“Good Tourism” Insights

Dancers, singers, and drummers from a local women’s cooperative welcome visitors to the Red Rocks Cultural Center in Nyakinama village, Rwanda. Pic by David Gillbanks.

Dan­cers, sing­ers, and drum­mers from a loc­al women’s cooper­at­ive wel­come vis­it­ors to the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Cen­ter in Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage, Rwanda. Pic by Dav­id Gillbanks.

“Good Tour­ism” Insights are ori­gin­al posts by aca­dem­ics, experts, and prac­ti­tion­ers who are keen to share their sus­tain­able tour­ism and respons­ible tour­ism insights, expert­ise, and exper­i­ences, in plain Eng­lish, for the bene­fit of all travel & tour­ism stakeholders.

Each “GT” Insight rep­res­ents the opin­ion of its author, NOT neces­sar­ily the opin­ion of The “Good Tour­ism” Blog, its Part­ners, or its pub­lish­er. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog neither pays nor is paid for any “GT” Insight. 

Any­one with an informed and sin­cerely-held opin­ion about travel & tour­ism is wel­come to sub­mit a “GT” Insight for pub­lic­a­tion. The “GT” Insight guidelines are very simple.

Thimlich Ohinga: UNESCO World Heritage site management is failing a local community

August 14, 2025
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The walls remain: Thimlich Ohinga Exclusionary heritage management is failing a community in Kenya

Even as Thim­lich Ohinga’s dry stone walls crumble, the loc­al com­munity con­tin­ues to be excluded from the man­age­ment of the Kenyan UNESCO World Her­it­age site. 

This accord­ing to tour­ism officer Doreen Nyam­wey­a’s who shares her second “Good Tour­ism” Insight:

Last month, July 2025, I spent time in Migori County, Kenya, on a field vis­it for my MSc thes­is on respons­ible tour­ism aware­ness levels among host com­munit­ies in her­it­age destinations …

Read More Thimlich Ohinga: UNESCO World Heritage site management is failing a local community
Posted in "GT" Destinations & Places, 'Tourism's Horizon: Travel for the Millions' book, "Good Tourism" in Africa, "Good Tourism" in Kenya, Insights & Best Practices
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Beyond sustainability: Regenerative hospitality helps restore Sri Lankan culture and heritage

August 7, 2025

"Good Tourism" guest author Dr Ashika Kalubadanage better appreciates her cultural heritage in Sri Lanka thanks to regenerative hospitality

Can cul­ture bundled into tour­ism products retain its ‘authen­t­ic’ cre­den­tials and deliv­er her­it­age value to host com­munit­ies and visitors? 

UK-based tour­ism edu­cat­or Ashi­ka Kalu­badan­age reck­ons so as she recon­nects with her own ances­tral her­it­age in Sri Lanka.

Thanks to “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner Tourism’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions for invit­ing Dr Ashi­ka Kalu­badan­age to write this “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You can too.)

Read More Beyond sustainability: Regenerative hospitality helps restore Sri Lankan culture and heritage
Posted in "GT" Destinations & Places, "Good Tourism" in Asia, "Good Tourism" in Sri Lanka, Insights & Best Practices
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Detty December: The rise of diaspora tourism in Nigeria

July 31, 2025

The colourful Calabar Carnival, ‘Africa’s Biggest Street Party’, is where tradition and modernity can mingle and is part of Detty December, a diaspora tourism draw. Pic by Teemages, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Detty Decem­ber is peak sea­son for tour­ism in Niger­ia thanks to the arrival of hun­dreds of thou­sands of expat­ri­ate Nigeri­ans and tour­ists with Nigeri­an her­it­age. Dia­spora tour­ism is a boon to Nigeri­a’s eco­nomy and a life­line to many of its ter­tiary indus­tries, includ­ing tour­ism. But can it be sus­tained, extended?

Thanks to “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner Tourism’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions for invit­ing Dr Shola Osinaike to write this “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You too can write one.)

Read More Detty December: The rise of diaspora tourism in Nigeria
Posted in "GT" Destinations & Places, "Good Tourism" in Africa, "Good Tourism" in Nigeria, Insights & Best Practices
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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: 

Read More Signalling or substance in tourism: What’s your take?
Posted in Insights & Best Practices, Insight Bites
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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:

Read More Outbound doesn’t care about sustainability | Well-being must include meaning
Posted in Insights & Best Practices, Insight Bites
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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?
Posted in Insight Bites, Insights & Best Practices
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