Fair Trade Tourism to sponsor International Institute for Peace Through Tourism World Symposium

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

STOWE, Vermont, USA – IIPT Founder and President, Louis D’Amore announced today that Fair Trade Tourism will be a sponsor of the IIPT World Symposium: Cultivating Sustainable and Peaceful Communitie

STOWE, Vermont, USA – IIPT Founder and President, Louis D’Amore announced today that Fair Trade Tourism will be a sponsor of the IIPT World Symposium: Cultivating Sustainable and Peaceful Communities through Tourism, Culture and Sport being held at Emperors Palace, Ekurhuleni, South Africa – February 16-19, 2015.

Fair Trade Tourism (FTT) is a non-profit organization that promotes responsible tourism in Southern Africa and beyond. Its aim is to make tourism more sustainable by ensuring that the people who contribute their land, resources, labor and knowledge to tourism are the ones who reap the benefits. This is done by growing awareness about responsible tourism to travelers; assisting tourism businesses to operate more sustainably; and by facilitating a Fair Trade Tourism certification programme across southern Africa.

Tourism businesses that adhere to the FTT standard commit to fair and responsible tourism including fair wages and working conditions, fair purchasing and operations, equitable distribution of benefits and respect for human rights, culture and the environment.

Executive Director, Jennifer Seif stated, “By selecting an FTT-certified business, travelers are assured that their holiday benefits local communities and economies; that the business is operated ethically and in a socially and environmentally responsible manner; and that they will have an authentic and fulfilling holiday experience.”

She continued, “Fair Trade is pleased to be a sponsor of the IIPT World Symposium as we share similar values with IIPT regarding Global leadership for fair, participatory, and sustainable tourism and we fully support the theme and aim of the Symposium.”

The IIPT World Symposium will honor the legacies of the world’s three Champions of Peace and Non-Violent Resistance: Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. with the aim of affirming their legacies by building bridges of tourism, friendship and peace in regions throughout the world. The Symposium will seek to further affirm these legacies by building bridges of Tourism, Friendship and Peace in regions throughout the world.

The Symposium, endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will also commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the African Union, 20 years of South African Democracy and 50th Anniversary of Civil Rights Legislation in the U.S.

IIPT is using its historical convening power to bring world leaders of the travel and tourism industry to South Africa as keynote speakers for this milestone event including: Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General, UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); Mr. David Scowsill, President and CEO, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC); Mr. Salih Cene, President, Skal International; Martin Craigs, CEO, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA November 2011 to November 2014); Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President, International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) as well as Tourism Ministers from a number of countries.

Design of the Symposium will be highly interactive and action oriented with international experts in community development, community tourism, sports, culture and peace engaging with delegates in the exchange of experiences and ideas. Ministers of Tourism from countries that have experienced conflict will share their insights and suggestions related to strategies for reconciliation and healing wounds of conflict and best practices in harnessing tourism, culture and sports in the post-conflict socio-economic re-development process.

A special action initiative already begun in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the African Union is an IIPT/Skal Cities, Towns and Villages of Peace Across South Africa project with a goal of 50 cities, towns and villages dedicating themselves to peace in the weeks leading up to the Symposium. Some ten cities, towns and villages have already registered. Other action initiatives will be announced in the weeks prior to and during the Symposium.

For more information on the Symposium, please refer to: the IIPT December Newsletter http://www.iipt.org/newsletter/2014/december.html and Symposium website to register: http://www.iiptsymposium.com/

IIPT is dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives that contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, poverty reduction, and the resolution of conflict – and through these initiatives, help bring about a more peaceful and sustainable world. IIPT is dedicated to mobilizing travel and tourism, the world’s largest industry, as the world’s first “Global Peace Industry,” an industry that promotes and supports the belief that “Every traveler is potentially an Ambassador for Peace.”

For more information, please email: [email protected]

www.iipt.org

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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