Deeply believing in the strength of the aspiration to build a culture of peace through tourism and based on the fulfilment of the conditions set by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) in relation to the establishment of its constituent parts (chapters), in early May 2021 the Institute for peace through tourism – IMIT/ IIPT Serbia was established.
Support for the establishment was given by the members of the Organizing Committee representing the public sector, tourism organizations, travel agencies and tour operators, the hotel and catering industry, academia, NGOs, and the media.
Special thanks to Louis D’Amore, founder and president of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT), for his overall support. Its role is key to promoting tourism as the first “Global Peace Industry” since the founding of IIPT in 1986.
The main goal of the IIPT is to disseminate and facilitate initiatives within tourism that contribute to international understanding and cooperation, improve the quality of the environment, protect cultural heritage, and reduce poverty. This would contribute to the realization of a peaceful and sustainable world. The work of IIPT is based on the vision that tourism, as the world’s largest industry, will become the first global peace industry, an industry that promotes and supports the belief that every traveller is potentially a “Peace Ambassador”.
The founder of the Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT Serbia) is Jovan Popesku, a long-time associate of IIPT and a participant in several international summits, conferences, and symposia organized by IIPT. At these gatherings, he presented papers that referred to various aspects of peace through tourism, as well as education for a culture of peace through tourism.
The general goal of the Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT Serbia) is to create a basis for better understanding and cooperation between people and nations, improve the quality of the environment, protect cultural heritage, and based on that, create a more peaceful and sustainable world through tourism development.