Tourist vs traveller: What’s the difference?

Image by Jan Vašek (CC0) via Pixabay.

What is the difference between a tourist and a traveller?

How do the behaviours and attitudes of tourists differ from those of travellers when interacting with people and places?

Your correspondent put these tourist vs traveller questions to “GT’s” diverse network of travel & tourism stakeholders — “GT” Insight authors, “GT” Partners, and their invitees — and invited emailed written responses of no more than 300 words.

Thanks to those who chose to participate. Their answers appear in the order received.

Click/touch a name to go to their answer:

• Saverio F Bertolucci — Different modes and motivations for travel
• Zohreh Khosravi — Tourist vs traveller: Be responsible, regardless
• S Fatemeh Mostafavi Shirazi — The differences are narrowing
• Jim Butcher — For some, ‘moral and cultural status’ matters
• K Michael Haywood — Tourist vs traveller: Is it relevant?
• Peter Richards — Leave that baggage at home
• Geoffrey Lipman — Tourist vs traveller? ‘The planet doesn’t care’
• Dorji Dhradhul — A ‘visitor’ when planning, a ‘guest’ upon arrival
• Steve Noakes — Will AI influence behaviours, attitudes?
• David Jarratt — ‘The designation is temporary, fluid, […] flawed’
• Sudipta K Sarkar — Tours can be ‘creatively recreated’ to be like travel
• Ivana Damnjanović — Better to focus on adjectives, not nouns
• Edwin Magio — Distinctions ‘used to make people feel inferior/superior’
• Ha Phan — What matters is a happy experience for all concerned
• Susan Eardly — ‘It doesn’t matter as long as you’re seeing the world’
• Elisa Spampinato — ‘The precious baggage of meaning’
• ChatGPT — Travellers ‘tend to have a more positive impact’ than tourists
• What do you think?

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