Visitor value, values, volume: What’s good where you are?

May 26, 2025

Visitor value, values, volume: What’s good where you are? A "Good Tourism" Insight Bites compilation
Do you value diversity of opinion and perspective? Share yours

When con­sid­er­ing inbound tour­ism where you live, work, or oper­ate, how do you feel about the value vis­it­ors bring, the val­ues they hold, and their numbers?

Have a thought to share? Respond in the com­ments at any time. Or write a Bite. [The dead­line for com­pli­ment­ary edit­ing, lay­out, and pre­view in time for this Bites com­pil­a­tion has passed.] 

UPDATE June 17, 2025 — Your “Good Tourism” Insight Bites


In Canterbury, UK, ‘we’ve much to be thankful for, and tourism is one of those things’

Jim Butcher, Reader, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK; Tourism’s Horizon: Travel for the Millions

I’m for­tu­nate to live in Can­ter­bury, UK. Some 25 kilo­metres from Dover, the UK’s main port of entry, Can­ter­bury wel­comes lots of tour­ists and school groups who come to see Can­ter­bury Cathed­ral and learn about the city’s amaz­ing history. 

It’s not unusu­al to be approached by stu­dents with clip­boards test­ing out their Eng­lish skills. They are, almost invari­ably, polite and inter­ested. This dipped post Brexit, and then the pan­dem­ic put paid to all travel. It’s great to see it back.

Tour­ism is vital for the eco­nomy. Canterbury’s mainly excel­lent cafes and busi­nesses depend on foot­fall. There is a cot­tage industry of people put­ting up lan­guage stu­dents too; Canterbury’s hous­ing is expens­ive, so this can provide valu­able extra income.

But the city does have a dif­fer­ent feel to it com­pared to 25 years ago. 

We have a mod­ern shop­ping centre, White­fri­ars, which encour­ages retail tour­ism, and pres­ti­gi­ous new busi­nesses such as The Ivy res­taur­ant. We also have more shops that have their place, but, in my opin­ion, detract from the city: vape shops, take-aways, nail bars … 

We have motor­ised bikes buzz­ing up and down what we assumed was a ped­es­tri­an­ised high street, deliv­er­ing res­taur­ant and take-away food to people’s homes; the res­taur­ants them­selves are hardly brim­ming with cus­tom­ers. Eat­ing in is the new eat­ing out. 

Pro­gress? 

I know the above makes me sound like a grumpy old git. But it’s wrong to out­source any decline in pub­lic val­ues and cul­ture to tour­ists. We ought to look closer to home. 

As I write, the sun is shin­ing, the high street is busy and the cafes are doing good busi­ness. As ever, the Cathed­ral provides an incred­ible focal point. Even the busk­ers sound great. 

We’ve much to be thank­ful for, and tour­ism is one of those things.

Tourism’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Part­ner.

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In Khao Sok, Thailand, Anurak Community Lodge attracts like-minded guests

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, Head of Marketing & Sales, VHG Hospitality Asia, Thailand

Inbound tour­ism, when thought­fully man­aged, can be a power­ful force for pos­it­ive change in and around Anurak Com­munity Lodge.

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, YAANA Ventures
Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe

Vis­it­ors con­trib­ute sig­ni­fic­antly to the loc­al eco­nomy in south­ern Thai­l­and, and, by choos­ing to stay with us, our guests help:

  • Cre­ate stable employ­ment for loc­al staff, guides, and suppliers;
  • Sup­port com­munity-based ini­ti­at­ives, such as cul­tur­al per­form­ances by loc­al schools and temple programs.
  • Gen­er­ate rev­en­ue to rein­vest in eco­lo­gic­al res­tor­a­tion (e.g., Rain­forest Rising) and infrastructure.
  • Encour­age cross-cul­tur­al exchange, bring­ing appre­ci­ation, under­stand­ing, and a glob­al spot­light to Khao Sok’s nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al heritage.

