On Tourism

History

According to my History of Western Civilization textbook, tourism first became popular in Europe in the late 17th and early 18th century when transportation infrastructure such as roads, which had been in a state of decay since the end of the Roman Empire, were slowly rebuilt, allowing Europeans more freedom to move about. Interest in foreign places had also been piqued by the discovery and exploitation of the New World. Montaigne’s Essais, published in 1580 described the strange and horrible cultures discovered by European voyagers and it prompted him to question the strange cultures of his own age (see “On the Custom of Wearing Clothes” and “Of Cannibals”), introducing the West to the idea of cultural relativism.

It was in 1721 that the Persian Letters was published by Montesquieu. The book consists of a series of letters which were purportedly written by a Turkish sheik who left behind his five wives to travel to France. His letters home describe satirically the bizarre nature of French customs and laws. The foreign perspective presented in the novel prompted the curious French to undertake journeys abroad themselves to see foreign cultures from their own perspective. The early 18th century also witnessed the beginnings of the era of the nation state, and foreign travels helped to accentuate differences and fuel the fires of nationalism. The Industrial Revolution further improved transportation infrastructure and speed, adding railways and steam engines, and travel became more and more popular.

Mass Tourism

The development and popularity of mass tourism is a more recent trend. Travel was previously the reserve of the elite and wealthy. My mother’s middle class family, I am told, created a neighborhood event in the 1930s when they packed up Mom and Dad and all 6 kids in their Model A and left the heat of Texas for cool Colorado Springs. Such a family vacation was a rarity and everyone turned out to see them go. I remember my first commercial airplane flight; it was a prop plane from Fort Worth to Lubbock, Texas. I wore heels and hose and a nice dress. Most of the flight was spent eating and smoking and trying to forget I was in the middle of the air going hundreds of miles per hour. I’ve clocked lots of air miles since that time, most of them more unpleasant.

In 1981, People Express Airline decided that air travel was a right of the people and should be available to everyone much like bus travel. They introduced a cheap, one-class fare structure; passengers were allowed one carry-on bag and were charged for checked luggage; drinks and snacks were also offered for a fee; using train travel as a model, fares were collected on board before departure. Because they expanded too quickly and acquired too much debt, People Express soon had to change its business model to match the traditional airlines, adding classes of service and free services. While People Express no longer exists, its model of treating customers like cattle lives on and the hoi polloi have learned to expect cheap travel as their right.

Mass Tourism in Greece

Greece is a tourist destination. The principle basis of its economy is tourism, and most of that, especially on the Greek islands, appears to be mass tourism from the UK and other European countries. It’s the kind of tourism that revolves around cheap package vacations to the beach. The tourists aren’t interested in the rich Greek traditions and cultural heritage; they’re looking for a get-away where the rules of home don’t apply, the demands of work are far away, and they can take off their clothes and soak up the Mediterranean sun. The narrow streets of quaint Greek villages are lined with shops carrying tacky souvenirs catering to this trade, and angry little cars and mopeds clog the streets. Something about this phenomenon is distasteful. The shopkeepers seem sullen; the tourists themselves seem restless, bored and disrespectful of the local culture; the Greek beaches are littered with a plethora of hotels and beach resorts ranging from the tacky to the sublime.

Cultural Tourism in Greece

Another kind of tourism concentrates on museums and cultural sites. It assumes that travel should be an educational and uplifting experience. Cultural tourism, by immersing us in new and different cultures, offers us an opportunity to tap into the myriad ways that human beings have found to exist and to celebrate that existence. Of course, there’s an element of elitism and intellectual snobbery in saying such a thing. Greece offers a mind-boggling experience for the cultural tourist, but it takes some effort. Greek contributions to Western civilization are extensive and subtly buried in many of our commonest thoughts and actions. To be fully appreciated, a cultural visit to Greece needs to be accompanied by a complete course in Western civilization. Knowledge enhances enjoyment.

Of course, there are other reasons to travel, visiting family and friends, conducting business, seeing natural wonders, for example.

Do you have tourists coming to your town? What are they looking for? How have they affected the economy?

Where are you planning to go on your next trip? Why?