Aaron Erickson
Sep 1, 2018 · 1 min read

In a Trumpian world where *the other* of any stripe becomes the enemy, I can hardly see how “overtourism” (god, what a terrible word) is a real problem we should prioritize. I would only hope more people experience other cultures so we can get to a world where we build fewer walls.

We need people to get out and see the world more, not less. We need people to experience other cultures authentically more, not less. Yes, this means some adjustments. And perhaps it means that in both my local coffee shop in SF, and in the Paris counterpart, we might have more of those annoying tourists.

But here’s the thing — as we become more wealthy, and objectively, we are, having international travel experiences are going to become something you don’t have to be a 1%-er, or even a 10%-er to afford. The overtourism word seems to be a slur for “people we don’t like coming in and ruining neighborhood character” — a phrase that’s always been something of a classism dog whistle.

Technology like Airbnb… and the many home sharing technologies before that — VRBO and the like… will always be there. Worst case, you might end up driving it a bit underground, forcing it to the dark web and transacting the sharing in bitcoin, but it won’t go away.

    Aaron Erickson

    Written by

    Senior Product Director, Testing Frameworks and Tools at Salesforce. Author of The Nomadic Developer. Co-author of Professional F#.