What is the Trouble With Tourism?

Note to Attendees: Please consider making a $5 donation to contribute to the running costs of this Meetup.

Tourism is often praised as a path to discovery — a way to broaden horizons and connect with new cultures. Yet as Paul Theroux quipped, “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.” Beneath the romance of travel lies a harder question: what happens when visiting a place begins to change it?

As destinations adapt to outsiders, authenticity can slip, cultures can be packaged for consumption, and communities may end up performing curated versions of themselves. The search for the “exotic” can freeze living cultures in place, or reduce them to spectacles designed to satisfy visitor expectations.

At our next meetup, we’ll explore whether tourism, for all its benefits, may also carry hidden costs. The questions we will address are as follows:

1. Does tourism preserve culture — or slowly corrupt it?
2. Is the desire for the “exotic” a form of curiosity, or a subtle kind of exploitation?
3. Is there a meaningful difference between a traveller and a tourist — or is the distinction just ego?

This event will be held at The Osbourne Hotel in Fortitude Valley. After the discussion, we’ll stay on for a meal and a drink together — a chance to continue the conversation in a more relaxed setting and support the venue.

PLEASE NOTE:
– This is intended to be a good-natured but robust discussion. Please be respectful and prepared to have your ideas challenged. If you are easily offended, this event may not be for you.