What is good tourism? “Good Tourism” & “GT” Travel wrap May-June 2025

Wel­come to the May-June 2025 wrap of “Good Tour­ism” & “GT” Travel news, insights, and exper­i­ences shared by friends and Part­ners of The “Good Tour­ism” Blog. [You too can share.]

What is good tour­ism? Per­haps it is shar­ing sur­plus pro­duce with your neighbours …

“Good Tour­ism” nev­er defines ‘good tour­ism’. Your cor­res­pond­ent would nev­er be so bold. The fact is that what’s good for one stake­hold­er may not be good for another. 

Travel & tour­ism is a com­plex industry, so it is a good idea to open one’s mind to per­spect­ives one may nev­er oth­er­wise encounter. 

This is the “Good Tour­ism” mis­sion. It’s “GT”. And go!

(Click/touch an item on the shar­ing menu to go straight to it. And don’t for­get to share.)

What does good tourism mean to you?

Have you ever wanted to write a thought­ful piece about the state of the tour­ism industry; how we got here; how we can make it bet­ter (or avoid the worst)?

Has a lack of con­fid­ence in your writ­ing held you back? Well, please don’t let it. Your cor­res­pond­ent is here to help you. 

If you sub­mit a draft that com­plies with the simple “GT” Insight guidelines, I will per­son­ally copy edit your work and ensure that you are happy with it before I click ‘Pub­lish’.

The freedom to share

Just as “Good Tour­ism” nev­er defines ‘good tour­ism’, “GT” will nev­er judge any­one who would, in good faith, share their insights, ideas, expert­ise, exper­i­ence, and wis­dom. It’s part of “GT’s” mis­sion to offer a plat­form for truly diverse per­spect­ives and opinions: 

• From estab­lished lead­ers in aca­demia and industry to young people with the gump­tion to express themselves; 
• From elite glob­al organ­isa­tions to the most mod­est micro busi­nesses (like “GT”);
• From the world’s ‘WEIRD’ (west­ern, edu­cated, indus­tri­al­ised, rich, and demo­crat­ic) places to the ‘LDCs’ (least developed coun­tries) in the ‘Glob­al South’;
• (From those who adore acronyms and cat­egor­ies to those who des­pise them ;-))
• From the centre and from the mar­gins.

No, “GT” doesn’t judge. “GT” publishes.

Join the “GT” net­work. Con­tact “GT” »

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“Good Tourism” Insights: Informed perspectives on tourism

The “Good Tour­ism” Blog pub­lishes informed opin­ions on the issues facing the travel & tour­ism industry, everyone’s busi­ness. “GT” Insights are diverse per­spect­ives writ­ten by, for, and about our sec­tor. Here are the most recent:

How should travel & tourism respond to threats to free movement, thought?

If the United States under Don­ald Trump threatens free­dom of move­ment and free­dom of thought — and the busi­nesses and live­li­hoods that facil­it­ate both — what should travel, tour­ism, and hos­pit­al­ity stake­hold­ers do? K Michael Hay­wood reck­ons industry and the academy should put aside long-stand­ing differences.

It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [You too?]

• Demo­cra­cies in decline …
• … cur­tail­ing the good in tourism
• … and the effect­ive­ness of tour­ism education
• Author­it­ari­an­ism is bad for business …
• … and travel & tourism’s tal­ent pool
• Tour­ism edu­ca­tion and industry rela­tions were already under strain …
• … so it is time to come together
• What do you think? 
• About the author

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Can we measure well-being? Rethinking ‘sustainability’ in nature-based tourism

Has ‘sus­tain­ab­il­ity’ in travel & tour­ism become too nar­rowly focussed on a single ‘P’, Plan­et, side­lin­ing the well-being of people? 

Beth All­good thinks it may have, espe­cially in the nature-based and eco­tour­ism niches. 

Ms All­good pro­poses how we might meas­ure well-being in order to man­age it. It’s her second “Good Tour­ism” Insight.

[You too can write a “GT” Insight.]

• Sus­tain­ab­il­ity must include people
• Rede­fin­ing what counts
• How do we meas­ure what matters?
• Why should the tour­ism industry care?
• Why now?
• What do you think? 
• About the author

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“GT” Insight Bites

A “GT” Insight Bites post is a com­pil­a­tion of short responses to an identic­al set of pro­pos­i­tions and/or ques­tions, and/or a col­lec­tion of short opin­ion pieces that travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers are wel­come to sub­mit at any time (BiteX). Here are the most recent Bites:

Is a travel & tourism career still attractive? Important things to understand in 2025

Is a travel & tour­ism career still attract­ive in 2025? What is the most import­ant thing that a young per­son should under­stand before embark­ing upon a career in tourism?

Thanks to the six respond­ents — pro­fess­ors and pro­fes­sion­als in the private and pub­lic sec­tors, all good people — who took the time to share their thoughts on the ques­tion. Their responses appear in the order received.

