Travel Provider Resources
When you are planning a tour experience, you have the opportunity to incorporate basic peace building elements into your traveler’s itinerary. Peace building can be most successful when small items are encourage each day. Small concepts can evolve into larger results over time. So start with a series of smaller but important elements up front and have your tour director reinforce on tour. Below are some basic peace building elements that can be added as part of your pre-trip education and/or onsite delivery!
Questions to consider in planning a journey:
What does a traveler need to consider before their journey? What can they learn or bring?
What are ways a traveler can be intentional when traveling?
What can a traveler do to be environmentally responsible?
What does in mean to be a Peace Ambassador during and after their journey?
Below are some suggestions a travel provider can include to “Make Peace Part of the Journey”!
Pre-Trip Awareness
When you plan your journey - You can choose to travel with a Mindset of curiosity and respect
1. Planning to travel with an open mind sets you up to take the first step in Peacebuilding. Embrace each destination, it’s people & culture with respect & without judgement.
2. Learn a bit about where you are going and what new things you will see. Remember the place you are visiting may be a tourist location to you, but it is also a place where many diverse people live, work & value.
3. Learn basic dos and don’ts for behavior, dress, and etiquette in the area you’re visiting.
4. Engage locals about their lives, culture, and traditions. Celebrate differences and diversity.
Ask questions, not just take photos
5. When in a foreign country, learn a few local phrases: Even simple greetings in the local language
(“Hello,” “Thank you,” “Please,” and “Excuse me.”)
6. Plan to be a guest, not a critic. Speak with the mindset of learning and engaging, not judging.
7. Consider and acknowledge your own biases and assumptions. Avoid stereotyping people or places. Accept that you may not understand everything—and that’s okay.
4 Peace Engagement
When you travel - You can build peace bridges through Engagement, Connection & Kindness
1. Smile, listen actively, and learn names.
2. Slow down—listen, observe, connect. Actively seek common ground in conversations. Practice patience in delays or misunderstandings.
3. Disarm with kindness: Small acts—smiling, being patient, apologizing sincerely.
4. Be a connector: Encourage conversations between fellow travelers and locals. Facilitate mutual understanding.
5. Compliment sincerely: Say often and sincerely: “Thank you for sharing your hometown with us.”
6. Eat local, shop local, stay local: Choose family-run restaurants, markets, and shops over international chains.
7. Tip fairly (anything is better than nothing) and thank service workers with kindness.
8. Buy souvenirs that support artisans and avoid exploitative or environmentally harmful products.
9. Live as a guest, not a consumer: Walk softly, talk kindly, and move with reverence.
4 Peace Sustainability
While traveling - Travel Lightly and Thoughtfully as a steward of this planet.
1. Carry a reusable water bottle, utensils, shopping bag, and other reusable items.
2. Request and stay in eco-conscious lodgings where applicable and use public transport, bike, or walk when possible.
3. Turn off lights, air conditioning, and electronics when not in use.
4. Eat a plant-based meal when you can—it’s better for the planet.
5. Avoid wildlife exploitation: don’t support attractions that exploit animals for entertainment.
6. Pick up litter when you see it—leave places cleaner than you found them.
7. Reduce your footprint: Conserve water, refuse single-use plastics, and leave places better than you found them.
Post Trip - Pass It On
Share stories, and experience throughout your trip and upon return.
1. Promote Peace through your positive presence
2. Reflect others’ dignity in your travel photos and social media.
3. Highlight human connection, not poverty or exoticism.
4. Post positivity, like: “The people I met in [place] reminded me of how much we all want the same things—family, safety, joy”, “It’s a gift to be here—thank you for sharing your home with me.”
“I met someone in [country] who told me about their hopes for their community”, “There’s so much beauty in how people in [place] connect with nature/family/tradition.”
5. Amplify voices: Share stories from your travels in ways that highlight the dignity and richness of other cultures.
6. Travel in Peace… and Pass it On to others!
