The World Tourism Organizations (WTO) will be hosting this fall the INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TOURISM, RELIGIONS AND DIALOGUE OF CULTURES. It will take place in Cordoba, Spain, October 29-31 2007. The official event information follows:
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
International tourism flows are experiencing continued growth at the same time that tourism destinations are diversifying geographically, reaching all cultures and civilizations. Forecasts by the World Tourism Organization indicate that international tourist arrivals will increase from 842 million in 2006 to nearly 1.6 billion in 2020; this opens up valuable opportunities not only to stimulate sustainable development, generate employment and resolve problems of poverty, but also to contribute to the improvement of relations among different nations, peoples, cultures and religions.
Indeed, tourism--if developed and managed well, with proper preparation of both tourists and host communities--serves to reduce the distances that separate peoples and to bring their points of view closer together. For thousands of years, human beings have travelled in order to get to know other places and cultures; this intercultural exchange has contributed to the enrichment of civilizations. Tourism constitutes a mechanism that makes person-to-person encounters possible; these in turn foster understanding of the differences among societies. Tourism makes it possible to establish bonds of friendship among persons who would otherwise continue to view each other with wariness and mistrust. In short, tourism is capable of contributing to a dialogue of civilizations that can lead to a world of stable and lasting peace.
Religions motivate people to travel, and trips for religious reasons have multiplied over the past decades thanks to the facilitation of transport and the expansion of hotel accommodation that has accompanied the development of tourism in the late 20th and early 21st century. Religious motivations that generate tourism trips include pilgrimages, the fulfilment of pledges, religious celebrations, visits to notable buildings or monuments of a religious nature and offerings to divinities, among others.
It is therefore important and highly opportune to study the relationships between tourism and religion, especially during this century of increasing tourism movements and in a world with no shortage of international tensions, tensions that in many cases are the result of a lack of understanding among different civilizations and religions.
OBJECTIVES
This Conference, convened by the World Tourism Organization with the support of the Government of Spain, has two central aims:
· Firstly, to analyse the relationships between tourism and religion, with a view to optimizing their synergies and interactions by harnessing tourism's potential to stimulate and facilitate dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions.
· Secondly, and on a more practical note, this Conference seeks to offer orientations and recommendations to governments, religious authorities and tourism operators for the sustainable development and management of tourism motivated by religious purposes or associated with religious heritage sites, as well as regarding how to optimize the benefits that such tourism can generate.
PARTICIPANTS
The Cordoba Conference will be of interest to: tourism, cultural, and economic development administrations; religious authorities; local and regional destination management organizations; the tourism private sector businesses and their trade associations; non-governmental organizations involved in religious and cultural tourism; the academic community and independent experts.
HOW TO REGISTER?
For more information, to obtain all necessary registrant application and materials, contact:
Participants are requested to complete the attached registration form and to return it by Monday 22 October 2007 to:
Mrs. Dominique BERNARDET
Chief, Conferences, Translation
and Documents
World Tourism Organization
28020 MADRID – Spain
Tel.: (+ 34-91) 567 81 00
Fax: (+ 34-91) 571 37 33
E-mail: conf@unwto.org
Participants are requested to complete and submit their registration form by Monday 22 October 2007.
Features news, stories, and insight regarding the $18 billion and 300 million traveler worldwide faith-based vacations, cruise, and hospitality market.
About Me
- kevinjwright
- Kevin J. Wright is one of the world's most recognized religious travel and hospitality authorities. He founded and served as President of the World Religious Travel Association, the leading organization dedicated to the 300 million traveler faith tourism industry. He also served as Chairman of the World Religious Travel Expo, drawing more than 30 countries from around the world. Wright has been interviewed by the CBS Early Show, TIME Magazine, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), National Geographic, Forbes Traveler, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and dozens of other media outlets. He is the author of four travel guidebooks.
Faith-based Tourism
300 million travelers worldwide
