PLENARY SESSION FIVE SPEAKERS
Tourism and peace – myths and realities: education foundations for a collaborative approach in bridging the North-South divide

Myriam Jansen-Verbeke, Member of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, Leuven University, Belguim

No biography available at this time.

SUMMARY OF ADDRESS

Cultural resources for peaceful tourism.

Tourism flows are all over the world. Not only from North till South. These tourism flows and the things that connect us to each other are important in the world. According to Ms. Jansen-Verbeke “Tourism is not per definition supporting peace, but peace is needed for tourism.” Although she mentioned that this is a limited researched area. The relation between satisfaction of a place and the peacefulness of this needs to be conducted. Also an interesting study would be to investigate that the most peaceful and satisfactory places are around the world.

Peace and war are connected to each other. Peace is communicated very often by tourism destinations in order to attract tourists.
Can tourism and tourists bridge gaps? There are several things which tourism can do. However Ms. Jansen-Verbeke wonders if it is possible to build a bridges between rich and poor and to connect local entrepreneurs with global networks.

Not all countries have big monuments and other buildings, which can attract tourists. However there are lots of other kinds of heritage which the poses. There are several things, which can be used for cultural heritage, these are: music, religion, language, traditions, games and gastronomy. There should be figured out how this can be integrated into the touristic product. However knowledge should be build on intangible heritage. First it should be identified, than protected, after that knowledge should be build and communication should inform people. Commodification also plays an important role. Should heritage be changed for touristic purpose?

Commodification has a strong relation with the arts and craft sector. “We will lose parts of this heritage”, since we are modernizing by using new products and techniques.

Ms. Jansen-Verbeke concludes with mentioning that it is an important task to build more expertise on tourism. The dynamics of the concept should be explored (how tourism can change a place). Monitoring tools need to be developed and unwanted impacts and evolutions should be limited.

“Can educational impulses make the differences?”

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Irena Ateljevic, Socio-Spatial Analysis Landscape Centre Environment Science, Wageningen University, the Netherlands

No biography available at this time.

SUMMARY OF ADDRESS

Trans modernity towards the new area of humanity?

This presentation was an overview on literature, which demonstrates that the world is changing. We are having a global paradigm shift. People nowadays are searching for meaning in life. However this is not a new thing. In historical studies it appeared to be done in history many times as well.

Tourism is the most visible indicator of the shift as a metaphor of the social world. It is an indicator of the new era. “We have to realize that we are citizens of the planet." There should be taken care for this world. This is all different fields like environment, social, cultural and many others.

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Dallen J. Timothy, Professor of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University, Editor of the Journal of Heritage Tourism

No biography available at this time.

SUMMARY OF ADDRESS

This presentation described the relationship between borders and tourism. Borders as in barriers often form tourism attractions. Borders that attract people are often anatomies in the landscape, traverse natural and cultural regions and themed attractions. The difference in contrast often contributes to the popularity (psychological and physical). To give examples laws concerning gambling and prostitution can create tourism.

Tourism can be a catalyst for cross border cooperation. This cooperation’s should aim to preserve common heritage like cities and regions.

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