Marketing of peace through tourism has been primarily achieved through the initiatives and conferences/summits of the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism (IIPT). IIPT was born with a vision of travel and tourism becoming the world's first global peace industry and the belief that “Every traveler is potentially an ambassador for peace.” This chapter traces the early seeding of the peace through tourism concept; the organization, marketing, and transformative outcomes of the First IIPT Global Conference: Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace, Vancouver 1988; legacies and achievements of additional conferences/summits and projects through to its current initiatives commemorating the 30th anniversary since the Vancouver conference that include a 30th Anniversary Global Summit, Global Peace Parks Project and Travel for Peace Campaign.
TopInitial Seeding
The genesis of ‘Peace through Tourism’ occurred in 1975 -76 when the firm of L.J. D’Amore and Associates conducted the world’s first comprehensive study on the future of tourism for the Government of Canada. Research was done through a “North American lens” resulting in findings that were very bullish on the future of tourism. Both Canadians and Americans were achieving higher levels of income and education; leisure time was increasing; more people were retiring with pensions; married couples had smaller families resulting in more family travel; and generally there was both an ability and greater interest to travel for life enriching experiences. The study also examined social and environmental dimensions of tourism for the first time – both positive and negative.
The Canadian Government asked for the study to be updated in 1978 and given more of a quantitative emphasis. The consulting firm realized that change was happening so rapidly that an on-going futures research initiative was requited. This realization resulted in the launch of “TOURSCAN” which produced 6 to 8 reports a year on societal trends and their implications for tourism; trends within the travel and tourism industry; and an annual forecast of tourism projections for the following year. (D’Amore, L.J. 2014)
Clients for “TOURSCAN” included the Federal Government, each of Canada’s ten Provinces, Air Canada, Canadian Pacific Airlines and Via Rail. Research continued to be conducted through a North American lens but by the early 1980’s began to include a ‘global lens’ as well as a trend towards globalization was taking shape. The addition of a global lens illuminated a totally different view of the future that included increasing “Cold War tensions”; environmental deterioration; a growing gap between have and have not regions of the world; and early signs of global warming. With a realization that by the Year 2000, travel and tourism would be one of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries, consideration within L. J. D’Amore and Associates was given to how travel and tourism could be a positive force for a better world.
With travel and tourism taking on increasing importance in Canada, the First Canadian Travel Outlook Forum was organized and held in Toronto, October 1982 with the aim of identifying projections of the various industry sectors for the following year. As the “Futurist” for the Canadian travel and tourism industry, Louis D’Amore was asked to give the keynote address to provide a broader and longer term perspective. He titled his talk “The Two Faces of Tourism” – highlighting the potential future impacts of tourism both positive and negative with an emphasis on creating national strategies for positive outcomes.
Coincidentally, Canada’s Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, had recently mounted a ‘Peace Initiative’ conducting a series of meetings with global leaders with the aim of defusing the sharply rising East-West tensions of the Cold War. D’Amore linked the concluding remarks of his talk with Prime Minister Trudeau’s Peace Initiative suggesting that Canada’s travel and tourism industry take measures to support the Prime Minister by organizing an international conference on Tourism and Peace. The response was “we should keep our focus on things we have some control over.”
In the years following the ‘Travel Outlook Forum,” D’Amore continued lobbying leaders of the industry to gain support for an international conference on Tourism and Peace. Responses were:
“What’s tourism got to do with Peace” or “Peace – that’s government’s job.”
He persevered and continued authoring thought provoking articles and new ways of thinking about the global tourism industry including another Business Quarterly Article: “A Third Generation of Tourism Thinking: Towards a Creative Conspiracy.” The 1985 article concluded:
The three most serious threats facing humanity are the continued build-up of military and nuclear arms and on-going warfare in various parts of the world; the growing disparities between the poorest nations of the world and the world’s affluent nations; and the continued desecration of our environment. (D’Amore, L J. 1985)