Workplan

June 12th, 2008 | Lectorat

Lectoraat Tourism for Peace
Dr. Omar Moufakkir

This communication features an introduction to the Tourism for Peace Lectoraat, general aims and objectives of the Lectoraat, general tasks and activities, lectoraat work plan concept, activities engaged in, including conferences and accompanying presentations, the peace through tourism seminar, and the publications that are directly related to peace through tourism research. Participation in upcoming conferences, works in progress, as well as communication in press are also included.


Introduction
Tourism4Peace was established in 2005 as an initiative by the Israel Hotel Managers Association and sponsored by the Peres Center for Peace (www.peres-center.org). The creation of the Forum aims to advance peace through tourism by strengthening dialogue and ties in the region. This unprecedented initiative brings Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian tourism and hospitality delegates around the same table to discuss issues related to peace in the region and to develop solutions to contribute to the general peace initiatives, through tourism. Its mission is to offer advanced solutions to mutual challenges and development of activities to strengthen economies and peaceful advancement. The Tourism4Peace Forum works toward facilitating border crossings and obtaining freedom of movement of tourists and tourism professionals in the area, through lobbying and conducting meetings with relevant authorities in the region (www.traveltalkradio.com). The Tourism for Peace Lectoraat is a branch of the Tourism4Peace Forum. The vision for it was born during the Resolutions of the 3rd annual meeting Tourism4Peace Forum hosted at the Christelijke Hogeschool Nederlands, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, October 31st – November 2nd, 2006 (www.chn.nl). Accordingly and similarly, its mission is to contribute to peace in the Middle East region through knowledge sharing, tourism knowledge dissemination, tourism research, marketing activities and PR efforts across countries. Moreover, the mission of the Tourism for Peace Lectoraat has a broader scope in that its purpose is also to contribute to the alleviation of world peacelessness elsewhere, including at home (the Netherlands). It also collaborates with the International Institute for Peace (IIPT) which is “a not for profit organization dedicated to fostering travel and tourism initiatives that contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, and poverty reduction; and through these initiatives, helping to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.  It is founded on a vision of the world’s largest industry, travel and tourism – becoming the world’s first global peace industry; and the belief that every traveler is potentially an “Ambassador for Peace.” (www.iipt.org).

The problems of the Middle East do not exist in a vacuum; neither are they confined to that specific region. As Globalisation has demonstrated, and as international natural and made catastrophes have proven, regional problems leak outside their jurisdictions to challenge world peace. Some of the biggest challenges facing world peace today are borderless terrorism, climate change, poverty, ignorance, prejudice, racism, bigotry, extremism, and fanaticism. These sources engender, perpetuate, and promote a culture of hatred. In line with the CHN’s values, the purpose of the Tourism for Peace Lectoraat is to engage in conflict resolution with existing interested bodies in the hope of promoting a culture of peace through tourism. In the year and decade for building a culture of peace, some see a need in the Netherlands for more systematic linkages between programs offered by members of the United Nations family that address various aspects of this common theme, including UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, UNWTO (After all, the first modern peace conference was hosted in 1899 in The Hague). Local, national, and international organisations and associations are promoting peace in the world through different strategies and mechanisms. As several routes lead to world peace, it is the purpose and duty of the present Lectoraat to contribute to peace through the route of tourism, including passages through tourism education, cross-cultural understanding, and sustainable tourism promotion. Such routes and passages will be empirically guided by research activities with internal as well as external research members of the tourism for peace research group “lectoraat & kenniskring”.