• Find a brand that matches your personality
  • Saverio Francesco Ber­to­lu­cci, busi­ness devel­op­ment, Spain
• A travel & tour­ism career is ‘not for everyone’
  • Sham­iso Nyajeka, edu­cat­or, Cambodia
• Travel & tour­ism rewards an entre­pren­eur­i­al spirit
  • Doreen Nyam­weya, tour­ism offi­cial, Kenya
• Join ‘the care eco­nomy; the organ­ising found­a­tion of organ­ic life’
  • K Michael Hay­wood, pub­lish­er, Canada
• In Spain, tour­ism gradu­ates find work but earn less
  • Greg Richards, pro­fess­or, Netherlands
• In Bhutan, a career in tour­ism is ‘still attract­ive’ but ‘no longer easy’
  • Dorji Dhradhul, author, Bhutan
• What do you think? 

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

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?

Thanks to the fol­low­ing 10 par­ti­cipants — pro­fess­ors, pro­fes­sion­als, and prac­ti­tion­ers in the pub­lic, private, and mixed sec­tors — for tak­ing the time to share their thoughts. Their responses appear in the order received. 

• In Can­ter­bury, UK, ‘we’ve much to be thank­ful for’ includ­ing tourism 
  • Jim Butcher, aca­dem­ic, UK
• In Khao Sok, Thai­l­and, Anurak attracts like-minded guests
  • Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe, mar­keter, Thailand
• In Cam­bod­ia, Car­damom guests keep the rain­forest standing
  • Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe, mar­keter, Thailand
• St Helena wel­comes vis­it­ors who ‘respect and appre­ci­ate’ the island
  • Mar­cella Mit­tens, eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment offi­cial, St Helena
• The val­ues conundrum
  • K Michael Hay­wood, pub­lish­er, emer­it­us pro­fess­or, Canada
• In South Aus­tralia, vis­it­ors appre­ci­ate nature-pos­it­ive values
  • Angela McLean, owner/operator, Australia
• In Spain, the unwel­come rise of the ‘Guiri’
  • Saverio Francesco Ber­to­lu­cci, mar­keter, Spain
• In Singa­pore, inbound tour­ism helps pre­serve cul­tur­al heritage
  • Kev­in Phun, founder, train­er, con­sult­ant, Singapore
• Stake­hold­ers’ val­ues are many and contradictory
  • Edwin Magio, aca­dem­ic, UK
• ‘Bangkok must strike a care­ful balance’
  • Peter Semone, con­sult­ant, Thailand
• Can Lap­land nego­ti­ate without rethink­ing glob­al capitalism?
  • Vil­helmi­ina Vain­ikka, aca­dem­ic, Finland
• What do you think? 

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Signalling or substance in tourism: What’s your take?

Sig­nalling or sub­stance: What’s your assess­ment of the cur­rent bal­ance between ‘vir­tue sig­nalling’ and genu­ine ‘best prac­tice’ in the tour­ism industry where you live, work, or operate?

Thanks to the fol­low­ing five respond­ents for tak­ing the time to share their thoughts. Their responses appear in the order received. 

• Brit­ish youth hostel his­tory shows ‘sig­nalling can lead to substance’
  • Duncan M Simpson, writer/historian, UK
• In south­ern Thai­l­and, ‘vir­tue sig­nalling remains common’
  • Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe, mar­keter, Thailand
• Cambodia’s tour­ism sec­tor ‘must move bey­ond mar­ket­ing claims’
  • Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe, mar­keter, Thailand
• Bend, Ore­gon, USA: ‘Come for the brews and views, stay for the virtue’
  • Ed Jack­iewicz, pro­fess­or, USA
• In rur­al and remote BC, Canada, tourism’s best prac­tice is survival
  • Richard But­ler, emer­it­us pro­fess­or, Scotland
• ‘Plat­it­udes, sig­nalling, grand­stand­ing erode trust and credibility’
  • K Michael Hay­wood, emer­it­us professor/publisher, Canada
• What do you think? 

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Outbound doesn’t care about sustainability | Well-being must include meaning

Send no more than 300 words on any tour­ism-related idea or con­cern you may have.

This is an open invit­a­tion to travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers to con­trib­ute a “GT” Insight Bite_X (where ‘X’ is up to you).

Thanks to Kev­in Phun for his thoughts about out­bound travel agents’ and tour oper­at­ors’ rela­tion­ship with the notion of sus­tain­ab­il­ity, and Wolfgang Georg Arlt for shar­ing his think­ing around well-being and meaning. 

Their responses appear in the order received. 

• Out­bound sec­tor needs not care about sus­tain­ab­il­ity. Really?
  • Kev­in Phun, Founder, Centre for Respons­ible Tour­ism Singapore
• Well-being is hol­ist­ic and must include meaning
  • Wolfgang Georg Arlt, ED, Mean­ing­ful Tour­ism Centre, Nepal
• What do you think? 

