Travellers vs. Tourists (And A 3rd Option)

And the argument rages on to determine who among us are travellers and who among us are the dreaded tourists. At least, the argument rages on amongst those who want to be seen as travellers. Tourists, well, they don’t give a shit. Here’s the thing, those who desperately want to be seen as vagabonding travellers have one group of people to thank for the pricing and infrastructure that allows them to live this lifestyle. Well, actually, two groups of people.

I don’t like to pigeon-hole people because I believe that the words ‘always’ and ‘never’ have no place in our vocabulary. However, for sake of rambling on for a whole article, I’m going to but I’m also going to add a third group. Sure, there is a general difference between travellers and tourists. However, at the other end of the spectrum are vacationers.

Without tourists and vacationers, spending their hard earned money in a set amount of time, there would simply be less transportation and accommodation options around the world. Afterall, do you really think staying at a hostel for $5 a night is fuelling anyone’s economy? Tourists and vacationers provide the money that builds new international airports throughout the world. Their sheer numbers are what allows airlines to expand fleets and lower prices.

For shits and giggles, what follows are my personal definitions of each of these three categories of people. Feel free to chime in as this is obviously a devil’s advocate article…

Traveller

A traveller generally doesn’t have a firm time allowance to explore. They have no set itinerary and most likely no set return plans. A traveller will seek immersion into the local culture, shunning the typical tourist traps.

With a schedule as flexible as Gumby’s legs, the traveller stays at hostels, couch-surfs or finds accommodation at other uber cheap locations. The goal is to stretch the budget to its limits in order to stay away from home as long as possible so that more and more of the world can be discovered.

The traveller will use any form of transportation available in order to stretch the globe and in order to save money. Connecting flights are the norm and first class is out of the question. Sharing tightly packed cars, buses and train cars is just a way of life.

Most importantly, the traveller contributes to local economies on a grass roots level that tourists and vacationers seldom, if ever, do. The money they spend tends to go directly to the people of the culture they are visiting and not to global corporations. However, the amount they contribute on a daily basis to the overall economy is far, far less than that of the other two groups of people.

Tourist

A tourist is working on a set timeframe, a set schedule and a set budget. They are often, but not exclusively, on a packaged or guided tour. The tourist tends to seek comfort in accommodations, if not luxury. A tourist will never spend a night in a hostel or in a stranger’s apartment.

Tourists want to expand their horizons and push their boundaries to discover the world, just as the traveller does. However, the tourist will pay a premium to experience this in safety and with assurance that nothing will go wrong. This is a group that takes the direct flight for a little more money and may even sit in first class. In saying that, these are not free-wheeling folk. They will want all this value but at the lowest possible price. They may research every aspect of a trip’s cost for months or even years.

The tourist gives a half-hearted try at immersing into the local environment. They may even carry a phrase book if a different language is spoken at their destination. However, when it comes to doing business at the airports, hotels, restaurants and attractions, they will expect to be accommodated in English. They will also expect that 5 star service in every country around the world is the same as 5 star service from where they come from.And, of course, the tourist will dress purposely with one or more items of clothing depicting the flag of their home country.

The tourist contributes heavily to an economy. Some economy. It may very well not be the economy of the country they are visiting. Pre-packaged tours and vacations often are run by foreign interests and that money never trickles down to the local people that need it the most. But, the tourist will stop at local pubs and restaurants to spend some real money. They may even take an excursion or two that is not officially sanctioned by their tour company. They most likely will buy several cheezy Chinese made gifts from several local gift shops along the way.

Vacationer

The vacationer is the guy who flies to Cuba, Mexico or the Dominican Republic on an all-inclusive vacation and never leaves the resort during the entire stay. Yet, he believes that he is experiencing a foreign culture.

Forgive their ignorance for the vacationer does not know any better. They expect to be waited on hand and foot as if they’ve been transported back to the era of slavery. Meanwhile, they are paying less for a flight, week’s accommodations along with all the food and drink one can handle than they would pay for a weekend at the hotel down the street.

The closest this group gets to experiencing the real culture of the destination is learning the local word for beer and using it as much as possible in orders to the bartender when the rest of the words in the sentence are still in English. That bartender is an important man, or woman, for he or she is the sole link between the vacationer and their unique culture.

When a vacationer books an all-inclusive week at a Mexican resort for the low price of $699, most of that money goes to the airline with a small amount going to the American or European owned company that runs the resort. Therefore, the vacationer is contributing very little to the local economy of the country that’s being visited.

However, the vacationer is an ambassador for the places they have visited. They wear the week’s vacation spent on the beach in Veradero right on their shoulder for all to see. They will recommend the resort to all their friends (possibly even if they didn’t really enjoy themselves). Therefore, more people will travel to the destination, allowing for more flights, hotels and a better airport.

What Is My Point?

In general society, we’re not all scientists or we’re not all lawyers or we’re not all professional hockey players. There are chefs, custodial engineers, bus drivers, car salesmen and mailmen. We’re all cogs in a much greater wheel and we all need each other in order to operate.

It’s the same with travel. There are different levels of moving about the earth but each level truly does serve a purpose. This is especially true in the case of the Traveller. Without the tourists and vacationers, it would not be cheap to travel the world. There would not be affordable flights to every corner of the globe. Also, without this massive movement of humans between countries, there would not be governments in co-operation with each other looking out for your well-being.

So, don’t put yourself on a pedestal. For the young backpacker, the seniors that are getting off the bus in Rome may have been once just like you. This could be you looking into a mirror. Or, those seniors are just getting their feet wet in a world of travel that was never available to them before. Maybe next time, it won’t be a guided tour but a drive through Europe in a rented car.

Same goes with the vacationer. Sure, the first time out of the country, they may sit by the pool and gorge themselves with buffet meals three to five times a day while drinking enough alcohol to single-handedly destroy their liver. But, maybe next year they’ll take some excursions off the resort to see how the real people of that country live. And, maybe the year after that, they’re the ones renting the car for the drive through Europe.

Where do I fit in? As I mentioned at the start, I don’t like to pigeon-hole. But if I had to, I would call myself a hybrid. I’m no Rolf Potts but I’ve done them all in some degree and would do them all again. It’s great to walk around a strange, new place until the blisters on your feet pop open. However, it’s also nice to sit on a beach in the Caribbean and do nothing but watch your troubles drift out to sea. Traveller. Tourist. Vacationer. It’s all travel, baby!