General aims and objectives of the Lectoraat
The general aim of the “lectoraat & kenniskring” Tourism for Peace is to develop, stimulate and coordinate educational and research activities within and outside the University, that focus on developing and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to international understanding and cooperation, in order to bring about a peaceful and sustainable solutions, and as such contribute to achieving world peace. Through research projects and publications the “lecoraat & kenniskring” will contribute to the educational and research programs of the University, as well as to the identity of the university: The core objectives are:

  • Promote analysis and initiatives that support the defence of democracy and use of dialogue and negotiation to resolve conflicts (building on, promoting and following the example of the Tourism4Peace Forum, and the International Institute for Peace through Tourism).
  • Provide information and analysis to NGOs, social movements, journalists and researchers, through the preparation and distribution of reports, articles and other materials.
  • Carry out educational programs and encourage public debate on peace and conflicts.
  • Participate in national and international networks that work on issues related to peace and conflicts, human rights and education.

Goal of the Lectoraat
The general goal of the Lectoraat is to contribute to the seeding of a culture of peace through tourism, by communicating with conflict-driven countries, and building bridges between cultures. The basic, yet most complicated, question of the Lectoraat is: How can we contribute to peace through tourism?

General tasks and activities
The tasks and activities of the lector and kenniskring will focus on setting up and supervising research projects, publishing papers and attending and presenting at relevant international and national conferences, and organising and hosting conferences in the above identified fields of knowledge. The lector will also serve as a mentor to colleagues at the University and to stakeholders wishing to contribute and learn more about the subject matter.

More specifically, the tourism for peace “lectoraat & kenniskring” will also work towards:

  1. Promoting peace in the Middle East
    • Through faculty and students exchange programs
  2. Enhancing tourism to the Middle East
    • Through co-operating and exchanging programs with tour operators, hotel staff, and marketing agencies
    • Through bringing the delegates of tourism for peace and tour operators under one roof
    • Through bridging the gap between the tourists’ perceptions of the region as a hostile zone and the tourism realities of the destination as a hospitable region
  3. Disseminating knowledge
    • Through participating in tourism for peace-related programs and conferences
    • Through communicating with the media and the tourism for peace stakeholders.
  4. Contributing to the alleviation of poverty through tourism
    • Through the University’s Humanitarian activities
  5. Contributing to community capacity building and empowerment
    • Through the University’s community tourism programs
  6. Contributing to world peace
    • Through the University’s Global Campus initiatives
    • Through promoting volunteer and philanthropic tourism
  7. Contributing to Destination Crisis Management and Disaster Preparedness
    • Through gaining and sharing knowledge via co-operative research initiatives.

Workplan of the Lectoraat Tourism for Peace and kenniskring
The lectoraat officially started on November 2007. As the field tourism for peace is not an established field yet, and as there is nothing such as an expert in tourism for peace, it is difficult to draft a clear plan like other established lectoraat. That is, the tourism for peace lectoraat has been invented and we are hoping that through the coming years the kennisgring will give it more shape to function in a more realistic environment. Keeping in mind that the rationale for this lectoraat is to advance peace through tourism, besides our communication and PR activities that are important for bridging countries and cultures together, to shape the lectoraat up, we have come to propose the following work plan. It is worth mentioning that the core research questions of this Lectoraat revolve around:
a.    How can we increase incoming tourism to a conflict region despite the hostilities?
This question is based on the activities and vision of the Tourism4Peace Forum.
b.    In which ways does tourism contribute to peace?
This question has been raised by the hospitality and tourism academic community, related to the activities and vision of the IIPT.

Based on these core questions, the objective of the Tourism for Peace Lectoraat is to:

  1. Develop a research center to conduct research activities, store data, and disseminate information
  2. Develop an academic journal for peace through tourism research
  3. Develop a textbook as an introduction to peace through tourism
  4. Hold seminars related to the research projects’ outcomes for staff members
  5. Present research outcomes in lecture form to students
  6. Develop a student field trip program to contribute to seeding a culture of peace in the world.

