Tourism - The World's Peace Industry

Abstract

The city of Vancouver, B. C., will be host to the First Global Conference: Tourism — A Vital Force For Peace in October 23-2 7, 1988. The aim ofthe conference is to search out, explore, discuss, and propose new initiatives through which the diverse sectors of the world's tourism industry can facilitate and contribute further to the goal of "Global Peace through Tourism. " Tourism, along with its obvious international economic impact transcends governmental boundaries by bringing peoples of the world closer together through the understanding of different cultures, environments and heritage. It is potentially one of the most important vehicles for promating understanding, trust, and goodwill among peoples of the world. Delegates to the conference will be senior executives from both the public and private sectors of tourism as well as related fields such as parks, heritage, culture, arts, recreation, the full range ofexchangeprograms, community development, urban design, and environment. The Vancouver conference is the result of a resolution unanimously endorsed by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIA C) in support ofthe United Nations declara tion of 1986 as the "International Year of Peace. " The conference theme builds on the philosophy and principles expressed in the 1980 Manila Declaration ofthe World Tourism Organization. The Declaration challenged the industry with a concept of tourism that emphasizes its social, cultural, economic, educational and political values. An earlier version appeared in Business Quarterly published by School of Business Administration, the University of Western Ontario, Canada, Ontario, Canada.