We are heartened by the fact that more and more trav­el­lers have val­ues aligned with ours:

  • They care about nature con­ser­va­tion;
  • They seek authen­t­ic loc­al exper­i­ences, not just pass­ive sight­see­ing; and
  • They respect loc­al cul­tures, tra­di­tions, and envir­on­ment­al lim­its.

These shared val­ues strengthen our mis­sion. Many of our guests tell us they’ve been inspired to change their habits at home after see­ing what respons­ible tour­ism looks like.

While tour­ism brings oppor­tun­ity, volume mat­ters. We are cau­tious of over-tour­ism and its threat to eco­sys­tems and the com­munity. We focus on:

  • Qual­ity over quant­ity: guests who stay longer, spend loc­ally, and engage deeply;
  • Off-peak vis­it­a­tion to spread eco­nom­ic bene­fits year-round and reduce envir­on­ment­al pres­sure; and
  • Col­lab­or­a­tion to build regen­er­at­ive mod­els that restore the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al fab­ric of Khao Sok.

We are for­tu­nate that our guests choose Anurak not just as a place to stay, but as a place to learn, con­nect, and contribute.

When rooted in respect, edu­ca­tion, and sus­tain­ab­il­ity, inbound tour­ism brings immense value to our region. Our role — as a regen­er­at­ive lodge and com­munity part­ner — is to ensure that the bene­fits are mutu­al, mean­ing­ful, and lasting.

We wel­come vis­it­ors not just as tour­ists, but as part­ners in our mission.

Anurak Com­munity Lodge is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Part­ner.

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In Cambodia, Cardamom Tented Camp guests keep the rainforest standing

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, Head of Marketing & Sales, VHG Hospitality Asia, Thailand

At Car­damom Ten­ted Camp, loc­ated deep with­in Cambodia’s Car­damom Moun­tains rain­forests, we see inbound tour­ism as a vital tool for con­ser­va­tion and edu­ca­tion, and sus­tain­able devel­op­ment. Each vis­it­or dir­ectly sup­ports the pro­tec­tion of one of South­east Asia’s last great rainforests. 

Chris Kittishinnakuppe, YAANA Ventures
Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp guests help:

  • Fund forest patrols and ranger salar­ies, thereby pre­vent­ing illeg­al log­ging, poach­ing, and land encroach­ment across 18,000 hec­tares of pro­tec­ted forest; and
  • Cre­ate altern­at­ive jobs for loc­al people in eco­tour­ism, guid­ing, cater­ing, and oper­a­tions (many of whom once relied on forest extrac­tion for income).

Bey­ond the fin­an­cial con­tri­bu­tions, vis­it­ors bring glob­al atten­tion to the urgent need for forest pre­ser­va­tion. By trav­el­ling to vis­it Car­damom Ten­ted Camp, they also demon­strate to loc­als that biod­iversity has value.

Our guests are eco-con­scious adven­tur­ers who believe in leav­ing a light foot­print and mak­ing a dif­fer­ence through their travel choices. They:

  • Appre­ci­ate our sol­ar-powered accom­mod­a­tions and waste-redu­cing operations; 
  • Are curi­ous about Cam­bod­ia, its eco­logy, cul­ture, and con­ser­va­tion chal­lenges; and 
  • Embrace the oppor­tun­ity to learn from rangers and loc­al staff about the threats facing the rainforest.

The fact that most of our guests have val­ues aligned with our mis­sion is incred­ibly encour­aging; it helps keep our mod­el of ‘tour­ism for con­ser­va­tion’ strong and resilient.

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp is not built for mass tour­ism. It is designed to host just a few guests in a low-impact, immers­ive set­ting. We focus on:

  • Deep­er guest exper­i­ences, with con­ser­va­tion edu­ca­tion, guided hikes, kayak­ing, and ranger sta­tion visits;
  • Min­im­ising our envir­on­ment­al impact; and
  • Encour­aging longer stays.

Inbound tour­ism is not just wel­come here, it is essen­tial. Every Car­damom Ten­ted Camp guest plays a role in keep­ing the forest standing.

