The Complex Relationship Between Flying and Sustainable Tourism

Ecotourism, a term that emerged in the 1980s, refers to a niche segment of tourism in natural areas. According to David E. Fennell, “Ecotourism is a sustainable form of natural resource-based tourism that focuses primarily on experiencing and learning about nature, and which is ethically managed to be low-impact, non-consumptive, and locally-oriented (control, benefits, and…

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Can We Justify Flying in an Age of Climate Breakdown?

With international travel coming to a halt during the pandemic (or at least becoming cumbersome and prone to cancellation), I’ve been waiting patiently for the time when I can hop on a plane again and go on some trips that I’ve been planning. Before the pandemic struck, I had a flight booked to the island…

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‘I’m a Traveller, Not a Tourist’: Examining Travel Elitism

Many people try to make a clear distinction between tourists and travellers, but the demarcation is value-laden. It is often a way for people to create a hierarchy of travel, whereby self-identified travellers can feel assured that they are travelling in a more adventurous, exciting, and authentic way. (I recently covered the topic of authentic…

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Has Technology Ruined the Experience of Travel?

An article published on Thrillist makes the case that the internet and social media have ruined the experience of travel. The author concedes that the internet has made it easier to travel as cheaply as possible, through great things such as multi-airline rate comparisons; but then argues that the ability to access the internet at the…

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The Ethics of Haggling in a Developing Country

Frugality is a virtue, especially when it comes to travelling. There is a problem, however, when frugality turns selfish; when a penny-pinching mentality is adopted in developing countries, and you start haggling over certain things, involving differences in price that are more or less negligible for you. No one likes to be ripped off, especially…

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