The WTN advocacy campaign was inspired by World Tourism Network Hero Mona Naffa (Jordan) sharing her Christmas message with fellow WTN members
Silence is not an option anymore
Mona is an American living in Jordan. She represented Expedia in Jordan for many years and is a known leader in our industry.
“Sharing the narrative of the Palestinian people and sharing the importance of Justice, Humanity, and Peace for All.
WTN Hero Mona Naffa, Jordan
Growing up as a first-generation Arab American and now residing in Jordan and witnessing the oppression of the Palestinian people, (my mother’s family were uprooted from their homes in 1948).
I sat quietly for years knowing our story but now I feel compelled, convinced, and confident to share the narrative of the Palestinian People and proud to be one of them!
May God Bring Us Peace and Prosperity in the New Year 2024!
Wars and Tourism, What About Young People
Wars and Tourism, What about Young People is the new emerging and ongoing advocacy campaign by the World Tourism Network initiated by Prof. Geoffrey Lipman (Belgium), Dr Taleb Rifai (Jordan), and Juergen Steinmetz (USA), and the WTN Educational think tank by Dr Snežana Štetić (Serbia).
WTN Member Dov Kalmann (Israel) recently added his views on Peace Through Tourism in Times of War.
Fellow World Tourism Network member, Dr Birgit Trauer (Australia) jumped into this discussion saying:
It is truly devastating!
In an open comment, Birgit moved the perspective on this WTN campaign:
As you state “we cannot rationalize or respond rationally to the horrors of innocent deaths.”
Like many of us, I feel a sense of powerlessness in these atrocities of war. Yet, here we are continuing to look for paths to a better future grounded in peace-oriented co-existence.
“You state that “the only hope for positive directions will come from young people – as yet uncontaminated by past and present hatred.” And you make the point that, despite travel and tourism being viewed as cathartic and transformative, their powers are limited within this threat-laden world of ours.
Education to be recognized as a major path of Wisdom and Enlightenment
Education continues to be recognized as a major path to a sense of wisdom and enlightenment and has been raised as a mechanism in our aspirations for peace in various discussions and Zoom meetings here on the World Tourism Network and Institute Tourism.
Education in this sense can be viewed as a path to prepare for peace-dedicated attitudes and actions rather than repair maladaptive and destructive patterns of behaviour as is generally associated with the domain of therapy.
While there still appears to be a high focus on formal education through educational institutions, we need to remember that a lot of learning happens informally through the observation and experience of the world around us.
It is our embodied emotional experiences at any stage in our lives, not least of all as we grow up, that leave their mark on how we perceive and interpret the world around us and us in it.
That is why it is important to remember that, as already Aristotle pointed out:
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
Travel and tourism continue to be attributed with transformational potentials towards new perspectives, changed attitudes, and behaviour. Journeys not only into the outer world but also into our inner worlds offer us opportunities to touch base with who we are as individuals and who we want to be in any relationship social settings and circumstances.
While there are many contexts in which we learn about who we are and our ways of being in this world, most of our learning in all its direct and subliminal forms starts at home.
It takes place during our daily lives when we are surrounded by our immediate family and social networks. Of course, these days networks of overt or covert influences extend into the world beyond our home boundaries. The global web of our existence means that impressions and messages are flooding our sub-conscience in ever more pervasive ways.
Given this interconnectedness, we cannot ignore the importance of also educating adults.
The reality is that we all exist in socio-cultural relational biospheres where we are all receivers and contributors to the world around us. And our influence as adults on our children through everything we say and do, consciously or subliminally, is something not known or appreciated by many.
Education across the whole spectrum, including children and adult education now emphasises the importance of insight and tools to develop skills that nourish a change in mindsets and heart sets that embrace kindness and mutual care in the name of peace as our driving values.
For Adults, this journey is one of unlearning
For adults, this journey is one of ‘unlearning’ unquestioned beliefs, assumptions, and biases, of lifting the veils of enculturated thinking, and dominant emotional and behavioural patterns.
No doubt this kind of journey is challenging for most adults who must be willing to take a view into the inner landscapes of their accumulated life experiences and existing worldviews.
However, science continues to prove that we are all life-long learners able to develop skills of insight and mutuality and grow our emotion regulation and non-violent communication capacities.
Now more than ever before we all benefit from our willingness to take responsibility and be accountable for our actions as parents and indeed as partners in all kinds of relationships and contexts – in our families, in education, in travel and tourism, in corporations, and politicians at local and global levels.
A Quote by Kofi Annan
The quote by Kofi Annan in 2003 during a presentation at the Thüringen University, Germany brings to the fore the importance of character, of showing our intent and integrity in the name of mutuality, love, and peace. It also alludes to the importance of developing competencies with an ability to reliably act out of love and not out of fear.
We need to find within ourselves the will to live by the values we proclaim,in our private lives, in our local and national societies, and in the world.
Almost daily now many of us question the notion of ill will versus goodwill, of negative intent versus positive intent, of blaming versus reframing, of acknowledging the truth without the need to prove right or wrong.
Unfortunately, history once again repeats itself and Machiavellianism in politics and the corporate world, if not in our immediate private lives is undermining inner and outer peace at micro and macro levels.
Dare to care and connect
Despite the immense challenges, I believe that we all can take on the role of an ambassador for peace and dare to care and connect, contributing in some way or another to our deep-rooted shared human desire and need for inner and outer peace.