By blend­ing sus­tain­able accom­mod­a­tion with act­ive con­ser­va­tion, the Car­damom Ten­ted Camp mod­el pos­i­tions tour­ism as the driv­ing force for pre­ser­va­tion, pride, and purpose.

Car­damom Ten­ted Camp is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Part­ner.

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St Helena welcomes visitors who ‘respect and appreciate’ the island

Marcella Mittens, economic development official, St Helena Government, St Helena

When con­sid­er­ing inbound tour­ism on St Helena, I believe it’s import­ant to recog­nise that tour­ist num­bers aren’t everything. What truly mat­ters is the value vis­it­ors bring, not only eco­nom­ic­ally, but cul­tur­ally and envir­on­ment­ally, and wheth­er their val­ues align with ours.

St Helena is a unique and largely untouched sub-trop­ic­al island in the South Atlantic. Its appeal lies in its remote, off-the-beaten-track char­ac­ter and its breath-tak­ing nat­ur­al beauty; a haven of tran­quil­lity wrapped in blue and green. 

Mass tour­ism is not our aim, as large vis­it­or num­bers could com­prom­ise the very essence that makes St Helena special.

That said, we are by no means opposed to tourism. 

In fact, we wel­come vis­it­ors who respect and appre­ci­ate the island’s serenity, her­it­age, and eco­sys­tems. Our goal is to attract the kind of tour­ism that sus­tains and uplifts; the kind of tour­ism that sup­ports our loc­al eco­nomy, cel­eb­rates our cul­ture, and pre­serves our envir­on­ment for gen­er­a­tions to come.

In short, we want to share the magic of St Helena but in a way that hon­ours both our com­munity and the land we call home.

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The values conundrum

K Michael Haywood, publisher, ‘Destinations-in-Action’, Canada

In 1989, I was priv­ileged to learn how val­ues-laden tour­ism in New Zea­l­and had become. (Tour­ism New Zea­l­and had invited me to give a talk for its ‘Grow For It’ ini­ti­at­ive). 

I men­tion this because vis­it­ors, exposed to places rich in cul­ture, nature, and adven­ture, gen­er­ally do their best to be recept­ive to a diversity of val­ues; val­ues pro­jec­ted not just as an image or brand, but of the people, in this case the Māori

While in NZ the fol­low­ing year, I noticed how com­mit­ted the gov­ern­ment and industry asso­ci­ations were to invit­ing inspir­ing luminar­ies to share their know­ledge, wis­dom, and val­ues, to be used as a spring­board to identi­fy new oppor­tun­it­ies, pos­sib­il­it­ies, and values.

Less so for tour­ism else­where. Little thought is giv­en to the val­ues vis­it­ors bring, or their influ­ence. It’s the money, honey

No won­der tourism’s hosts and guests fail to fully bene­fit from tourism’s hier­arch­ic­al val­ues, par­tic­u­larly those that are life-enhan­cing and provide social impact.

Therein lies a conundrum.

Jux­ta­pos­ing the dif­fer­ing mor­al and cul­tur­al val­ues of people with eco­nom­ic val­ues is always angst-indu­cing due to: 

  • Over-sat­ur­a­tion (man­aged par­tially through restric­tion and lim­it­a­tion, diver­sion and dis­per­sion, abund­ance and accept­ance);
  • Feel­ings of being over­whelmed and over-run, usurped and dis­placed; and
  • Adverse beha­vi­ors that are vis­ibly and aud­ibly grating.

Rec­ti­fic­a­tion is pos­sible but only when decisions are made to ‘flip the script’ from acqui­es­cence to:

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In Hindmarsh Valley, South Australia, visitors appreciate nature-positive values

Angela McLean, owner/operator, Old Coach Road Estate, Australia

While day-trip­ping remains pop­u­lar in our region, being just an hour from Adelaide’s CBD, it’s the vis­it­ors who choose to linger longer who bring the most sig­ni­fic­ant value to Fleur­ieu Pen­in­sula, South Australia. 

