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OS Conversations: Mass tourism

James Reynolds and Lukwesa Burak discuss the balance tourist hotspots need to strike between attracting visitors and ensuring residents' needs are met.

The pandemic stopped most of us travelling anywhere, but now the United Nations predicts that international tourism will soon return to pre-Covid levels. While that might be welcome if you鈥檙e making money from tourism, the number of visitors can also cause problems. Hosts James Reynolds and Lukwesa Burak discuss how you balance the tourist dollar.

Residents of Venice, Bali and Spain鈥檚 Canary Islands discuss their concerns, ranging from a lack of infrastructure and non-tourist housing to cultural insensitivity and the distribution of tourism income.

鈥淭enerife has about one million residents and six million tourists visit every year,鈥 says Brian. 鈥淲ith over 36 percent of the population living in or at risk of poverty, it鈥檚 obvious that mass tourism has failed the islanders.鈥

We also discuss the role of travel influencers who share videos and photos with a mass audience on social media. Kristen Sarah in Costa Rica, who runs @Hopscotchtheglobe vlog, says: 鈥淎s influencers, it鈥檚 our messaging that encourages and inspires others to follow in our footsteps,鈥 she says. 鈥淎 photo is just a photo. But if you don鈥檛 take in the place that you鈥檙e visiting, then what鈥檚 the point of even going?鈥

A Boffin Media production in partnership with the 成人论坛 OS team.

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23 minutes

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