Johannesburg - One of the reasons I’m proud to be in the travel and tourism industry is the role we play in connecting people as one global community.
Our industry builds interest, curiosity, understanding, appreciation and affection among cultures, people and places worldwide. Through travel, we learn about others – how they live and dream – and we discover similarities and new qualities in diversity.
Last year, more than 1.18 billion people crossed an international border. Each person ventured out to find new places and possibilities and, one hopes, returned home enriched by the experience.
Travel and tourism have long operated as an industry that takes care of all, to create a better world. Yet our world is facing a severe crisis of humanity, a crisis brought to the fore by the influx into Europe of refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East. More than one million refugees crossed the Mediterranean Sea last year, and every day men, women, children and the elderly risk their lives to reach safety.
They travel thousands of kilometres on foot, by bus, train and raft, by any means available, to reach a place that is safe and which offers hope for tomorrow.
A proportion of these refugees, being educated, skilled or employed, have had to flee their countries of origin.
This perilous journey has claimed the lives of at least 5 000 people, a significant number of them children.
What concerns me most, over and above the numbers entering Europe, is that certain countries are shutting their doors. The Schengen Area, one of the world’s great success stories, is being tested severely. Borders are being closed and checkpoints set up. Trust in neighbours is waning.
What does this have to do with tourism? Everything. Sadly, in some nations that are anxious about how migrants or refugees may affect their society and its tourism, prejudices and paranoia are bubbling to the surface. This climate of fear and suspicion challenges the core value of tourism: our global community.
Addressing the media at the opening of the tourism trade fair, ITB Berlin, the secretary-general of the World Trade Organisation, Taleb Rifai, said: “The challenge of refugees is a human obligation, with an implicit urgency and priority needed in global response. This is beyond tourism. Facing up to our human obligation is far more important than protecting our business.”
Rifai is unquestionably right. Our priorities should not be limited to business.
The refugee crisis does not bear on tourist destinations. The sites and routes of our itineraries remain as they were: iconic, quintessential and unforgettable. What the media broadcasts internationally is, to a large extent, a selective and sensationalised representation, reflecting the inept management of the situation by local governments.
There is no reason to hold back from travel or to make changes if trips are under way. There is more than enough room in our countries, and our hearts, for us all to move forward. Our journeys must continue. The crisis is no reason to stay home.
What we mustn’t forget is that our industry is about caring for others, especially because of our differences, and working to make a positive impact on their lives. In the bigger picture, refugees in Europe will influence tourism in one way only – constructively. These are people who are taking vast risks. Many are multilingual, highly skilled and ambitious, and they, too, can play a role in the tourism industry in their new homes.
To travellers, Europe is open. Show your support by continuing to travel. Now more than ever is the time to live the spirit of tourism, by welcoming these most courageous of travellers as we celebrate the planet we share.
l Tollman is the chief executive officer of Trafalgar.
Saturday Star