Geotourism Trend Aims to Preserve Local Charm

by Michelle R. Smith
“Geotourism” focuses on a destination’s authentic culture and history, aiming to have visitors help enrich those qualities—rather than turn the place into a typical tourist trap. Traveling to a seaside New England clam shack for fried clams. Listening to jazz in New Orleans. Visiting a small organic coffee farm in Guatemala.
These trips [...]

by Michelle R. Smith
“Geotourism” focuses on a destination’s authentic culture and history, aiming to have visitors help enrich those qualities—rather than turn the place into a typical tourist trap. Traveling to a seaside New England clam shack for fried clams. Listening to jazz in New Orleans. Visiting a small organic coffee farm in Guatemala.

These trips would all make for very different summer vacations, but they have something in common: They could all be considered “geotourism,” a relatively new term for travel that focuses on a destination’s unique culture and history and aims to have visitors help enrich those qualities—rather than turn the place into a typical tourist trap.
The term is so new that few tourists use it. But it’s on the lips of travel professionals who describe it as a step beyond the better-known environmentally friendly ecotourism. While geotourism encourages treading lightly on nature, it’s also about authenticity and making a place better by visiting and spending money.

Read the full article