Angela McLean, owner/operator, Old Coach Road Estate, South Australia
Angela McLean

When vis­it­ors take the time to explore loc­al mar­kets, con­nect with com­munity events, and sup­port region­al pro­du­cers, they also leave with a deep­er con­nec­tion to place.

At Old Coach Road Estate, most of our guests are ini­tially drawn by our expans­ive views over Vic­tor Har­bor and the sense of seclu­sion in nature; the chance to wake to kangaroos out­side the win­dow or watch wedge-tailed eagles glid­ing over­head is part of what makes our place so memorable. 

Many guests tell us how much they appre­ci­ate the val­ues that under­pin what we do. Learn­ing about our regen­er­at­ive farm­ing prac­tices, nature-focused land­scap­ing, and com­mit­ment to renew­able energy, adds depth to their stay. It’s not always what draws guests here, but it’s often what they remember.

Win­ning an Aus­trali­an Tour­ism Award in 2024 was an hon­our, but even more mean­ing­ful to us is the feed­back we receive from our guests. People often tell us they leave feel­ing light­er, calmer, and more con­nec­ted. That, to me, is real value.

Ulti­mately, we meas­ure suc­cess not by num­bers alone, but by the kind of tour­ism we help shape; thought­ful, res­tor­at­ive, and groun­ded in place.

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In Spain, the unwelcome rise of the ‘Guiri’

Saverio Francesco Bertolucci, Business Development Specialist, VDB Luxury Properties, Spain

Tour­ism is a mat­ter of policy, des­tin­a­tion man­age­ment, and mar­ket­ing. In this con­text, Spain has been con­sol­id­at­ing its pos­i­tion as an aspir­a­tion­al des­tin­a­tion thanks to its lovely coastal attrac­tions, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and var­ied traditions. 

Man­aging volume qual­ity is prob­ably the hard­est prob­lem to solve in the cur­rent tour­ism eco­nomy. In 2024, more than 80 mil­lion for­eign­ers flocked to Span­ish beaches, towns, and vil­lages to eat mar­vel­lous food and enjoy the Iberi­an and Canari­an lifestyle.

Although the vast major­ity of tour­ists want to immerse them­selves into the cul­ture of the place, and appre­ci­ate it, there are fre­quent clashes in places that offer the night­life and activ­it­ies that tend to attract young groups and party­go­ers; a demo­graph­ic that is less keen on tra­di­tion­al cul­ture and more likely to dis­rupt pub­lic order. 

Noise pol­lu­tion and bad beha­viour from spe­cif­ic groups of tour­ists has led to an increase in the use of the word Guiri, used by Span­iards to refer to “uncouth for­eign tour­ists, usu­ally those with North­ern European looks”. 

Obvi­ously, you can­’t tar every­one with the same brush: North­ern European and Anglo­phone peoples are also cul­ture lov­ers, and many have bought second homes in Spain. How­ever, the most recent case of tour­ists push­ing rocks off a cliff in Ibiza shows how poten­tially destruct­ive, dan­ger­ous, and irre­par­able some tour­ists’ actions can be. 

The loud and dis­respect­ful minor­ity dam­ages the image and repu­ta­tion of the many good tour­ists who just want to spend a lovely time in Spain. Their bad beha­viours also fuel resent­ment for an industry that con­trib­utes much to the nation’s prosper­ity and wellbeing.

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In Singapore, inbound tourism helps preserve cultural heritage

Kevin Phun, Founder & Director, The Centre for Responsible Tourism Singapore

It is not com­mon here in Singa­pore for people to talk about the value tour­ists bring with them when they vis­it. Hence it makes for a poten­tially inter­est­ing discussion.

Singa­pore is one of the most pop­u­lous places after Macau and Monaco. We are used to (although some are still try­ing to get used to) hav­ing out­siders in our midst. 

Tra­di­tion­ally, most vis­it­ors would be found in the tour­ist attrac­tions, most of which are loc­ated in or near the town area.

