“GT” Insight Bites: Is a tourism career a ticket or a trap?

February 23, 2026
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Travel & tourism career: Ticket or trap? A Gemini-generated image.

Is a career in travel & tour­ism a tick­et to the world or a trap? What is your hon­est advice to a young per­son enter­ing the industry?

That’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight Bites question. 

Thanks to the four respond­ents writ­ing in from Canada and South­east Asia for their con­sidered thoughts. And thanks to Dav­id Beir­man from Aus­tralia for his “GT” Insight BiteX on academia’s rela­tion­ship with sustainability.

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

February 15, 2026

Travel & tourism news and questions (without answers) from the week ending February 15, 2026. A Gemini-generated image.

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?

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

“GT” Insight Bites: What’s AI doing for you?

February 9, 2026

In what way is artificial intelligence (AI) changing the way you work, hire, learn, or teach? A Gemini-generated image

In what way is arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) chan­ging the way you work, hire, learn, or teach?

With per­spect­ives from seni­or people in travel & tourism’s busi­ness, aca­dem­ic, act­iv­ist, air­line, and NGO worlds — and even from Iran — there is more depth in this com­pil­a­tion of “GT” Insight Bites than you might ini­tially pre­sume; des­pite AI being “the hot­test (and maybe the most bor­ing) sub­ject of the moment”, as one respond­ent described it.

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The flaw in sustainability: Why responsible tourism avoids hard questions

February 8, 2026

The flaw in sustainability and why responsible tourism avoids the hard questions. A Gemini-generated image.

Ewan Cluck­ie argues that travel & tourism’s sus­tain­ab­il­ity claims have cre­ated a cred­ib­il­ity crisis, and that it is time to ask hard ques­tions about own­er­ship, gov­ernance, and incentives.

“The travel industry talks a lot about sus­tain­ab­il­ity […] Yet trust in sus­tain­ab­il­ity claims is declin­ing, and scru­tiny from reg­u­lat­ors, con­sumers, and part­ners is increasing.”

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

February 8, 2026

News and questions (without answers) from the week ending February 8, 2026. A Gemini-generated image.

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.

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

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

February 1, 2026

Travel & tourism news wrap Week ending Feb 1, 2026 Gemini_Generated_Image_jofub5jofub5jofu

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.

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