Tourism in post-conflict development and reconciliation

by Dileep Mudadeniya

According to Boutros-Ghali in the ‘Agenda for Peace’, post-conflict peace building is an “action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict”.

Post-conflict reconstruction is strongly inter linked with peace-building activities, and tends to focus on issues related to physical reconstruction, economic recovery, institution building and social integration, falling mostly into issue areas of socio economic foundations and political framework.

The World Bank defines post-conflict reconstruction as “the rebuilding of socio-economic frameworks of society” and “the reconstruction of the enabling conditions for a functioning of peacetime society, explicitly including governance and the rule of law as essential components”.

The role of tourism

Tourism development can boost economic stability, expand infrastructure and services, increase foreign currency earnings, generate both direct and indirect employment and enhance a multiplier effect to primary and secondary sectors. In addition, it is being seen as a route to broader development and shared growth, no longer just a generator of foreign exchange.) The tourism sector has been challenged to respond to the high demand to develop ‘eco’ ‘responsible’, ‘pro-poor’, and ‘community-based’ tourism initiatives and policies.

Despite these developments, there have not been many concrete efforts to make tourism companies more aware of their impact on conflict.

A form of tourism that focuses on the impacts of violence and conflict that have impacted society is ‘dark tourism’! However, it is highly controversial as it is perceived as supporting the commoditisation of tragedy and human death.

Socio-economic foundations

As the tourism sector is a labour intensive industry, it could play a role in peace promotion by developing inclusive business models, providing financial and in-kind contributions, promoting environmental conservation, reconstructing infrastructure, etc.

Inclusive business models ideally afford local economic opportunities to the poor as employees, entrepreneurs, suppliers, distributors, retailers, customers or sources of innovation. Such projects can be challenging to establish, especially in determining appropriate profit-sharing structures.

One approach to contributing towards socio-economic foundations is to provide financial and in-kind contributions. This brings about a need to better develop implementation mechanisms so that corruption and financial mismanagement would become less likely.

Conservation

Eco-tourism is the marriage between development and conservation. It is argued that by helping to integrate protected areas into local and national economies, tourism can provide economic incentives and justifications for supporting species and habitats.

There is the risk that construction to meet the growing needs of tourism could lead to environmental degradation and competition over land as a scarce resource. The use of local materials to build tourism facilities provides employment but also raises the prices of the products for the local population.

Physical reconstruction

By making efforts towards infrastructure development that benefit both tourists and residents alike, the sector has the opportunity to prevent future conflicts. The construction and maintenance of roads are particularly relevant for tourism as bad roads restrict access to markets and reduce income from tourism.

By the end of 2009, tourism in Sri Lanka had generated approximately 100,000 direct jobs and indirect employment through supporting industries. This has caused small businesses in communities to emerge and start up income-generating projects.

While the tourism sector offers opportunities for the Diaspora returning to Sri Lanka, the local population who were likely to have been more affected by the conflict could go ignored. The need for more capacity building in Sri Lanka in order to develop highly skilled professionals has become important.

Women entrepreneurs

The civil war caused significant loss of the male population. Thus initiatives that target women as a vulnerable group but also as an important economic actor are integral to addressing this repercussion of conflict.

Socio-economic exclusion

While peace-building programs may tend to focus on main ethnic groups, other minorities may get neglected and segregated from tourism projects.

Reconciliation

The creation of initiatives that support dialogue and awareness on the history of conflict allow people to engage with others who have undergone similar traumas.

This historical revisionism can influence objective perspective like in the example of the Gisozi Memorial Centre which is believed to have only told ‘one (Tutsi) side’ of the story of the Rwandan genocide.

History

Tour operators and guides have a large influence over the perception that tourists have of the country. The interpretation of the history of conflict remains highly sensitive and in some cases contested.

Tour operators can develop tours that provide the opportunity for tourists to visit a community, interact with the people and learn about their traditional practices.

Tour operators can work with their local government to identify vulnerable communities for community-based tourism projects ensuring accountability between the two actors and promote information-sharing.

Competition over tourism revenue can lead to corruption instead of benefiting the communities. Further, people in villages are treated as ‘money makers’ of tourist attractions when they do not have the opportunity to any advantages.

There is also the risk that the tour operator would not provide the people with a fair share of the tourism profits.

Overview

The tourism sector is prone to play an important role in establishing post-conflict socio-economic foundations, reconciliation and justice efforts. This is based on the capacities of tourism sectors, their interest and motivations, and the opportunities that they provide.

Recommendations

Efforts should be made to discuss and debate how tourism can support peace-building activities. A mapping of relevant actors, possible entry points and negative effects of tourism should also be acknowledged. Following are the key areas where tourism can play an effective role in post conflict Sri Lanka.

* Employment and training

Develop a process of affirmative action that enables community members of different classes, ethnicities and backgrounds the opportunity to have employment. Develop in-house mandatory training as well as external centres which provide service training alongside conflict sensitivity practices.

* Image-building

Marketing strategies should emphasise a tourism sector that not only offers a luxury destination, but also aims to advance peace-promoting activities. It is important for tourism actors to not only focus on activities that are high-income generators, but are also taking the population and reconstruction processes into consideration.

* Promote community development and cultural tourism

Inclusive business models, guided community tours and joint-venture projects need to be further developed with transparency to foster entrepreneurship.

* Vulnerable groups

Tourism companies can develop activities that cater to the needs and capacities of specific groups such as women, the youth and ethnic minorities, promoting engagement such as hiring them as adventure tourism instructors.

* Enabling environment

In order to prevent elite individuals from having superior access to investments, contracts and tourism licences, efforts should be made to distribute information and strengthen the legalisation process, while removing bureaucratic barriers.

Information for this article was based on Swiss Peace.

(The writer is the Head of Quality Assurance, Standards, Investment and Legal at the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority)