To satisfy our desire to discover, relax, learn or surpass ourselves, the tourism industry takes hold of the land, the people, the activities, the culture and even the past... and wraps it all up in pretty packages. The result is pure consumer tourism: what's advertised is what's experienced; satisfaction guaranteed but interactions limited. Fortunately, not everyone is content with this approach.
The concept of tourism is changing. From leisure and luxury, it is gradually evolving into a pleasurable, safe experience and cultural, social or personal enrichment. It even overflows into a life project and secure alternative, a form of social survivalism: we settle where it's better than where we come from, for our children, our health and/or our wallet.
Tourism also faces significant challenges, including over-tourism and the alteration of all the environments it touches, on virtually every scale. On the positive side, tourism exposes both foreigners and locals to different realities whose hybridization is often fruitful. When the tourist is gone, something remains.
Many people never go on a trip, but welcome strangers. Others play the nomad, but are not tourists. They come from elsewhere and stay for a long time, a season or years, depending on conditions. In some countries, they make an appreciable economic contribution, without the right to vote. As language barriers come down with A.I., this possibility of living abroad is becoming a reality for more and more people.
The tourism industry has not finished renewing itself. We're even witnessing a mutation of learning trips, which are branching out into cultural, social and educational experiences.
Entire regions rely on the tourism industry to ensure their survival, even though it is one of the most volatile areas of the economy. Bad weather, a scandal, a death, an attack or a strike will quickly displace the customer. They'll be back. A reflection on tourism reveals a great deal about our societies and our relationships.
Join us on a tour of tourism.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: Shutterstock - 2592177107