How­ever, inter­est­ingly, some vis­it­ors are now head­ing for less touristy spots, includ­ing the heart­lands, where most loc­al Singa­por­eans live. 

See­ing vis­it­ors in the heart­lands is becom­ing more com­mon. On any giv­en day, one can see a small hand­ful of “non-loc­al look­ing” people walk­ing around and gaz­ing at things we take for gran­ted in our neigh­bour­hoods, includ­ing tra­di­tion­al shops that reflect our dif­fer­ent eth­nic groups. 

Indeed shop­keep­ers are now work­ing with tour oper­at­ors and des­tin­a­tion man­age­ment com­pan­ies to wel­come vis­it­ors into their establishments. 

In a way, inbound tour­ism is help­ing to extend the shelf life of these shops and the pro­file of the dis­tricts they are in, and we are happy with that. 

It reminds us loc­als of the value of hav­ing these busi­nesses around; busi­nesses that deal in old tra­di­tions we prob­ably do not always cherish. 

In Singa­pore, inbound tour­ism helps pre­serve and pro­tect cul­tur­al her­it­age that Singa­por­eans them­selves can some­times take for granted. 

The Centre for Respons­ible Tour­ism Singa­pore is a val­ued “Good Tour­ism” Part­ner.

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Stakeholders’ values are many and contradictory

Edwin Magio, PhD researcher, Leeds Beckett University, UK

One’s assess­ment of val­ues is con­text- and goal-depend­ent. In most tour­ism des­tin­a­tions, the val­ues held by the vari­ous stake­hold­ers’ are many and often contradictory 

Tour­ists tend to vis­it des­tin­a­tions that offer exper­i­ences that align with what they would value in the hol­i­day time they have avail­able. Young tour­ists might, for example, seek out fun and excite­ment. In con­trast, a small com­munity that val­ues peace and quiet will neither be very attract­ive to them nor very wel­com­ing of them.

No mat­ter a tourist’s demo­graph­ic or des­tin­a­tion, prob­lems arise when their pres­ence and beha­viours con­flict with loc­al val­ues and neg­at­ively affects loc­al ways of life. 

And, regard­less of indi­vidu­al bad beha­viour, the poten­tial neg­at­ive impacts of unman­aged tour­ism, such as heav­ier con­ges­tion and inflated prices, are unlikely to be wel­comed anywhere. 

To achieve sus­tain­able tour­ism devel­op­ment, we must strike a bal­ance between con­flict­ing val­ues; ensur­ing tour­ists’ needs are sat­is­fied while pro­tect­ing the envir­on­ment and the eco­nom­ic, social, and psy­cho­lo­gic­al well-being of host communities.

We can cre­ate this bal­ance by recog­nising trade-offs and weigh­ing each value against all the oth­ers. This involves respect­ing dif­fer­ent val­ues, find­ing ways to accom­mod­ate them, and mak­ing choices on what mat­ters most. By doing so, we can cre­ate a sus­tain­able and har­mo­ni­ous tour­ism envir­on­ment that works for everyone.

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‘Bangkok must strike a careful balance’

Peter Semone, Chair, Pacific Asia Travel Association, Thailand

Hav­ing lived and worked in Bangkok, Thai­l­and for over two dec­ades, I’ve seen firsthand how tour­ism has shaped the city’s evolution. 

Tour­ism has promp­ted pub­lic author­it­ies to tackle com­plex urb­an chal­lenges, lead­ing to trans­form­at­ive improve­ments such as the BTS (Bangkok Trans­it Sys­tem) Skytrain and MRT (Met­ro­pol­it­an Rap­id Trans­it), a dynam­ic culin­ary scene, and world-class enter­tain­ment and shop­ping venues. 

I value Bangkok’s relaxed, open-minded spir­it; an atti­tude that reflects the city’s role as an urb­an hub for the ASEAN (Asso­ci­ation of South­east Asi­an Nations) region and the Great­er Mekong Subregion.

Eco­nom­ic­ally, vis­it­ors are a power­house. Bangkok con­sist­ently ranks among Asia’s top cit­ies for tour­ism GDP con­tri­bu­tion, with com­bined domest­ic and inter­na­tion­al vis­it­or spend­ing exceed­ing US$ 20 bil­lion per annum. 

Bey­ond rev­en­ue, tour­ism cata­lyses broad­er civic bene­fits: safer streets, improved pub­lic ser­vices, and a rich cul­tur­al life that serves both res­id­ents and trav­el­lers. This affirms the idea that ‘a good place to live is a great place to visit’.

Still, scale mat­ters. Pur­su­ing growth without lim­its risks over-tour­ism, envir­on­ment­al degrad­a­tion, and cul­tur­al dilution. 

Like many des­tin­a­tions in Asia, Bangkok must strike a care­ful bal­ance. Without that bal­ance, the city may bear ‘invis­ible bur­dens’, where res­id­ents shoulder the hid­den costs of tour­ism redu­cing loc­al meaningfulness.

To avoid this, we must redefine what tour­ism suc­cess looks like. 

Instead of focus­ing solely on vis­it­or num­bers or spend­ing, we should meas­ure how well tour­ism con­trib­utes to com­munity well-being, cul­tur­al con­tinu­ity, and envir­on­ment­al resi­li­ence. Only then can tour­ism give back more than it takes, and help ensure that Bangkok remains not only a great place to vis­it, but a thriv­ing place to live.

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Can Lapland negotiate value, values, volume without rethinking global capitalism?

Vilhelmiina Vainikka, geographer, post-doctoral research fellow, Tampere University, Finland

Lap­land, with its cap­it­al Rovaniemi, is facing overtourism. 

While record vis­it­or num­bers are seen by some as a suc­cess, many loc­als express con­cern over dis­rup­tions to daily life and hous­ing short­ages dur­ing the winter high season. 

The Finnish region’s appeal — Santa Claus, winter activ­it­ies, pristine nature, and reindeer — draws glob­al atten­tion, but also raises ten­sions around land use and own­er­ship, espe­cially among loc­als and the Indi­gen­ous Sámi people. 

For vis­it­ors, tour­ism holds diverse mean­ings, e.g. nature, relax­a­tion, cul­ture, or fam­ily time.

Vast and sparsely pop­u­lated, Lap­land has long been treated as a “resource peri­phery” by tour­ism, min­ing, and forestry. This clashes with Finland’s Jokais­en­oikeu­det (“Everyman’s Rights”), which allow pub­lic access to most land for walk­ing and for­aging, exclud­ing private yards. As volumes grow, loc­al access is increas­ingly restric­ted, and envir­on­ment­al degrad­a­tion and pri­vacy con­cerns grow. 

Large-scale devel­op­ments prom­ise jobs and may be inclus­ive of dif­fer­ent socio-eco­nom­ic groups but often lack cul­tur­al sens­it­iv­ity, sus­tain­ab­il­ity, and loc­al eco­nom­ic bene­fit. Many are extern­ally fin­anced, lim­it­ing loc­al control. 

While niche, high-spend­ing tour­ists are often favored for their per­ceived appre­ci­ation of loc­al cul­ture, this assump­tion is ideal­ised. Niche tour­ism is not inher­ently more sus­tain­able, espe­cially when reli­ant on air travel or shopping. 

Eth­ic­al ques­tions arise: Who is wel­comed? Who is excluded?

Rising volumes are driv­en not only by infra­struc­ture but also by glob­al pub­li­city and plat­forms like Airbnb. 

In addi­tion, lux­ury tour­ism is grow­ing in Lap­land, often in exclus­ive, remote loc­a­tions, with heli­copter trans­fers from private jets dis­tan­cing it from sus­tain­ab­il­ity. While celebrity sight­ings may excite loc­als, the long-term value to com­munit­ies is questionable.

Ulti­mately, the volume, value — and val­ues — of tour­ism are con­stantly nego­ti­ated. But can these truly shift without rethink­ing the glob­al cap­it­al­ist sys­tem that drives mod­ern tourism?

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