“Where are you from?” A seemingly simple question that I always grapple with. Does it refer to my place of birth, current place of residence, or my cultural roots? Lately, I’ve been saying this a lot. “I was born in London, I’m Brazilian at heart, and I live in Amsterdam.” But simplifying it to just “Amsterdam” seems strange, and prompts the follow-up question, “Where are you originally from?” often occurs. – So you’ll have another hard time…
Last spring, I spent 31 days traveling outside of Amsterdam. It was very tiring, but very rewarding. I don’t think I’m alone.
After three years of restrictions and lockdowns, I think the following two data points are very insightful.
- 50% of the world’s travelers want to experience complete culture shock in 2023. Things like going to a place with a completely different cultural experience or language (51%) or exploring a lesser-known city with hidden gems that haven’t been noticed yet (30%). .
- This desire for the unknown can conflict with the desire for comfort and safety. Only 15% agreed that they wanted to feel like they were in a place other than home.
This is the essence of the paradox of the travel experience. The excitement of discovery mixed with the longing for the safety of the familiar. And this is nothing new. Recently I read a book by Lucy Lethbridge called “Tourists: How the British went abroad to find themselves”, and this contradiction was revealed when the Tourist’s exploration began. (I’m going to post my thoughts on this and save it for later).
Having experienced the power of travel for myself, I became interested in the impact travel has on broader society. How much do the transformational experiences of millions of individuals add up to? To answer exactly this question, we asked Economist Impact. Here’s what we learned.
A driver of economic opportunity
The report’s finding that tourism plays an important role in the local economy surprised no one. However, there was a caveat to this that I found particularly meaningful. This means that boosting the growth of the travel industry is particularly benefiting marginalized groups such as women and young people. This impact extends beyond the industry itself by stimulating demand for a range of goods and services, fostering the development of local infrastructure and generating additional export revenues.
The tourism industry is a driving force behind the lives and prosperity of people, especially in developing countries. When it comes to the issue of growing the industry in a more sustainable way, there are still issues to be addressed when it comes to tourism’s impact on the environment. Mitigating these impacts must remain a top priority for our sector.
The social impact of travel: fostering understanding and tolerance
The impact of travel on social outcomes is less well understood. Nevertheless, the researchers behind the Always on your way found that tourism plays a role in broadening individuals’ understanding of other cultures and increasing tolerance among visitors and host communities. A surprising finding is that it also improves equity between men and women, showing that visitors contribute to improving the economic, social and political status of women in their host countries. I am.
In an age of unprecedented (digital) connectivity, bias and prejudice remain prevalent. Political movements thrive on fear of the ‘other’, leading to increased violence against minorities. Travel and tourism can potentially counter these trends and encourage interaction and engagement between groups from different backgrounds.
Empowering women through travel and tourism
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major setback for gender equality around the world. Despite setbacks in women’s economic participation, our sector can drive progress that advances the gender equality agenda globally. This was perhaps the most encouraging finding of this study for me. Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents feel that tourism helps improve gender equality in their local area.
The research project found a positive relationship between overnight stays and gender equality, with a 1% increase in international tourist arrivals leading to a 0.02% improvement in geography scores in the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report. Related. This type of research is still in its early stages, so we need to learn more.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment are complex issues. No country, industry, or company has been able to definitively solve them. I am reassured that our industry is an important agent of change, constantly learning and moving towards a complete franchise for women.
lastly…
I’ve long believed that travel has a positive impact on the world. As someone in the tourism industry, I think we might take this with a grain of salt. But for me, this is more a reflection of my personal journey than my work.
To paraphrase a famous saying, tourism is not a spectator sport. As a “nomadic worker” (I don’t like to call myself an expat), sometimes I feel like “no matter where I am, no matter where I am, it’s not home.” And I always say that you should think about every place you move, in the words of Vinicius de Moraes:As long as it lasts, it is infinite.”
One of my favorite poets was referring to relationships, and the same applies to places. A sense of belonging while traveling is often determined by the experience itself. A warm welcome that makes you feel safe, the ability to overcome language and cultural barriers, and the resilience to deal with unexpected situations. Perhaps that’s why I don’t like the word “foreigner”. For many people, that has connotations of being at arm’s length, but this isn’t really how I want to approach moving and traveling.
At Booking.com, this knowledge is our source of inspiration and our mission. Through our collaboration with Economist Impact, we have come to understand that the travel sector has far-reaching social impact. Our industry advances economic opportunity, promotes social understanding and tolerance, and empowers women around the world.
Society is made up of individuals like you and me. Each traveler’s journey contributes to our collective efforts towards positive social change, one traveler and one traveler at a time.