Share a “GT” Travel Experience or “GT” Travel Postcard

Are you a ‘tour­ism insider’ keen to share some of the exper­i­ences that got you inter­ested and keep you inter­ested in the travel & tour­ism industry?

Have you ever wanted to write a travel blog about an inspir­ing travel exper­i­ence … and have it published?

You are invited to share your travel pas­sion with dis­cern­ing trav­el­lers, and join a list of oth­er dis­tin­guished “GT” Friends who have done just that.

It could be a “GT” Travel Exper­i­ence (500 – 1,000 words) or a “GT” Travel Post­card (your favour­ite photo from a trip accom­pan­ied by an exten­ded cap­tion of up to 300 words).

It doesn’t mat­ter if you think you can’t write. I will per­son­ally copy-edit your draft and ensure that you are happy with it before I hit the ‘pub­lish’ button.

It’s all part of the “GT” Travel Exper­i­ence.

Join the “GT” net­work. Con­tact “GT” »

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Good news from friends

Good news in travel & tour­ism from the won­der­ful organ­isa­tions that make “GT” pos­sible. Here is some of what happened recently in the “Good Tour­ism” network:

50% off responsible tourism, sustainability courses to mark World Environment Day

Greet­ings to all tour­ism stakeholders! 

June 5 was World Envir­on­ment Day.

To make the day a little more mean­ing­ful for those who want to learn more, we at the Centre for Respons­ible Tour­ism Singa­pore are pleased to offer you 50% off for all our online courses. 

Receive 50% off CRTS’ responsible tourism courses — use coupon code crts-50-off-all when you check out.

Receive 50% off my sustainabilty courses HERE.

Learn some­thing about travel & tour­ism, its impacts, issues, and complexities. 

Courses are avail­able to any­one, any­where (not just Singa­pore). Buy for your­self, a friend, a cous­in, or even your Dad. Father’s Day is also coming!

And the offer runs for six months!

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The importance of good partnerships

To help you nav­ig­ate dire straits, take the tem­per­at­ure in an uncer­tain cli­mate, and keep your head when all about you are los­ing theirs, it’s wise to seek out good part­ners.

“GT” Partnership places are strictly limited!

“GT” is a good part­ner. There is a “GT” Part­ner­ship pack­age for any organ­isa­tion — big or small; pub­lic or private; com­mer­cial or not-for-profit — because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business. 

All “GT” Part­ners enjoy out­stand­ing value, includ­ing Part­ner mes­sages, and the oppor­tun­ity to con­trib­ute news to the “GT” news­let­ter and to these ‘What is good tour­ism?’ wraps.

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Your comments

If there are com­ments on any “GT” post, you will find them below the main con­tent of that post. You need to be signed in first. 

The “GT” Blog requires regis­tra­tion and sign in to make com­ment, read com­ments, and reply to com­ments. Why? Because “GT” is a ‘safe space’ for diverse per­spect­ives and respect­ful, friendly debate. 

You will NOT be banned for your off-the-wall opin­ions or your weird sense of humour (with­in reas­on; even if the capri­cious algorithms of our big tech over­lords pun­ish the publisher). 

How­ever, you WILL be banned for enga­ging in argu­mentum ad hom­inem. If you dis­agree with some­thing, always tackle the argu­ment not the indi­vidu­al mak­ing it.

Join the “Good Tour­ism” community

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Friends indeed

“Friends indeed” are worthy travel & tour­ism industry fun­draisers and char­it­able causes that are asso­ci­ated with or sug­ges­ted by “GT” Part­ners and friends. Please help them if you can. Share the page with your net­works. And link to it from your website.

Stay healthy, smile, have a good time … And when you travel, remember:

#KnowNotNo … It’s not ‘no’. It’s ‘know’.

Gotta go? Then go!
If you’ve time, go slow
If you don’t, try low
Do what you know is good
And know there is more to know

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Featured image (top of post)

What is good tour­ism in May-June 2025? Per­haps it is shar­ing sur­plus pro­duce with your neigh­bours … Photo by Elaine Casap (CC0) via Unsplash.

Donations, diversity, disclosure

To help your cor­res­pond­ent keep his energy-effi­cient lights on, please con­sider a private one-off gift or ongo­ing dona­tion. THANK YOU to those who have! 

You are a tour­ism stake­hold­er — yes, YOU! — so what’s your view? Do you dis­agree with any­thing you have read on “GT”? Join the con­ver­sa­tion. Com­ment below or share your “Good Tour­ism” Insights. Diversity of thought is wel­come on The “Good Tour­ism” Blog. And your ori­gin­al con­tent sup­ports an inde­pend­ent publisher.

Part­ner with “GT”.

Note: It is “GT’s” policy to fully dis­close Part­ner or sponsored con­tent. If an item asso­ci­ated with a “GT” Part­ner is not dis­closed as such, then it either met the “GT” Insight guidelines (includ­ing “avoid sales pitches”) or it was a simple oversight.

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