IIPT marks 40 years of promoting tourism as a means of peace and connection
NEW YORK - The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is marking 40 years of activity, four decades after the organization was founded on the idea that travel can play a role that goes beyond economic impact and entertainment. At the heart of its approach is founder Louis D'Amore's belief that encounters between people from different countries, cultures and social backgrounds can reduce prejudice, encourage dialogue and create space for cooperation. The anniversary comes at a time when international travel has once again reached record levels, while geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts and social polarization are simultaneously increasing. That is precisely why IIPT is presenting its 40th anniversary not only as a reminder of its own history, but also as an opportunity to discuss what responsibility the global tourism sector has today. According to the updated program published on August 30, 2026, the anniversary cycle begins on September 10 with a virtual Global Leadership Summit, continues with events throughout 2026 and 2027, and is scheduled to conclude at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
An idea born during the Cold War and rising terrorism
According to IIPT's official history, the organization was founded in 1986, during the United Nations International Year of Peace. Its creation was a response to several global trends of the time: an increase in terrorism that was also affecting the travel industry, worsening relations between East and West, growing concern about the state of the environment, and deepening economic and development disparities. D'Amore started from the assumption that tourism, as an activity that physically brings people into contact with other societies and cultures, could become more than a market for transportation, accommodation and leisure. IIPT shaped this idea into a vision of tourism as the first global "peace industry", with the claim that every traveler can potentially act as an ambassador for peace. At the same time, the organization does not reduce peace merely to the absence of war, but connects it with international understanding, cooperation among countries, preservation of the environment and cultural heritage, poverty reduction, reconciliation and healing from the consequences of conflict.
IIPT's first major global conference was held in Vancouver in 1988 under the title "Tourism: A Vital Force for Peace". According to the organization's data, it brought together around 800 participants from 68 countries, placing IIPT's theme in a distinctly international framework from the outset. IIPT states that, among early international tourism forums, the conference strongly connected sustainable development with the "higher purpose" of tourism, namely its potential contribution to international understanding, nature conservation, appreciation of cultural heritage and poverty reduction. Global conferences followed in Montreal in 1994 and Glasgow in 1999, followed by the first Global Summit on Peace through Tourism in Amman in 2000, with King Abdullah II as royal patron. Over the following decades, IIPT organized conferences, summits, workshops and other programs in different parts of the world, building a network of partners from tourism, public institutions, academia and civil society.
Global Leadership Summit on September 10 opens the anniversary year
The central event at the start of the anniversary program will be a 90-minute virtual Global Leadership Summit on September 10, 2026, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. New York time. According to the program published by eTurboNews, the theme of the summit will be "40 Years of Peace Through Tourism - A Global Call to Reimagine the Future of Travel", a global call to rethink the future of travel. The announced panel "Beyond Borders: Travel, the Future and the Pursuit of Peace" is expected to bring together representatives of diplomacy, peace initiatives, tourism and organizations involved in analyzing global security. Among the announced participants are Ekitela Lokaale, ambassador and permanent representative of Kenya to the United Nations in New York, peace activist Ela Gandhi, Michael Collins from the Institute for Economics & Peace, Geoffrey Lipman from the SUNx program, Ignacio Packer from the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation, and Juergen Steinmetz from Travel News Group. At the same time, the organizers emphasize that the list of speakers is not yet final, so changes to the program are possible until the event takes place.
For IIPT, the choice of a virtual format and an international panel is a symbolic continuation of the model the organization has been developing for decades: bringing together actors from different sectors around issues that link tourism with social stability and international relations. The discussion is expected to cover the position of travel in a world where countries are simultaneously increasing connectivity through trade, technology and mobility, while also introducing new restrictions, sanctions and security barriers. Such a context gives the anniversary additional significance. In its Global Risks Report 2026, the World Economic Forum identifies geoeconomic confrontation as the greatest immediate global risk, while armed conflict between states ranks second among risks for this year. Half of the experts and leaders included in the survey expect a turbulent or highly unstable development of global conditions over the next two years, demonstrating how sensitive the space for cross-border cooperation has become.
Tourism is growing, but remains directly exposed to conflicts
The scale of international tourism makes the discussion about its social role considerably more important than it was in 1986. According to UN Tourism's World Tourism Barometer from January 2026, approximately 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded worldwide during 2025, around 60 million more than a year earlier. This represents growth of four percent and a new record in the post-pandemic period, along with a return to the longer-term pattern of growth in global travel. At the same time, UN Tourism warns that demand remained strong despite inflation in tourism services and geopolitical challenges, but also that such disruptions can quickly affect individual regions. In the May edition of the Barometer, the organization reported that around 307 million tourists traveled internationally in the first quarter of 2026 and that the conflict in the Middle East had already affected results in March.
This combination of growth and vulnerability is one of the key themes of IIPT's work. Tourism depends on open borders, safe airspace, predictable transport connections, functioning local economies and a basic sense of security among travelers. Armed conflict can very quickly disrupt air routes, reduce demand, close attractions and destroy the incomes of communities that depend on visitors. On the other hand, periods of recovery after conflicts often reopen the question of whether tourism can help rebuild trust, local jobs and contacts between communities. It is precisely here that IIPT sees its role as one of advocacy: it does not claim that travel can replace diplomacy or security policy, but rather that contact between people can be one of the channels through which isolation and stereotypes are reduced over the long term.
Data from the Institute for Economics & Peace further explain why this issue is once again at the center of attention. The Global Peace Index 2026 states that the level of global peace has deteriorated for the twelfth consecutive year and that the number of active conflicts involving state actors has reached its highest level since the end of the Second World War. According to the index, 99 countries recorded a deterioration in peace indicators during the past year, while 119 countries are now less peaceful than they were at the time of the index's first edition in 2007. IEP also estimates that the economic impact of violence in 2025 reached 21.81 trillion US dollars, or around 10.5 percent of global GDP. These indicators do not mean that tourism by itself can stop conflicts, but they highlight the scale of the social and economic space in which initiatives focused on dialogue and connection operate.
