Thursday, September 4, 2008

Political Tourism

Political Tourism is emerging as an important area of international travel. Such trips often involve travel to areas of conflict to study first hand the circumstances on the ground, to meet the actors of both sides, and to develop an understanding of the local history.

Popular destinations are Israel and Palestine, the former Yugoslavia, and Africa. Tour operators that specialize in political tours are often non-profit organizations (NGOs) that sometimes present a partisan point of view. Other groups are private social enterprises such as ToursInEnglish.com in Israel/Palestine.

Responsible political tours usually covers the following areas:
  • Touring the situation on the ground
  • Provide good security
  • Provide briefings
  • Meetings with ordinary people on both sides of the conflict
  • Meetings with activist and peace groups
  • Meetings with government officials
  • Offer cultural components to the tour

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Tours of Palestine and Israel that provide an overview of the political geography of the region. Settlements, Separation Barrier. Meet villagers & settlers. Briefings.  http://www.toursinenglish.com

A sub-sector of Political Tourism is Justice Tourism. These types of tours use the Universal declaration of Human Rights as their point of departure, and view the conflict through a prism of self determination, freedom of expression, human and civil rights. They tend to be advocacy oriented with the intention of motivating tour participants to become involved in the issues and active on their return home.
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