Last month I found myself in need of a ‘small airport book’ and decided to go for the ‘No-Nonsense Guides to Tourism’ by Pamela Nowicka, published by New Internationalist

If you are a responsible traveller and already realise that lying on a beach with a margarita is not going to alleviate world poverty, this book will not tell you anything new, despite one of those ‘sensational one line reviews’ on the cover saying Find out how the world really works!

On the other hand, if you have never thought about the negative impact of tourism on the host countries and on the local people, like the exploitation of natural and human resources in the developing countries, after you have finished reading this book you will probably feel a miserable and guilty tourist (yes, you got it; you do not even deserve to be called a traveller).

But do not despair, this feeling will not last long, as eventually no one is willing to forgo a well deserved holiday. After all, travelling has been a privilege of the jet set for the past couple of centuries and only recently it has become affordable to the masses; why should we not consider it as one of our democratic rights?

The author is trying to open our eyes about the fact that the ‘positive impact of tourism on the world development’ is a myth, and that we should change our attitude in our role as vacationers and show more consideration towards our hosts, from whom we expect polite manners and smiling faces even when we behave like new colonialists giving them absolutely no reasons to smile. I absolutely agree with her on this and in more than one occasion she made me think about my own attitude as a traveller.

She goes on saying people should think about travelling less, and about being more discerning when they travel. Again, I agree 100%. This bad habit of flying from London to Paris for a proper croissant must really stop and low cost airlines do not help. But then she keeps on highlighting all the negative aspects of tourism, saying that even responsible travel in the end does not help much and concluding that the ultimate remedy is just taking as few holidays as possible and stop destroying the environment jetting off around the world.

At the end of the book, I felt really disappointed. Maybe because I am optimistic by nature, but I found this guide a total waste of an occasion to inform that there are many effective ways to change our travel behaviour, and that ethical travel is growing and can bring some fresh air to tourism. By not focusing on what can be changed and not presenting sound alternative options after having explored in depth the faults of the industry, the only response she can get from the reader is a shoulder shrug, either of indifference or resignation.