The Last Tourist

[Anonymous]

Ok, I’m watching it now.

First segment is a guy lamenting how beautiful Phuket was when he visited in 1979 and how it became overcrowded and trashed later on.

Hmm…do we blame the tourists or the government who failed to develop the appropriate infrastructure and safeguards?

I’d blame the government that chased the tourist dollars, but I understand why they went that route: they need the money to support their country and people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will give an F about climate change when whichever President and the likes of John Kerry/ any State department people/ any UN people start flying commercial, especially economy as they are using my tax dollars.

Their motto: do as I say, not as I do. Eliminate the Paris agreements until they all start setting examples themselves.

We are not sheep for these climate change hypocrites.

Eh, strange to fixate on high level politicians who have legit security reasons to travel differently from the rest of us.

The real issue is that America actually does a terrific job of taking steps to protect the earth while the vast majority of the world simply does not. We aren’t the problem, so we can’t really be the solution. Even if every American stopped traveling abroad, the environment wouldn’t really feel a positive impact. Plus, like it or not, our tourist dollars matter. Bigly. Just ask people impacted by the pandemic.

you are seriously kidding yourself if you think America is doing a "terrific job" at protecting the earth. Do you know how much recycling actually gets recycled? How much waste we produce? How much of a single-use culture we have to many others? Now, are we doing better than some, absolutely- in limited numbers of areas- namely cities such as DC, NY, LA, SF. Go to Northern Europe- they turn composting into energy, have alternative energy sources in abundance, electric or hybrid cars everywhere, recycling (that is actually recycled) for batteries, electronics, light bulbs, etc in every grocery store, recycling pick up to include compost. That's actually doing a terrific job.

Compare what America is doing versus China, India, Eastern Europe, Africa, South America, and even large parts of the EU.

The reality is we aren’t the big polluter despite our size and population. We just aren’t.

There are dozens of reports on this. Google it.

No, you show us the evidence to support this ridiculous claim.

The US is the world’s second biggest polluter, second only to China whose pollution outweighs ours by a very large factor BUT a very large portion of it is in producing goods to sell primarily to our markets, so we are deeply responsible for much of China’s pollution.

The US is far bigger and more densely populated than most countries. Hence: second biggest polluter.

There are studies that show where our pollution actually comes from. ICYMI: it’s corporations, not individuals.

Corporations developed the whole recycling environmental protections thing to shift focus from a legit criticism of corporations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteer tourism is awful, I will give you that.

So what’s your solution? How else can the nonprofits caring for orphans, educating children, providing desperately needed healthcare, food, whatever survive without this funding stream?

Icymi: the government isn’t equipped to provide the funding or services…despite buckets of money from the US government. Locals aren’t equipped to step up.

I suppose your solution is simply that Americans should send money instead of volunteering AND giving money, right? That would be nice. But the reality is their business model relies on tugging on heartstrings to prompt volunteers to not only donate long term but also help with fundraising through their own networks.

All of this matters.

Unless you have a better solution, pp?

Whatever you need to tell yourself to justify volunteer tourism is ridiculous. It is gross, predatory, oppressive, manipulative and feeding into your savior complex. Want to help these nonprofits? Donate your money. You don't need a trip to pat orphans on the head and take their picture. Just donate. FFS it isn't complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP:

Will you please tell us

1. What you think everyone should do differently?

2. What you are doing differently?

PS - Maui isn’t the developing world/third world. A horrific tragedy occurred, but Maui will bounce back. The island will benefit from federal dollars as well as private donations from their billionaire patrons. If tiny, less resourced islands in the Caribbean can bounce back from hurricanes (where loss of life and housing are sadly routine), then I’m confident Maui will, too. ICYMI: tourism dollars play a huge role in the recovery. I was thanked by dozens of locals simply for showing up on St. John following the hurricane that destroyed Caneel Bay. I took a private boat over from St. Thomas just for a day, but I made sure to eat and drink and shop at local vendors who were thrilled that anyone bothered to come. If you are suggesting everyone should stay home, I disagree. Candidly, I can’t understand why anyone would suggest that.

You should look up the statistics on poverty rate and rate of people living paycheck to paycheck in Maui before the horrific wildfires made thousands homeless and unemployed overnight.

