4 ms·
I’m a far cry from an economist, but I’m curious if the sharp rise in tourism over the last couple of decades is an indication that people have much more dispos
by toofy 8y ago
I’m a far cry from an economist, but I’m curious if the sharp rise in tourism over the last couple of decades is an indication that people have much more disposable income than we previously had access.
As the article mentions, travel and lodging has definitely gotten cheaper, however I still feel like, due to stronger economy and more disposable income, world travel is no longer limited to the obscenely wealthy.
If my read on history is correct, world travel just wasn’t available to so many people as it is now.
Is this simply better economics or has our new(ish) interconnected and open world also made travel less scary? Like, since we interact online and trade with people from all over the world, do their different cultures no longer terrify us?
I mean, I try to make it to at least one new country a year, and when I travel it terrifies my Midwestern grandparents. It seems that in their generation, foreign countries and foreign cultures are so distant and extremely scary—I don’t want to imply as if they’re bad people, just that the world was much much bigger and out of reach to their generation for whatever reasons.
[edit] clarification.
- ip26 8y agoWell, while we are speculating, in a world with better communication, there can be more places of interest to travel to- including ones which are closer to you. Once people toured the seven wonders, but now most of my friends stay within the country visiting niche spots to recreate or eat a different variety of food. That's a lot harder to do if Joe Small-town can't get the word out about why you should visit.
- nikanj 8y agoThe narrative nowadays heavily encourages people to #yolo and live on credit. When everyone around you is getting into debt via epic trips, getting into debt no longer seems like a major problem.
- isostatic 8y agoIt’s not. It takes two to get in debt, the borrower and the lender. Lenders are lending money and don’t see a problem, and it’s their money at risk. As millennials get more power and reach a majority, entering their 40s with no monetary assets to speak of, many debts, but still have income, they’ll push for policies to increase inflation and keep interest rates low. This means the debt they owe reduces, their salaries increase, cost of living increases, but only those with cash investments lose out. This is a failure of the previous generations to ensure that the wealth is spread widely. When you’re dribbling in a nursing home the millions of dollars you’ve saved aren’t going to wipe your ass, it’s the downtrodden youth.
- geoka9 8y agoI think the rise of social media could be a key factor. We become slaves to our photo streams and fall into the arms race of who's got a cooler vacation photo set. Otherwise why would we suffer through huge crowds and lines everywhere we go and then come back for more?
- IIAOPSW 8y agoThe quick answer is that the price of airplane tickets has taken a nose dive in our lifetime. This is caused by a combination of airline deregulation (in the 80s iirc) and the slow march of fuel economy in aircraft engines. GE/P&W/RR pumped out a ~1% more efficient engine every year for 30 years and the gains have added up. Furthermore online booking cuts out the travel agent middle man. Couple this with airbnb and now travel is far more within reach to an average person. Why not spend on it.