Traveler vs. Tourist

There is a long lasting and never resolved dispute about tourists and travelers. Many times it seems these two do not like each other and sometimes people serving tourists do not like travelers and vice versa. It seems to me that most people do not know the distinction as it is mostly hard to tell by the looks of a person whether s/he is a tourist or a traveler.

A tourist, in my humble description, is a person who travels for a limited time (tours), has a greater per day budget, usually buys a whole trip rather than planning it himself, buys lots of souvenirs, takes lots of photos but does not learn much about the local culture or get to meet local people. These are not necessarily bad things. Most people do not have the time to travel long and learn local languages and since their holiday time mostly means a time to rest, they also prefer full facilities, rather than learning about the local ways of doing things. It is understandable.

A traveler, again in my humble dictionary, is a person who chooses traveling as a way of life, either for life or for a certain amount of time (but rarely for just 2 weeks). He may still buy some souvenirs but he has to be careful that his bag doesn’t get too heavy because he won’t be hiring porters to carry it for him. He may stay in some hotels but because he normally wants to make his money last as long as possible to be able to travel more, he stays in guest houses, camps and tries the local foods, takes the local buses, etc. Since he wants to use the local market he learns some daily local language and meanwhile makes a few local friends. This also is not a good thing without exceptions. For example, some travelers get too stingy and overdo the bargaining. Some get too arrogant as if they are Marco Polo.

I read somewhere that, some years ago the Tourism Ministry of Thailand conducted a research to see which one is better for their tourism industry. The result was in favor of travelers. The final report said that the travelers spent their money in smaller and more local establishments and thus helped the distribution of wealth; that travelers are much more sensitive to culture and environment, and this type of tourism is more sustainable. So they seem to have concluded that the Thai government shall support travelers and this may be a reason why Thailand remains a very friendly destination for backpackers.


Please do not get me wrong; not everybody that has a backpack is a traveler, and not everybody who stays in an expensive hotel is a tourist. In most cases it is not that easy to say which is which. And also some real travelers still leave a bad influence and some tourists do god things. What is important is to have a good travel and to leave a good influence behind.

Tourism in general is disastrous for the environment. There are many wasteful sides of the resort tourism to start with. The buffet meals are the most wasteful way to feed ourselves. Hundreds of air-condition rooms in a hotel (plus their mini bars) has the same effect on global warming as an airplane. Many tourists prefer to keep on with their habits when the are on tour and for this the hotels have to import all sorts of food, beer and whatnot to suit their tastes. The cultural influence is also pretty degenerative as these people don’t get the time to learn how to respect the local culture (as if they’d care). Since they don’t know about the local prices they pay very high prices for everything and although on the surface this seems to be a good thing for the local tourism industry, it raises prices and creates the image that tourism is the new gold. They create these concentrated areas which sooner or later becomes too crowded with hotels and shops to enjoy. All around the world you can see this kind of tourist ghost towns which were once very nice spots but are now completely spoilt. Strange enough they also look the same, with the same kind of resort hotels you can see everywhere.

On the other hand, when one has the time and energy to go the hard but more rewarding way, there is much to discover. Taking a local bus is not as comfortable as the air conditioned tourist bus but it gives one the chance to feel where he is. Staying in a village house or a homestay, being a guest to the people of the place is of course why one goes all the way there. For me it has been hard to understand why people go half way around the world to spend a week in a resort hotel which is a replica of the one back home. If you cannot handle eating the local delicacy of fried cockroaches, maybe you can have a coffee in the village coffee house and learn a little about their daily pastimes. There is hardly any hotel entertainment as fulfilling as a village wedding.

But there are disturbing things about travelers also. Some travelers demand too much from the locals as if they have to be taken as local citizens because they don’t stay in hotels. Some demand lower than local prices and exaggerate haggling. The stereotype of a traveler is also pretty scruffy and dirty. This can be excused by being on the road for so long but only to a certain extend. I have also met many travelers who get easily angry with people who either confuses them with or wants them to be tourists. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s what they know and it’s ok. If you want to have a chance to change this, start with having a positive attitude.

There is also the off road impact. When bus loads of tourists take a safari tour to see elephants, they bring in cash for the conservation effort but they also leave a huge footprint. But travelers also do this, although it is on a smaller scale. With travelers things can be a little more dangerous because they like to discover, to go to places where not many people go. Thus they can find an unspoilt piece of land and in some cases spoil some it. Remember that many beaches and other famous touristic places which are clogged with resort hotels today were discovered by some adventurous travelers in the 60s. It is a hard work to keep your mouth shut and also let the locals know that you rather camp there but it is very necessary.

These are just a few points of the ever-lasting debate of tourists versus travelers. You can always come across a supposed traveler complaining that those backpackers come to small towns and spoil the place by demanding air conditioned rooms and toast for breakfast, just like tourists. On the tourists side, they have an equivalent complaint about travelers keeping the rotten huts from being renovated by staying there and smoking dope all the time. There are endless examples.

Although I feel myself to be closer to a traveler, nobody likes to be boxed and neither do I. After all I’ve recently been taking great many photos and visiting very touristic places like Angkor Wat. The way I travel is more of traveling fast for some time and then settling and feeling one place for longer. I’m not a big a fan of local transport as I used to be also but I love new food experiments (recently I’ve been happily introduced to fertilized, semi developed chicken eggs). I just like being there, rather than seeing what’s there.

When you are going somewhere just think that you are actually going to be there and have an influence and be influenced. Make it nice. Give thanks.