Tourism as a force for peace

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) states that tourism has the potential to contribute to peace in many ways. The organization encourages all people and destinations to explore the full potential of tourism to advance international understanding and peace. (UNTWO 2024.)

Tourism fosters economic growth, provides jobs and opportunities through entrepreneurship, which can lead to sustainable economic development in destinations around the world. The UNWTO sees that educating and providing training to young people can promote peace. With this year’s World Tourism Day (September 27, 2024), UNWTO wants to highlight how travel, cultural exchange and sustainable tourism practices can contribute to conflict resolution, reconciliation, and the promotion of peace worldwide. (UNTWO 2024.)

Introduction

Universities of applied sciences aim to educate students who can evolve with the fast-paced changes in the world and actively tackle the challenges facing the tourism industry. Both of us have been working as lecturers in tourism education for several years. In addition to lecturing and research, we have taken part in Erasmus Plus projects highlighting sustainable tourism in South-East Asia as well as other projects aiming for regional development and employability in South Africa, Nepal, Bhutan and Laos, for example.

In a time when the concept of responsible tourism is a hot topic, there are also discussions about the ethics of travelling to countries at war or governed by totalitarian regimes. For instance, Syria has promoted itself as a tourist destination even while enduring a brutal civil war and being one of the most dangerous places in the world. Both Cuba and Turkey are popular destinations for Europeans despite the lack of media freedom and human rights. Whether it is right or wrong to travel to non-democratic countries involved in regional conflicts and suppressing national minorities is an ethical issue that all tourists must reflect upon themselves. In this article, we explore the relationship between tourism and peace.

How can tourism enhance peace?

First of all, UNWTO (2024) sees that tourism can enhance peace in the many human-to-human encounters taking place during travel. These encounters have the potential to improve understanding between nations and cultures, hosts and locals.

Moreover, tourism is a powerful tool for spreading information about other issues related to peace, i.e., social justice, human rights, economic equity and sustainable development. It can also foster democracy, diplomacy and the capability of non-violent conflict resolution. Tourism can also have an impact on the demilitarisation of a country. For instance, after the civil war in Ruanda gorilla tourism was an important reason for clearing land mines. (World Travel and Tourism Council 2016.) World leaders from Kennedy and Khrushchev to Clinton, Obama and Xi have promoted tourism as a way to increase mutual understanding (Monteiro et al. 2024; McClanahan 2024, 8, 202; Attwooll 10.4.2013; BBC Travel 27.4.2019; Wang 17.7.2024). Kennedy said already in 1963 (Monteiro et al 2024):

Tourism can be part of the social transformation as the income and jobs tourism creates makes people understand the importance of working for peace over war.

From war tourism to peace tourism

The discussion about tourism as a driver of peace is interesting as tourism academics have mostly been interested in studying tourism and war. The phenomenon of war tourism is already a rather well-established concept in tourism studies. War tourism is recreational travel to active or former war zones for purposes of sightseeing or historical study. The term has been foremost used in the context of describing visits to dangerous and forbidden places with associations of war. (Peña 7.11.2023.)

Currently, the interest for visiting active war zones is on the rise. For example, the concept of war tourism has been studied within an online community of (aspiring) war tourists showing interest for the ongoing war in Ukraine, where war tourism is represented through ‘hot war travel’, ‘combat volunteering’, ‘non-combat volunteering’, and ‘virtual war travel’. War tourism in this context is identified as a complex phenomenon ranging from actual visits to active war zones to volunteering, and voyeurism in a new form of ‘hybrid war tourism’ in online and offline realms. (Williams et al. 2023.) War tourism has also been commodified in Israel, where it has been possible to follow the civil war in Syria from the Golan Heights (Kamin 2014). Also, Gaza, Tripoli and Kabul are often listed among the top 10 war tourism destinations (e.g., Mathew 16.2.2020).

More historical war tourism destinations are the battle fields of first and second world wars. Indeed, global tourism took off in earnest after the second world war. With the many conflicts going on now, many travelers would like to actively contribute to peace (McClanahan 2024; D’Amore s.a.). There are many practical ways they can do that by being tourists.

Tourism for peace and prosperity

The Global Peace Index 2024 (Institute for Economics and Peace 2024) reveals that the world is facing several challenges to reach peace. Currently, there are 56 conflicts: the most since World War II (Vision of Humanity 2024). Peace and intercultural understanding are essential ingredients for post-pandemic recovery. Tourism is already bouncing back with full force and has solid growth numbers. Over the years, tourism has shown its strength in building bridges between people and nations. Tourism can provide decent jobs and empower host communities. Tourism can address inequalities and enhance diversity, equality and inclusion. The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals offer concrete actions to contibute towards peace, prosperity, people and planet by 2030. (Pololikashvili 21.5.2024.)

In the past, many countries have built bridges between each other by letting people cross borders and meet each other. During the Cold War, Western tourists (and their foreign exchange) were welcomed to the Eastern Block. Also North Korea has previously been willing to let foreigners tour the country, albeit with close guidance and surveillance. Indeed, the UN has enshrined tourism as a human right in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights, where it says that everyone has the right to cross international borders, enjoy rest, leisure, and paid holidays from work. (McClanahan 2024.) However, the simple act of taking a holiday abroad may not solve all the problems of the world.

Tourists can be a part of this social transformation towards peace. Exposure to new lifestyles and understanding of different cultures have always been at the core of tourism. Work placements, student exchanges and study tours abroad increase the understanding of different cultures in our students, the employees and leaders of tomorrow. At its best, tourism enables a greater tolerance of different values and customs, building bridges between visitors and hosts. Thus, making war and conflict less likely. Switzerland, known for its neutrality, peace and security, has become a successful tourism destination partly because of these characteristics that visitors associate with the country (Kyrylov et al. 2023).

Safety is crucial for tourists

As long as encounters between the local population and tourists are not entirely on a commercial basis, meeting up with local people can offer real possibilities for a dialogue, an exchange of ideas and views. Tourism makes it possible to make friends in all places. When people respect, understand, appreciate and like each other, wars are less likely. The International Institute for Peace through Tourism promotes the idea that every traveler is potentially an ‘Ambassador for Peace’ (International Institute for Peace through Tourism 2024).

In our projects, we have seen how valuable the face-to-face meetings and networks of academics and industry representatives are. Many of the countries we have visited have endured deeply traumatic conflicts in their recent history, such as the devastating apartheid regime in South Africa and Laos becoming the most heavily bombed country per capita. They have left deep scars to the nations, but despite them, life goes on and people get along. Many countries are betting on tourism to bring about peace and prosperity.

Development, safety and security are essentials enablers for tourism, which is why war and conflict should be avoided at all costs – wiped off the tourism map altogether. Tourism is a peace-sensitive industry and it makes economic, environmental and social sense to maintain peace (Alamineh 2022). Current wars in Middle East and Ukraine have wide impacts on the neighboring countries and it will take time before tourists perceive these regions as safe destinations.

The possibility to travel brings hope to people and working towards peace is a requirement for more sustainable and fair tourism. Thus, the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day definitely makes sense in our conflict-filled world.

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