Round table. Tourism or what?

Tourism, which not so many years ago was a fairly minority activity, has become the «pestilence» of the 21^st century.

A bit of history

Tourism arose thanks to the establishment of 2 weeks of paid vacation in France in August 1936, thanks to the Popular Front government. It was one more step towards the welfare state and a kind of comensatory «reward» for not receiving the salary they deserve or for working fewer hours.

From its establishment, unions, associations and religious groups tried to make the most of the workers' free time, also contributing to their education. It was, therefore, a «social tourism», which proposed activities and holiday camps for workers.

Capitalims gets in the way

It did not take long for capitalist companies to take control of tourism and expand the offer. They have turned tourism into one of the most productive businesses of the 20th and 21st centuries.

«Traveler» or «tourist»?

The first is «the person who moves from one place to another, usually distant, by any means of locomotion » . It is a minority and has always been a «rara avis» for the rich ones.

The second is «the person who travels for pleasure» or so it is assumed. Its first purpose was adventure, although it was very quickly distorted.

Travel or tourism?

The journey is linked to the «journey»; tourism, to the destination.

The first begins in our mind, begins at the door of the house and ends when we return or decide to stay on one of the «stopovers». Odysseus did so back to Ithaca, his home. The duration of the itinerary is important; as well as the discovery it implies.

On the contrary, the tourist «transplants to another place» to reach a destination. As for the time, it is short, comfortable and anodyne.

Novelty turned into a habit

Today vacations are not understood if it is not going somewhere and the obligatory question is: where are you going on vacation? No one asks: what will you do this vacation?

Tourist disappointments:

1. When the tourist arrives at his destination, he begins to think that he was better at home, although he will never confess it to anyone.
2. They will find that their last trip is very similar to the previous ones...
3. When they arrive, they will find thousands of tourists like them who remind them that they are common tourists.
4. The authenticity promised by the travel agency is false.

«Have a vacation» or «go on vacation»?

The first is a right that our ancestors fought for. It provided us with rest.

The second, a capitalist mandate that turns us into consumerist slaves but that does not bring us enjoyment and does bring us tiredness.

Adventure or chronicle of a destination foretold?

The traveler goes on an adventure without expecting anything. The tourist arrives at previously chosen and designed places where he meets other tourists. It does not aspire to surprise, but to receive a concrete service. He is not interested in cultural discovery or taking risks or going out to explore, but in being ordered, as a good consumerist, what has been programmed for him: rentals, means of transport (bicycles, skates, sailing boats, camels...). The ultimate is the «complete package».

Is there such a thing as tourist "magic"?

No, because everything is pre-arranged and your only interlocutors are waiters, hotel receptionists and tourist shop salespeople. The former go to «enjoy» and the latter to «serve» them.

Tourism models

Organized or airbnb.

The «non-places» of tourism

They are exactly the same all over the world: airports, ports, «boutique cities», theme parks, railway stations, petrol stations, motorway rest areas, shopping centres, border areas, urban peripheries where the disinherited are crowded... These are places of confinement for tourists so that they consume even more. Example: «tropical paradises».

Is there such a thing as sustainable tourism?

No.

There are more options...

To ask ourselves why this eagerness to go out, to privilege the itinerary or the means of transport.

Precisely, in this section, I would like to introduce an option that is becoming fashionable and that demonstrates the insatiability of capitalism: sexual wellness as a tourist destination. This is how the New York Times reported it on November 22...

Tourism to discover the world or to escape from your daily life (forget it)?

Let the reader answer himself in a courageous way...