Peace through Tourism: A Critical Look at

Tourism, the world’s largest and one of the fastest developing economic sectors, virtually affects every region and nation of the world due to its potential contribution to international understanding and poverty reduction. Nepal is no exception. The remarkable growth of tourism at present (peace time) has been progressing through its four progressive theoretical models/platforms (e.g., advocacy, cautionary, adaptancy and knowledge-based platforms) with each having both peace potential and limitation. In this scenario, there is likely growing attention and look at tourism with a passion for its peace prospective. ‘Peace’, a vital and most cherished dream of humanity, is a state that not only indicates the absence of direct violence but also sustains peaceful relationships among all levels and segments of society and between society and nature. Tourism is sensitive to conflict and responsive to peace. There are both opportunities and challenges for the peace responsiveness of tourism in Nepal. Nepalese tourism, which passed through a decade long (1996-2006) armed conflict, serves a concrete illustration of this nexus of tourism and peace with the dual attributes of tourism for conflict and peace. However