For truly sustainable tourism to have a chance, individual destinations and host communities must use the coronavirus crisis to take back control from global financial interests. This is according to Dr Thomas Bauer in a fresh and reflective “GT” Insight; his second. Indeed Dr Bauer reckons visitation should be by invitation … only.
This period of self-isolation and lack of travel provides an opportunity for personal reflection on how tourism has evolved over my lifetime.
I have been a traveller for 60 of my 66 years and what has motivated me since my earliest days has always been a curiosity to find out what is over the mountain, across the river, or the other side of the border. What is life like there? What do people look like, what do they eat and do?
In the 1960s there were no travel shows on black and white TVs, no YouTube channel, no internet. Maps were the focus of my attention. I would marvel at the far-off places and hoped that one day I could travel there.
When I did start to travel independently in the late 1970s to places like North Africa and South America I had to rely on maps and guidebooks to show me the way. Writing and receiving letters was the main form of communication with my home base. Every day brought new experiences.
Now, in my later years, I look back on all the interesting and diverse places I have visited on all seven continents and note that tourism has become very commercial. Cities all look the same. Too many people crowd into attractions, such as museums, historic or religious sites, and natural places. And too many people are travelling around the world at the same time.
It used to be a privilege to go travelling but now it is considered a right.
For the full "GT" Insight, visit https://goodtourismblog.com/2020/05/by-invitation-only-sustainable-tourism-revisited/