ICPTR

The 1st European Conference on Tourism and Peace is organised by the Stenden University’s Tourism and Peace Lectoraat in collaboration with the IIPT, and is hosted by Stenden University in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands on October 21-24, 2008

The Conference is in support of the United Nations declared International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010), and the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. The Conference brings together senior executives from both the public and private sectors of tourism; senior officials of UN Agencies, the European Union, World Bank, UN World Tourism Organization, and other international organizations; and relevant NGO’s, as well as policy makers, educators, leading practitioners, entrepreneurs, future leaders of the industry, and senior representatives of related sectors including culture, environment and economic development.

The 1st IIPT European Conference builds on the foundations of: three Global Summits: Amman 2000; Geneva 2003; and Pattaya, Thailand 2005; three Global Conferences: Vancouver 1988; Montreal 1994; and Glasgow 1999; four African Conferences: Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa 2002; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2003; Lusaka, Zambia, 2005; and Kampala, Uganda 2007; and several smaller conferences, symposia and workshops in Europe, Australia, North America, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Theme: Bridging the North – South Divide through Sustainable Tourism Development

Aim: The aim of the conference is to share knowledge, experience and ideas for future curricular development and educational and business initiatives that contribute to the role of tourism in sustainable development, peace, reconciliation, and poverty reduction

Goals:

1. Provide a Forum for governments, private enterprise, donor agencies, foundations and NGO’s to debate and reach consensus on more effective models of achieving North – South and South – South collaboration towards sustainable tourism development.
2. Identify Models of Best Practice in North – South and South – South collaboration in achieving Sustainable Tourism Development.
3. Facilitate effective knowledge transfer on Models of Best Practice and state of the art contribution of technology for Sustainable Tourism Development – and destination marketing.
4. Identify and enhance the role of the Media – and the roles of Culture and Sport in facilitating North – South and South-South dialogue, relationships and collaboration.
5. Engage Educators and future leaders of the industry in the debate, and in conducting innovative research that will contribute to enhanced North -South and South – South collaboration towards sustainable tourism development.
6. Identify and promote potential synergies with other industries for sustainable wealth creation and poverty reduction in Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).