Today, the 16th of May, is recognised globally as United Nations’ International Day of Living Together in Peace. It’s a day for “mobilising those in the international community to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity”. It’s a day for all of us to unite, sharing in our differences and diversity, to encourage reconciliation and build a sustainable world of peace.

Peace is always the goal. On this day, the United Nations seeks to promote a world of peace and non-violence through understanding. Today, and tomorrow – when the topic is no longer on the official agenda.

The International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT)’s mission is to promote peace through tourism’s ability to connect people, places, and possibilities. It hasn’t changed since 1986, even as the world around it, and peace itself, has taken on new challenges and meaning.

With our world’s evolving challenges, the way we approach peace must change. The world is changing. An increase in violent extremism, including attacks on tourism destinations and icons, has begun to shift the public’s perception on what, and where, is safe. Across the globe, cities thought of safe and removed from conflict are now targets.

The IIPT believes firmly that now more than ever the tourism industry offers all of the ingredients needed to achieve peace – but we must also have those individuals who are willing to bring people together, to facilitate international cooperation, and to ensure that the tourism industry initiates and facilitates sustainable practices to better the communities around them.

To reflect peace in the modern world, and our need for individuals who can foster the ideals of peace through tourism at a higher level, we have named Anita Mendiratta, Founder and President of CACHET Consulting and Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the UNWTO, as IIPT Peace Ambassador-at-Large for Global Relations.

Anita, a familiar, trusted and respected part of the global tourism community, has worked tirelessly yet discreetly for the last twenty years as a strategic advisor in Tourism & Development. Her ability to break through conflict to help governments and businesses realise their shared aspirations is a much needed skill-set in today’s world. Her work in crisis response and recovery after social unrest, terror attacks and natural disasters, and innate ability to simply connect people around shared desire to make tomorrow better than today, makes her uniquely qualified to represent the IIPT.

As expressed by IIPT Founder and President Louis D’Amore, “The IIPT is deeply honored that Anita has accepted to be the IIPT Ambassador for Peace at Large for Global Relations.  Anita has worked closely with leaders of the industry in regions throughout the world as well as with leaders of major international organizations, gaining their respect and trust in every instance. This, combined with her in depth knowledge of global tourism enables Anita to assist IIPT in achieving further success in promoting  ‘Peace through Tourism’ in its various dimensions and to support further initiatives towards IIPT’s vision of tourism becoming the world’s first global Peace Industry.”

Today, on the UN International Day of Living Together in Peace, we are excited to announce Anita officially taking on this role, combining our energies to work for a world where our differences and diversity are celebrated, where tolerance and understanding is commonplace, and where peace is not only achievable – it is realised.