approach perhaps even go so far as to
put the tourism development process as such in danger?
How Can Complex Confict Scenarios be Solved?
Peace – the ‘Homoeostasis’ of a Social System
Tourism can be conceptualised as a complex system like any other social sys-
tem (Walker, Greiner, McDonald and Lyne 1998; Cheong and Miller 2000;
Richards 2002; Mayaka and Akama 2007; Zahra and Ryan 2007). A system can
be defned as a complex accumulation of a “large number of simple elements,
or ‘intelligent’ agents, interacting with each other and the environment” (Lam,
cited in Fennell, 2006, 33). Fennell explains this approach as the ‘antithesis of
the traditional deterministic view of science, which was based on the notion
that, if we know all the initial components of a system, then we might be able
to predict the future state of that system’. Due to the large number of variables
in such complex environments, growing exponentially, systems are difcult to
understand and to change. Tat’s why Fennell recommends “to learn how to
live within systems rather than control them.”
Social systems tend to a relative balance (‘homoeostasis’) between their in-
ner parts on the one hand and their environment on the other hand. A system
starts to change by becoming dynamic as soon as either its environment, or
the number of its parts, changes in order to re-establish a ‘new’ homeostasis
ftting to the new structure of the system (Meadows 2008). From this perspec-
tive a system is ‘sustainable’ if it reaches its homeostasis. Tis relative balance
could also be called ‘peace’: whereby the ‘parts’ of the system, i.e. the stakehol-
ders, have reached their personal or inner relative balance which can be called
personal satisfaction. When all the concerned parties of a tourism region are
able to take part in the process of developing and deciding a strategy and spe-
cifc measures, and they are able, through this participative process, to learn
more about the difering needs of their counterparts, then they can learn to
understand each other better. If such participative opinion-building and de-
cision-making processes are successful, they could be measures of the degree
of subjective satisfaction. Te stakeholders feel integrated and respected; they
feel that they are an important part of the whole process; they feel peaceful…
Tis is the theoretical concept, but the way to such a peaceful, constructive
tourism development is long. Present tourism managers as well as (local) po-
342 HARALD A. FRI EDL
liticians have been educated in the tradition of positivism, economic growth
and economic liberalism, where managers have had to be economic experts
in order to maximise a company’s short- term proft; politicians have had to
be powerful in order to maximise their infuence. Employees are identifed as
‘human resources’, and the environment as cheap common property.
Nowadays managers and politicians have to learn new competences and
approaches. Tey have to learn to recognise their employees or their (potenti-
al) electors as well as other stakeholders as partners; they have to learn about
communicating with stakeholders in a caring and respectful manner. Whe-
reas managers and politicians have been single, lonely heroes in former times,
nowadays they have to be facilitators of teamwork. Tey need to learn that
their personal view, and the other stakeholder’s view, are equally important.
Tey must accept that power is the result of their acceptance by stakeholders.
To be accepted by those stakeholders means that the leaders have reached a
relative balance amongst the stakeholders; to stay in peace with them …
• Why, however, is it so important that a manager or any other powerful per-
son communicates with stakeholders in a respectful manner?
• Why is it so important for them to understand what the stakeholders are
thinking and how they are feeling about their point of view?
• Wouldn’t it be enough just to read about their concerns?
• Is there any diference between informing and communicating?
Respectful Communication and Peace-Building:
The Process of Creating a Relative Balance
In order to answer the last four questions, it is necessary to explain the theo-
retical background to some of the connections between communication and
perception. According to the epistemological paradigm of constructivism, our
biological instruments of perception and cognition don’t allow us to see the
world (‘reality’) as it is, but only as our brain constructs it. To recognise or to
‘understand’ something means – from the perspective of the human brain – to
connect an external stimulus with the emotional confguration of the percei-
ving brain (Maturana and Varela 1987; Roth 1987, Roth 1997; Foerster 2002;
Friedl 2006).
Whilst it is impossible to be certain about the way we perceive the world,
we still have a good chance of controlling the quality of our ‘knowledge’ ac-
cording to its ‘viability’, i.e. its ftness to the demands of the environment, by
comparing it to feedback (stimuli). As long as we are perceiving stimuli from
the ‘world outside’ which seem to ft with our ‘models of the world’ (our ex-
pectation or our view of the world) then they seem to be sufciently useful or
viable. When the brain perceives strong stimuli which don’t ft anymore, then
this could mean either that there is something wrong with the ‘world outside’
(e.g. an unsatisfed stakeholder?) or that there is something wrong with the
world inside (e.g. a wrong impression about the state of satisfaction of a stake-
holder?).
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 343
Overall, the resulting diference is not very big, as the brain can’t fnd out
the ‘real truth’ anyway, but the brain is now forced to modify its model in
order to re-establish its balance of consistency. Tis must be done by getting
into a feedback process with the stakeholders, in order to allow the coordi-
nation of the points of view of all stakeholders. Observed from outside, this
communication process allows every stakeholder to fnd a common balance
by getting connected to each other. For the brain, this process of modifying
its model in order to re-establish its balance of consistency in relation to the
external stimuli can be conceptualised as ‘learning’, as is increasingly recog-
nised in the feld of educational science (Shell et al. 2009).
What has all this to do with peace and tourism?
As long as a tourist destination manager believes he ‘knows things better’
than the other stakeholders, he will be perceived as arrogant, with the con-
sequence that pretty soon he will no longer fnd anyone willing to cooperate
with him. Tis would be the end of any development. If, instead, a manager
understands communication in a respectful manner as a way of ‘keeping in
contact’ with the stakeholders, then they would feel respected, would build up
confdence and would be willing to cooperate with the manager on new pro-
jects.
Te practical consequence of this constructivist model of cognition and
communication, further developed by Watzlawick, Bavelas and Jackson (2011),
is crucial: in the context of sustainable tourism, the constructivist concept
confrms the necessity of participation by all stakeholders as a fundamental
principle of sustainability. Only by integrating all stakeholders, e.g. tourists
and locals, into a communication process, can a critical situation be avoided
or defused in order to reach a certain balance of consistency, in which tourism
development can support the good life of all stakeholders, instead of undermi-
ning it.
As a consequence, a tourism manager really has no choice other than
to learn to communicate with the stakeholders. But on its own, this is not
enough: he also needs some skills in confict management.
Confict Management from a Constructivist Perspective
Within the context of a constructivist concept of communication, confict
management is conceptualised as a holistic and integrative approach to con-
fict resolution used by local, national and international organisations as an
important strategic tool to support an efective peace-building process and
lasting outcome in order to allow and promote sustainable development.
Te lack of balanced dynamics between ecosystems, social modes of be-
haviour, economic interests and the lack of participation, caused by demo-
graphic change, natural resources competition, developmental pressures and
structural injustices, is often the basis of unsustainable conditions. Tese can
lead to non-violent conficts and disputes which are a fundamental constraint
to natural resource management and sustainable regional development at the
community level. Te holistic systems perspective and the decision-making
framework of confict management help to identify causes and drivers of the
344 HARALD A. FRI EDL
confict in order to develop a consensus among all stakeholders. Te fnal goal
of such a process should be to help strengthen the capacity of the stakeholders
to manage confict without violence, thus creating a foundation for sustainab-
le development and an integral part of peace.
As the contexts of complex conficts are manifold, there is no perfect stra-
tegy for managing confict. Adopted strategies must be at least highly usable
according to the available resources and capabilities of the conficting parties
and local implementing agencies, determining the availability of viable con-
fict mitigation options. Finally, issues of safety and security have to be inte-
grated. As an alternative to adversarial forms of stakeholder negotiation, of-
ten determined by structural inequalities, consensus-building is seen as a key
strategy in building the capacity of stakeholders to develop a dialogue with
each other, transforming former conficting positions into mutual gains for
all parties with the minimum of compromise and trade-of (‘win-win’). Tis
process can be facilitated by an impartial third-party mediator, playing an ac-
tive part in the process as intermediary by advising all groups involved and
suggesting possible solutions.
Important milestones of confict management are:
• Confict analysis, including the identifcation of involved stakeholders with
their underlying fears and needs, leading to a draft document outlining
areas of confict
• Prioritisation of confict aspects, leading to a confict management plan
• Measures to build confdence in order to build capacity
• Negotiations
• Implementation of negotiated results.
A Confict Training Tool for Future Tourism Managers
Te aforementioned model of confict management may sound conclusive in
theory, but in practice people immediately become ‘prisoners’ of their perso-
nal position, their perception and established patterns of reactions. Te theory
of constructivism is especially hard to accept if there is no chance of learning
this model with the help of practical exercises, as any learning process leads
into a restructuring of the learner’s brain model.
Te author has developed a role-play for a group of 12 to 25 students, simu-
lating the complex process of local or regional development. Tis is to help
students ‘experience’ the various ‘realities’ of diferent stakeholders as well
as allowing them to observe themselves reacting within a complex confict
scenario and from that, to be able to refect on, and develop, confict solution
strategies. Using a ‘realistic’ scenario for a village or other tourist destination,
e.g. the hometown of the tourism school or the university, the role-play activi-
ty includes 12 to 25 diferent roles of potential local and regional stakeholders
(e.g. the manager of a hotel, the mayor, the president of the university, the ma-
nager of a brothel, a priest etc.)
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 345
Tese roles should equally represent four main types of stakeholder:
• Entrepreneurs representing the ‘economy’
• Stakeholders with environmental concerns
• Stakeholders with social concerns (e.g. a student representative, a pensio-
ners’ club representative etc.)
• Stakeholders representing political or ofcial institutions (e.g. the mayor,
the chief of the local police, the priest etc.).
Each of these stakeholders must have both an ofcial interest, in order to re-
present their specifc political group, and a personal target, so that each role is
represented realistically, with plenty of potential confict built in – as would
be found in real life.
Before starting the role-play, the students have to choose their favourite
role in order to defne it more precisely. A certain degree of identifcation with
the role is a crucial precondition, needed to encourage the students’ engage-
ment in the later confict simulation. To maximise the efect of identifcation,
students may also invent and develop new roles.
Further preparation of the role comprises the development of a personal
project, which must be related to the specifc role, e.g. the restoration of the
priest’s church, the permission for the pimp’s operation of a brothel within the
community, the construction of a party room for the student representative
etc. Terefore the project has to be designed according to the basic rules of
project management including a simple business plan, roughly calculating the
required resources, the expected economic outcome as well as the environ-
mental and social costs. In this way, the students also learn to practice the
evaluation of a project according to the criteria of sustainability. In addition,
this work is intended to make students more competent in using data and the-
oretical models. Te scientifc inquiry is an important part of the role-play to
help the students understand that even though their idea of the ‘reality’ may
be a theoretical model, they nevertheless have to ‘test’ their model by compa-
ring it with actual data according to the basic principles of scientifc research.
Any project, whether environmental, cultural, social, political or economic,
takes place within a specifc environment. In order to learn how the socio-
cultural, -political and -economic environment could infuence their project,
the students have to refect on the situation and present development of their
community:
• What are the most important problems of this community according to
their personal perception and inquiry?
• What could happen to their community within the next fve to ten years if
nothing were to be done to deal with those problems e.g. a high unemploy-
ment rate, the efects of climate change, heavy trafc etc?
• What are the consequences of these problems for the development of their
‘proper’ project?
Tis is a very important exercise in order to understand possible systemic
feedback efects of the environment on the system’s development.
346 HARALD A. FRI EDL
In order to improve the conditions of the ‘environment’ of the students’
projects (the community) the students have to design their own personal
mission statement. Tis consists of defning the direction in which they want
their community to develop, in order to maximise the chances of their per-
sonal project unfolding. Te next step is to develop auxiliary projects to sol-
ve the most important problems previously defned, as well as to support the
community’s development according to the mission statement. Again the so-
cial, environmental and economic costs and returns have to be calculated in
order to be better prepared for the later discussion. Te better the students
prepare their role though accurate inquiry, the more successful they will be in
convincing the other stakeholders in later discussions.
Te last point of their preparation concerns the simulation itself: the stu-
dents have to consider potential partners for possible cooperation, either on
a political or an economic level. By doing this, they learn to identify potential
synergy efects through cooperation in order to economise on resources and
to maximise political infuence.
The Confict Simulation
Up to this point, the students have been asked to develop and to evaluate their
projects according to their personal standards by refecting on them alone.