The research center:
A virtual center where information can be generated, gathered, and stored. The mission statement of the International Center for Peace through Tourism Research -ICPTR- is to build bridges out of the walls that keep us apart. The main objective of the center is to contribute to the enhancement of a culture of peace through the tourism system, by conducting academic research and sharing the research outcomes with the world community. The research should empirically verify and support the role of tourism as an agent of peace. It has the function of stimulating such research projects, storing such a knowledge base, and disseminating this knowledge.Continually update on collective knowledge based on all matters related to peace through tourism

  1. conduct training sessions and educational programs focusing on the role of tourism in peace
  2. promote analysis and initiatives that support peace through tourism by means of dialogue and negotiation to restore conflict
  3. encourage public debate on peace tourism and conflict
  4. promote information and analysis to interested bodies through presentations and distribution of reports and material related to the center’s research projects
  5. participate in national and international networks that work on issues related to conflict management. 

Preparatory phase

  • Network with relevant stakeholders
  • Form a kenniskring
  • Work with the kenniskring on key research concepts to work on for the coming years
  • Attend conferences that have peace related topics as focus
  • Prepare a research work plan based on the inventorisation of the kenniskring, the gaps in the literature, and the recommendations from attended conferences
  • Gather feedback from the Tourism4Peace Forum about their research needs
  • Formulate research projects
  • Wok on grants and funds for the research projects

The most anticipated outcome of this phase is to launch the Tourism for Peace Lectorrat, and get its name established in the tourism as well as social and communication circles.

Implementation phase

  • Select identified research projects
  • Write proposals for respective identified research projects
  • Operationalise these research projects
  • Attend conferences
  • Share research ideas through presenting at conferences
  • Work on grants and funds for the research projects

 The Basic anticipated outcome of this phase it to develop research proposals.

Operationalisation phase

  • Conduct research related to the qualified proposals
  • Write up respective reports
  • Present research outcomes to respective stakeholders
  • Receive feedback and recommendations for a further research program
  • Work on grants and funds for the research projects

The primary goal of this phase is to produce research reports, present at important conferences, and publish in academic journals.

General anticipated outcomes
Based on the above mentioned items, the lectoraat and kenniskring project to have a textbook developed by the end of the second year of the lectoraat. The textbook will be the first such book that has peace through tourism as focus. A description of the textbook should follow, when appropriate.
Based on the fore mentioned items, the lectoraat aims at presenting relevant research outcomes at relevant conferences, with a minimum of 5 presentations per year.
Based on the fore mentioned items, the lectoraat aims at the publication of at least 5 papers in scientifically refereed academic journals, per year.
Also, each year, the lectoraat will work in close contact with the Tourism4Peace Forum, as well as the IIPT -International Institute for Peace through Tourism, in disseminating knowledge about peace through tourism.

The main goal of the lectoraat is to contribute to a culture of peace through tourism by disseminating information and sharing knowledge with the outside world, and importantly as well is to incorporate the knowledge acquired during the research and communication activities into the Stenden University’s curricula, and other educational institute.

Tourism for Peace Lectoraat activities

 CONFERENCES

  • Keynote speech at the CHN Tourism4Peace forum’s Congress
  • Keynote speech at the 35th Annual Israel Hotel Managers Association conference in Tel Aviv.
  • Presentation: The Tourism4 Peace Forum in Jordan
    • Title presentation: Destination Image Revisited
  • Presentation at the 4th African IIPT (International Institute for Peace through Tourism) in Uganda
  • Presentation at the 16th Nordic Symposium in Tourism & Hospitality Research at the Lunds University in Helsingborg
  • Presentation at the 36th Annual Israel Hotel Managers Association conference in Haifa, Israel
    • Title Presentation: Transfer of knowledge: Bridging academia and the industry through research
  • Presentation to members of the University of Bethlehem, Bethlehem, the Palestinian territories
    • Title Presentation: Transfer of knowledge: Bridging academia and the industry through research
  • Presentation at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galile, Kinneret, Israel
    • Title Presentation: Destination image revisited: the effects of stereotypes and perceptions on destination visitation

