Interest Builds for IIPT 2nd African Conference

"Community Tourism - Gateway to Poverty Reduction"
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - December 7-12, 2003

Considerable interest is developing for the IIPT 2nd African Conference on Peace through Tourism to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 7-12 December, 2003. Theme of the Conference is: "Community Tourism - Gateway to Poverty Reduction."

The Conference is being organized in partnership with the African Travel Association (ATA) and hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT), Tanzania.

Aim of the Conference
The Conference seeks to harness travel and tourism - the world's largest industry - as a leading force for poverty reduction in Africa. Towards this end, the aim of the conference is to develop partnerships, implementation strategies, and action initiatives that contribute to sustainable community development, peace and poverty reduction.

Conference Participants
The Conference will bring together senior African executives from both the public and private sectors of tourism, NGO's, donor agencies, educators, policy makers, leading practioners, entrepreneurs, future leaders of the industry, and senior representatives of related sectors including environment, culture and economic development.

Government - Industry - Donor - NGO Roundtable
A feature of the conference will be a Government - Industry - Donor - NGO Roundtable to build consensus on a collaborative strategy in mobilizing tourism as a dynamic and catalyzing force for poverty reduction in Africa.

Key Topics for Discussion
The following topics will be addressed in plenary, concurrent sessions, and workshops:

  • Community Tourism - Achieving Sustainable Livelihoods, Poverty Reduction and Community Cohesion
  • The Community Tourism - Wildlife Interface
  • The Challenges and Opportunities of Sustainable Cultural and Heritage/Community Tourism
  • Micro-Enterprise and SME Development
  • Community Capacity Building
  • Education and Training for Poverty Reduction and A Culture of Peace
  • Technology Sharing and Transfer
  • The Role or Tourism in Healing the Wounds of Conflict
  • Youth Travel & Empowerment
  • Sports for Peace and Development
  • Accessible Travel for all
  • Getting the Community Tourism Message to the Media

    Persons wishing to submit proposals for the presentation of "Success Stories" and examples of "Best Practice" are invited to send a brief abstract to Liz Smith, Conference Coordinator, email address: liz.smith1@att.net

    "Africa 100"
    Recognizing that youth are our future, we are seeking to identify an "Africa 100" - 100 young persons who show promise of being future leaders of the African travel and tourism industry. We welcome your nomination and ask that your consideration in sponsoring one or more of the "Africa 100" for their participation in the Conference and a special "Youth Leadership Forum." Please contact: Liz Smith liz.smith1@att.net, Conference Coordinator.

    Educators Forum
    The Conference will also feature an Educators Forum with a goal of bringing together educators of Travel and Tourism from colleges and universities throughout Africa to share knowledge, experiences and ideas for future curricula development and educational initiatives that contribute to the aims of the Conference.

    The Educators Forum will also feature a selected number of presentations by leading educators. Proposals for presentation of papers can be sent to Dr. Daniel McDonald Dan.mcdonald@uni.edu - Coordinator of the IIPT Educators Network.

    Assistance in identifying African Colleges and Universities with Tourism/Hospitality programs would be most welcome and helpful. Please send contact information to Judy Karwacki, email: Judy Karwacki jkarwacki@shaw.ca

    Outcomes
    An outcome of the Conference will be a "21st Century African Agenda for Peace through Tourism" with a focus on implementation of strategic initiatives and pilot projects that empower local communities to achieve jobs with dignity and sustainable futures.

    Sponsors
    We are proud to announce that the Development Bank of Southern Africa is again a major sponsor of the IIPT 2nd African Conference on Peace through Tourism. DBSA was also a major sponsor of the IIPT 1st African Conference in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Conference, South Africa in March 2002.

    Organizations interested in having a sponsorship role in the IIPT 2nd African Conference are invited to contact Rich Fromer, Email address: IIPT2@together.net

    Conference Venue and Official Hotel
    We are pleased to announce that the Golden Tulip Hotel, Dar es Salaam is the venue and official hotel of the IIPT 2nd African Conference. Special hotel rates have been negotiated.

    To Register
    To Register, please visit our website: www.iipt.org and complete the registration form.

    The Second IIPT African Conference builds on the foundations of two Global Summits on Peace through Tourism (Amman, Jordan - Nov. 2000; and Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 2003) and the First IIPT African Conference, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, March 2002).