Translated into the ‘constructivist language’, this means that they have deve-
loped their personal model of their ideal hometown ftting only to their own
personal needs and visions. Te next stage of the role-play – the confict simu-
lation – allows the students to confront their ‘balanced system’ of positions,
perspectives, visions and activities with those of other stakeholders.
In this communication stage of the role-play, the main tasks for the whole
group are:
• To defne together the most important problems of their community
• To design a common mission statement on the basis of their former decis-
ion
• To defne the measures which should be taken in order to solve the main
problems
• To decide on the community’s small budget in order to fnance a selected
range of the stakeholders’ personal projects.
Te main task for every student is – according to the ofcial information – to
realise their personal projects as far as possible, even though there is only the
budget to fnance a small percentage of all stakeholders’ projects. Te reason
for that ofcial order is clear: the students have to learn about the relativity
of their own perspectives and convictions by fnding out about the conficts
and contradictions between their own projects and those of the other stu-
dents, while talking with them about their arguments and their positions. Te
usual efect of this process is that the students begin to notice their personal
patterns of communication behaviour within the group, and the consequent
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 347
efects on the group dynamics, as well as on their personal aim of realising
their projects.
Te practical confict simulation consists of fve main stages. Stage one is
a plenary session in which a president and a secretary are elected and each
stakeholder’s project is presented to the plenary. At this stage, the students
quickly learn that it doesn’t make sense to give too many details about their
projects, as too much information given in this short space of time is usu-
ally forgotten. Te students may also realise that the way in which a project is
communicated is much more important than the project details presented.
In the second stage, the most difcult but also most important step follows:
the rules according to which decisions have to be made in the following plen-
ary sessions, a kind of a constitution, have to be decided. Normally, this is
the session with the most intensive discussions about very minor details. Te
reason for this communicative phenomenon is easy to explain: at this point
the stakeholders simply don’t know each other well enough yet. Tey are still
in need of orientation and confdence. Later, they will remember how exhaus-
ting this discussion about petitions and voting was – but also that this was an
inevitable process to develop a common culture of discussion and of orienta-
tion, leading to the development of a kind of relative balance (‘homoeostasis’)
among the whole group.
In the next stage the students have to form 4 to 5 groups with common
interests according to their personal perception, i.e. kinds of ‘political par-
ties’. Within these groups they have, for the frst time, to defne together the
most important problems of their community, to design a common mis-
sion statement on the basis of their former decision, to defne the measures
which should be taken in order to solve the main problems and to decide the
community’s budget in order to fnance a selected range of the stakeholders’
personal projects, all on the basis of their personal projects. At this stage the
students are introduced to diferent approaches and perspectives of several
stakeholders by practicing respectful and attentive styles of communication,
which normally lead to a process of modifcation of their personal perspective.
At the end of this stage the sub-groups of 4 to 5 people will have designed a
consensual ‘master plan’ of their village on the basis of their former ideas and
their constructive discourse.
Te most interesting rounds are the four plenary sessions about the com-
mon priorities of the community’s problems, the common mission statement,
specifc measures and projects and fnally the common budget. Within this
complex situation of up to 25 diferent opinions, the students don’t normally
fnd it easy to reach a common decision, as the confict is based very much on
subjective perceptions and emotions.
Te students usually get faster with each progressive stage, which is the ef-
fect of developing confdence by deepening the personal relations, a process
which could also be called the homoeostasis of the group. Te longer they
work together the more the individuals start to modify their own targets, wi-
dening their space to negotiate and to identify innovative ways of cooperation.
Tey become more and more integrated into a common system in which the
348 HARALD A. FRI EDL
personal relations have already become more important than their personal
targets – a phenomenon which is the best indicator that the group has solved
their task of developing a consensual, sustainable master plan for their village
in a peaceful way!
Te fnal stage of the role-play is normally an open feedback round, in order
to refect on and discuss the personal experiences. Te students also have to
produce an individual written refection, by answering questions about how
they felt during the process, how they changed their mind and their position,
and what they thought about politics before – and after – this experience.
Lessons Learnt
Te main lesson of this simulation is to experience the fact that every confict
is the result of diferent points of view – which can be changed, by listening
respectfully to others as well as by explaining the personal position carefully.
Tis means that conficts are not necessarily ‘bad’ or ‘embarrassing’ but nor-
mal in a world full of diverse individuals. During the sessions the students
have the chance to perceive conficts as a necessary and constructive process
of communication and creativity, allowing an increase in the scope of perso-
nal and collective action, as well as the feeling of confdence among the invol-
ved stakeholders. Finally, the students learn that life is necessarily one long
learning process about the way we perceive the world, and how that percepti-
on may change every time we communicate with another person.
By learning about these correlations between perceptions, opinions, com-
munication and cooperation, these students – themselves future stakeholders
in tourism – gain personal autonomy in relation to experts as they learn to
refect on the foundations of their own decisions in a careful and responsible
way, experiencing a consensual decision-making process as emotionally sa-
tisfying. Tey also develop an empathetic comprehension for the legitimate
interests of other stakeholders who may appear, at frst glance, in confict with
their own interests. Te most important lesson, fnally, is the experience that
conficts, seen at frst glance, can be eliminated or even transformed into a
complementary synergy efect by respectful communication, leading to the
joint development of a common perspective.
Tis is the main ‘secret’ of sustainable confict management in tourist des-
tinations: by learning to understand and respect a stakeholder’s interest as the
legitimate expression of his individuality, contradictions can be transformed
into complementary cooperation when others are willing to listen mindfully.
Tis course was developed for the study programme ‘Health Management
in Tourism’ in 2005. Since then, it has been rated every year as one of the
highlights of the semester. Since 2008 this course has also been held at the
University of Applied Sciences for Sustainability in Eberswalde, near Berlin.
One regular item of feedback given by students from Eberswalde is the fact
that they can use the ideas and methods they have learnt in their private lives
too. One of the students wrote in her feedback paper: ‘It really works!’
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 349
Conclusions and Recommendations
To take part in student training for applied tourism ethics, communication
and confict management may certainly be an interesting, inspiring experi-
ence. But what can anybody do if they have no such opportunity? And how is
it possible to deepen specifc peace-building competences, either for professio-
nal reasons in tourism, or for private reasons?
Living creatures – including humans – learn to cope with the ‘real world’
through experience, by testing each individual conception about reality in or-
der to confrm or refute it, leading to modifcation of the conception and then
a repeated trial… As we all know from personal experience, life is a never-
ending cycle of trial and error.
Te most important and only constant aspect of this life-long experience is
to realise that the ‘real world’ is diferent from that which is assumed. Tis ex-
perience is often accompanied by feelings of irritation, frustration, uncertain-
ty, ambiguity or even fear of getting lost in the chaos of the ‘real world’. Uncer-
tainty is a constant of life and reality, which we have to learn to deal with. Te
history of man, in terms of religion, philosophy or science, is a history of trials
and attempts to overcome the uncertainty of existence, information and com-
munication by searching for ‘truth’ and validity – without success…
Te term ‘viability’ is a biological expression for the capability of an orga-
nism to live, especially under certain conditions (Merriam-Webster, 2013), but
it is also the expression of the constructivist epistemology for the criterion in
order to measure ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. From the constructivist perspective, we
can’t fnd out what may be ‘true’, ‘valid’ or ‘real’ in an epistemological sense,
but we can fnd out what can be used to cope with a specifc problem here and
now.
Here and now, that’s where we are living. For this reason, in order to live
a good and peaceful life, it is our personal responsibility to develop our own
personal instruments – like ideas, concepts, theories, assumptions, conducts
and patterns – in order to cope with the strangeness of the world as well as
with the ‘otherness’ of people whom we had assumed we knew and even un-
derstood. To cope with ‘strangeness’ means:
• To accept the fact that the world is diferent from that which is assumed
• To learn to accept the world, even though we don’t know exactly how it ‘re-
ally’ is.
In our culture of science and technology there is the postulate that we can, and
must, comprehend and conceptualise ‘reality’ through the research and trans-
fer of ‘true’ knowledge in order to control and manipulate ‘reality’ according to
our visions. Te ability to dismiss this postulate is the key competence to mu-
tual understanding and peace. Unfortunately our culture of science and tech-
nology is deeply rooted in the conviction that ‘right’ knowledge would legitimi-
se its enforcement by power (Neuenhaus 1993). Te trouble with this approach
is that it doesn’t ft with conficts between human beings because such con-
ficts result from having diferent ‘truths’. As a consequence, the confict can’t
350 HARALD A. FRI EDL
be solved by the ‘repair’ of the ‘wrong awareness’ of a person as has been practi-
ced in communist ‘re-education’ camps in China (Carisbrooke 2013), the Soviet
Union (Solzhenitsyn 1973) or Vietnam (Tri 2001). On the contrary, an impor-
tant step towards solving confict is always to respect ‘otherness’ by accepting
a difering perspective as the coherent expression of diferent living conditions,
social and cultural backgrounds and perceptions of the confict’s context.
Competence is the result of consequent training of skills, leading to a cer-
tain level of routine. Te method of reaching the competence of accepting
‘otherness’ is illustrated by the allegory of a scientist who visited a Buddhist
convent in Japan for research reasons. At the end of his stay he visited the
abbot of the convent in order to thank him for the hospitality and to ask him
a last question: “How can we save the world?” Te abbot answered: “You can
save the world by saving yourself!” Now the scientist asked again: “But what
do I have to do to save myself?” Te abbot answered again: “You can save your-
self by saving the world!” In other words: the way we perceive and ‘handle’ the
world is inextricably linked with the way we perceive and ‘handle’ ourselves
(Schmid 2004).
To be able to understand, accept and fnally respect the ‘otherness’ of the
world, we frst have to learn more about the ‘otherness’ of ourselves by explo-
ring – and refecting profoundly and regularly on – our motivations, inner
conficts and contradictions, our fears and desires behind our familiar self-
concept. A helpful exercise is to refect on some of the following questions:
Why do I act the way I do?
• What kind of circumstances and constraints guide or even force my way of
acting?
• Which perspectives, information or prejudices infuence my decision?
• Have I evaluated these data?
• Which emotions like fear, shame, greed, envy or jealousy, hope or desire
afect my judgement?
• And do I still agree with this way of acting?
• Or was my behaviour a reaction I was unable to control, but about which I
am nonetheless sorry?
Why do I say what I say?
• Am I convinced about the ‘truth’ or plausibility of my words?
• Does it help rather then hurt anybody?
• Would I be happy if somebody said this to me?
• How would I feel if I hadn’t said it?
• What are my emotions behind my impulse to say this?
• Could I say it in a more respectful and sensitive way?
• What are my communication patterns in general and more specifcally in a
confict situation?
• Do I agree with these patterns?
I Had a Good Fight with my Buddy! 351
Why do I think the way I think?
• Where do these thoughts come from?
• What are my typical patterns of thinking and refecting within specifc si-
tuations?
• By whom have I been educated, infuenced or manipulated?
• Are there models of thinking and judgment which I am trying to copy, e.g.
those of my parents, friends or others?
• What kind of media do I consume, what kind of literature do I read, and
how do I normally handle information?
• What kind of a person am I, and do I feel happy the way I perceive myself?
• What are my fears, hopes, dreams and disappointments?
• What does power and violence mean to me?
• How do I see the world in general, and what would I change if I had the
power?
Questions like these, when regularly refected upon, help people to become
more sensitive and empathic to the complex determining factors of a confic-
ting situation in general. Tese questions also improve the understanding that
people are often ‘prisoners of themselves’. As a consequence, we learn to im-
prove the control of our own behaviour as well as to deal with the aggressive
or ‘stupid’ behaviour of our counterparts, in order to prevent the escalation of
a confict.
Te ‘art of peaceful confict management’ is rooted in a general attitude of
respect, which difers fundamentally from our common culture of competiti-
on. Tis attitude can be described by the following preferences:
• Observing instead of reacting
• Asking instead of telling
• Listening instead of explaining
• Understanding instead of instructing
• Creating together instead of establishing oneself
Finally, a crucial condition for gaining these competences is to learn to forgive
a displeasing action for which somebody has to take the responsibility and
which still strains the relationship between the people involved.
• Te frst step towards forgiveness is dealing with the strong personal emo-
tions caused by the ofence – like rage, disgust, hate or fear – by simply to-
lerating them for a while in order to let them blow over; but then, over time,
slowly to replace these emotions with calmness, so as to allow a clear mind.
• Te second step is better understanding the cause of the ofence, by repla-
cing the judgment of ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ by the judgment of ‘overloaded by the
situation’. Refections about plausible causes and constraints, like emotions
or misunderstandings, causing this ofence, can help greatly in fnding a
helpful explanation. Tis approach makes it easier to forgive and in turn to
open the other’s mind to a new, peaceful beginning to cooperation
352 HARALD A. FRI EDL
• Te last step is fnding a position of ‘loving’ the counterpart: learning fully
to respect a person with all their errors, weaknesses and circumstances of
their life. To love a person means to care for them by looking for ways to
strengthen them, in order to reduce the infuence of circumstances, and to
look for common or complementary competences or interests as connec-
ting factors in order to support the cooperation.
To live means to take decisions. To decide means to come into confict with
others, as the world becomes more and more diverse. Tere are three ways to
face this condition:
• By subordinating
• By collecting power to dominate difering positions
• By accepting life as a permanent struggle for balance among stakeholders,
learning to love them in order to develop common perspectives.
Certainly to love a (tourist) counterpart demands a lot of emotional and intel-
lectual efort. But as Danny DeVito once said to Michael Douglas in the movie
‘Te War of the Roses’ (1989) about the efects of an escalated divorce battle:
‘Tere isn’t any winning. Tere’s just degrees of losing!’
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LOUI S D’AMORE
Peace through Tourism:
An Historical and Future Perspective
Early Beginnings
“Te world is a book,” observed Saint Augustine, “and those who do not tra-
vel read only one page.” Some sixteen centuries later, the “book” is becoming
a page-turning bestseller. Travel and tourism has established itself as one of
the world’s largest and fastest growing industries, revolutionising our under-
standing of ourselves, others, and the world. Te exponential growth of inter-
national tourism arrivals from 25 million in 1950 to 1.0 billon international
arrivals in 2012 is clearly one of the most remarkable economic and social
phenomena of our time.
It may have been Mark Twain who frst recognised the value of tourism in
promoting peace. His book, Te Innocents Abroad, chronicles his 1867 travels
through Europe and the Holy Land. In this, his best-selling work during his
lifetime and one of the best-selling travel books of all time, he states:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of
our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable
views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little cor-
ner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” (Twain 1867).
It was a German teacher, Richard Schirrmann, Founder of Hostelling Interna-
tional, who in 1909 transformed these words into action. He initially set out
to introduce his students to the wonders of nature in the countryside and the
culture of cities. “Each forest, each plain, each fower, each mountain, each vil-
lage and each town,” he taught his students, “is a separate page of your home-
land. It is necessary to familiarise yourself with these pages through experien-
ces rather than reading about them. But also travel beyond the borders of your
country” – he advised – “to seek out people of other lands and appreciate tho-
se who have diferent languages and backgrounds, for doing this – neighbours
and friends – build hence the youth hostels – and open them for all the youth
of the world as the home of peace – for the good of humanity.” (IIPT, 2008).
Mr. Schirmann’s philosophy was to provide young people of all countries
with suitable meeting places throughout the world, where they could meet,
exchange ideas and get to know each other, thereby building an important
part of education that contributes to international understanding.
Similarly, Jean Barraud in post-World War II France began organising trips
for French students to Germany in 1946 & ’47. His main purpose for doing so
was to bring the youth of both countries together – youth whose parents had
been mortal enemies for several years. He wanted to give young people the
356 LOUI S D’AMORE
opportunity to communicate with each other – to understand each other – to
share their views on life. Tese trips resulted in the Federation of Youth Travel
Organisations (FIYTO) founded in 1950 with a mission of promoting interna-
tional understanding among young people through travel. Today youth and
student travel accounts for more than 20% of all international arrivals – and is
projected to increase to 25% in the next few years.
Te foundations for commerce and the exchange of goods and services as a
basis of friendship, collaboration and peace had its beginnings in 1919, when
a handful of entrepreneurs and business leaders came together to bring hope
to a world still devastated by the First World War. Tey were resolved to re-
place fear and suspicion with a new spirit of friendly international cooperation,
at least among business people. Tey founded the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) and called themselves “the merchants of peace”. (Merchants
of Peace 2013).
A similar movement began in 1932 within the travel and tourism industry.
A group of travel professionals from Paris received a warm welcome from their
hosts in Stockholm and the idea of international goodwill and friendship that
results from travel was born. Today, Skal International is the world’s largest
organisation of travel and tourism executives, with more than 18,000 mem-
bers in 450 cities of 85 countries and the only Organisation embracing mem-
bers from all sectors of the industry.
1980 Manila Declaration
Te World Tourism Organization convened in Manila, Philippines, from 27
September to 10 October 1980, with the participation of 107 delegations of
States and 91 delegations of observers, in order to clarify the nature of tourism
in all its aspects and the role tourism is bound to play in a dynamic and vastly
changing world. Delegates also convened to consider the responsibility of Sta-
tes for the development and enhancement of tourism in present-day societies
as more than a purely economic activity of nations and people.
Te resulting Manila Declaration began with words that read in part: “Con-
vinced that world tourism can be a vital force for world peace and can provide
the moral and intellectual basis for international understanding and interde-
pendence.” (UNWTO Manila Declaration 1985)
And so, for the frst time, the role of “tourism as a vital force for peace” was
enshrined in a formal document of the world’s premier tourism organisation
representing the nations and governments of the world.
World Leaders and “Citizen Diplomacy”
World leaders have long recognised the important role of “Citizen Diplomacy”
in promoting mutual understanding. President Dwight D. Eisenhower knew
from his experience as a military commander that ordinary citizens of dif-
ferent nations could bridge political and social divides where governments
could not. “I have long believed, as have many before me,” he said, “that peace-
ful relations between nations requires understanding and mutual respect bet-
ween individuals.”
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 357
Eisenhower thought that ordinary citizens, if able to communicate directly,
would solve their diferences and fnd a way to live in peace, for while we are
all diferent, our values, goals, and day-to-day issues are very much the same.
His belief in the potential of citizen peacemakers led to a meeting in 1956
with entertainer Bob Hope, Olympic champion Jesse Owens, Hallmark Cards
founder Joyce Hall, and the legendary Walt Disney. Tis select group, along
with a hundred other leaders from industry, academia, and the arts, launched
“People to People International” with the aim of fostering international under-
standing and friendship through the direct exchange of ideas and experien-
ces among people of diverse cultures. Te programme continues to fourish
through initiatives such as Project Hope and Sister Cities, under the current
leadership of Mary Eisenhower, President Eisenhower’s granddaughter:
“Travel has become one of the great forces for peace and understanding of
our time,” said Eisenhower’s successor in the White House, President John F.
Kennedy. “As people move throughout the world and learn to know each other,
to understand each other’s customs, and to appreciate the qualities of the in-
dividuals of each nation, we are building a level of international understan-
ding which can sharply improve the attitude for world peace.”
Kennedy’s recognition of the importance of travel and intercultural exchange
led to the formation of the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961.
President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev both saw
the vital role that travel can play in breaking down historical barriers of iso-
lation. Teir joint statement following the 1986 Geneva Summit afrmed in
part, “Tere should be greater understanding among our peoples, and to this
end we will encourage greater travel.”
Pope John Paul II believed that “Tourism puts us in touch with other ways
of living, other religions and other perceptions of the world and its history.
Tis helps people to discover themselves and others, both as individuals and
as communities. And U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stated: “Tou-
rism is the people’s building block for global peace and cultural understan-
ding. It can also help drive economic growth and alleviate poverty.”
Birthing of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT)
Te original seeding of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism
(IIPT) occurred in the mid-1970’s when the frm of L.J. D’Amore and Associ-
ates was commissioned by the Government of Canada to conduct the world’s
frst study on the future of tourism. Te study was conducted through a
“North American lens” and fndings were justifably very bullish on the future
of tourism with higher levels of income and education, increased leisure time,
more persons retiring with pensions, smaller families, and a general trend
towards a propensity to travel for life-enriching experiences. As well, for the
frst time, the study introduced social and environmental dimensions into the
tourism matrix.
Te study was updated two years later in 1978 and subsequently an on-going
future research programme was launched called “Tourscan” which produced 6
to 8 reports a year on societal trends and their implications for tourism; trends
358 LOUI S D’AMORE
within the travel and tourism industry; and an annual forecast of tourism pro-
jections for the following year. By the early 1980’s, research began to be con-
ducted through a “global lens” which in turn introduced a totally diferent view
of the future – a future that included environmental deterioration, a growing
gap between ‘the have and have not’ regions of the world, increasing “Cold War
tensions” between countries of the East and West, and a growth in terrorism.
With the realisation that by the Year 2000, travel and tourism would be one
of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries, it was decided that focus
should shift from doing research on the future of travel and tourism – to as-
king, how can travel and tourism – soon to be one of the world’s largest and
fastest growing industries – be a positive force for a better world. Over a peri-
od of several years, L.J. D’Amore and Associates gradually transitioned, and in
1986, the UN International Year of Peace, the International Institute for Peace
through Tourism (IIPT) was born with a vision of
“Travel and Tourism becoming the world’s frst “Global Peace Industry” –
an industry that promotes and supports the belief that every traveller is
potentially an “Ambassador for Peace.”
IIPT’s concept of “Peace” from the start has been a positive concept that goes
beyond the notion of simply the absence of war. It embraces six dimensions:
peace and tranquility within ourselves; peace with others, from our neigh-
bours next door to our neighbours in the global village; collaboration among
nations; peace with nature and our common home – planet earth; peace with
past generations – by which we honour our respective cultures, heritage and
achievements of past generations; peace with future generations – through
sustainable lifestyles and practices; and peace with our Creator – by practi-
cing the universal principle of all faiths and humanists – “do unto others as
we would have them do unto ourselves.”
Following two years of planning, and with support from both the priva-
te and public sectors of the Canadian travel and tourism industry, the First
Global Conference: Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace was held in Vancouver,
Canada, October 1988 with Air Canada as the Title Sponsor.
Introduction of a “Higher Purpose of Tourism”
A 25 year retrospective look at the First Global Conference: Tourism – A Vital
Force for Peace, suggests that it was a watershed event for the travel and tou-
rism industry. Eight hundred persons from 68 countries participated in the
event which featured video-taped messages from Pope John Paul II and U.S.
President Ronald Reagan in the Opening Ceremony. President Vigdis Finn-
bogadottir of Iceland, the world’s frst elected woman Head of State, was the
Honorary Chair of the Conference. Exactly two years earlier she had hosted
the Reykjavik Summit between President Ronald Reagan and General Secreta-
ry Mikhail Gorbachev which resulted in the beginning of the disarmament of
nuclear weapons between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Te Vancouver conference frst introduced the concept of “Sustainable
Tourism Development” – four years prior to the UN Rio Summit on Environ-
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 359
ment and Development. It also introduced a new paradigm for a “Higher Pur-
pose of Tourism” – a paradigm that includes the role of tourism in:
• Promoting international understanding
• Collaboration among nations
• Protecting the environment and preserving biodiversity
• Enhancing cultures and valuing heritage
• Sustainable development
• Poverty Reduction, and
• Healing Wounds of Confict.
Tis ‘higher purpose’ of tourism – with its capacity to generate social, cultu-
ral, economic, environmental, and political benefts has now been recognised
and gained acceptance at the highest levels of both governments and industry
together with its immense potential as the world’s largest industry in contri-
buting to a “Culture of Peace.”
IIPT has since organised sixteen conferences and summits as well as semi-
nars and workshops in regions throughout the world bringing together both
public and private sector leaders of the industry, educators, students, practi-
tioners, and non-governmental organisations as well as leaders from related
sectors including economic development, environment, sport and culture.
More than 6,000 persons from some 130 countries have come together over
the past 25 years to share their experience, ideas, insights, wisdom and com-
mitment in “Building a Culture of Peace through Tourism.” More than 1,200
case studies of “Success Stories” and models of “Best Practice” have been pre-
sented demonstrating the various dimensions of a “Higher Purpose” of Tou-
rism and the social, economic, cultural, environmental, and political benefts
of tourism.
• Persons associated with IIPT Conferences and Summits have included Pope
John Paul II and Heads of State: President Ronald Reagan; HE Vigdis Finn-
bogadottir, President of Iceland; Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa;
Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, frst President of Zambia; HE Olusegun Obasanjo, Pre-
sident, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and President, African Union; HE Levy
Patrick Mwnawasa, President, Republic of Zambia; HE Yoweri Kaguta Muse-
veni, President, Uganda; and Hon. Dr. Ewart F. Brown, Premier of Bermuda.
