From Pompeii to the Egyptian pyramids, some of the world’s most famous man-made wonders are scarred with millennia-old graffiti etched into their walls by ancient sightseers. It’s no secret that many of the world’s “greatest” travellers – like Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes – were among its worst. And according to Lauren A Siegel, a tourism and events lecturer at the University of Greenwich in London, as recently as the 18th and 19th Centuries, it was common for British nobles taking the Grand Tour of Europe to belittle and disregard the people and places they were visiting.
What’s different about this summer is we’re increasingly hearing about bad travellers – and ultimately, this could be a good thing. With each new report of cringeworthy, tone-deaf or just plain disrespectful behaviour, our collective outrage seems to be rising, leading to what could just be a moment of reckoning for bad tourists.
In an age of heightened awareness about privilege and how we treat others from different cultures, this increased focus on entitled and boorish travellers may seem like a natural progression from other recent social movements. But experts suggest a combination of factors are driving bad behaviour abroad, and the newfound attention we’re giving it.
According to Siegel, unlike in years past, many travellers today are competing for social media likes and views. “People are reverting to more extreme actions for their Instagram or TikTok feeds,” she noted. Ironically, social media accounts like the massively popular Passenger Shaming are also being used to call out insensitive and disrespectful behaviour.