Unchecked, the tourist will climb over the fence and come right into your house to take pictures of you in your habitat. Cities mindful of tourists have built elaborate 'tourist traps' which, luckily, work. Tourists are kept confined to these, and few escape. There is, of course, the type known as the 'intrepid tourist.' This one has to be watched carefully or he can become most annoying. Little wonder these are so often the target of terrorists. If there is an aspect of benign terror about the tourist, there is also a great deal of tourist in the terrorist. Terrorists travel with only one thing in mind, just like the tourist, and the specifics of places escape them both. Terrorists travel for the purpose of shooting unsuspecting foreigners, just as tourists travel for the purpose of shooting them with a camera.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Tourists invade local spaces like terrorists invade countries, both ignoring local specifics.
- In plain terms
- Tourists and terrorists both travel with narrow goals and ignore real places.
- What can you take from it?
- Both tourism and terrorism can involve ignoring local reality to serve a single purpose.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do travelers impact locals?
- Is sightseeing invasive?
Another view
Comparing tourists to terrorists may trivialize the severity of actual violence.
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