'The New Tourist' with Paige McClanahan | Author Interview

There are many gives and takes of tourism-we need to talk about them. And Paige McClanahan's book is an engaging and effective facilitator of this conversation.
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“I write about the Amsterdam Red Light District and I write about Disneyland Paris, and I'm saying 'let's think about these two touristy zones where, in a lot of cases, people are going because they're looking for a fantasy, they're looking to occupy a place of fantasy for a little while.' Of course we all need to escape our day-to-day, but how do we make sure that when we're escaping reality and looking for a zone where normal rules don't apply, how do we make sure we do that in a way that's not going to negatively impact someone's everyday life?"
- Paige McClanahan interviewed by Porchlight Book Company
This interview with author and journalist Paige McClanahan was previously live-streamed on June 20, 2024. The author was in conversation with Porchlight's Creative Director Gabriella Cisneros.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
A brilliantly evocative, surprising, and page-turning exploration of how tourism has shaped the world, for better and for worse-essential reading for anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the implications of their wanderlust.

Through deep and perceptive dispatches from tourist spots around the globe-from Hawaii to Saudi Arabia, Amsterdam to Angkor Wat-The New Tourist lifts the veil on an industry that accounts for one in ten jobs worldwide and generates nearly ten percent of global GDP. How did a once-niche activity become the world’s most important means of contact across cultures? When does tourism destroy the soul of a city, and when does it offer a place a new lease on life? Is “last chance tourism” prompting a powerful change in perspective, or driving places we love further into the ground?

Filled with revelations about an industry that shapes how we view the world, The New Tourist spotlights painful truths but also delivers a message of hope: that the right kind of tourism-and the right kind of tourist-can be a powerful force for good.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paige McClanahan is an American journalist based in France. A regular contributor to The New York Times, she has reported from more than a dozen countries, writing for publications like The Guardian, the BBC, and The Washington Post, among many others. Her reporting has covered multilateral trade negotiations, humanitarian crises, economic development, and, for the past five years, the tourism industry. Her travel journalism has been recognized by The Society of American Travel Writers and the North American Travel Journalists Association. A graduate of Williams College and Duke University, she has lived in five countries since she left the United States in 2008.