Louis D’Amore, International Institute for Peace Through Tourism, USA

Louis D’Amore is Founder and President of the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT). He has been instrumental in promoting the travel and tourism industry as the world’s first “Global Peace Industry” since the founding of IIPT in 1986. In 1988, he organized the First Global Conference: Tourism – A Vital Force for Peace, bringing together 800 participants from 67 countries and introducing for the first time the concept of Sustainable Tourism Development. The Global Conference also introduced a “Higher Purpose of Tourism” that gives emphasis to the key role of travel and tourism in promoting international understanding, cooperation among nations, environmental protection and preservation of biodiversity, cultural enhancement and valuing heritage, sustainable socio-economic development, poverty reduction and healing the wounds of conflict.

He has since organized international and global conferences focusing on these issues in regions throughout the world most recently in South Africa honoring the legacies of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. D’Amore has been a pioneer in socially and environmentally responsible tourism since conducting the world’s first comprehensive study on the future of tourism for the Canadian Government in the mid-70’s and subsequently in 1993 developing the world’s first “Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Sustainable Tourism.”  Mr. D’Amore is Chancellor of Livingstone International University of Tourism Excellence and Business Management (LIUTEBM) and recipient of the International Consortium of Tourism Partners “Visionary Award.”