Date: Wednesday February 7th 2018, 5pm to 7pm

Location: Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Route de Cojonnex 18, 1000 Lausanne, Switzerland

Theme: Tourism

Problematic: How does the rise of populism and nationalism impact the tourism industry?

As an international school, EHL hosts students from more than 100 different countries and as
tomorrow’s leaders; those students have a strong interest in global affairs. Students with the most
interest in international relations have long participated in the EHL Model United Nations committee,
participating in many conferences in London and Paris amongst other cities.

In November 2016, the EHL MUN committee decided to organize the first edition of its own Forum on
World Affairs. FoWA was the first panel discussion organized at EHL to discuss topic of international
relations. Four extraordinary women were invited to give their perspectives on the role developed
countries should play in helping developing countries in the field of education.

Having decided to organize our own MUN conference at EHL in 2018, we thought it would make perfect
sense to include the second edition of FoWA in the frame of the Switzerland International Hospitality
Model United Nations. SIHMUN, being the first MUN conference targeted towards hospitality students
from around the world with a deep interest in the state of our world, we decided to focus on a topic
that would tackle both interests:

How does the rise of populism and nationalism impact the tourism industry?

We would like this event to be an opportunity for experts in various fields and attending students to
discuss the following questions:
• Does nationalism and populism benefit or hurt tourism?
• Are there similar policies towards tourism taken by nationalist leaders?
• Can tourism thrive without globalization?
• How does the hospitality industry adapt to new regulations restraining tourism?
• What solutions have politicians and hospitality professionals put in place to help tourism
in countries where nationalism is on the rise?
• How does the tourism industry respond to security and terrorism threats? Do more
efficient ways of responding exist?
• Can the hospitality industry help fight nationalism and populism?
• Should the hospitality industry play an active role in fighting nationalism and populism?

Find more information on SIHMUN here, and on the first edition of FoWA here
Speakers:

Helen Marano
Executive Vice President of External Affairs
World Travel & Tourism Council

Having joined WTTC in 2012, Helen Marano serves as a conduit for the advocacy
efforts of WTTC in representing the industry perspective to government leaders and
organisations. She heralds the importance of Travel & Tourism for the economic and
social benefits the sector contributes to the world community. Helen is a seasoned
leader, having previously led the National Travel & Tourism Office of the United States
for over a decade. This involved industry relations, policy formation, and overseeing
the statistical system for travel and tourism for the US.

Her legacy includes the establishment of the Travel and Tourism Satellite Account for
the USA, overseeing the negotiations for the opening of Chinese group leisure travel to
the USA, and helping to establish the national tourism marketing organisation, Brand
USA.

Ms. Marano oversaw the content for the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board of private
sector CEOs, and the work of the interagency Tourism Policy Council. Ms Marano was
engaged in the establishment of the electronic travel authorisation system (ESTA)
which also supported the creation of Brand USA.

Her continued leadership at WTTC and engagement in intergovernmental

organisations ensures government and private sector efforts to improve and protect
the sustainability of the sector.

Peter Singleton
Researcher
European Tourism Futures Institute

Peter is a researcher at ETFI. His main research expertise concerns links between
geopolitics, social cohesion and travel destination safety. His research is designed to
illustrate tourist destination choices for tourists and tour operators alike. Besides
undertaking research at ETFI, he is also involved in commercial research projects.
Peter is also a lecturer at the undergraduate Tourism Management programme of
Stenden University.
Peter has a commercial background in marketing, tourism and international hospitality
management. He has managed hotels in the Middle East and the Netherlands.
Moreover, Peter has a wide variety of hands-on management roles in tourism, notably
as a partner in a tour operating business. This allows him to identify the role of tour
operators in his research on travel destination safety.

Léonie de Jonge
PhD Candidate in Politics & International Studies
University of Cambridge

Ms. De Jonge is a young PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge who focuses
on populism and nationalism. She has written several papers on the subject including:
“First Brexit and now Drumpf: what is populism and how might we view it?”. This
fascinating paper written a year ago gives a good insight into what populism really is.
Other papers published this year include: “The Nationalist International: Is There a
Brown Network in the Making?” and “Emmanuel Macron’s Centrist Victory May Only
Add Fuel to the Populist Fire: France’s Middle-of-the-Road Strategy Risks Alienating
the Left, Enraging the Right, and Inspiring Almost No One”.

All her papers have a strong interest in analysing exactly what the situation is, giving
us an un-biased picture of what we are facing. Those objective depictions allow for
better reflexion on how to solve the problems that can emerge from nationalistic and
populist movement gaining importance in the public debate.

Ms. De Jonge will be at the forum in order to give an academic perspective on the
understanding of populist and nationalistic movements, as to have a knowledgeable,
constructive and realistic discussion on the topic at hand.

Moderator:

Karl Cox
Vice-President, Global Public Affairs
Oracle Corporations

Oracle Vice President for Global Pubic Affairs heading a worldwide team of public
affairs specialists. Over 30 years of experience in public affairs working for companies
such as Oracle and IBM. In addition to my Oracle responsibilities, I serve as Chairman
of the Board for the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU and hold leadership
positions in other trade associations in Europe. Former Board member of an
international school in the Paris region. Engaged on a personal basis in attempts to
improve the conditions of individual refugees entering Europe. BSc in Foreign Service,
Georgetown University in Washington, DC and graduate degree from College of
Europe, Belgium.