• Kings, Queens and Princes associated with IIPT Conferences and Summits
have included: HM King Abdullah II; HM Queen Noor, and HM Queen
Rania, all of Jordan; and HSH Prince Albert, Monaco.
• Heads of UN Agencies include: UN Secretary General Kof Annan; Mary
Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Dr. Willibald Pahr,
Francesco Frangialli and Dr. Taleb Rifai, UN World Tourism Organization.
• Nobel Laureates have included: Shimon Peres; Wangari Maathai; and David
Trimble; and travel industry leaders: J.W. Marriott, Jr, Chairman and CEO,
Marriott International; Harvey Golub, Chairman, American Express and
Chairman, World Travel and Tourism Council;. Claude Taylor, Chairman,
Air Canada; Geofrey Lipman and Jean-Claude Baumgarten, Presidents of
360 LOUI S D’AMORE
World Travel and Tourism Council; more than 40 other CEO’s of major travel
and tourism industry corporations and more than 60 Ministers of Tourism.
Beginning its First Global Conference in Vancouver 1988, IIPT has strived to
leave a lasting legacy with each conference and summit. Table A is a listing of
signifcant Conference outcomes.
IIPT Conference Outcomes
Conference Declarations:
• Columbia Charter – Vancouver 1988
• Amman Declaration – Amman 2000
• Tessaloniki Declaration – 2001
• 21st Century African Agenda for Peace and Poverty Reduction through
Tourism – Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa 2002
• Tanzania Action Plan – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2003
• Lusaka Declaration on Sustainable Tourism Development, Climate Change
and Peace – Lusaka, Zambia 2011
Other Conference Outcomes:
• Broad international awareness of the potential of travel and tourism to
contribute to broader societal and global objectives and the realisation of a
peaceful, just, and sustainable world
• IIPT Credo of the Peaceful Traveller distributed throughout the world
• World leaders King Hussein of Jordan, UN Secretary General Dag Ham-
marskjold and Nelson Mandela acknowledged as “Men of Peace”
• Awards to individuals and organisations in recognition of outstanding
achievements that contribute to international understanding, cooperation
and peace
• Concept of Sustainable Tourism Development frst introduced at First Glo-
bal Conference Vancouver, 1988 – four years prior to the Rio Summit 1992.
• Second Global Conference, Montreal 1994: “Building a Sustainable World
through Tourism” – frst showcased case studies of “Success Stories” and
“Models of Best Practice of Sustainable Tourism”
• Uganda frst nation in the world to introduce Tourism Legislation in sup-
port of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals
• Africa Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) conceived by Bermuda Minister
David H. Allen at the First Global Summit, Amman
• Launch of Uganda Martyr’s Trail
• Proclamation of “National Peace through Tourism Week” for each of IIPT’s
last three African Conferences
• Pattaya, Tailand declared a “City of Peace” as legacy of IIPT 3rd Global
Summit
• Facilitated MOU between Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Af-
rica Travel Association (ATA) with the aim of nurturing an “Asia – Africa
Bridge of Tourism, Friendship and Collaboration.”
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 361
• International Youth Hostel fagship programme “Hostelling for Peace and
International Understanding” in partnership with IIPT
• Educator Forums and Student/Youth Leadership Forums at each IIPT Con-
ference and Summit
• “Peace through Tourism” incorporated in educational programmes of colle-
ges and universities and increasingly a topic of scholarly research by profes-
sors and students
• Scholarships awarded to students in each region of the world related to the
theme of each Conference and Summit.
Additional IIPT Achievements
Socially and Environmentally Responsible Tourism frst introduced in the
Caribbean at 1989 Caribbean Tourism Organisation annual conference.
Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism
Following the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, IIPT deve-
loped the world’s frst Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism
with a mandate from the Canadian travel and tourism industry. Tis also ser-
ved as an early model for other nations. As well, IIPT developed guidelines for
the Pacifc Asia Travel Association (PATA) GreenLeaf Programme.
First International Study of Tourism and Sustainable Development
In 1993, IIPT was commissioned by the United Nations Environment Pro-
gramme (UNEP) to conduct the frst international study of best practice re-
garding Tourism, Environment and Sustainable Development.
Peace Parks Across Canada
Te IIPT Peace Parks Across Canada programme commemorated Canada’s
125th Birthday as a nation in 1992. Tree hundred and ffty cities and towns
from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the shores of the Atlantic – across fve time
zones to Victoria, British Columbia on the shores of the Pacifc, dedicated a
park to peace. More than 330 parks were dedicated at noon local time, Octo-
ber 8th, as a National Peacekeeping Monument was being unveiled in Ottawa
with 5,000 UN Peace Keepers passing in review. Each of the Peace Parks in-
corporated a ‘Bosco Sacro’ (Peace Grove) of 12 trees as a symbolic link with
one another, and with nature – and as a symbol of hope for the future. Te 12
trees were also symbolic of Canada’s 10 Provinces and two Territories. Of the
more than 25,000 projects commemorating Canada’s 25th anniversary, Peace
Parks Across Canada was said to be the most signifcant.
Global Peace Parks Programme
“Peace Parks Across Canada” has served as the foundation for the “IIPT Global
Peace Parks Programme launched on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th
month, 2000 – frst year of the new Millennium – from Bethany Beyond the
Jordan, site of Christ’s baptism, as a legacy of the IIPT First Global Summit,
362 LOUI S D’AMORE
Amman, Jordan. Peace parks have been dedicated in the United States, Jordan,
Scotland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, the
Philippines, Tailand, and Jamaica.
Re-dedication of the IIPT International Peace Park at Victoria Falls, Sep-
tember 24, 2013 was the highlight of Opening Day of the UNWTO General
Assembly co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Participants in the ceremony included UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Ta-
leb Rifai; Zambia’s frst President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda; King Makuni of the
Leya people on whose land Victoria Falls is located; Zambia Minister of Tou-
rism and Arts, Sylvia Masebo; Dr. Patrick Kalifungwa, former Minister of
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, Zambia and Vice Chancellor,
Livingstone International University of Tourism Excellence and Business Ma-
nagement (LIUTEBM); and Senator Akel Biltaji, representing HM King Ab-
dullah of Jordan who brought six olive trees from Bethany Beyond the Jordan,
to be planted during the ceremony. Bethany Beyond the Jordan is the site of
Christ’s Baptism, and like Victoria Falls – also a World Heritage Site.
Commemoration of IIPT 25th Anniversary Year
IIPT commemorated the twenty-ffth Anniversary of its First Global Confe-
rence: Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace with a major Platinum stage event
at World Travel Market, November 5, 2013. Tis event was in support of the
“Great War” Centenary with its theme of “No More War.” As one of the world’s
largest and fastest growing industries, the collective voice of travel and tou-
rism leaders can be a powerful force for peace and justice in the 21st century
– and without peace, there is no tourism. Te featured keynote speakers shared
their respective perspectives on “Building a Culture of Peace through Tou-
rism” in support of the theme: “No More War.” Te event honoured members
of the travel and tourism industry who have made a signifcant contribution in
promoting a “Culture of Peace through Tourism” by presenting them with the
prestigious IIPT Ambassador for Peace Award. Featured speakers included
Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary- General of the World Tourism Organization (UN-
WTO), David Scowsill, President of the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC), Geofrey Lipman, President of the International Coalition of Tou-
rism Partners (ICTP), Martin Craigs, President of the Pacifc Asia Travel As-
sociation (PATA), Mok Singh, President of Skal International; and Mr Peter
De Wilde, CEO of Visit Flanders, making a special presentation of the launch
of the World War I Centenary in Flanders.
As part of its one year commemoration, IIPT launched a series of “Legacy”
projects that included:
IIPT/ Skål Peace Towns and Villages
Tis is the ‘fagship’ project of IIPT’s twenty-ffth anniversary year being im-
plemented in partnership with Skal International, the industry’s largest Orga-
nisation of travel and tourism executives with 18,000 members in 450 chap-
ters in 85 countries. Together towns and villages throughout the world are
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 363
being invited to dedicate an IIPT/Skal Peace Park and in so doing committing
their town/village to peace, i.e. to be actively committed to promoting values
of tolerance, non-violence, gender equality, human rights, youth empower-
ment, environmental integrity, and sustainable human, social and economic
development.
Some thirty towns and villages in South Africa, Jamaica, the Caribbean and
India have already committed themselves to being IIPT/Skal Peace Towns and
Villages. A goal of 500 IIPT/Skal Peace Towns and Villages has been set for
September 21, 2014, the UN International Day of Peace, and 2,000 by 2018, the
last year of the Great War Centenary.
IIPT Consortium of Collaborating Universities (IIPT-CCU)
Universities participating in the IIPT-CCU programme agree to collaborate
in providing third and fourth year university students the opportunity to re-
search and write essays on the various dimensions of “Peace through Tourism.”
More than 20 universities from Africa, Asia, North America, Europe, Austra-
lia, the Caribbean and South Pacifc have agreed to be part of the programme.
Te Consortium is housed at Livingstone International University of Tourism
Excellence and Business Management (LIUTEBM) in Lusaka, Zambia. A se-
lection of the best essays will be published by LIUTEBM and a scholarship
award of $1,500 will be presented to the author of the best essay.
IIPT/ Skål Executive Ambassador Programme
Te IIPT/Skal Executive Ambassador Programme will match developing
countries having a need for executive level guidance/support in particular are-
as such as destination marketing, with experienced and knowledgeable retired
Skål executives on a pro bono basis for periods of 1 to 4 months. Te program-
me will begin on a pilot project basis with three developing countries, with the
aim of expanding the programme once it has been proven successful.
Peace Tours Morocco and Peace Tours Iran
“Peace Tours Morocco” is a tour developed by IIPT Partner Munditinera –
Cultural Bridges International and being distributed throughout the world in
collaboration with Skål International. A portion of all revenues from the tours
is being donated to the International Red Cross, Geneva in support of their
programmes for victims of armed confict.
Te Spiritual Sites Tour of Iran is being led by Donald King, Ambassador of
Large for the IIPT- and one of the few westerners to regularly lead groups to
Iran over the past few years is escorting this tour. Te itinerary allows partici-
pants to explore signifcant sites of four of the world’s largest religions- Zoro-
astrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam- while also visiting the important
sites of the ancient Persian Empire.
Persons or organisations interested in any of the above initiatives are invited
to contact the author at: [email protected].
364 LOUI S D’AMORE
Growing and emerging forms of “peace tourism”
Beginning with the emergence of “Ecotourism” in the late 1980’s, there are an
increasing number of tourism market segments which might be categorised
within a broad umbrella called “Peace Tourism” in the context of the frame-
work outlined above as IIPT’s concept of “Peace” – i.e. peace within ourselves,
peace with others, peace with nature, peace with past generations, peace with
future generations, and peace with our Creator.
Peace within Ourselves
For many travellers, fnding inner peace is seen as a “spiritual journey” – a
spiritual journey that might be a “life journey” – or for some, a trip to a sacred
site or spiritual retreat. A recent survey conducted by the Travel Industry As-
sociation of America found that 25% of Americans are interested in taking a
spiritual vacation.
Peace with Others
Meeting persons of other lands and cultures in a form of “citizen diplomacy”
is arguably the most efective means of building mutual understanding and
harmony among peoples and nations. One of the largest and fastest growing
segments of the travel and tourism industry is cultural tourism that fosters
cultural appreciation of people from diferent lands – their history, traditions,
language, customs, and values – and a realisation that as much as we can
come to appreciate and respect our diferences, what is of even greater impor-
tance is what we have in common.
Community tourism, agro-tourism, pro-poor tourism, fair trade tourism,
geo-tourism (tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of
a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of
its residents) and other similar growing segments of the tourism industry are
increasingly contributing to ‘peace with others.’
Two more recent tourism phenomena are volunteer tourism and philanth-
ropic tourism. A 2008 study by Tourism and Research Marketing, which sur-
veyed 300 organisations, estimated the market size to be 1.6 million volunteer
tourists per year and put the value of the market at around £1.3 billion. Te
growing number of tourists who take a volunteer vacation for the frst time
are discovering what Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi concluded in the 19th
and early 20th Century
Te sole meaning of life is
to serve humanity
– Leo Tolstoy
Life fnds meaning in service
to others
– Mahatma Gandhi
Peace with Nature
Ambassador Robert Campeau, Canadian Ambassador for the Environment
in the early 1990’s spearheaded the UN Biodiversity Convention at the 1992
Rio Summit on Environment and Development. Amb. Campeau believed that
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 365
“Ecotourism” was the one hope the world had for preserving its remaining bio-
diversity (peace with nature). Indeed, Costa Rica – an early pioneer in Eco-
tourism, has been able to preserve the remainder of its rainforest through the
development and promotion of ecotourism. In many regions of Africa, tou-
rism is a major motivation and economic engine for the justifcation of setting
aside National Parks and dedicated Wilderness areas. Tanzania for example,
has set aside 30% of its land mass as National Parks and Conservation areas –
much of it in the famed Serengeti – home to the largest migration of wildlife
in the world.
