Mira Wagner

Tourism and Peace in Northern Ireland: the Peace and Reconciliation Fostering Potential of the Tourism Event "Derry-londonderry UK City of Culture 2013" Mira Wagner

Although the thirty year long Northern Irish Conflict officially ended with the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998, the country is still suffering from various impacts caused by the decades of violent conflict and terror. The still existing diversity between the former opposing groups illustrates that there is a strong need for dealing with peace and reconciliation efforts in the contested communities. In 2013 the Northern Irish city Derry-Londonderry was permitted to host the world premiere event ?UK City of Culture". This book critically questions if and how this event fosters peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland by triggering positive transformations in the city or the region as a whole. Besides offering a critical case study, this book also informs the reader about the most important theories on tourism and peace, gives a compact overview of the history of conflict-afflicted tourism in Northern Ireland and finally presents practical recommendations of how functioning ?Peace and Reconciliation Tourism? can be successfully established in Northern Ireland and other post-conflict regions in the world.