• PrimeMinisterKeyes@leminal.space
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    1 month ago

    Other people are tourists; we, of course, are cultured travelers.
    I recommend Enzensberger’s seminal (PDF) piece on tourism to everyone. Here’s where he slams two early critics of tourism whom he considers to be hypocrites:

    Implicitly, they both demand that travel be exclusive, reserved for them and their like. They never say exactly what it is that distinguishes them from “sight-seeing-squirrels” or from the “cheap trippers.” The luxury they appropriate without a second thought is considered sinful when consumed by the mob. […] While condemning those who succumb to tourism’s attraction, Shand praises the “splendid views” offered by the great peaks, the “playground of Europe” - Switzerland at that time - and the “sanctuaries” whose desecration is always somebody else’s doing.