Peace with Past Generations
A large segment of tourists take part in what might be referred to as “Heri-
tage Tourism” i.e. visiting antiquities such as the Pyramids of Egypt, and the
“New Seven Wonders of the World,” as well as monasteries, castles, palaces,
mosques, cathedrals, ancient ruins, etc. Heritage Tourism pays tribute to, and
provides the economic engine that preserves, sustains, and sometimes disco-
vers these contributions and legacies of past generations.
UNESCO is currently giving emphasis as well to “Intangible Heritage” – “li-
ving expressions and traditions that countless groups and communities world-
wide have inherited from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants.”
Tis living heritage provides a sense of identity and continuity to humanity in
the forms of dance, music, traditional folk songs, festivals, theatre, story-tel-
ling and oral tradition. In many instances, it is again the interest of “Heritage
Tourists” that sustains these living traditions.
Peace with Future Generations
When one considers the core essence of “sustainable development” – a deve-
lopment concept that gained popularity and international acceptance at the
UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992 – it
is “peace with future generations.” Te Travel and Tourism industry, perhaps
more than any other industry, has been a leader in adopting the concept of
Sustainability. Socially and environmentally responsible tourism has been a
major emphasis of the tourism industry since the Rio Summit. Major hotel
chains formed the International Hotel Environment Initiative (IHEI), now the
Tourism Partnership. Major tour operators in Europe formed the Tour Opera-
tors Initiative for Sustainable Tourism. Te World Travel & Tourism Council
introduced “Green Globe” and the Pacifc Asia Travel Association introduced
their Green Leaf Programme. Boeing developed aircraft engines that were
70% more fuel efcient.
More recently, the UN World Tourism Organization has had international
conferences on Climate Change and is demonstrating leadership in promo-
ting reduced carbon emissions within the industry. Sir Richard Branson has
pledged US$ 3 billion dollars (all profts from his travel frms such as Virgin
Atlantic Airlines and Virgin Trains) to develop renewable energy technolo-
gies through an investment unit called Virgin Fuels. Marriott International
has pledged US$ 2 million in an agreement with the Brazil state of Amazo-
366 LOUI S D’AMORE
nas to help protect 1.4 million acres of endangered rainforest. It’s one of the
frst partnerships between government and the private sector to reduce green-
house gas emissions from deforestation. Te current challenge is to achieve
carbon neutral destinations.
Peace with our Creator
Pilgrimage travel to sacred sites of all faiths is one of the earliest forms of tou-
rism. It has more recently evolved to a new era of Religious or Faith-based tou-
rism that in addition to visiting sacred sites now also includes religion-based
cruises, leisure faith-fellowship vacations, rallies, retreats, monastery visits/
guest-stays, and faith-based camps. Religious conferences and meetings were
attended by more than 15 million persons this past year. Religious tourism
has experienced an explosive growth in the past twenty years. Te UN World
Tourism Organization estimates that more than 300 million tourists visit the
world’s religious sites each year.
Global Tourism in a Future Ecological Context
As early as 1972, the milestone Club of Rome report “Limits to Growth” war-
ned leaders of the world that “If present growth trends in world population,
industrialization, pollution, food production, and resource depletion continue
unchanged, the limits to growth on this fnite planet will be reached some-
time in the next 100 years.” (Pestel 1972, 1).
Tis seemed a very distant prospect in 1972, however a 20- year update of
the study in 1992 “Beyond the Limits” concluded that humanity had already
overshot the limits of the earth’s supporting capacity. Te 2002 “Tirty Year
Update” of their report found that “per capita grain production peaked in the
mid-80’s; prospects for signifcant growth in marine fsh are gone; the costs
of natural disasters are increasing; and there is growing intensity, even con-
fict in the allocation of water resources.” As well, they found that “Fifty-four
nations with 12% of the world’s population, experienced decline in per capita
GDP for more than a decade between 1990 and 2001.”
Despite progress made in technology and institutional arrangements, the
human ecological footprint has continued to increase. Te consequences of
this accumulating ecological debt include global climate change, collapsing fs-
heries, depleting forests, species extinction, water shortages, and crop failure.
Ecological overshoot as well contributes to resource conficts, mass migrations,
and famine, and has a disproportionate impact on poor regions of the world.
Within this global context, on 13 December 2012, the world travel and
tourism industry welcomed its symbolic one billionth international tourist
arrival in the Museo del Prado, the Spanish capital’s most-visited tourism at-
traction. Te one billionth international arrival represented a milestone in the
phenomenal growth of travel and tourism from a mere 25 million internati-
onal arrivals in 1950. A continued growth to 1.8 billion by 2030 is projected.
Tis increase of 800 million international arrivals in 18 years is equivalent to
the quantitative growth of tourism in the 55 years from 1950 to 2005.
Peace through Tourism: An Historical and Future Perspective 367
Viewing these projections from an ecological perspective presents a chal-
lenging paradox for the industry. Te World Wildlife Fund 2012 Living Planet
Report states, “We are using 50 per cent more resources than the Earth can
provide, and unless we change course that number will grow very fast – by
2030, even two planets will not be enough.” (Jim Leape cited in WWF Report
2012) As population increases and more persons seek higher standards of li-
ving, there will be even greater pressures on our ecological systems and natu-
ral resources.
A further examination of humanity’s ecological footprint suggests that the
very areas where the greatest growth in international tourism arrivals are pro-
jected, are areas most seriously exceeding their ecological capacity – Europe,
particularly Western Europe, most of Asia including China and India, the Uni-
ted States and Mexico, all of North Africa, the Middle East and Gulf Region.
Areas with a surplus of ecological capacity include most of Sub-Sahara Af-
rica, South America and the nations of Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zeal-
and, Indonesia, and Philippines.
Perhaps the most serious and immediate threat to travel is climate change.
Carbon pollution has now reached a historic high with concentrations in the
atmosphere of 400 parts per million (ppm) from a base line of 280 ppm at the
start of industrialisation. Te last time carbon dioxide levels were that high
was 3.2 million years ago. Temperatures were 5 to 10 degrees warmer and sea
levels were as much as 82 feet higher than today.
Conclusion
• Te twenty-frst century began with the brutal terrorist attacks of 9-11. We
have witnessed a continuation of violence since, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nort-
hern Africa and currently in Syria.
• As this is being written, terrorists have stormed into a crowded mall in Nai-
robi killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 150 in one of the
most daring terrorist attacks in East Africa since Al Qaeda blew up two
American embassies in 1998. And in northwestern Pakistan, a pair of suici-
de bombers killed 75 people outside a church in the deadliest attack yet on
the country’s Christian minority.
• Clearly, world military expenditures in excess of US$ $1.7 trillion a year
have not brought peace to our global family. Tis is greater than the GDP
of every nation in the world except eleven; an amount roughly equal to the
income of 40% of the world’s population who struggle to survive at the bot-
tom of the economic pyramid; nearly $250 for every man woman and child
in the world when: 1 of every 7 survives on $1 a day or less; another 2 of
every 6 on $2 a day or less; 1 of every 7 – go to bed hungry; 1 of every 4 –
never get a clean glass of water to drink; 2 in 5 lack proper sanitation, and
35,000 children die each day from preventable diseases – many of them
from water-born diseases.
368 LOUI S D’AMORE
• Less than one half the world’s current military budget would be sufcient
to end all the primary causes of poverty in the world.
• As early as 1960, Lester B. Pearson, then U.N. General Assembly President
and former Prime Minister of Canada stated: “No planet can survive half
slave, half free, half engulfed in misery, half careening along the joys of an
almost unlimited consumption – neither ecology, or our morality could
survive such contrasts”
• Some ffty years later, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, seems to have
come to a similar conclusion. In April, 2012 he stated “there is an urgent
need for ‘a revolution in our thinking’ to address the multiple economic,
ecological and social crises facing our world. Te old model is broken. We
need to create a new one… In this time of global challenge, even crisis, busi-
ness as usual will not do…Clearly we must unite around a shared vision for
the future, a vision for equitable human development, a healthy planet, an
enduring economic dynamism.”
• Ban Ki-moon’s statement was in response to UN General Assembly reso-
lution A/65/L.86, introduced by Bhutan calling for a “holistic approach to
development” to nurture human happiness and the wellbeing of all life on
earth.” He has called upon the Kingdom of Bhutan to convene an Internati-
onal Expert Working Group to elaborate a New Paradigm for Development
(NDP) inspired by the success of Bhutan’s concept of Gross National Hap-
piness (GNH).
• Futuristic thinkers are generally in agreement that adoption of a New Pa-
radigm for Development fueled by renewable energy sources, with an em-
phasis on human well-being and development and recognition of our inter-
connectedness with one another and with nature is an urgent necessity.
• Te continued long term success of the travel and tourism industry will be
determined by the extent to which it can contribute to such a 21st century
paradigm and a world at peace.
References
Humanity’s Ecological Footprint. Accessed August
2013. http://footprintnetwork.org/images/debtor_
creditor.jpg
IIPT 2008. Accessed September 2013. http://www.
iipt.org/newsletter/2008/January.html
Merchants of Peace 2013, International Chamber of
Commerce: The Merchants of Peace. Accessed July
2013. http://www.iccwbo.org/about-icc/history/
Pestel Eduard 1972: The Limits to Growth. Abstract
established by Eduard Pestel. A Report to The
Club of Rome by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis l.
Meadows, Jorgen Randers, William W. Behrens III.
Accessed August 2013. http://www.unav.es/adi/
UserFiles/File/80963990/The%20Limits%20to%20
Growth%20Informe%20Meadows.pdf
UNWTO Manila Declaration 1985. Accessed July
2013. http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/
PDF%20carte/65.%20Manila.PDF
WWF Report, 2012. Accessed August 2013. http://
www.wwf.org.au/our_work/people_and_the_en-
vironment/human_footprint/living_planet_re-
port_2012/
Annex
CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Tourism and Peace in International
and Non-governmental
Organisations: A Synopsis
Since its emergence, tourism has constantly been defned as a way of promo-
ting peace and intercultural dialogue. Te following text ofers an overview of
documents and events of international and non-governmental organisations
that include this proposition. In addition to the oft- cited Manila Declaration
of 1980 and the Global Code of Ethics of the UNWTO, more documents de-
serve mentioning; this list is not exhaustive, and simply serves as an overview.
United Nations
1967 International Tourism Year – Passport to Peace
Te United Nations, following an IUOTO (International Union of Ofcial
Tourist Organisations – predecessor of the World Tourism Organization) in-
itiative, declare 1967 International Tourism Year with the slogan “Tourism,
Passport to Peace”.
? http://www2.unwto.org/en/content/history-0#1967
2008 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Peace and Poverty
Eradication
In 2008, the 60
th
UN General Assembly proclaimed the year as International
Year of Sustainable Tourism for Peace and Poverty Eradication. Te participa-
ting states noted that “through various events held around the world during
such an occasion, to the alleviation of international conficts and confronta-
tions between States and to the realization of world peace.”
? http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N05/605/75/PDF/N0560575.pdf?OpenElement
2010 Resolution 65/148 Global Code of Ethics
In 2010, the Global Code of Ethics was adopted by the 65
th
General Assembly
that “recognised its emergence as a vital force for the promotion of internatio-
nal understanding, peace and prosperity”.
? http://ethics.unwto.org/sites/all/fles/docpdf/unresolutiona-res-65–1482010.pdf
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Tourism and Peace have been a constant topic since the very beginning of the
Organisation. In May of 1925, when an “International Congress of Ofcial As-
372 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
sociations of Tourist Propaganda” took place in Te Hague, Professor Wim
Treub, as the Dutch host, opened this Congress and stressed the need of “en-
couraging travel so that diferent peoples could understand and become better
acquainted with each other, thus collaborating to the peace so earnestly desi-
red among peoples who had just survived a prolonged and deadly war.” (Perso-
nal interview, Peter Shackleford, UNWTO)
After World War II, in October 1946, a similar philosophy prevailed at the
“World Conference of National Tourist Organisations” in London when the
International Union of Ofcial Travel Organisations (IUOTO) was created.