No, Hawaii is not in a developing country- but it is nevertheless exploited by tourism and much of the native population has been driven out by the high cost of living that resulted from allowing tourism and vacation homes to predominate. There were calls among Hawaiians to reduce tourism long before this horrible disaster happened.

What am I doing differently? Nothing.

I am 52 years old and I have traveled on foot and by car to Mexico several times when I lived in southern Arizona, and by car to Canada a few times when I lived in Maine.

I travelled by airplane once to Grand Cayman and I once took a cruise from LA to the Mexican Riveria. Both of these trips were in the company of boyfriends whose travel tastes did not match mine - I especially hated the cruise and the side trips we took, which definitely exposed the underside of western tourism to impoverished areas. The cruise industry is so disgustingly exploitative of the environment and destination populations that I would never take another one and I very much regret the one I went on.

I recall during the pandemic seeing all the places empty of people and thinking, NOW I would like to go there! Lol. But seriously, much as I would love to see some places in person, the primary reason I don’t prioritize travel is because the other tourists are so off putting.

When I went to Grand Cayman I spent the week scuba diving which was fantastic apart from all the divers I watched banging against coral, taking pieces for souvenirs, trying to interact with ocean wildlife in damaging ways, etc. It was really gross and upsetting.

I had a similar experience here in the USA visiting DC and particularly the Holocaust memorial which I had waited years to see, only to tour the exhibit with crowds of people a shocking number of whom were laughing and joking about the exhibits - you know, the piles and piles of shoes and glasses from murdered Jews. I was upset for months, I’m still upset thinking about it years later.

We get it. You’re the perfect tourist. Everyone else sucks.

[Anonymous]

Was this film produced by someone from Dcumlandia?

The second segment highlights the typical dcum-talking points:

-Travel has changed.

-People only travel for bragging rights via Instagram pics.

-Nobody travels for an authentic experience.

-Tavel was better in the olden times/insert my personal heyday.

The only missing piece is one of the gray-haired commentators screaming, “Get off my lawn!”

[Anonymous]

Next segment: cruise ships.

Locals from Montego Bay, Jamaica lamenting the lack of tourists at their seemingly off the beaten path souvenir shops. Pretty sure the crime rates prompt cruise tourists to stay on the ship or travel with a group. That’s a government issue: handling the crime.

Segment says, “Travel has taken a turn and the destination is no longer relevant.” They allege the cruise industry and tourism industry more generally create a narrative that tourists are only safe in certain areas—primarily at resort compounds or with trusted tour guides.

Hmm…the segment focuses on Jamaica and Mexico, pivoting to all inclusives.

Interestingly, they aren’t addressing the very real crime in both destinations which imho prompt tourists to seek out safe resorts and trusted vendors.

[Anonymous]

Now it’s getting interesting: Kenya, where only 14% of tourist dollars stay in the country. The lion’s share goes to foreign owned hotels, airlines, travel services, etc.

No discussion of AirBnBs (yet), the biggest driver of gentrification and housing insecurity fueled by foreign ownership (in every tourist area around the globe).

Next: most popular tourist destinations have highest poverty rates because the poor were never factored into the tourism value chain.

Hmm…

Valid points regarding vulnerability of developing countries.

But also valid: how else would some of these locals support themselves and their families without tourist dollars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Volunteer tourism is awful, I will give you that.

it's up tho the countries themselves to ban or limit tourism -- but they want the money.
I read Amsterdam did recently put some curbs on tourists in the red light district because it was getting overwhelmed.
But other than that, haven't read much about countries limiting tourism -- indeed the suffered during Covid and now want to recoup that loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteer tourism is awful, I will give you that.

So what’s your solution? How else can the nonprofits caring for orphans, educating children, providing desperately needed healthcare, food, whatever survive without this funding stream?

Icymi: the government isn’t equipped to provide the funding or services…despite buckets of money from the US government. Locals aren’t equipped to step up.

I suppose your solution is simply that Americans should send money instead of volunteering AND giving money, right? That would be nice. But the reality is their business model relies on tugging on heartstrings to prompt volunteers to not only donate long term but also help with fundraising through their own networks.

All of this matters.

Unless you have a better solution, pp?

Whatever you need to tell yourself to justify volunteer tourism is ridiculous. It is gross, predatory, oppressive, manipulative and feeding into your savior complex. Want to help these nonprofits? Donate your money. You don't need a trip to pat orphans on the head and take their picture. Just donate. FFS it isn't complicated.

