News and questions (without answers) from the week ending February 15, 2026

The phe­nomen­on of ‘last chance tour­ism’ — rush­ing to see a site before it dis­ap­pears — has long been an uncom­fort­able mar­ket­ing hook. This week, research has quan­ti­fied the irony, high­light­ing how melt­ing gla­ciers are draw­ing record vis­it­or numbers.

As cli­mate change alters the phys­ic­al product of tour­ism, will the industry pivot to pre­ser­va­tion, or sell tick­ets to the end of the world?

News and questions (without answers) from the week ending February 8, 2026

The industry’s gaze is often fixed firmly on the hori­zon, if not the stars, but the vis­ion is becom­ing frag­men­ted. While bil­lion­aires recal­ib­rate their exit strategies, trav­el­lers on the ground are ask­ing for some­thing far more prosaic.

This high­lights a recur­ring dis­con­nect for 2026: The industry is selling a futur­ist­ic vis­ion of AI assist­ants and sub-orbit­al flights, while the con­sumer is often just try­ing to get from Point A to Point B without hit­ting a pot-hole.

News and questions (without answers) from the week ending February 1, 2026

In a week in which there were calls for “united action” to man­age tour­ism growth, two stor­ies high­light the dis­par­ate meas­ures des­tin­a­tions are tak­ing to handle vis­it­or numbers.

This presents a poten­tial dicho­tomy for 2026: one half of the world appears to be pay­ing people to arrive, while the oth­er is explor­ing ways to encour­age them to stay away.

News and questions (without answers) from the week ending January 25, 2026

The head­line of the week is a famil­i­ar one: “Thou­sands of tour­ists stranded”. 

As unex­pec­ted extreme weath­er grounds flights and halts itin­er­ar­ies, the fra­gil­ity of the glob­al travel net­work is exposed yet again. 

But while the industry focuses on ‘resi­li­ence’ through infra­struc­ture spend­ing — such as the mil­lions pledged for North Queens­land — a quieter fund­ing crisis is unfolding.

News and questions (without answers) from the week ending January 18, 2026

The nar­rat­ive of “green travel” has often relied on the prom­ise of addi­tion: more effi­cient planes, more sus­tain­able fuels, more trees planted. But this week, the con­ver­sa­tion shif­ted to sub­trac­tion; the remov­al of busi­ness class.

But as space tour­ism gears up, are we head­ing for a future in which the masses are squeezed into eco­nomy to save the plan­et, while the ultra-elite plan to leave it?

News and questions (without answers) from the week ending January 11, 2026

If 2025 was the year of the ‘rebound’, 2026 is shap­ing up to be the year of the ‘reck­on­ing’. As head­lines declare this the ‘Year of Tour­ism’ driv­en by mega-events and busi­ness travel, the oper­a­tion­al real­ity on the ground is far more complex.

From Hawaii’s legis­lat­ive stut­ter-steps on cli­mate taxes to the stark warn­ing for snorkel­ers in Bali, the fric­tion between growth and gov­ernance is intensifying.