Te US delegate Mr. Herbert Wilkinson stated, for instance, that he was “con-
scious of the contribution which tourist trafc can make to the promotion of
expanding goodwill between nations.” (ibid.)
In 1970, the Statutes of the Organisation were adopted – founding of the
World Tourism Organization on the basis of the IUOTO Article 3 reads: “Te
fundamental aim of the Organisation shall be the promotion and development
of tourism with a view to contributing to economic development, internatio-
nal understanding, peace, prosperity…”
On several occasions the World Tourism Day celebrations (27 September, an-
nually since 1980) were dedicated to peace and/or mutual understanding:
1980 Tourism’s contribution to the preservation of cultural heritage and to
peace and mutual understanding
1984 Tourism for international understanding, peace and cooperation
1985 Youth Tourism: cultural and historical heritage for peace and friend-
ship
1986 Tourism: a vital force for world peace
1996 Tourism: a factor of tolerance and peace
2001 Tourism: a tool for peace and dialogue among civilisations
2004 Sport and tourism: two living forces for mutual understanding, culture
and the development of societies
2011 Tourism – Linking Cultures
? http://www2.unwto.org/
Te most relevant documents of the UNWTO referring to peace (in chrono-
logical order):
1980 The Manila Declaration on World Tourism at the World Tourism
Conference
Te declaration states that modern tourism has become a contributing factor
to social stability, mutual understanding among individuals and peoples and
individual betterment. It also emphasises that economic returns of tourism
are not the only criterion for the decision by States to encourage tourism as an
activity; it also deepens awareness of national identity and of solidarity linking
to compatriots and the sense of belonging to a certain culture.
A Synopsis 373
Participants at the conference agreed that the existence and development of
tourism depends entirely on lasting peace; a basic element to support a lasting
peace is through integration of tourism into youth education forms and train-
ing.
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF%20carte/65.%20Manila.PDF
1982 Acapulco Document
Te document is based on the Manila Declaration of 1980 and it reafrms that
it is necessary to “preclude any risk of jeopardizing the safeguard of peace, by
securing a more equitable distribution of wealth and eliminating the mainte-
nance of situations of anachronistic colonialism which, by no means, refects
honor on the nations which practice it, but rather detracts from their moral
authority and constitutes an ofence to the spirit of authenticity – which must
pervade tourism as a vehicle for peace, harmony and mutual respect among
peoples…”
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF%20carte/66.%20Acapulco.PDF
1985 Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code
After several years of negotiation, the Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code
was adopted by the WTO Sixth General Assembly in Sofa in 1985. Te docu-
ment expands on the rights and duties of the tourists and host states. Tourists
should foster understanding and friendly relations among peoples with their
conduct, at both national and international levels, and thus contribute to last-
ing peace. Host states should formulate and implement policies aimed at pro-
moting the harmonious development of domestic and international tourism
and leisure activities.
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF carte/67. Sofa.PDF
1989 The Hague Declaration on Tourism
Te Inter-Parliamentary Union and the WTO ended a Conference in 1989 in
Te Hague with a Declaration that also acknowledges tourism as a vital force
for peace and outlines various principles. It includes an important sentence
which states: “All Governments should work for national, regional and inter-
national peace and security which are essential to the development of domes-
tic and international tourism”.
? http://www.univeur.org/cuebc/downloads/PDF%20carte/68.%20The%20Hague.PDF
1995 Charter for Sustainable Tourism
In April 1995, the World Conference on Sustainable Tourism took place in
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain. It resulted in the Charter for Sustainable
tourism in which the participants “recognised that tourism afords the oppor-
tunity to travel and to know other cultures, and that the development of tou-
rism can help promote closer ties and peace among peoples, creating a consci-
ence that is respectful of the diversity of culture and lifestyle.”
? http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/charter.html
374 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
1999 Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET)
Te GCET was adopted in 1999 by the General Assembly of the UNWTO. It
was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1999. Alt-
hough not legally binding, the Code features a voluntary implementation
mechanism and is designed to guide key-players in tourism development.
Addressed to governments, the travel industry, communities and tourists
alike, it aims to help maximise the sector’s benefts while minimising its po-
tentially negative impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies
across the globe. Te Code’s ten point principles include tourism as a vehicle
for individual and collective fulfllment and a factor in sustainable develop-
ment. Tourism is seen as a benefcial activity for host countries and communi-
ties, and its contribution leads to mutual understanding and respect between
peoples and societies.
? http://ethics.unwto.org/en/content/global-code-ethics-tourism
? http://ethics.unwto.org/sites/all/fles/docpdf/unresolutiona-res-65–1482010.pdf
2001 Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism – 14
th
General Assembly,
Republic of Korea
Te UNWTO adopted the Seoul Declaration on Peace and Tourism in 2001 at
its 14th General Assembly. Tis declaration acknowledges the need for mutual
cooperation in tourism and promoting world peace through tourist exchanges.
It aims to help bridge inequalities and economic, social, cultural and techno-
logical gaps between nations. In Article 8, it recognises the vitalising efect of
the promotion of peace on that of world tourism, as a means of fostering and
practicing mutual understanding and solidarity.
? http://www.international.icomos.org/centre_documentation/tourism-seoul2005.pdf
Other organisations:
The Helsinki Final Act – Conference on Security and Co-operation (CSCE)
in Europe
Te Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE), from which
resulted the Organisation of Security and Cooperation, was held in Helsinki
in 1975 with the aim to overcome the Cold War rivalry between the two su-
perpowers and their allies. Tirty-fve Heads of State discussed guaranteeing
conditions in which the citizens of the participating States can live in true and
lasting peace. Tey signed the Helsinki Final Act which played an important
role in defusing and later overcoming the Cold War confrontation between
East and West. Te 35 participating states divided the CSCE activities into
three broad topics of security: political and military aspects, economic and
environmental aspects and human aspects (Te Culture of Dialogue 2012).
It was based on the understanding that the economic and environmental di-
mension of the CSCE ofered a forum for linking economic and other security-
related issues. Terefore, “even what appear to be minor issues within the eco-
nomic dimension have sometimes had signifcant consequences for human
A Synopsis 375
security. For instance, the rather prosaic- sounding commitment to promote
tourism nourished discussions on freedom of movement. It thus referred to
commitments in the feld of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” (ibid.).
Beside the economic aspect, it was the human dimension where in particular
the increase of human contacts was the central theme in the East-West policy.
Tis resulted in the elaboration of the catalogue of measures aiming to deve-
lop inter-systemary and inter-human relations through concrete activities in
transnational mobility issues, such as decreasing administrative barriers (visa,
etc.), improvement of the tourism ofer and information about travel possibili-
ties and destinations (Ropers 1986, 45f). In the aftermath of Helsinki, most of
the tourism-related activities were said to be inspired by the Final Act, while
further agreements of various institutions between West and East were con-
cluded (sports, scientifc institutions, cities, etc.). Travel facilitation improved
when some countries agreed to lift their visa requirements. For example, Aus-
tria and Hungary allowed travel between the two countries, as did Bulgaria
and Turkey in 1979 (ibid. 46). In both cases, this visa-free travel contributed
immediately to a signifcant increase in tourism fows between the countries,
with an increase of 50 percent of Austrians travelling to Hungary and 40 per-
cent increase of Hungarians going to Austria.
Despite several challenges that followed and had immediate efect on the
further development of tourism between West and East and thus on furthe-
ring the East-West-relations, the CSCE/OSCE has always been conscious of
tourism as a tool in easing tensions between the two blocs.
? http://www.osce.org/mc/58376
? http://www.osce.org/mc/39501?download=true
International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT)
Te International Institute For Peace Trough was established in 1986 by Lou-
is D’Amore (see D’Amore this volume). It is a non-proft organisation dedica-
ted to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to inter-
national understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment,
the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to bring
about a peaceful and sustainable world.
? http://www.iipt.org/index.html
Te IIPT held several meetings and summits, some of which resulted in decla-
rations, such as the following:
Amman Declaration (2000)
Tis declaration identifed peace as the prerequisite for tourism and travel in-
dustries, including all forms of human growth and development. Te decla-
ration supports the principle that the tourism industry should be utilized for
the promotion of peace dialogue and creating equity and reducing disparities
around the world. Te Declaration has been incorporated as an ofcial U.N.
document.
? http://www.iipt.org/globalsummit/ammandeclaration.html
376 CORDUL A WOHLMUTHER
Thessaloniki Declaration (2001)
Recommendation was made to promote Peace and Cultural Studies in
children’s education of all ages and to encourage learning of languages, cultu-
res and histories of neighbouring countries. Te elements of Peace and Friend-
ship were also to be incorporated in the tourism curriculum.
? http://www.iipt.org/globalsummit/thessalonikideclaration.html
Tanzania Action Plan (2003)
Te Tanzania Action Plan was set up in 2003 at the 2nd IIPT African Confe-
rence on Peace through Tourism and focuses on the question as to how Afri-
can Community Tourism can function as a “Gateway to Poverty Reduction”.
Te Action Agenda refers to the following potentials relevant to thi aim:
Global Awareness, Sustainable Tourism Development, Tourism Contributi-
on to Community Empowerment, Development and Poverty Reduction, In-
formation Technology and Communication, Healing the Wounds of Confict,
Education, Youth Agenda, Community Tourism Network and Tourism Phil-
anthropy and Volunteerism.
? http://www.iipt.org/conference/africanconference2003/TanzaniaActionPlan.pdf
Lusaka Declaration: A 21
st
Century Vision for African Tourism (2005)
Tis declaration was aimed at the initiation of Great Fall peace parks in each
country in the three great waterfalls areas; Iguacu waterfalls (Argentina and
Brazil), Niagara waterfalls (Canada and the US) and Victoria waterfalls (Zam-
bia and Zimbabwe) as a part of the International Peace Parks initiatives.
? http://www.iipt.org/conference/africaconf2005/LusakaDeclaration.pdf
Lusaka Youth Declaration (2005)
Based on the idea that the youth should be involved and integrated in the Tou-
rism Development Programme, this declaration defnes seven specifc goals
that must be fulflled in this context. In addition the declaration outlines that
further work has to focus on Economic Empowerment, Education and Trai-
ning, Governance and Participation and Social Transformation in order to
reach the goal of a “peaceful and prosperous Africa”.
? http://www.iipt.org/conference/africaconf2005/AfricanYouthForumDeclaration.pdf
ICPTR – International Centre for Peace Through Tourism Research
Te ICPTR was founded in 2008 by Omar Moufakkir. Its overall objective is
to conduct academic research in the feld of tourism and peace and promote
analysis and initiatives that support peace through tourism by means of re-
search, results dissemination and the sharing of knowledge with the academic
community, government, NGOs, and the tourism and hospitality private sec-
tors, and related tourism stakeholders. Te Centre also edits an online pub-
lication, Te Journal of Tourism and Peace Research, that aims to provide a
peer-reviewed forum for the study and discussion of tourism and peace issues
in tourism and tourism-related areas of leisure, recreation and hospitality stu-
dies.
A Synopsis 377
? http://www.icptr.com/index.php/about/
? http://www.icptr.com/index.php/2008/07/journal-of-tourism-and-peace-research/
Servas International
In 1949 the American Bob Luitweiler founded an international, non-govern-
mental peace association that consists of hosts and travellers worldwide. Tis
worldwide system aims to build mutual understanding, tolerance and world
peace through quality contacts that take place between the hosts and guests.
Servas is presented and supported by volunteers in more than 160 countries. It
has consulting status in the UN Economic and Social Council.
? http://www.servas.de/cms/index.php?getlang=en&menuid=1&reporeid=
Tourism For Peace
Tourism For Peace was founded by Gail Lash, who promotes the teaching of
peace through travellers and their hosts. Te NGO promotes methods to-
wards achieving peace, such as community based tourism, peaceful environ-
ments, diversity, human rights and wellbeing, and sustainable development.
? http://www.tourismforpeace.org/id34.html
EQUATIONS – Equitable Tourism Options
Te organisation EQUATIONS analyses the impacts of tourism on the so-
cial, cultural, economic and environmental level of a local host community.
EQUATIONS carries out research on the positive and negative efects trig-
gered by tourism, facilitates several events dealing with the establishment of
tourism that is “non-exploitative, equitable and sustainable” and functions as
a platform for international networking of experts, grassroots organisations,
activists and local communities. Te overall aim of EQUATIONS is to support
tourism planning that is “equitable, people-centred and just”.