More than 450 Peace Parks as a visible symbol of the idea
One of IIPT's most recognizable projects is the Peace Parks network, namely parks dedicated to peace. The program began with the "Peace Parks Across Canada" project in 1992, and the organization today reports a network of more than 450 such locations on six continents. The idea is not that a park by itself resolves political conflicts, but that public space becomes a permanent local symbol of peace, environmental responsibility, community and openness toward visitors. Among the locations IIPT lists in its network are Bethany Beyond the Jordan, an area along the Jordan River associated with the baptism of Jesus, Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, memorial sites in Africa, and parks and promenades in cities on other continents. In April 2025, the Kepez Olive Peace Park in Çanakkale, Türkiye, near the Dardanelles and the Gallipoli Peninsula, an area strongly marked by the memory of the First World War, also joined the network.
Peace Parks show how IIPT is trying to connect a large and abstract idea with specific destinations. In the official description of the project, the emphasis is on creating places where local communities can gather, commemorate their own history and at the same time send a message of international understanding. The organization complements this concept with its "Credo of the Peaceful Traveler", a set of principles according to which travelers should approach other cultures with an open mind, respect diversity, protect the natural environment, express gratitude to hosts and support responsible tourism services. In this philosophy, responsibility is placed not only on governments and tourism companies, but also on the individual. This is precisely why the phrase that every traveler is a potential "ambassador for peace" has remained IIPT's most recognizable message over four decades.
Generational change in leadership, but the same fundamental message
Louis D'Amore led IIPT from its founding until the transfer of the presidential role to Ajay Prakash in September 2023. According to the organization's official website, D'Amore today remains the founder, while Prakash is president, and the international structure is complemented by a board of directors, an advisory body, an executive director and national or regional chapters. The leadership change was important because the organization entered a new period in which tourism faces different combinations of challenges than it did in the 1980s: from climate risks and overtourism to disinformation, digital platforms, travel restrictions and new forms of geopolitical competition. IIPT continues to retain the same core concept while attempting to connect it with sustainability, local communities, youth education and new debates about global security. In IIPT's current messages, the emphasis remains on the idea that tourism should not be viewed solely as an economic activity, but also as a space for intercultural encounters and social responsibility.
In recent years, the broader tourism system has also more strongly embraced the topic of the relationship between tourism and peace. UN Tourism dedicated World Tourism Day 2024 to the theme "Tourism and Peace", emphasizing that travel, cultural exchange and sustainable tourism practices can contribute to dialogue, reconciliation and building connections among communities. This gave the issue that IIPT has been addressing since 1986 additional institutional visibility. Nevertheless, expert discussions increasingly warn that it is not enough to automatically assume that every increase in tourism produces peace. Tourism can deepen inequalities, increase pressure on housing and the environment, or reinforce politically contentious narratives if destination development is not managed inclusively and responsibly. For this reason, models that assess under what conditions tourism contact genuinely contributes to trust, and when it can produce new tensions, are becoming increasingly important.
Belgrade in December, finale in New York in 2027
The updated anniversary plan provides for the program to continue after the September virtual summit with a global conference in Serbia in December 2026 and additional international activities during 2027. In Belgrade, the first international conference "Tourism and Peacebuilding Future 2026" has already been announced for December 4 and 5, dedicated to the relationship between tourism, dialogue, reconciliation and sustainable development. The organizers of the gathering announce discussions on tourism in post-conflict societies, cultural diplomacy, religious tourism, human rights, local communities, social cohesion and the impact of sanctions and travel restrictions. Jovan Popesku from IIPT Serbia is also participating in the scientific program, while the host is the Academy of Hospitality, Tourism and Wellness in Belgrade. The event is close in time and theme to IIPT's announced conference in Serbia, but available announcements do not confirm that it is the only or official central event of the anniversary.
The final high point of the celebration, according to the program published at the end of August 2026, is planned as an in-person Global Leadership Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York in August 2027. The final date of the event has not yet been officially announced, so the schedule may change as the program is finalized. For an organization that was created during the UN International Year of Peace, concluding the anniversary cycle at the United Nations headquarters would carry clear symbolism. At the same time, the very fact that the finale is planned only a year after the beginning of the commemoration shows that IIPT envisions its 40th anniversary as a series of discussions, partnerships and events, rather than as a one-off ceremony. The key question accompanying that cycle remains the same as it was four decades ago: can the immense global mobility of people, with responsible management and a realistic understanding of its limitations, become a stronger tool for understanding in a world where political and social divisions are deepening.
Sources:
- IIPT - history of the organization's founding and development (link)
- IIPT - overview of the organization and data on the 1988 Vancouver conference (link)
- IIPT - the organization's vision and mission (link)
- IIPT - current leadership structure (link)
- IIPT - history of the Peace Parks Across Canada program and the global network (link)
- IIPT - Peace Parks network and Kepez Olive Peace Park (link)
- eTurboNews - updated 40th anniversary program and announced panelists (link)
- UN Tourism - World Tourism Barometer for January 2026 (link)
- UN Tourism - World Tourism Barometer for May 2026 (link)
- Institute for Economics & Peace - Global Peace Index 2026 (link)
- World Economic Forum - Global Risks Report 2026 (link)
- Academy of Hospitality, Tourism and Wellness - Tourism and Peacebuilding Future 2026 conference program (link)
- UN Tourism - World Tourism Day 2024, theme Tourism and Peace (link)