(Posted 22nd September 2026)
Courtesy of Amb. Dr. Alain St. Ange
Former Seychelles tourism minister and Ambassador-at-Large Alain St. Ange approaches the issue from another direction: credibility.
His message warns against measuring tourism success principally through visitor volume. Tourism, he argues, can strengthen communities or gradually erode them, and economic reach should not be confused with meaningful impact.
That brings sustainable development directly into the peace discussion.
Tourism can preserve heritage, create employment, strengthen local economies and give communities new opportunities. But St. Ange also asks what happens when cultures are packaged primarily for visitor consumption and the people whose heritage is being marketed receive too little of the benefit.
His answer is community ownership: communities should have the right to tell their own stories, participate in decisions and receive a fair share of tourism’s benefits.
It expands the meaning of Peace Through Tourism. Peace is not only the absence of conflict between countries. It also depends on fairness, dignity, participation and economic opportunity within destinations.
