Mr. D'Amore

Eco-Friendly Practices

Tourism's Future Leaders: Preparation for Responsible Leadership through Responsible Travel

By Louis D'Amore, Founder & President, International Institute of Peace through Tourism

"Almost everything that is great has been done by youth" - Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister, Statesman and Author.

As I begin to write this article, North Korea has just proclaimed to the world its scientific achievement in successfully testing a nuclear bomb - serving as a reminder as to how events half way around the world affect us here in the United States and persons in other regions of the world. It also serves as a reminder of the challenges facing future leaders.

Speaking in the mid-1980's, the late Buckminster Fuller stated that the last 15 years of the 20th century would be a period when humankind would be taking its final exam.

One wonders - with the events of 9-11 in the first year of the new century - whether he would give us a passing grade.

Leaders of the 21st century will be shaping policies and making decisions as they live through and experience what will likely be the most significant paradigm shift in human history. A paradigm shift with key demographic, economic, ecological, and geo-political dimensions.

Demographic

It took from the beginnings of modern man some 150,000 years ago to the year 1960 for world population to reach 3 billion persons. A young person beginning their career in the year 2000 will have witnessed a growth in world population of 3 billion in a mere 25 to 30 years - just as they reach their peak years as an executive. Some time between 2025 and 2030, total world population will reach 9 billion persons. Ninety percent of this growth will be in developing countries, which today have the largest youth cohort in human history - while most developed countries are aging societies.

Economic

However, a further paradigm shift is that several nations considered "developing countries" during the 20th century are being transformed to economic powerhouses.

A recent issue of The Economist, in an article tiled "The New Titans," reports that China, India, and other developing countries are set to give the world economy its biggest boost in all of history. The combined output of emerging economies reached an important milestone last year accounting for more than half of World GDP (measured at purchasing power parity). And as they continue to become integrated into the global economy they will provide the biggest stimulus to economic growth since the industrial revolution.

Emerging economies now account for more than 80% of world population; 43% of world exports; and 65% of foreign exchange reserves. China has recently overtaken Japan in holding some US$950 billion in foreign reserves - up from US$160 billion in 2000 and US$600 billion in 2004. Japan is second with US$881 billion; followed by Russia with US$267 billion; Taiwan US$261 billion; Republic of Korea US$228 billion; and Hong Kong US$130 billion. In contrast, the United States is the world's largest debtor nation with US$8.6 trillion in debt - with US$3.7 trillion owed to foreign lenders. This is US$28,549 for every man, woman and child in the United States - and the national debt continues to increase at a rate of US$1.67 billion per day.

Ecological

The combined unprecedented growth in population and economic activity is laying the foundations for what is perhaps the most important paradigm shift of all - an ever increasing and unsustainable ecological footprint. Each year Global Footprint Network calculates humanity's Ecological Footprint (its demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries) and compares it with global bio-capacity (the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb wastes). Ecological Footprint accounting shows that, as of October 9th, humanity will have already consumed the total amount of new resources nature will produce this year. This day is referred to as "Overshoot Day."

As humanity's consumption of resources increases, World Overshoot Day creeps earlier on the calendar each year. Humanity's first Overshoot Day was December 19, 1987.

By 1995 it had jumped back a month to 21 November. Today, with Overshoot Day on 9 October, humanity's Ecological Footprint is almost thirty per cent larger than the planet's bio-capacity. In other words, it now takes more than one year and three months for the Earth to regenerate what we use in a single year. The consequences of our accumulating ecological debt also include global climate change, species extinction, insecure energy supplies, water shortages, and crop failure - moving our 21st century civilization ever closer to decline and possible collapse.

Poverty Reduction

At the start of the 21st century, the United Nations set out the UN Millennium Development Goals which included the goal of reducing the number of people living in poverty by one half by 2015. The good news is that by 2005 - the world was ahead of schedule in reaching this goal - mainly due to China's 9% a year economic growth rate over the past 25 years, and India's 6% growth rate over the last decade, each combining to lift hundreds of millions of persons out of poverty. Other countries in South East Asia are making good progress as well including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and most recently Cambodia.

The bad news is that sub-Sahara Africa, with 750 million persons, and the fastest rate of growth of any region in the world, is sliding deeper into poverty. Clearly, strategies for eradicating poverty will not ultimately succeed if ecological support systems are diminishing - if croplands are being scorched by rising temperatures, rangelands are turning to desert, forests are shrinking, and fisheries are collapsing.

Geo-political

While leaders of the second half of the 20th century made decisions and operated in the context of a "Cold War" - the next generation of leaders is faced with the on going specter of terrorism and what has been called the "Clash of Civilizations."

A recent international survey conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project titled: The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other, found that "After a year marked by riots over cartoon portrayals of Muhammad, a major terrorist attack in London, and continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most Muslims and Westerners are convinced that relations between them are generally bad these days. Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent, and as lacking tolerance. Meanwhile, Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy - as well as violent and fanatical."

Further: "Muslim publics have an aggrieved view of the West - they blame Western policies for their own lack of prosperity. For their part, Western publics instead point to government corruption, lack of education and Islamic fundamentalism as the biggest obstacles to Muslim prosperity." On the positive side, most Muslim countries surveyed have had a decline in support for terrorism.

