23 Jun 2025
The Most Catastrophic Leadership Failure in Travel & Tourism History
Exactly 30 years ago this November, the International Hotel Association convened for its annual convention in Tel Aviv, Israel.
It was truly a Golden Age.
Peace talks were under way to end centuries of conflicts in the Holy Land. Hope and optimism were in the air.
The Dream Theme was “Peace Promotes Tourism Promotes Peace”.
Tragically, its lifespan was a mere 48 hours.
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, co-winner of a Nobel Peace Prize along with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, was shot dead on 04 Nov 1995, just 48 hours after delivering the keynote speech on that very theme.
His killer was a Jewish fundamentalist, fanatic, extremist terrorist, Yigal Amir, only in his 20s at the time.
I vividly recall that fateful night.
I WAS THERE, covering that conference.
The politician who became Prime Minister of Israel in the elections that followed Rabin’s brutal killing was Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Holy Land has never been the same since.
The captains of the global hotel sector promised to keep Rabin’s dreams of peace alive. They failed. So did the Travel & Tourism sector at large.
As the illegal U.S. bombing of Iran has proved, the same violent extremists who incited the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin are still inciting violence and mayhem around the world.
Extremist religious leaders and xenophobic, nationalistic leaders are stirring the cauldrons. Military budgets are rising. Hate speech dominates the social media. Democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms are under siege.
Unlike the Covid-19 pandemic, there is no immunisation or vaccination programme in place to stem the growing pandemic of violence and conflict.
Travel & Tourism, the so-called industry of peace, friendship and harmony, is squarely to be blamed for failing to deliver on the Dream Theme promise of “Peace Promotes Tourism Promotes Peace”.
It recent years, it has prioritised Global Warming, Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence. New buzzwords have been concocted, such as Meaningful Tourism, Regenerative Tourism and High-Yield Tourism.
The impact of “The Other Global Warming” has been studiously ignored.
I have repeatedly warned about this over the years. The trail of clues has been clear since 04 November 1995.
Here’s another warning: It’s only half way there. South Asia and Southeast Asia are the next targets.
My warnings have a pretty good track record. Read more here.
A purely man-made crisis, “The Other Global Warming” will impact Travel & Tourism across the board — destinations, corporations, communities, SMEs, the young generation, suppliers of products and services.
I consider it by far the Most Catastrophic Leadership Failure in Travel & Tourism History.
This generation of leaders owes an heartfelt apology to those about to lose their jobs and to the young generation for betraying their trust, hopes and dreams.