Democracy and the Tourist

From the world’s leading thinker on tourism, a bold new vision of its role in our democratic future.

Over the past half century, tourism has exploded into the world’s largest industry, transforming every sphere of life on Earth. As Dean MacCannell argues, this extraordinary rise signals a fundamental shift in society, one that rivals the Industrial Revolution in its global impact. He reveals how modern mass tourism and Enlightenment democracy emerged together, united by a shared impulse toward openness and cultural exchange.

Far more than a history of travel, Democracy and the Tourist offers a new way to understand the defining political tensions of our time. As tourism’s democratic drive increasingly collides with authoritarianism and enforced homogeneity, MacCannell envisions a future in which the human desire to encounter difference proves more enduring than the politics of exclusion.

At once accessible and deeply original, this book shows how tourism, at its core, can be a powerful force for connecting people across divides—and a compass pointing us toward a more democratic world.