“Good Tourism” Insights

Dancers, singers, and drummers from a local women’s cooperative welcome visitors to the Red Rocks Cultural Center in Nyakinama village, Rwanda. Pic by David Gillbanks.

Dan­cers, sing­ers, and drum­mers from a loc­al women’s cooper­at­ive wel­come vis­it­ors to the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Cen­ter in Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage, Rwanda. Pic by Dav­id Gillbanks.

“Good Tour­ism” Insights are ori­gin­al posts by aca­dem­ics, experts, and prac­ti­tion­ers who are keen to share their sus­tain­able tour­ism and respons­ible tour­ism insights, expert­ise, and exper­i­ences, in plain Eng­lish, for the bene­fit of all travel & tour­ism stakeholders.

Each “GT” Insight rep­res­ents the opin­ion of its author, NOT neces­sar­ily the opin­ion of The “Good Tour­ism” Blog, its Part­ners, or its pub­lish­er. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog neither pays nor is paid for any “GT” Insight. 

Any­one with an informed and sin­cerely-held opin­ion about travel & tour­ism is wel­come to sub­mit a “GT” Insight for pub­lic­a­tion. The “GT” Insight guidelines are very simple.

Can tourism in ‘the Global South’ ever be truly sustainable? UCB students have a say

May 12, 2026

Can tourism in ‘the Global South’ ever be truly sustainable? UCB students have their say

“Can tour­ism in devel­op­ing coun­tries ever be truly ‘sus­tain­able’ when it deep­ens inequality? 

Using one des­tin­a­tion in the Glob­al South, argue wheth­er tour­ism there genu­inely advances SDGs 8, 10 and 12

Uni­ver­sity Col­lege Birm­ing­ham Seni­or Lec­turer Simon Faulkner posed that as a chal­lenge to his stu­dents. Three rose to it.

Read More Can tourism in ‘the Global South’ ever be truly sustainable? UCB students have a say
Posted in Insight Bites, Insights & Best Practices, Sponsored posts
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What local tourism students know about Phuket that global sustainability leaders do not

April 30, 2026

What do local tourism students know about Phuket that global sustainability leaders do not? A Gemini-generated image. "GT" added the words.

Trans­ition­ing from an emer­ging hot­spot to an estab­lished tour­ism-led eco­nomy is complex. 

Ken Drew exam­ines the grow­ing pains of Phuket, Thai­l­and where loc­als, includ­ing his former tour­ism stu­dents, too often find them­selves in danger.

Fol­low­ing last week’s Glob­al Sus­tain­able Tour­ism Coun­cil con­fer­ence on the island — planned amid reports of deadly land­slides, tox­ic fires, and poor air qual­ity — a ques­tion arises …

Read More What local tourism students know about Phuket that global sustainability leaders do not
Posted in "Good Tourism" in Thailand, "Good Tourism" in Asia, "GT" Destinations & Places, Insights & Best Practices
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Changing places: Responsibility, nostalgia, and the right to complain | BiteX: War

March 23, 2026

Changing places: Nostalgia, responsibility, and the right to complain. A Gemini-generated image for a "Good Tourism" Bites compilation. "GT" added the word "bites".

Who has the ‘social licence’ to claim a place has changed for the worse? Does it mat­ter if that change is driv­en by tour­ist visas, employ­ment visas, or migration? 

Is ‘nos­tal­gia’ a val­id stake­hold­er in a destination’s future? And does travel & tour­ism have a respons­ib­il­ity to val­id­ate these feel­ings, or is change the price of ‘pro­gress’?

Thanks to the six respond­ents for their con­sidered thoughts. Their responses are lis­ted in the order I received them. For BiteX: war. 

Read More Changing places: Responsibility, nostalgia, and the right to complain | BiteX: War
Posted in Insight Bites, Insights & Best Practices
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“GT” Insight Bites: Is a tourism career a ticket or a trap?

February 23, 2026
2 Comments

Travel & tourism career: Ticket or trap? A Gemini-generated image.

Is a career in travel & tour­ism a tick­et to the world or a trap? What is your hon­est advice to a young per­son enter­ing the industry?

That’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight Bites question. 

Thanks to the four respond­ents writ­ing in from Canada and South­east Asia for their con­sidered thoughts. And thanks to Dav­id Beir­man from Aus­tralia for his “GT” Insight BiteX on academia’s rela­tion­ship with sustainability.

Read More “GT” Insight Bites: Is a tourism career a ticket or a trap?
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“GT” Insight Bites: What’s AI doing for you?

February 9, 2026

In what way is artificial intelligence (AI) changing the way you work, hire, learn, or teach? A Gemini-generated image

In what way is arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI) chan­ging the way you work, hire, learn, or teach?

With per­spect­ives from seni­or people in travel & tourism’s busi­ness, aca­dem­ic, act­iv­ist, air­line, and NGO worlds — and even from Iran — there is more depth in this com­pil­a­tion of “GT” Insight Bites than you might ini­tially pre­sume; des­pite AI being “the hot­test (and maybe the most bor­ing) sub­ject of the moment”, as one respond­ent described it.

Read More “GT” Insight Bites: What’s AI doing for you?
Posted in Insights & Best Practices, Insight Bites
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The flaw in sustainability: Why responsible tourism avoids hard questions

February 8, 2026

The flaw in sustainability and why responsible tourism avoids the hard questions. A Gemini-generated image.

Ewan Cluck­ie argues that travel & tourism’s sus­tain­ab­il­ity claims have cre­ated a cred­ib­il­ity crisis, and that it is time to ask hard ques­tions about own­er­ship, gov­ernance, and incentives.

“The travel industry talks a lot about sus­tain­ab­il­ity […] Yet trust in sus­tain­ab­il­ity claims is declin­ing, and scru­tiny from reg­u­lat­ors, con­sumers, and part­ners is increasing.”

Read More The flaw in sustainability: Why responsible tourism avoids hard questions
Posted in Insights & Best Practices, "Good Tourism" in Asia, "GT" Destinations & Places
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