I remark to my Italian American friend who lives in Rome, “There are so many tourists here,” as we make our way past crowds of them on a steamy June night a few blocks past the Spanish Steps. To be honest, I’ve heard this refrain quite a few times when traveling.
I have classified myself as a traveler for the past twenty years. Perhaps a lot of you who are reading this can relate to this too. Almost two decades ago, Anthony Bourdain’s motto for his TV show No Reservations was “Be a traveller, not a tourist.”
However, there appears to have been a tipping point for unruly visitor behavior during the post-pandemic visitation surge, especially last summer. Being branded a tourist used to be a tough term to accept, but these days it connotes things like demolishing ancient ruins, destroying cities and driving out their citizens, trampling on natural wonders, and even accelerating global warming.
