sunset on a Cancun resort with blue water

Cancún and the Making of Modern “Gringolandia”

Created from almost nothing, Cancún has become a tourist playground that both celebrates and obscures the history of the Yucatán and its peoples.
A shot taken in front of a concert stage lit in the night, people are visible waving and clapping, but no one is recognizable.

Japanese Tourists at the Dancehall

For some young, working-class Japanese men and women, Jamaican reggae clubs offer an escape from cultural norms and a way to gain currency in the music world.
A General View of the Falls of Niagara by Alvan Fisher, 1820

The Fashionable Tour: or, The First American Tourist Guidebook

Offering advice for visiting Sarasota Springs and other sights, Gideon Davison combined the travel narrative and road book to create a new type of travel guide.
The Schultz House, c. 1889

A Flood of Tourism in Johnstown

Days after a failed dam led to the drowning deaths of more than 2,200 people, the Pennsylvania industrial town was flooded again—with tourists.
A Hawaiian postcard, 1962

Consuming Hawai‘i’s Golden People

With statehood in 1959 came “Aloha Spirit” tourism, turning Hawai‘i’s ethnic diversity into a commodity that benefited both business and US foreign policy.
Michelin Guides

Wheely Good Reviews: How Michelin Forms Foodie Ideology

The French Michelin guide is an authoritative voice in the world of fine dining, but when it arrived on the American food scene, it was met with a chilly reception.
Tourists look at icebergs that have broken off of receding Breidamerkurjokull glacier, which looms behind, at Jokulsarlon lake on August 15, 2021 near Hof, Iceland.

Minding Tourism’s Communication Gap

Tourism is Iceland’s biggest industry, but tourists and staff are increasingly threatened by extreme weather linked to climate change. How to keep everyone safe?
An illustration of a whale watch boat and a whale

Who Is Watching the Whale-watchers?

Whale-watching cruises can negatively affect the behavior of cetaceans, depending on species, environment, and population.
claude glass

The Claude Glass Revolutionized the Way People Saw Landscapes

Imagine tourists flocking to a famous beauty spot, only to turn around and fix their eyes on its reflection in a tiny dark mirror.
Visitors walk past the entrance gate to the Auschwitz death camp, the most notorious of the many Nazi concentration camps

Does Dark Tourism Exploit Tragedy for Profit?

Thanatourism, as one scholar calls it, has a long history. And some historic sites of mass death do offer thoughtful educational experiences.