In today’s world, marked by rapid change and increasing polarization, finding ways to foster understanding, empathy, and connection across cultures has never been more urgent. At the Swedish Tourism Innovation Center, we believe that tourism can be a powerful catalyst for peace. That belief is what inspired us to launch our new initiative: Paths to Peace.
Why We Started Paths to Peace
Tourism is often seen through the lens of leisure, entertainment, and economic development. While these are important dimensions, there is another side to tourism that is often overlooked: its ability to bring people together across cultural, religious, and political divides.
When people travel, they encounter other ways of living, thinking, and being. They share meals, listen to stories, and see the world through someone else’s eyes. These seemingly small moments can transform perspectives, challenge stereotypes, and nurture mutual respect. In short: tourism can plant the seeds of peace.
The Swedish Tourism Innovation Center recognized the need to systematically explore and amplify this potential. That is the foundation of Paths to Peace.
Our Long-Term Goal
With Paths to Peace, our long-term goal is to position tourism as a recognized and practical tool for peacebuilding.
We aim to:
- Empower young generation of tourism entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge to design experiences that foster intercultural dialogue and empathy.
- Encourage communities to see tourism not only as an economic driver but as a way to strengthen social cohesion and resilience.
- Collaborate internationally with partners across Europe and beyond to share best practices, develop new models, and demonstrate the peacebuilding potential of sustainable tourism.
- Contribute to policy conversations on how tourism can be integrated into broader peace and cultural understanding strategies.
How Tourism Builds Peace
Tourism creates countless opportunities for micro-moments of peacebuilding. A traveler learning about Sami traditions in northern Sweden, a guided walk through the UNESCO-heritage farmhouses of Hälsingland, or a shared boat ride through the Stockholm archipelago, this is just examples from Sweden it could be anywhere- what they all do is that these experiences foster human connection.
We see three main ways tourism contributes to peace:
- Dialogue: Tourism creates informal spaces where people from different backgrounds meet and exchange perspectives.
- Empathy: Personal encounters challenge stereotypes and foster understanding of cultural differences.
- Equity: Sustainable tourism generates economic opportunities that can reduce tensions and foster social stability.
These outcomes are not accidental, they must be designed, nurtured, and scaled. That is what Paths to Peace is about.
Youth and the Future of Peaceful Tourism
A key pillar of the project is youth engagement. Young people are not only tomorrow’s leaders but also today’s changemakers. By involving youth in tourism entrepreneurship, cultural storytelling, and sustainability projects, we help them develop skills, pride of place, and an open mindset toward diversity.
Investing in youth ensures that peacebuilding through tourism is sustainable in the long term.
A Call to Collaborate
Peace cannot be built in isolation. It requires cooperation across borders, sectors, and communities. With Paths to Peace, the Swedish Tourism Innovation Center is committed to building partnerships- with other European innovation hubs, NGOs, universities, and tourism businesses- to explore and expand tourism’s role as a driver of peace.
We invite partners, entrepreneurs, and policymakers who share this vision to join us on this journey. Together, we can demonstrate that tourism is not only about destinations but about connections, understanding, and hope for a more peaceful world.
Conclusion
Tourism has always been about exploration of places, of cultures, and of people. With Paths to Peace, we want to ensure that exploration also leads to understanding, empathy, and peacebuilding.
Because every journey has the potential to be more than a trip, it can be a path to peace.
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