In the days immediately following 9-11, most the world identified with and had empathy for the United States. If one might paraphrase John F. Kennedy's words at the Berlin Wall - people of many nations might have said in their hearts "Ich bin ein New Yorker."

Again drawing on the work of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, America's image is at an all time low ebb: "Where once it was considered the champion of democracy, America is now seen as a self-absorbed, militant hyper-power. More than 70 percent of non-Americans say that the world would be improved if America faced a rival military power, and about half the citizens of Lebanon, Jordan, and Morocco think that suicide attacks on Americans in Iraq are justified."

What is the cause of this anti-Americanism? The survey authors find that it is American individualism, our go it alone attitude, U.S. policies, particularly regarding the war in Iraq - and "strong resentment and suspicion of America's unrivaled power in the post-Cold War world, as well as concerns that globalization is unduly strengthening U.S. cultural and economic influence." Our tarnished image abroad has likely been a contributing factor for the substantial decline in the U.S. share of the world travel market in recent years from 9% to 6%.

This is the world in which future leaders of the tourism industry will be setting policy and making decisions - policies and decisions that will have a much greater ranging impact than simply the bottom lines of hospitality and travel companies.

Preparing for Responsible Leadership through Responsible Travel

Shortly after 9-11, in an address at Georgetown University, former U.S President Bill Clinton said: "Don't you think it's interesting that in this the most modern of ages, the biggest problem is the oldest problem of human society - fear of the other. And how quickly fear leads to distrust - to hatred - to dehumanization, and to death."

Travel is the best and truest form of one to one, people to people diplomacy with the potential to shatter the isolation and fear of the other to which President Clinton refers. In its most authentic form, it serves as a means of dialogue at a personal level, providing us with the opportunity to experience the welcome and hospitality of other peoples and cultures, their human values and qualities, their kind deeds, and what is different in their lives.

In the words of Pope John Paul II, "Tourism puts us in touch with other ways of living, other religions and other perceptions of the world and its history. This helps people to discover themselves and others, both as individuals and as communities; immersed in the vast history of humanity, heirs to and responsible for a universe that is both familiar and strange. This generates a new vision of others that frees us from the risk of remaining closed in on ourselves."

The growing phenomenon of youth and student travel has a vital role to play towards this end. Youth and student travel now accounts for more than 20% of all international arrivals - and is projected to increase to 25% in the years ahead. Young people traveling meet their counterparts from other lands- they meet with open minds - and open hearts - learning of other cultures - countries and civilizations. Youth travel represents the "meeting of civilizations" rather than the "clash of civilizations." Travel provides young people with life learning - and life changing experiences - a process of self discovery - that shapes both values and aspirations regarding future directions in life.

The world population of young people continues to increase and a growing percentage of them have a desire to travel - fueled in part by the unprecedented growth in global communication. All indications are that they are traveling more frequently, farther from home, and at a younger age than previous generations. More young people are taking a 'gap year' or six months after graduating from either high school or university; a trend that is being encouraged by universities. And there are a growing number of "Study Abroad" programs. Some governments as well are now encouraging youth travel by relaxing visa requirements and making it possible for young travelers to be employed for short periods of time while in their countries.

Young people want to experience different countries and different peoples - to learn about their traditions, culture, and history; and often to learn their language. They eat at local restaurants, take local transportation, and are more environmentally conscious than other travelers. They increasingly are traveling to developing countries to work as volunteers on community or environmental projects. Many return with friends and family. When they get jobs - they return as business travelers, or bring meetings and conventions.

Investment in youth is the best investment that can be made in the future as the following example confirms:

In 1958, the first delegation of thirty Soviet students who came to study in the United States with a Fulbright scholarship included Alexander Yakolev. In 1985, he became Gobachev's key advisor for perestoika, glasnost, and democratization. The few thousand dollars for that scholarship may have done more to help end the Cold War than the billions of dollars spent for weapons.

This generation of youthful travelers will be the world's first generation of "Global Citizens" - global citizens who as leaders will bring a global perspective in shaping their policies and decisions, recognizing that the travel and tourism industry with its global presence has the potential to help preserve the world's biodiversity, facilitate travel that promotes mutual understanding and respect, and contribute to poverty reduction through job creation and sustainable development in a spirit of solidarity for the well-being of all human-kind.

They will be committed to the wise use of the earth's precious resources so that they may be their as well for future generations. They will work towards a world built on mutual trust and respect among all peoples and all nations - a world that learns to resolve our differences at conference tables through wisdom, creativity and compassion - rather than on the battlefields of war - that we might achieve - in time - a lasting peace with justice in a manner envisioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation some 45 years ago in 1961.

"We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

Louis D’Amore is Founder and President of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT). He has been instrumental in promoting the world’s first "Global Peace Industry" since the founding of IIPT in 1986. He organized three Global Conferences on Peace through Tourism, three Global Summits and three African Conferences on Peace through Tourism. Mr. D’Amore has been a pioneer in promoting social and environmental ethics within the industry since the mid-70’s. He has been a consultant to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP} on Codes of Conduct for Sustainable Tourism. Mr. D'Amore can be contacted at 802-253-8671 or ljd@iipt.org Extended Bio...

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