The recent travel chaos in the Middle East, caused by the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran that left much of its leadership dead (as well as many innocents dead, too) is the latest stark reminder of how politics and geopolitical conflicts can impact our industry.
It’s led me to consider what the travel industry’s all about.
It’s about moving people, connecting others, about experiencing and seeing the world with new eyes, new perspectives and open hearts.
Sure, for many, it can be about money. Sales totals, numbers, acquisitions, developments, commissions and conventions. There are myriad ways to think about the travel industry.
In the end, though, it’s about moving the world, moving each other, moving hearts and minds. It’s about happiness, experience, memory and moments that leave an impression long after they are gone.
This latest conflict is not one of those things.
I don’t care what shade of the political spectrum you color yourself: the war is wrong, morally and politically.
There are no guarantees for success—the idea of success in a war such as this is itself ambiguous at best, as is its rationale. There will also be loss on our side, of people and of opportunity, of safety in the wider world and here at home.
The world will also change because of this, and so, too, will travel.
Sure, you might think: maybe the war is bad, maybe it will drag on, but travel is adaptable. It’ll be fine, as it always has been.
And you may be right.
Yet the world itself will have lost something. People will have lost others, homes, businesses, perhaps even cities. Entire countries might be struck off the map of safe places to visit and experience and fall in love with. Development, from hotels to schools, might be halted, companies may falter or never get a chance to rise, and prices for the precious experiences we already strive for may grow.
Connections will be lost—literally and figuratively.
This war is wrong. The hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded in the Middle East know it. They’ve experienced it firsthand. Victims of it—those who’ve already lost homes, loved ones, and livelihoods—know it.
We, as those who work to sell and craft and share the dream of life-changing travel experiences, should know it, too.
We should recognize the war for what it is, and work to stop it before it worsens.
So please: call and email your representatives. Tell them this war is not what we want for this industry, this country, and this world. Lobby for a lasting peace, and limits to those who chose this conflict. Email your union, association or professional organization and lobby them to reject the war, too.
United we should be—as an industry and as a people—against a conflict without an end in sight, one that neither our representatives nor we ourselves wanted.
We should speak out against it: in voice, in data, in money, if that’s what speaks into the hearts of men intent on destruction for destruction’s sake.
Travel is a gift, and so is this world. Let’s not take it for granted or allow a few bullies to ruin a good thing.
Speak out, speak against, speak loudly. Against this latest war with Iran, against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and against Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Conflict is pointless and painful.
Connection is a treasured gift. Let’s protect it.
Together.
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