Standing up for the tourist industry.

Tourism, as a mass phenomenon, emerged throughout the 20th century. Until that time, there were emigrants, discoverers, pilgrims, and even medieval students who traveled from one university to another throughout the kingdoms of Christendom without being awarded an Erasmus scholarship. However, the modern concept of a tourist, as we understand it today, did not emerge until centuries later.

There are two main types of travelers: the tourist, who stays overnight at the destination, and the tripper or hiker, who does not spend the night at the destination. Both invest part of their economic resources in holiday experiences. They are the result of labour movements and the improvement of working conditions throughout the 20th century: those who have a good job, a stable source of income, and, especially, paid vacations and a decent pension can spend their leisure time traveling around the world.

In this regard, tourism serves as the thermometer that gauges the state of labour rights in any society: a prosperous country sends tourists abroad. The advantages of tourism are manifold: it promotes the influx of foreign currency, distributes wealth, boots public administration revenues, underscores the significance of heritage—be it architectural, artistic, natural or cultural—and fosters collaboration among the three economic sectors: primary, seondary and services. Mussels are enjoyed in hotels, and cruise ships are constructed in shipyards.

Needless to say, it creates countless jobs such as travel agents, couriers, monitors, local guides, entertainers, waiters, cooks, receptionists, lifeguards, event organisers and public relations personnel, among others.

It isn't tourism: the ideology behind

If we weighed the benefits and harms that the leisure industry causes in our society, it would lean in favour of benefits. Therefore, the problem is not tourism but the ideology of some members of the petty bourgeoisie who are active in parties of the loony left: they want to prevent the worker from going on the same trips they exclusively reserve for themselves.

In fact, you only have to take a look at the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) of the most prominent figures of the left-wing political parties to see how some of them enjoy intercontinental trips during peak season. As you may have guessed, affluent individuals spend their summers in Sanxenxo, while workers spend theirs in Cuba (?). Publicly, they criticise companies in the tourism sector for issues caused by government neglect. However, behind the scenes, they engage in tourism themselves through the back door, becoming regular practitioners of tourism, often not using regulated providers.

They travel by BlaBlaCar and stay the night at the house of a friend who lives nearby. However, a family with children or a retired couple cannot do the same. We shall unmask the protagonists of this farce full of impostors because we have all been and will be tourists at some point in our lives. Before you believe the story of the "gentrification" of degraded neighbourhoods, where they do not have to live, and they come to sabotage your work. Because, unlike them, you and I work. 

And long live tourism.

Image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay.