What if the most powerful diplomacy of our time happens not in embassies or at summit tables, but over a shared meal? That was the question Ambassador Dr. Alain St.Ange of the Seychelles put to delegates as he delivered the keynote address at the Oxford Global Diplomat Summit & Dialogue at the Lord Mayor’s Cabinet Office, in the presence of the Lord Mayor of Oxford.
Speaking on the theme “Tourism as a Bridge Between Nations,” St.Ange made the case that tourism deserves to be understood as far more than an economic sector. It is, he argued, a daily act of human connection that can challenge prejudice, strengthen peace, and reshape how nations see one another.
“At its best, tourism allows us to meet each other as people,” St.Ange told the gathering. “And at a time when the world is more connected than ever, but also deeply divided in many ways, that matters.”
READ: Africa: St.Ange: Better Air Connectivity Can Turn Tourists Into Investors
The numbers are enormous — but they are not the whole story
St.Ange opened with figures that few in the room could ignore. The World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts that in 2026, travel and tourism will contribute around $12 trillion to the global economy — almost 10 percent of global GDP. The sector is expected to support roughly 376 million jobs, or about one in every nine jobs worldwide.
Yet he was quick to push past the statistics. Why, he asked, do we so often reduce tourism to a scoreboard of arrivals?
“Behind every international arrival is a person crossing a border, a culture being encountered, and a community being seen. And sometimes, a prejudice being challenged,” he said.
The difference between knowing about a country and actually knowing its people, he argued, is the difference tourism can make. A nation becomes the home of the taxi driver who spoke about his children, and an unfamiliar culture becomes the family who welcomed a visitor to their table.
“That is cultural diplomacy,” St.Ange said. “Not governments telling people to understand one another. But people discovering one another for themselves.”
