Is a new tourism emerging?

Tourism is a dynamic sector that is constantly and rapidly evolving. There is always something new.

However, journalists writing about “new tourism” and “new tourists” are identifying and encouraging something more fundamental. Kathleen Rellihan writing on the BBC’s travel pages in a piece entitled Why it’s time to rethink what it means to be a tourist accepts that she, a travel writer, is a “tourist – but while it’s a label to not take lightly, it needn’t always be a bad one.”  In a review of McClanahan’s new book, she writes: “… in the post-pandemic travel boom – last summer in particular – tourists behaving badly seem to have reached a tipping point. … we need to shift how we view tourism, and tourists, now more than ever.”

In The Times in the News Review, not note the travel pages, on Sunday, July 21^st, Katie Gatens, wrote a piece entitled “Continent in revolt: why tourism rage is sweeping Europe” and asked, “Is the backlash righteous or self-defeating?” Gatens reminds us that “it wasn’t until Thomas Cook developed the package tour in the 1870s — taking small groups to France, Germany and Italy — that the idea of the “holiday” was brought to the masses. It inevitably aroused snobbery among the leisure classes towards fellow “Brits abroad” that endures to this day.” As Gatens points out “The vocal anti-tourism movements in Europe have a populist flavour, reflecting frustrations over the cost of living and especially housing. Younger Europeans seem especially unhappy about their continent turning into a giant museum.” In Mallorca, the campaign group “Less Tourism, More Life” echoes a movement in the Canary Islands.

Writing on BBC Travel Lynn Brown has written a long piece addressing the question “Why do tourists behave badly on holiday?” There is no pay wall – it is worth reading. 

Michelle Singletary wrote in the Washington Post about “How to be a better tourist and not annoy locals … Locals in cities around the world are getting fed up with tourists, and I don’t blame them.”  Nora Biette-Timmons writing in Conde Nast Traveller titles her piece “This New Book Is Reframing How We Think About Tourism” an interview review of McClanahan’s book. Asked whether there are other books for people who want to read more about “thoughtful tourism”  McClanahan recommends The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach, by Sarah Stodola. Polly Pattullo‘s Last Resorts, the cost of tourism in the Caribbean published in 1996, and the second edition in 2005,  did not have the advantage of the mounting content about overtourism which is with us now. Claire Irvin, Travel Editor at The Times wrote on 14^th July “Having a great time on holiday means choosing your destination wisely and respecting the place and people you’re visiting. Here’s how” She concludes her article “As a tourist you can help drive change by considering the effects of your choice of accommodation, and who will benefit from your money. The easiest option is to pick a hotel. Yes, it may cost more, but your choice will sustain livelihoods not only for those working on the premises but also along the entire supply chain, from towel attendants to taxi drivers. Water pistol manufacturers may be the only casualty.”

We shall have to wait a few years to see whether a sea change in tourism is taking place. As much as I would like to see the change, Responsible Tourism is about making tourism better; I am sceptical. There is a long way to go, and consumers and producers of tourism shuffle forward slowly. Some progress is being made, and we see that in the Responsible Tourism Awards each year, but there are many laggards among tourists, tourism businesses, and destinations.

There is more coverage of the new tourism in the recently published Responsible Tourism News.