Promoting Peace Through Intergenerational Tourism

This article advocates the concept of intergenerational tourism as a means of promoting peace, and provides a specific example of this concept put into practice. During the spring 1998 semester, Israel Arab and Jewish elders, together with Jewish and Arab college students, and Arab girls aged 12 and 13 joined together to participate in a programme of recreational activities which included a variety of games and other activities. Pre-test questionnaires were administered to control and experimental groups in February, and again in June. The results of the research indicate that the programme had a significantly positive effect on the attitudes of Arabs and Jews towards each other. The Jewish elders in the programme displayed a significant readiness to invite Arabs to their home, and decrease in hatred towards Arabs. The attitudes of the Arab elders toward Jews also showed lower hatred towards Jews. This study provides evidence that a programme of ‘intergenerational tourism’ of this nature can indeed have p...