Travel and Tourism Can Be Driver of Peace

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has unveiled the results of new research quantifying the links between tourism and peace.

While travel and tourism has often been recognised for its ability to drive peace, security and understanding, to date, there has been little evidence to support this link.

The report, Tourism as a Driver for Peace, conducted with the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), one of the world’s pre-eminent think tanks measuring peace, shows how important an open and sustainable tourism sector can be for the levels of peace in a country.

The research shows that the more sustainable and open a country’s tourism sector, the less peace levels have declined. Even in conflict-affected countries, all of which saw their levels of peace drop in the period between 2008 and 2015, those that had more open and sustainable tourism saw a significantly lower drop in peace than countries with less sustainable tourism sectors.

David Scowsill, President and CEO of WTTC, said, “Travel and tourism’s economic impact is now well established and widely recognised, and governments around the world are increasingly looking to the sector to provide livelihoods and jobs, and drive economic development. However, the benefits of tourism as a force for good, its ability to bring peace, security and understanding have been harder to quantify. I am delighted that this research now shows that travel and tourism does have a strong link to creating peaceful societies. In a world of increasing risk and security concerns, this research is compelling evidence of why governments should continue to focus on tourism development for the good of their people, and make policy decisions that balance the safety of their citizens with the continued facilitation of travel for business and leisure purposes.”

Steve Killelea, Founder & Executive Chairman, IEP, said, “The data shows how tourism and peace can support each other and increase societal resilience, prosperity and peace in the long term. This also shows how the tourism sector is one of the key areas in which the private sector can play a positive and tangible role in contributing to global peace.”

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