Tourism Solidarity For Peace and Prosperity
For most people tourism means a time to relax and to restore the self to its natural rhythm by breaking the routine of daily work throughout the year. This applies in particular to exotic holidays.
But for those with a social conscience it is a time to declare solidarity with other nations and countries and to get involve in their lives. It may mean joining in their manual work, teaching them skills or participating in bigger projects. You can call it “Solidarity Tourism”.
Solidarity Tourism appeals to students who, in the west, have a gap year. They may go to an economically underdeveloped country in Africa or to poor communities in Asia and Latin America or to troubled areas such as Palestine. But it is not only the young who are taking such holidays; older people are also interested, particularly those with liberal and leftist views and an adventurous spirit. It is heart warming to see people with limited means taking the trouble to work towards improving the lives of those they have never met.
In this issue we highlight a few companies involved in promoting this type of tourism. They have participated in the Adventure Travel exhibition in London and ITM was there to meet them and talk to them about their activities and concerns.
Tourism is also a good source of income for developing countries. Central and Latin American countries in particular are building hopes for the influx of tourist. The newly elected president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, has invited the American tourist to invade his country. The former fighter and Sandinista president after the Somoza era had a tense time with the American and their allies, the contras, but times have changed. The call for tourism replaced the call for arms.
We are also proud to announce the publication of a new book, “Tourism Prospects”, by the publisher of ITM, Mr. Shakiry. It includes his articles which were published in the past 27 issues. Mr. Shakiry enriched all these issues with his contributions. His regular column “Islamic Tourism Prospects” (ITP) introduced many concepts, ideas and practical proposals for the world of tourism. He always took these ideas seriously and tried to realise them by explaining them in greater detail on different occasions, lectures and contacts with high level people. The version printed is Arabic/English. Other versions are to follow.
The present issue also has the first two articles on the US. They are contributed by experts and in one case the article has a nostalgic taste because it talks about the place of his family and the scene of his childhood and youth.
I hope you will enjoy the varied topics in this magazine and we welcome any feed back. Please write to (post@islamictourism.com) or visit our website (www.islamictourism.com).
Dr. Abdul-Rahim Hassan Editor-in-Chief
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