? http://www.equitabletourism.org/
References
The Culture of Dialogue. 2012. “The OSCE Acquis
30 Years after Helsinki“, CORE- Centre for OSCE
Research, page 26, URL: www.osce.org/docu-
ments/16108
Ropers, Norbert. 1986. Tourismus zwischen West
und Ost: Ein Beitrag zum Frieden. Frankfurt/Main
(u.a.): Campus-Verlag.
Personal interview with Peter Shackleford, UNWTO,
September 2013.
Editors
Cordula Wohlmuther completed her studies at the University of Vienna.
During her Ph.D. studies, she worked for the Hannah-Arendt Institute on Re-
search of Totalitarian Regimes at the Technical University in Dresden, Ger-
many and for the Ludwig-Boltzmann Institute on Post-war Research in Vien-
na/Graz, Austria. On behalf of these two institutes she carried out research in
the archives of Moscow, Russian Federation on ‘sentenced’ German and Aus-
trian prisoners of war in Soviet concentration camps during and after World
War II. In 2000, she was seconded by the Austrian Foreign Ministry to the Or-
ganisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and worked for six
years in the OSCE Project Coordinator’s ofce in Kyiv, Ukraine. Afterwards,
she joined the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid, Spain as
the Deputy Regional Director for Europe. In 2012, she requested special leave
from her position in order to coordinate the project “Tourism and Peace”, an
Initiative of the UNWTO and the University of Klagenfurt, Austria and its
Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education.
Werner Wintersteiner is a trained teacher who holds an MA in German
and French Studies from Vienna University and a Ph.D. in Education from
the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, where he is the Founding Director of
the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education. His main research inter-
ests are the development of a complex transdisciplinary peace research with
a strong focus on cultural dimensions, including post-colonial approaches, as
well as the development of a comprehensive peace education, linking civic ed-
ucation, confict resolution, and a culture of remembrance. His main research
felds are peace education and global citizenship education, peace movements,
culture and peace, globalisation, post-colonialism, transculturality and litera-
ture (education). He is director of the University Master Programme (further
education) Global Citizenship Education. He serves on the Peace Education
Commission of IPRA (International Peace Research Association) and on the
editorial board of the Journal of Peace Education. He is author of around 300
articles in journals and chapters in books and has authored and (co-)edited
more than 30 books, including monographs on peace education and culture,
globalisation and education.
Contributors
Rina M. Alluri is a Programme Ofcer in the Business and Peace programme
at Swisspeace in Bern and a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the Uni-
versity of Basel, Switzerland. She is interested in academic and practical ex-
amples of corporate engagement in peace-building and has been working on
cases regarding Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Myanmar. Her Ph.D. focuses on the
inter-linkages between politics, economy and confict in Sri Lanka. Prior to
joining Swisspeace, she worked with Fahamu: Networks for Social Justice in
Oxford, UK and Durban, South Africa and with the Liu Institute for Global
Issues in Vancouver, Canada. She holds a BA from the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and an MA from the Institute of Social Stud-
ies in Te Hague, Netherlands.
Louis D’Amore is the Founder and President of the International Institute for
Peace through Tourism (IIPT). He has been instrumental in promoting the
travel and tourism industry as the world’s frst “Global Peace Industry” since
the founding of IIPT in 1986. At the frst IIPT Global Conference in Vancouver
in 1988, he frst introduced the concept of Sustainable Tourism. He also intro-
duced a new paradigm of “Higher Purpose of Tourism” that he has since pro-
moted in IIPT Conferences throughout the world. In 1992, following the U.N.
Conference on Environment and Development (Rio Summit), he developed
the world’s frst Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism for the
Canadian tourism industry. He also conducted the world’s frst international
study on Codes of Conduct and Best Practices in Tourism and Environment
for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). As a consultant
prior to founding IIPT, he conducted the world’s frst comprehensive study on
the future of tourism in 1976. Additionally, he worked as a futurist and con-
sultant for ten years to the Canadian tourism industry during which time he
pioneered socially and environmentally responsible tourism in Canada.
Christian Baumgartner has been the Secretary General of Naturefriends In-
ternational since 2005. In 1995, he founded ‘respect‘ – Institute for Integrative
Tourism and Development. In addition to his work as lecturer for Sustainable
Tourism in Vienna, Krems (A) and China, he is also a member of the Tour-
ism Sustainability Group within the EU Commission, DG enterprise and a
member of several national and international tourism-related advisory boards.
Christian Baumgartner specialises in development, implementation and mon-
itoring of sustainable tourism and sustainable regional development. He also
guided several concrete tourism development projects in Europe and south-
east Asia.
380
Geert Bourgeois Following a career at all the echelons of the Flemish party
Volksunie, Geert Bourgeois became a Representative in the federal Chamber
of Representatives of Belgium in 1995. He focused mainly on legal matters and
Community Afairs. After the breakup of the Volksunie, Geert Bourgeois and
his supporters founded the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA- New-Flemish
Alliance) in 2001, of which he was the frst Chairman until 2004. From 2004
to 2008, Geert Bourgeois was the Flemish Minister for Administrative Afairs,
Foreign Policy, Tourism and Media. On 11 July 2009, he became Flemish Vice
Minister-President and Minister for Administrative Afairs, Local and Pro-
vincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse Rand (Flem-
ish Periphery of Brussels).
Richard Butler is Emeritus Professor of Tourism at the University of Strath-
clyde, Glasgow. He is a geographer, with degrees from Nottingham (BA) and
Glasgow (Ph.D.) Universities. He taught for thirty years at the University of
Western Ontario in London, Canada, and then at the University of Surrey, UK,
where he was Deputy Head (Research) at the School of Management. He has
published sixteen books on tourism, with the most recent being Tourism and
War (2013), jointly edited with Dr. Wantanee Suntikul. He has authored over
a hundred journal articles and chapters in books. His main areas of research
are in tourism destination development, tourism in remote areas and sustain-
ability of tourism. He was a Founding Member and former President of the
International Academy for the Study of Tourism and a past president of the
Canadian Association for Leisure Studies, and is on the editorial board of sev-
eral tourism journals.
Emmanuel J. Bwasiri works at the Antiquities Division’s research unit. He
has a BA in Archaeology & Geography – Environmental Impact Assessment
from the University of Dar es Salaam, and an MA in Rock Art and Heritage
Management from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Cur-
rently, the author is in his fnal year as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of
the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Te author is also a member of ASAPA, IC-
CROM, ICOMOS and WAC and is accredited in the feld of Cultural Heritage
Management, Archaeology, Cultural Tourism, Rock Art Studies and Geog-
raphy – Environmental Impact Assessment. Emmanuel Bwasiri has been in-
volved in various researches in South Africa and Tanzania. He has presented
papers and attended conferences related to cultural heritage management in
Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, Australia and China. He has published two
independent papers in international journals.
Peter van den Dungen was a Lecturer in Peace Studies at the University of
Bradford (1976–2000), and has been a Visiting Lecturer since 2000. In 1992,
he initiated and co-organised the frst international conference of Peace and
Anti-war museums. Since then he has been the General Coordinator of the
International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), with a small secretariat
in Te Hague; the 8th conference will be held in South Korea in 2014. He is
Contributors 381
also a peace historian; among his publications are Peace Movements and Po-
litical Cultures (ed., with Charles Chatfeld, 1988); From Erasmus to Tolstoy:
Te Peace Literature of Four Centuries (ed., 1990). Moreover, he is a Contribu-
tor and Senior Consulting Editor of the Oxford International Encyclopedia
of Peace (2010). Many publications on Peace museums, including the frst di-
rectories of Peace Museums Worldwide, were published by the UN in Geneva
(1995, 2nd ed. 1998).
Susanne Fischer is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Bundeswehr
University Munich, Germany (an institution of the German Armed Forces)
and coordinates a BMBF-funded research project on “Security in the Public
Sphere”. Between 2005 and 2010, Susanne Fischer worked at the Peace Re-
search Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). In her Ph.D. she explored the role of tour-
ism for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian confict. Against this background, her
research interests centre around two areas: the role of private actors in zones
of confict from a global governance perspective and the role of securitisation
dynamics and the acceptance of – or protest against – security measures in
the public sphere after 9/11.
Harald A. Friedl is a lawyer and philosopher who has worked for many years
as a free-lance journalist and tour guide all around the world. Since the late
1990s, after research activities on constitutional aspects of media economy, he
focused his research on the connections between tourism, sustainability and
applied ethics. He used the example of ethno-tourism among Touareg nomads
in the Sahara, where he worked for several years. In 2003, he became a lecturer
for tourism ethics, sustainability, tourism sociology and change management
for the study programme Health Management in Tourism in Bad Gleichen-
berg, Department of Management, at the FH JOANNEUM – University of Ap-
plied Sciences, Austria. Since 2008, he has been a guest professor for Systemic
Confict Management at the Master Programme Sustainable Tourism Man-
agement at the University of Applied Sciences for Sustainability in Eberswalde,
Germany. He is also a trainer for international military peace troops in inter-
cultural communication and confict prevention in the Austrian Army.
Nicole Häusler has been an active adviser for sustainable tourism in Europe,
Asia and Latin America for more than fourteen years. She focuses on the
felds of Corporate Social Responsibility in Tourism, Sustainable Destination
Management and tourism and poverty reduction. She has been involved in
the co-development of the responsible tourism policy in Myanmar and began
in January 2014 to work as an advisor on sustainable tourism development
for the Myanmar Tourism Federation in cooperation with the German Soci-
ety for International Cooperation/ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
Rami K. Isaac did his undergraduate studies in Te Netherlands, graduate
studies in the U.K. and earned his Ph.D. from University of Groningen in Spa-
382
tial Sciences in Te Netherlands. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in tourism,
teaching at the undergraduate as well as postgraduate levels at the Academy
for Tourism at the NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences in Te Neth-
erlands. He was the external assessor of Bethlehem TEMPUS (2004–2006)
curriculum development project in Palestine in the feld of pilgrimage, tour-
ism and cultural industries. His research interests are in the area of tourism
development and management, cultural heritage and political aspects of tour-
ism.
Stanislav Ivanov is an Associate Professor and Vice Rector for Academic Af-
fairs and Research at International University College in Dobrich, Bulgaria. He
holds a Ph.D. in tourism economics from the University of Economics, Varna.
Dr. Ivanov is the Editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Tourism Research
and serves on the Editorial boards of twenty other journals. His research in-
terests include special interest in tourism, destination marketing, tourism and
economic growth, and political issues in tourism. His publications have ap-
peared in various academic journals – Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism
Management, Tourism Economics, Tourism Today, Tourism, Journal of Eco-
nomic Studies, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans, South-Eastern
Europe Journal of Economics.
Ulrike Joras is a Senior Programme Ofcer at International Alert for the
area of Economy and Peacebuilding. Prior to joining International Alert, she
worked at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and for several NGOs
and academic institutions, including the University of Munich, the Center for
Development Research in Bonn, Germany, and Swisspeace. Dr. Joras’ main
area of expertise is in the role of private companies in violent conficts and
peacebuilding, as well as corporate social responsibility. She has conducted
extensive feld research, particularly in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Guatemala, and
has published on various aspects related to corporate engagement in peace. Dr.
Joras holds an MA and a Ph.D., both from the University of Aachen, Germany.
Ian Kelly is a former geographer who switched to tourism education in 1990.
He directed tourism courses at Monash and Swinburne Universities in Aus-
tralia before retiring in 2000. He maintained involvement with publishing,
teaching and research in an adjunct capacity with the University of South
Australia until July 2009. He continues to compile the annual Australian Re-
gional Tourism Handbook for the Australian Regional Tourism Network. His
research and writings on Peace through Tourism date from 1998, and he was
appointed Coordinator of the IIPT Educators Network in 2005.
Simon Kiarie is Chief Tourism Ofcer at the Department of Tourism, Minis-
try of East African Community Afairs, Commerce and Tourism, Kenya. His
roles at the Department include formulation and implementation of tourism
policies and legislation and development of tourism strategies and research.
He earned his MSc in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey,
Contributors 383
Guildford on a British Chevening Scholarship and holds a BSc in Tourism
from Moi University, Kenya. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Tourism Man-
agement at the Kenyatta University, Kenya. Mr. Kiarie was the Head of Re-
search and Statistics Unit at the Department of Tourism, Kenya from 2008 to
2012. During this period, he also served as a technical assistant and advisor to
the Minister for Tourism. He had a one-year stint at the Kenya Institute for
Public Policy Research and Analysis in 2007. He has worked extensively with
local communities at the Kenya Coast. His research interests include e-tour-
ism, digital divide, tourism policy, tourism demand modelling and sustainable
tourism.
