“Good Tourism” Insight Bites

A “GT” Insight Bites post is a col­lec­tion of short writ­ten responses to an identic­al set of pro­pos­i­tions and/or ques­tions that The “Good Tour­ism” Blog puts to a diverse range of travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers. “GT” pub­lishes all the replies after only very light copy-edit­ing, ensur­ing that the respond­ents’ con­sidered thoughts on the mat­ter are faith­fully represented.

What is ‘authenticity’ in travel & tourism?

September 29, 2025

What is ‘authenticity’ in travel & tourism?

‘Authen­ti­city’ is the ideal for many trav­el­lers, influ­en­cers, and com­ment­at­ors. But what is it? Can des­tin­a­tion mar­keters and tour­ism pro­fes­sion­als pack­age it and sell it … authentically? 

Thanks to Prof Valer­ia Minghetti and Dr Sham­iso Nyajeka for tak­ing the time to share their thoughts on the ques­tion. Their responses appear in the order received. 

And thanks to Dr Seye­deh Fate­meh Mosta­favi Shirazi for an insight into the chal­lenges of domest­ic over­tour­ism in north­ern Iran.

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Undertourism: Who’s suffering, and why?

August 26, 2025

Gemini AI-generated image prompted by the headline of this post: Undertourism: "Who's suffering, and why?" Per Gemini: "This image uses the well-known 'tip of the iceberg' metaphor. The beautiful, stable tip above the water represents the visible, successful luxury end of the tourism industry. Below the surface, however, the massive, unseen foundation is fracturing and breaking apart, symbolising the hidden suffering of the smaller, foundational players who support the entire structure." “GT” cropped it and added the words.

Under­tour­ism: Who’s suf­fer­ing, and why?

Many thanks to Saverio Francesco Ber­to­lu­cci, Jim Butcher, Dorji Dhradhul, K Michael Hay­wood, and Chris Kit­tish­in­nak­uppe for shar­ing their thoughts on ‘under­tour­ism’; the flip side of ‘over­tour­ism’.

Their responses appear in the order received. 

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Tourism, war, and peace

August 19, 2025

Tourism, war, and peace: Some are calling on tourism leaders to do more to promote peace. Given that tourism is often among the first casualties of war, in what tangible and measurable ways can its leaders foster peace and understanding? Gemini-generated image cropped by "GT" with words added.

Some are call­ing on tour­ism lead­ers to do more to pro­mote peace. Giv­en that tour­ism is often among the first cas­u­al­ties of war, in what tan­gible and meas­ur­able ways can its lead­ers foster peace and understanding?

Four respond­ents from the “Good Tour­ism” net­work took the time to share their thoughts.

Have a thought to share? Respond in the com­ments at any time. 

Or write a Bite. 

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

June 17, 2025

Signalling or substance in tourism: What's your take? Image generated by Gemini AI. "GT" cropped it and added the words.

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?

Have a thought to share? Respond in the com­ments at any time.

Thanks to the fol­low­ing five respond­ents for tak­ing the time to share their thoughts: 

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

June 2, 2025

Outbound doesn’t care about sustainability | Well-being must include meaning | BiteX | Photo by David Courbit (CC0) via Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-turtle-in-water-during-daytime-M8xxVih_V_U "GT" cropped it and added the words.

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. 

Click/touch a name to go to their “GT” Insight BiteX:

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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

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. 

Thanks to the fol­low­ing 10 par­ti­cipants — pro­fess­ors, pro­fes­sion­als, and prac­ti­tion­ers  — for tak­ing the time to share their thoughts:

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