Travel promotes freedom and understanding -- but human beings being what they are, all too often politics and conflict can get in the way. What do you think about the relationship between politics and travel, and how to reconcile them?

Cover photo: The Interfaith Observer.

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Politics is on the menu in ´ Sicily, Where What’s Not on the Tour Itinerary Is as Important as What Is´

Vito Manzari Contibutor Fyllis Hoffman writes, "it happend all the time with the tour operator Overseas Adventure Travel. I start out expecting to write about the trip itself – in this case, Sicily's Ancient Landscapes & Timeless Traditions"-- and I end up writing about all the things that aren't on the itinerary – what OAT refers to as "learning and discovery." Sure, I wanted to focus on the extensive ruins of the Greeks and Romans from the 8th century BCE; the city market initiated by the…

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Started by Tripatini
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How should travelers/travel industry respond to Brunei's barbarism against gays?

Many voices in the civilized world have been speaking out in horrified outrage at Brunei's new edict  decreeing death by stoning for gay sex, and numerous individuals and institutions joining a boycott. Should travelers and the travel industry/media join as well by not traveling to, working with, or covering Brunei, nor other entities associated with it such as the nine luxury hotels in the West owned by its sultan, such as London's Dorchester, the Plaza Athénée in Paris, and the Beverly Hills…

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Started by David Paul Appell
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Cross-border migration and tourism

All across the world - Europe, the United States, Australia, Asia, and elsewhere - immigration and refugees are hot topics. But little attention has been paid to how this issue meshes with the other great mass movement of our era: tourism. An integral part of tourism is the exchange of cultures and the appreciation of the “other”, and the industry is often dependent on "importing” guest workers from abroad, who provide needed services and often also give a sense of the exotic…

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Started by David Paul Appell
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  • David Paul Appell December 18, 2024 at 1:12pm
    Back in the 1980s, lefties from the U.S. would come here in solidarity with the Sandinistas whom they viewed as fighting for the people against the corrupt Somoza dictatorship. Now the Sandinistas have become the corrupt dictatorship, but the Yanks who visit and move here studiously ignore that, just focusing on the positives of the lifestyle: https://www.rawstory.com/nicaraguan-paradise-draws-americans-europe...
    Nicaraguan paradise draws Americans, Europeans despite political strife
    Tucked away in a southern corner of Nicaragua, far from the political persecution of the opposition by President Daniel Ortega, a tiny colony of Amer…
  • José Balido July 18, 2024 at 10:32am
    I recently came across this interview with Lonely Planet´s Tony Wheeler on the occasion of the brand´s 50th anniversary, and it offers has some interesting insights and observations indeed - including one about politics and travel: https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/lonely-planet-wheeler-ba...
  • Barbara Necker July 3, 2024 at 3:51pm
    Well, this certainly puts another twist on the concept of politics and travel. Could it be something we´ll be seeing more of as the world becomes more polarized? https://www.thestreet.com/travel/el-al-refused-refueling-turkey
  • Max Pesling May 24, 2024 at 12:32pm
    An interesting and quite varied selection of books on political travel from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/22/top-10-political-trav...
    Top 10 political travel books
    From Beryl Bainbridge in Milton Keynes to Salman Rushdie in Nicaragua, politics has driven many writers’ journeys
  • David Paul Appell August 8, 2023 at 2:54pm
    Having been to a number of places in China, including Peking, Shanghai, and Xian, I find myself uninterested in going back in part due to my distaste for the dictatorship. I was thinking of making a single exception next year for Tibet, but then I read this several weeks ago - same old bullshit: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/03/politics/china-travel-advisory-s...
    https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/03/politics/china-travel-advisory-state-department/index.html
  • Dave Acton July 8, 2023 at 7:49am
    Adventure.com recently took a look at the question of whether Uganda's barbaric new anti-gay law might affect tourism to the country - and should it? https://adventure.com/uganda-lgbtq-laws-boycott/
  • José Balido May 28, 2023 at 12:27pm
    As a recovering Floridian, I was interested to catch this just yesterday, taking a look at how the fascist policies of Governor DeSantis may or may not be affecting Florida's most powerful industry - tourism - and its potential to do so over the coming months and years: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-tourism-travel-advisories
    https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-tourism-travel-advisories
  • Jeffrey Kunst November 8, 2022 at 9:05pm
    This is from a few years ago (2016, to be precise), but it's still worth a watch - a speech at the Global Tourism Forum by European Commission president José Manuel Borroso on how politics affects the tourism sector:
    https://youtu.be/9TCeFZsSTCU
  • David Paul Appell April 5, 2022 at 10:55am
    The Daily Beast recently published a frightening look at the gay/lesbian predicament in Hungary under the authoritarian régime of Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party - this past weekend re-elected for a fourth term. A longtime fan of Vladimir Putin, like Putin Orbán introduced several laws that intensified the pressure on the LGBT+ community and considers homosexuality incompatible with "Christian" values. This pressure is likely to get even stronger going forward, and as much as I enjoyed visiting Hungay many years ago, I couldn't see going back as long as this illiberal régime is in power: https://www.thedailybeast.com/lgbt-rights-are-big-issue-in-hungary-...
    LGBT+ Rights Are Big Issue in Hungary Elections as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Erodes Gay Protectio…
  • José Balido March 5, 2022 at 11:55am
    Over the years there has of course been unending debate about the nexus of politics and travel, but never in memory has there been such a drastic and sudden realignment of the travel industry as what is going on today with regard to Russia as fallout from its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, including closure of North American and Western European airspace to Aeroflot and other Russian aviation as well as cancellation of cruise line calls in St. Petersburg and river cruises in Russia and the Ukraine. More details at:
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/more-cruise-lines-cancel-r...
    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2022/03/01/how-ru...
    More cruise lines cancel Russia calls in wake of Ukraine invasion
    Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises have joined the growing number of cruise lines canceling Russia calls in the wake of the cou…
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