Kipkorir Lagat is the Director of Tourism and Head of Department of Tour-
ism at the Ministry of East African Community Afairs, Commerce and Tour-
ism, Kenya. From 2005 to 2008, he was in charge of the Wildlife Conservation
and Management Desk in the former Ministry of Tourism and Wildife. He
holds an MSc in International Marketing from the University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow, Scotland, an MBA and Bachelors of Commerce from the Univer-
sity of Nairobi, Kenya. He has done postgraduate training in Environmental
Management at Moi University, Kenya and the University of Strathclyde. Prior
to joining the Civil Service in 2003, he was a Lecturer in Business Manage-
ment and Marketing, Technology and Management Studies Department (now
School of Business and Economics), Moi University, Kenya. He has extensive
experience in policy development, analysis and implementation, with particu-
lar focus on tourism and wildlife conservation and management, mainly in
Kenya and within the East African Community. He has worked extensively on
peace and confict resolution in tourism and wildlife conservation and man-
agement practice.
Martina Leicher is the managing director of COMPASS GmbH in Cologne,
an international consulting and training company in the feld of tourism,
which she founded in 2005, together with Karsten Palme. She studied geog-
raphy, ethnology and urban planning at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn.
She holds a German ‘Diplom’ in geography (comparable to a masters degree).
Since 1992, she has worked as a university lecturer at the CBS / Cologne Busi-
ness School, and ISM / International School of Management in the feld of
tourism management education. From 1999 until 2007 she was Head of Tour-
ism Department at CBS Cologne Business School and since 2007 she has been
Head of Tourism Consulting here. Her main focus is in the feld of leisure and
tourism, particularly on the topics of sustainable destination development,
empirical social research, tourism and peace, as well as MICE market devel-
opment and tourism marketing. She has extensive national and international
(esp. Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Kazakhstan) experience as a consultant
to universities, destinations and companies.
Edward W. Lollis was a career U.S. Foreign Service Ofcer specialising in
Africa, international energy policy, and development economics. He studied
384
at Yale University, Princeton University, the University of Wisconsin, Madi-
son and the University of Melbourne in Australia. He worked in Canada, the
Dominican Republic, England, France, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Rwanda, and the
USA. After retiring from the Department of State, he became an Executive
Secretary of the U.S. Committee for the Bicentennial of the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and then worked as a geographic analyst.
Since 2001, he has written and lectured about peace monuments and muse-
ums for the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace, the Peace and Justice
Studies Association, the International Network of Museums for Peace, and
Rotary International. He maintains an on-line database of Peace Monuments
around the World at www.peacepartnersintl.net and published in 2013 a book
on “Monumental Beauty: Peace Monuments and Museums around the World“.
Omar Moufakkir completed his primary and secondary education in Casa-
blanca, Morocco, and continued his undergraduate studies in France (B.A.,
University Paris Xiii Villetaneuse). He got a degree in English Literature
and Foreign Civilisations – Licence ès Lettres, Langues, Littérature et Civi-
lisations Etrangères (Specialité: Anglais). He did his graduate studies in the
Netherlands, M.A. World, Leisure and Recreation Association (WLRA), In-
ternational Center of Excellence (WICE), and got an M.A in International
Leisure and Tourism Studies, University of North London/CHN. He got his
Ph.D. in the US (Michigan State University, at Michigan- Park, in Recreation
and Tourism Resources), taught leisure courses at Michigan State University,
and worked as a researcher and research project manager at the University’s
TTRRC – Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center. He joined La Ro-
chelle Business School of Tourism in France as Director of the Tourism Man-
agement Institute and later on the Saxonian University of Applied Sciences
and its Hospitality Business School in the Netherlands. He is a member of the
Tourism4Peace Forum and the founding editor of Te Journal of Tourism and
Peace Research.
Natalia Naranjo Ramos is a Tourism and Development Advisor, professional
in Finance, Government and International Relations at Externado Colombian
University. She got her Masters in Environmental Intervention: Person, Soci-
ety and Administration at Barcelona University. Her professional experience
includes: community-based projects in tourism, applied research, strategic as-
sessment in tourism and project development. Her work experience includes
working at the private and public sector, international cooperation and local
development.
Rosalind Newlands is the past president of the World Federation of Tourist
Guide Associations. Rosalind Newlands OBE BSc qualifed as a Blue Badge
Scottish Tourist Guide in 1983. She served on the Board of the Scottish Tourist
Guides Association (STGA) and as STGA Training Manager from 1987–2007.
She was STGA Course Director for the University of Edinburgh from 1989 to
2012 and developed the current Scottish Tourist Guide Training Course. She
Contributors 385
was a member of the Working Party which advised on the setting up of the
Institute of Tourist Guiding and was a UK Expert for EN 15565: Training and
Qualifcation of Tourist Guides in Europe. Rosalind was elected to the World
Federation of Tourist Guide Associations Executive Board in 2005 and served
as President from 2007 to 2013. She has worked as a trainer and consultant to
the tourism industry in Scotland and worldwide since 1989. She is a Member
of the UNWTO Silk Road Task Force. She was awarded the OBE (Ofcer of
the Order of the British Empire) for Services to Tourism in 2010.
Peter Njiraini is a Policy Analyst at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Re-
search and Analysis (KIPPRA). Tis is a public policy research institute that
carries out independent public and private policy analysis for both the public
sector and private sectors. As a policy analyst, he is charged with responsibil-
ity of analysing public policy that impacts or infuences tourism development.
He is currently a PhD Student at Kenyatta University, Kenya where he is pur-
suing a doctorate degree in Applied Economics. He holds an MA (Econom-
ics) and BA (Economics) from the University of Nairobi. Previously he worked
at the Ministry of East African Community Afairs, Commerce and Tourism,
Kenya as an Economist. Between 2008 and 2011, he was working as a technical
advisor to the Minister for Tourism. His research interests are on small scale
tourism enterprises development, environmental sustainability, and public f-
nance management. He is currently studying the implications of eco-tourism
development and extractive industry development in Kenya; study on search
for new tourism source markets and modelling of Kenya’s tourism demand.
Karsten Palme is the managing director of the COMPASS GmbH in Co-
logne, an international consulting and training company in the feld of tour-
ism, which he founded in 2005 together with Martina Leicher. He studied Ge-
ography of Economics and International Cooperation at RWTH Aachen and
holds a German M.A. in Economic Geography. Since 1997, he has worked in
international consulting projects regarding destination management, destina-
tion marketing and regional development in Germany, Eastern Europe, Af-
rica and Central Asia. As lecturer at several universities of applied sciences he
connects research, consulting and academic education. His main focus in the
feld of tourism research and consulting is the development of emerging des-
tinations, tourism and peace, cross-border destination management, capacity
building and strategic marketing.
Marjeta Schwarz studied Communication Studies in Vienna (BA) and Ap-
plied Cultural Studies in Klagenfurt, Austria (MA). In the course of her stud-
ies she had several stays abroad in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Wales. She is
currently working as a lecturer at the department of Culture, Literature and
Music Sciences at the University of Klagenfurt. Her focus of interest lies in
concepts of cultural diference, culture of remembrance and politics of re-
membering, multilingualism and the Alps-Adriatic Region.
386
Gordon Sillence has been working in the feld of sustainable development for
over 30 years, with a strong focus on personal well-being, biodiversity con-
servation and tourism sector development. He has worked for the European
Commission’s DG Enterprise, preparing the EU Agenda 21 for the European
Tourism Sector (2002) and development of the EU Handbook on Learning Ar-
eas for the Tourism Industry (2006), which has been updated as the Guide
to Setting up a Tourism Knowledge and Innovation Community (2012). He
is currently director of the European Environment Agency’s UN type II Des-
tiNet sustainable tourism ICT Partnership portal and vice-president of the
ECOTRANS Network. He has developed post-graduate course material and
lectured at Glamorgan University, Kopernicus University and the Euracademy.
At the regional level he is the coordinator of the Janela Aberta 21 – Education
for Sustainable Development Centre in Portugal, having previously worked as
WWF Coordinator for the Southern Portugal Green Belt Lynx Conservation
Project. At the local level, Gordon also runs the Inner Peace Forest Retreat in
Southern Portugal, and has been working on the London 2012 Olympic Truce
as part of his overall contribution to inner peace and global peace.
Wantanee Suntikul earned her Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Tourism Stud-
ies from the University of Surrey, UK. She taught at the Institute for Tourism
Studies, Macao and is currently working as an Assistant Professor at Hong
Kong Polytechnic University. Her core research interest and expertise are in
the impact of tourism on cultural tourism destinations and the political and
social aspects of tourism development. Particular focuses include local peo-
ple’s perceptions and expectations of tourism development, the potential of
tourism for poverty alleviation, and the role of tourism development in politi-
cal and economic transition. Geographically, her current and recent research
and writing have been on South and Southeast Asia. She has been conduct-
ing research on Vietnam, Laos, Tailand and Bhutan extensively in the past
few years. Wantanee has co-edited two books with Prof. Richard Butler titled
Tourism and Political Change and Tourism and War.
Pranil Kumar Upadhayaya holds a Ph.D. in Tourism, Confict and Peace in
Nepal from the Department of Development Studies, Kathmandu University
conducted in association with the Swiss National Centre of Competence in
Research (NCCR) North-South. He has acquired a diploma in Tourism Hu-
man Resource Development from Singapore Hotel Association Training and
Education Centre, Singapore and his Masters in Tourism Management from
Kathmandu Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (Purbanchal University),
Nepal. He was recently engaged as a project coordinator in a peace tourism
project titled “Meeting the challenges of Peace-building in Tourism in Pokha-
ra: Strengthening the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Ethical Busi-
ness Operation” which was executed in Pokhara (Kaski) by Pokhara Tourism
Council in association with NCCR North-South. Additionally, he works with
nearly 24 various professional organisations which are directly and indirectly
associated with tourism in Pokhara. He has published a number of research
Contributors 387
based tourism related articles in national and international journals. His fur-
ther research interests include: tourism and peace, sustainable tourism, eco
tourism, alternative tourism and tourism and livelihoods.
Dawid De Villiers was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and was the Chairman of the World
Committee on Ethics in Tourism and Special Advisor to the UNWTO Sec-
retary-General on ethical matters. He also chaired for many years the UN-
WTO’s World Tourism Network on Child Protection (formerly the Task Force
for the protection of Children through Tourism). Before joining UNWTO, Dr.
De Villiers was South Africa’s Minister of the Environment and Tourism in
the Government of National Unity under President Nelson Mandela. He has
also served as South Africa’s Ambassador to London and subsequently the
country’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism. He was a member of the
Cabinet for more than 12 years and held various Cabinet portfolios, including:
Budget and Welfare, Administration and Privatisation, Mineral and Energy
Afairs, Economic Co-ordination and Environmental Afairs and Tourism. Dr.
de Villiers played a key role in the negotiations that facilitated South Africa’s
transition to Democracy.
Mira Wagner studied Applied Cultural Studies at the University of Klagen-
furt in Austria and wrote her Masters Tesis on the potential of using tourism
as a tool for peace-building and reconciliation fostering eforts in Northern
Ireland in the case of Derry-Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013. She is cur-
rently working at the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at the
University of Klagenfurt where she joins the project “Tourism and Peace” as a
project collaborator.
Craig Webster is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the
University of Nicosia in Cyprus. He studied Government and German Litera-
ture at St. Lawrence University in New York State. He received an MA and
Ph.D. in Political Science from Binghamton University in New York State and
an MBA Intercollege, Cyprus. His research interests include human rights,
the political economy of tourism, public opinion analysis, and comparative
foreign policy. Dr. Webster is the Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Today and a Co-
Editor of the Cyprus Review. He has published in many peer-reviewed jour-
nals internationally.
Valerie Woop studied Applied Cultural Studies (BA) at the University of Kla-
genfurt. She is doing her Masters in the feld of Media, Communication and
Culture, and completing the Bachelor of Business Administration. From 2012
to 2013, she worked at the Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education at
the University of Klagenfurt as a Project Collaborator for the Project “Tour-
ism and Peace”, focusing on the Alps-Adriatic Region and the role of Tourism
projects for peace-building eforts.
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