Message from the Pastoral do Turismo – Portugal for the World Tourism Day

«We propose a Ministry of Tourism of “Artificers of Peace”!»

Pilgrimage to the Sovereign Mother – Photo: Mariana Carriço | Sul Informação (file)

In 1999, when it created its Code of Ethics, the World Tourism Organization/United Nations World Tourism Organization (OMT/UNWTO) insisted that, «through the direct, spontaneous and non-mediated contacts it allows between men and women of different cultures, and different ways of life, tourism represents a living force in the service of peace, as well as a factor of friendship and understanding among the peoples of the world».

The International Institute for Peace through Tourism/The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IPT/IIPT) has also promoted this concept since 1986, challenging all who work as Tourism Agents, as well as tourists, to be “Ambassadors of Peace ”, under the motto “One Earth, One Family”.

Therefore, we often refer to this human activity as the “Peace Industry”, since it allows contact and coexistence between human beings from different cultures, religions, ethnicities and ways of living and the acquisition of knowledge of the other and of the different, factors that reduce/eliminate discrimination, or the rejection of what is (or was) strange to us.

Furthermore, it is a highly inclusive activity, since, by creating a lot of employment for people with different levels of qualification, it allows everyone to be integrated into the labor market, from those who have not had the opportunity to have studied a lot (but who, through training they have become professionals recognized for their ability to receive well-being), passing through academics and researchers from different social sciences, or more specialized technological engineering (today, essential, for example, in the online distribution and commercialization of tourist products and that have, in this sector, a possibility of development and affirmation).

And we cannot forget that this is an industry whose product is valued the more the better the environmental quality and the promotion of social development of the populations that are visited, that is, the higher the index of sustainability it promotes.

In this way, destinations, regions and tourist companies that are not concerned and do not work towards this goal are killing their own market.

We live two years of a pandemic, caused by COVID-19. We were looking forward to resuming all our normal activities and, behold, the world is ravaged by the war between Russia and Ukraine, a threat in global terms, which makes everyone sad and worried and which, according to the UNWTO/UNWTO, increases the pressure of existing economic uncertainties, which may hamper the recovery of tourism globally.

Pope Francis said: “We have neglected the commitments assumed as a Community of Nations and we are betraying the peoples' dreams of peace and the hopes of young people.".

We are also attracting this peace industry, which is, once again, seriously threatened, in the face of this scenario of dubiousness, which brings difficulties to a very wide range of people, communities, places, cities, which depend on Tourism and that their path of growth and construction of a more sustainable world has been disrupted once again.

Once again, it is proven that the tourism sector has to (re)invent itself permanently, responding every day to the challenges that humanity faces.

And we have witnessed just that, in the alteration of some tourist destinations, or in the reinforcement of the use of new technologies and social networks, allowing a different presence among the target audiences.

More: reflection on these themes has been reinforced with ideas that help us to understand, even better, that Tourism agents can, in their daily lives, build Peace, working in a network, cooperating, being aware that they can apply measures of fairer distribution of wealth and using technology and digital to build cooperation.

They can also act with refugees (who experienced the same situation as the Holy Family when they fled to Egypt), being decisive actors in their integration into the world of work and society, "making them find acceptance and solidarity».

On the other hand, we see that the needs, desires and demands of tourists tend, in some circumstances, to be different. Reality points to a search for more integral well-being, greater security, a search for nature, for the original or for simplicity, a need for the spiritual and the religious.

In this sense, it is important to face Religious Tourism as a possibility to respond to an uncertainty and a demand for emotional security, which we are all looking for, this tourist product being something that adds to the tourist, which is embodied in a serious proposal of attribution of meaning to many contemporary society issues.

In this context, the opening of the Church, facing Religious Tourism as a bridge-building activity, becomes a decisive issue.

Francis, who since the beginning of his pontificate has urged the world to build Peace, reinforced, in his Message of the 52nd Day dedicated to this theme, the role of builders, of “artisans”, of those who, with their hands, their commitment and their knowledge, shape this new face of the world.

The culture of harmony and fraternity «requires ingenuity and the wise use of different arts and skills», but above all, it requires the ability to understand that only by opening the doors, promoting a Tourism Pastoral that welcomes all visions and no longer lives closed in limited and contained ideas, will we be moving towards overcoming conflicts and differences.

It is imperative to put this “new Pastoral” into practice, not only concerned with the pilgrim, but with all tourists, a Pastoral that bases its action on the connection and availability to be by the side of those who work in this sector (or may come to to work: agents, academics, communicators, etc.), becoming truly useful and visible to all, serving the People of God in their entirety.

This is the Ministry of Tourism that we propose: the one that seeks to renew the paths of evangelization, of the Word, of sharing and of interior discovery; a Pastoral Care that takes us from everyday places, from what is known or common, to places that add meaning to religious belonging; the one that allows us to think differently and that makes us more aware of the other, holding hands with different communities, in the sense of disseminating and valuing the identity, culture, heritage value of each one, each place, each person . We propose a Tourism Pastoral of “Artificers of Peace”!

 

Author The feet. Miguel Lopes Neto is Director of the Pastoral do Turismo – Portugal, body of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference

 

 



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