The VII Peace Conference of the Maspalomas Rotary Club has highlighted the role of tourism as a bridge between cultures and diversity to advance towards peace
The San Fernando Cultural Centre in Maspalomas was the venue for the 250th Rotary Club of Maspalomas Peace Conference entitled “Moving Towards Peace with Sustainable Tourism”, which was attended by nearly XNUMX people, mostly young students from Colegio Arenas Sur, CEO Pancho Guerra, IES Amurga and IES Támara.
The inauguration was attended by the second deputy mayor of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Elena Álamo, Carmelo Ramírez, Councillor for International Solidarity of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, the sub-delegate of the Government in the province of Las Palmas Teresa Mayans and Daniel Bazán, director of the Camp Rotary and the Peace Conference.
Elena Álamo stressed that Maspalomas is joining this initiative “by sowing the seed every year, always with the participation of our educational centres to support a sustainable tourist town and fight for peace.” Carmelo Ramírez agreed in his speech, “peace is not only the absence of war, it is fighting for social justice, for a more balanced world, for climate change and for people to cooperate with others.”
Teresa Mayans said that “the Canary Islands have been enriched by our contact with tourism since the sixties and that has made us a tolerant community. And now we face the challenge of immigration and we must send a message of solidarity to those people who come looking for a better life and who also enrich us with their culture and their work.” Daniel Bazán concluded by summarizing that “Maspalomas is an example of coexistence between cultures and beliefs. Tourism and Peace is mixing cultures, interaction, tolerance.”
Tourism as cultural enrichment, tolerance as a tool for peace
The VII Peace Conference “Moving Towards Peace with Sustainable Tourism” has highlighted the virtues of tourism as a fundamental tool for promoting peace, intercultural understanding, cooperation and sustainable development. The reality of immigration, refugees and stateless people fleeing their countries of origin for economic, political or even religious reasons has also been discussed.
Pablo Llinares, managing director of Turismo de Gran Canaria, was in charge of addressing the conference “Tourism and Peace. Tourism as a catalyst for cultural understanding and economic development and conflict resolution. Bridge between cultures.”
“Societies where tourism is developed are better societies,” says Llinares, “it is a sector of people and that is precisely its added value, connecting, having empathy with people who come from outside...”
The manager of Tourism of Gran Canaria highlighted how tourism improves the care of the environment in the places where it is developed, how it improves coexistence and how the Canary Islands have the advantage of “the knowledge of service and catering companies, a world leader.”
Pablo Llinares concluded by saying that “the tourism of the future depends on the personalization of the product,” and that this is the reason why the islands are a territory “always open to everyone, as a destination and as people.”
The coordinator of the Oportunidades de vida association, Marta Hernández, wanted to convey to the attendees the reality of people who do not have access to such basic services as drinking water or education and gave them three fundamental messages on which the work of the association is based: “Education transforms lives, health is a right and solidarity changes the world.”
For her part, CEAR Canarias volunteer and Secondary Education teacher Feli Suárez gave a talk on “Immigration, refugees, hoaxes and human rights”. The speaker explained how the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid defends and promotes Human Rights and the comprehensive development of refugees, stateless persons and migrants in need of international protection or at risk of social exclusion. She also highlighted the various reasons that lead someone to flee their country, often in life-or-death situations.
The VII Rotary Club Maspalomas Peace Conference is organized by the Rotary Club Maspalomas with the support of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council and the Cabildo of Gran Canaria through the Department of International Solidarity.
