Happy World Tourism Day!

The Tourism Alert and Action Forum has released a critical statement focused on World Tourism Day 2018. Read this extract and comment on it.

TOURISM AND DIGITAL DYSTOPIAS THIS WORLD TOURISM DAY

World Tourism Day arrives annually on September 27th. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) seizes the moment to tout tourism as the solution to poverty, the pathway to development and the tool to empower communities. This flies in the face of the evidence from the grassroots that we of the Tourism Alert and Action Forum see every day. This year’s World Tourism Day (WTD) theme is “Tourism and the Digital Transformation”. The UNWTO proclaims:

"We know that a digitally advanced tourism sector can improve entrepreneurship, inclusion, local community empowerment and efficient resource management, amongst other important development objectives. This year’s WTD will help us to further explore the opportunities provided to tourism by technological advances including big data, artificial intelligence and digital platforms."(http://wtd.unwto.org/content/worldtourism-day-2018).

Invoking the public relations terms long favoured by tourism proponents including “sustainable”, “responsible” and “inclusive”, the UNWTO joins the bandwagon praising the arrival of digital technologies in tourism:

"World Tourism Day 2018 is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the potential contribution of digital technologies to sustainable tourism development, while providing a platform for investment, partnerships and collaboration towards a more responsible and inclusive tourism sector."

This statement is laughable when this WTD would be better invoked with the word on everyone’s lips, “overtourism”. The digital technologies the UNWTO advocates are in part the cause of the overtourism onslaught. For instance, the digital disruptions of Airbnb and Uber are decimating neighbourhoods, making workers precarious and shirking corporate regulations. The social media apps of Instagram and facebook are increasing the almost pathological narcissism of tourists. A case in point is found in Goa, India, which has taken the step of implementing 24 “no-self zones” on its coastline as a response to deaths and casualties of selfie-taking tourists. Destinations are no longer seen as vibrant places with living and struggling communities but instead as photogenic locations holding iconic sites attractive solely for their Instagram capture-ability.

A philosophical point to address is exactly what do the UNWTO’s WTD public relations crew mean by “sustainable tourism development”? The term sustainable is problematic and has been abused for years as a cover for the irresponsibility and unsustainability of tourism. Almost universally, tourism practices have been geared to growth and it is clear that ceaseless growth on a finite planet is not possible. These words could be more accurately rearranged as ceaseless development to sustain tourism.

(Full statement available at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TourismAlertAndActionForum)

Ready for Level 3?

Welcome to Level 3!

In this introductory session you're required to carry out two production tasks.

1. Written expression. Write a story in pairs using as many as the following words as possible:

-Actually

-Career

-Despite

-Regardless of

-Had she/he only known

Swap your texts with another pair after 10 minutes and go on writing them until all of you have contributed to all the stories. Use your imagination and be creative!

2. Oral expression. Rank the following concepts according to your personal priorities in life:

-Family

-Friends

-Health

-Money

-Politics

-Romance

-Sex

-Sport

-Studies

-Work

Make a list individually and then compare it to other students' choices to reach a consensus and create a single list. Once you've finished, join another pair to follow the same process and come up with a single list you all agree with. Provide arguments for this pyramidal discussion until all the class produces a common ranking.