 UPCOMING CONFERENCES 

  • TTRA -Travel, Tourism and Recreation Association, April 23-25, Helsinki, Finland.
    • Conference Title: Competition in Tourism: Business and Destination Perspectives
  • The University of Brighton, July 2-4, Brighton, UK.
    • Conference Title: Selling or telling? Paradoxes in tourism, culture and heritage
  • The Hebrew University, June 17-19, Israel
    • Conference Title: Heritage and cultural tourism: The present and future of the past
  • NHTV Breda, November 3-5, the Netherlands
    • Conference Title: Voices in tourism development

 UPCUMING EVENTS 

  • Tourism4Peace Forum: Meeting in Cairo, Egypt, May 9-11
    • Presentation: What can we do to develop incoming tourism to the region in spite of the hostilities? Challenges and opportunities
    • Introduce the Peace through tourism textbook chapters
    • Establish a T4P Educational Forum of hospitality schools in the region, with the participation of Stenden University 
  • Tourism Familiarisation Tour in Srebrenica, April 7-10
    • With official from the City of Winschoten, the Netherlands, representing Stenden University and the Tourism Department, the Lectoraat Tourism for Peace will assist the delegation with tourism related research projects, with the m ission to enhance tourism visitation and business in the destination 
  • Opportunities in Morocco: Meeting at The Hague, the Netherlands, April 8
    • Attending the seminar Opportunities in Morocco, Unit Economische Missies & Projecten EVD internationaal ondernemen en samenwerken, programma staat op www.evd.nl/seminars/marokko 

SEMINAR (November 9, 2007) at Stenden University

  • Peace through Tourism Initiatives (IIPT, International Institute for Peace through Tourism). Seminar participants included:
    Mr. Louis D’Amore (US), President and Founder of the IIPT International Institute for Peace through Tourism (1988) shared with the audience his personal experience, expertise, the several projects that he is involved in, and shed more light on the sceptical minds to embrace the idea that tourism has, indeed, the potential to contribute to world peace, and proved it through his organisation’s pragmatic projects.
    Dr. Daphne Kelley (Australia) who talked about peace from a Traveler’s experience, as well as the preceding IIPT conferences and existing chapters.
    Dr. Alon Gelbman (Israel) focused on borders, or what has been labelled as border tourism; whereby borders serve as “fascinating” tourist attractions. He identified and explained to the audience the so many interesting definitions of borders, as well.
    Mr. Johannes Bardon (Germany), representing Islamic Tourism, introduced this fascinating topic to us: Islamic Tourism Trends, and how it shapes cross-cultural understanding between muslim and non-muslim tourists.
    Mr. Rami Isaac is a Palestinian who holds a teaching position at the NHTV Breda and is coordinating the MA cross-cultural understanding program. His discussion revolved around his ideas about the need for tourism curricula and academics in Palestinian schools, as a way to contribute to the on-going peace movement in that part of the world.
    Mr. Max Wieselmann (Netherlands), President of Een Ander Joods Geluid, addressed the Israeli-Palestinian issue from a very hot/controversial, widely accepted, yet very seldomly heard-of perspective. His organisation is a worldwide organisation of Jewish people living abroad who peacefully fight for a two-state solution, with emphasis on bringing dignity back to the “weak”.

Publications related to peace through tourism research

 BOOK CHAPTER

  • Tourism development (2008), Destination image revisited: The Dutch market perceptions of Morocco as a tourism destination

 BOOK DEVELOPMENT

  • Peace through tourism: A textbook for educators

 ARTICLES

  • Published: Tourism4Peace Forum: An example of best practice in peace through tourism education
  • Submitted: Ethics in tourism: Beyond niche markets and marketing

 WORK IN PROGRESS

  • Article: Cross-cultural behavior in tourism: From euphoria to irritation
  • Article: Hospitality revisited: Stereotypes as shapers of tourism behavior

 COMMUNICATION IN PRESS

CONFERENCE AT STENDEN UNIVERSITY

  • The first European IIPT, International Institute for Peace through Tourism conference will be officially hosted at Stenden University, the Netherlands, on the week of Novemer 19-25 (see official announcement in the March newsletter at www.iipt.com).