What do you call it when people stay in locally owned guesthouses, spend money in local restaurants, and get beyond the basic tour bus sites? Most of us who have been around a bit would just call that “traveling,” but get ready for a new term for it: “geotourism.”
That’s the gist of this AP article, “No tourist traps – geotourism gains popularity.” Stories like this always make me laugh, but that’s partly because I’m a travel writer and I know that there’s nothing editors like more than to look like they’re on top of some hot new trend. Of course there’s nothing new about wanting a more authentic experience. What has changed is that the luxury travelers who can buy any kind of experience they want are figuring out there’s more to travel than luxury hotels and seeing the sites. After all, there’s a thin line now between a luxury hotel and their mansion back home with a maid, butler, and giant pool with waterfall. What they can’t get at home is excitement and the seeing of something truly different. We can only hope it rocks their world a little bit and makes them think about what kind of good they can do with an extra million they’ve got lying around.
“While geotourism encourages treading lightly on nature, it’s also about authenticity and making a place better by visiting and spending money.” What a radical concept eh? If you spend money in a way that stays in local hands, that does people far more good than staying at the Hilton. But hey, if it takes a silly new term to change behavior, I’m all for it.
