Tourism Forum

My name is Jonathan Tourtellot, and I am the geotourism editor at Traveler. Travel and tourism, claimed now to be the largest industry on Earth, is transforming our world. Sometimes tourism helps preserve and enhance the places we visit; sometimes it spoils them.

I belong to an ongoing national Roundtable on Sustainable Tourism. At one meeting, when we were discussing how to work with governments and travel companies, we realized we had few ways to hear from travelers themselves.

This forum can help. I invite you to enter your most thoughtful comment, gripe, or constructive suggestion about tourism. If it's among the best, we may publish it under your name in Traveler.

How well or badly is tourism handled in places you've visited? Interesting restaurants? Ugly commercial strips? Care for the environment? Characterless hotels? Homey inns? Well-informed tour guides? Was there something done so well you wish other places would do likewise? Something to avoid at all costs?

• This month we ask: Is the World Heritage program right for the U.S.?

• To comment on a topic you don't see below simply click on New Topics About Tourism. Post your advice for tourism officials, planners, developers. Your next trip may depend on it.

• Managing Tourism: Good Examples
• Managing Tourism: Bad Examples
• New Topics About Tourism

Topics from previous issues:
• Would certification of hotels for sustainable practices make a difference in your travel choices?
• Do nearby shopping malls and amusement rides improve your visit to a national park?
• What impressions do Americans make on people of other countries?
• What should the Park Service do about gridlock in U.S. national parks?
• If you could, would you ban big-box stores and strip malls in order to keep town centers alive?
• Do you think ecotourism does wildlife more good than harm?
• Should the world's seashores be zoned to control sprawl?
• Attractive, upscale towns whose main industry has become tourism
• Tourism rather than mining or logging?
• Should islanders tax your cruise ship?
• Would you pay to learn about the hidden Hawaii?
• Too Many Tourists?
• Nominate a Stewardship Hero
• Should your taxes pay for more U.S. trains?
• More Golf, Greener Golf, or No Golf At All
• Gridlock in Historic Towns Like Cape May
• Culture Clash for Tourist Cash?
• More Sails or More Megaships
• Tourism in Mexico's Copper Canyons
• Motors in the Backcountry: Good or Bad?

To offer or request personal travel tips for specific destinations, please go to our Message Boards.