/430/ Welcome to the Tourist Age ft. Marco d'Eramo (Patreon)

On the tourist city, the tourist industry, and its critics.

Renowned Italian journalist Marco d'Eramo joins us to talk about his wide-ranging inquiry into the age of tourism, The World in a Selfie. We also discuss how migration is the obverse of tourism, and take a look at Marco's most recent book, Masters, on the neoliberal revolution from above.

Why is hating tourists the main characteristic of being a tourist? Why is the tourist/traveller dichotomy a false one?

What is the threshold for a city becoming a place that exists primarily for tourists?

How should we understand tourism economically, and why is the tourist city a mono-industry?

Is the "authentic" travel experience ever possible?

Why do critiques of tourism so often slide into snobbery or outright class contempt?

How is the city changing under the impact not just of "over-tourism" but rising rents, exclusions, and remote working?

Links:

The World in a Selfie: An Inquiry into the Tourist Age, Marco d'Eramo, Verso

Masters: The Invisible War of the Powerful Against Their Subjects, Marco d'Eramo, Wiley

Barbed Wire, Marco D'Eramo, Sidecar

The cost of Europe’s backlash against tourists, Barney Jopson, Financial Times