What about church groups doing mission trips to bring supplies, provide healthcare, build homes or hospitals AND donate $$$$$?

What about lawyers showing up in groups to provide pro bono asylum assistance?

Do you only take issue with orphanages? Even if the mission trip/tour group brings critically needed supplies (more easily transported by a group so as to avoid theft by the government or cartels) and large cash transfers?

What about schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteer tourism is awful, I will give you that.

it's up tho the countries themselves to ban or limit tourism -- but they want the money.
I read Amsterdam did recently put some curbs on tourists in the red light district because it was getting overwhelmed.
But other than that, haven't read much about countries limiting tourism -- indeed the suffered during Covid and now want to recoup that loss.

Venice recently implemented controls and the EU is launching a new visa requirement for Americans which seems more like a money grab than a restriction.

[Anonymous]

Peruvian father of 8 speaks the truth: without tourism, there is no money for us to support ourselves.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm with you. I used to travel a LOT (in 2019, our family of four took two international trips, I took another on my own, and my husband took 4 for business travel.) Since then we have taken -- ZERO.

I started following two scholars on Twitter -- Peter Kalmus and Jasaon Hickel, and at some point I looked at the numbers and saw that if wealthy Americans kept flying at the rate they were flying, climate change will continue and it won't matter what anyone else is doing -- all of the focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, etv, will be for naught. The amount of emissions created by the flight habits of the global top 10 percent negates it all. When I saw that, I realized that eventually we will all have to change our behavior, so I decided to start now.

[Anonymous]

Animal tourism segment:

The most egregious examples are abroad, demonstrating their lack of compassion and different values.

I hope the film goes beyond animal abuse to highlight human rights abuses.

They are shifting to India now. Will they discuss the human rights issues there? Horrific rape culture?

There are many countries I won’t set foot in because of their human rights abuses and my lack of confidence in my own security if things go sideways.

Let’s see what they discuss in the responsible tourism segment.

[Anonymous]

Good segment on India highlighting how tourism might be part of the solution when it comes to their violence against women where 90% of incidents are inflicted by family members.

Not sure why the segment bounces back and forth between animals and girls. Seems like the filmmakers are more interested in animals.

Interesting that they primarily feature white commentators. Mostly old white people. (Throughout the film.)

Pivoting from elephants to orphanages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Volunteer tourism is awful, I will give you that.

So what’s your solution? How else can the nonprofits caring for orphans, educating children, providing desperately needed healthcare, food, whatever survive without this funding stream?

Icymi: the government isn’t equipped to provide the funding or services…despite buckets of money from the US government. Locals aren’t equipped to step up.

I suppose your solution is simply that Americans should send money instead of volunteering AND giving money, right? That would be nice. But the reality is their business model relies on tugging on heartstrings to prompt volunteers to not only donate long term but also help with fundraising through their own networks.

All of this matters.

Unless you have a better solution, pp?

Whatever you need to tell yourself to justify volunteer tourism is ridiculous. It is gross, predatory, oppressive, manipulative and feeding into your savior complex. Want to help these nonprofits? Donate your money. You don't need a trip to pat orphans on the head and take their picture. Just donate. FFS it isn't complicated.

What about church groups doing mission trips to bring supplies, provide healthcare, build homes or hospitals AND donate $$$$$?

What about lawyers showing up in groups to provide pro bono asylum assistance?

Do you only take issue with orphanages? Even if the mission trip/tour group brings critically needed supplies (more easily transported by a group so as to avoid theft by the government or cartels) and large cash transfers?

What about schools?

No, I don't only take on orphanages. The entire volunteer tourism industry is BS. You don't need a trip to make yourself feel better. Mission trips are completely awful ways to try to convert people to their religion, disguised as help. Want to help? Leave the religion out of it. Completely.

Pro bono lawyers do asylum work here in the US. I do it. I don't need a volunteer tourism trip to do it. So enough with your BS. I actually volunteer, regularly, for decades, in my community. I get my hands dirty, I'm invested, I am bought in. I don't need to pay a company to take me to Haiti to bring school supplies, paint their school for a week, and take some photos of some very poor children, post on FB, and leave.