Unlike most other metropoles Athens has so far resisted skyscrapers, the idea being not to block one of the best views in the world, especially if you are fond of direct democracy, the Parthenon. (The military dictatorship (1967-74) that was not particularly fond, did allow two tallish buildings!). In this spirit, a court l...
Zoo, noun: (a) facility which incarcerates and exploits wild animals for private profit while pretending to save them from extinction (b) a crowded place where people behave in a disorganized or uncontrolled manner. Recently I came across a PR announcement from a well known Zoo which was celebrating a "Gold" certification from a prestigio...
Mind-boggling and increasingly annoying, especially just after a global pandemic confinement, repeated, apolitical (i.e. conservative) calls for "less travel", and that "We", an undefined "We" as if we were all equal, living in a magnificent, peaceful and abundant world, should travel "less" are becoming more common among the tourism sector's ...
Most Athens' visitors rarely have time (or interest) to understand the very long and tortured history of this very old city, which jointly with Beirut, are the world's oldest continuously inhabited capitals. They will read or hear something about the Acropolis, the old city "Plaka" and that's about it. A few may notice...
For a Progressive Tourism, beyond theory, we need action - we have to build the new, progressive, democratic tourism structures that may eventually replace the capitalist, hierarchical ones. Consider this actual situation: hundreds of unemployed tourism graduates in the global north are endlessly searching for a meaningful job that also pays a livi...
The case for a new, Progressive Tourism is both practical and conceptual. As the status quo first infiltrates and then hijacks our terms, structures, networks and initiatives, we have to create new ones, otherwise we simply cannot be heard in the internet cacophony! Progressive Tourism goes beyond Sustainable Tourism. It includes the "System Change" part of the motto "System Change not Climate Change). It prioritizes individual, collective and political action, including tourism policy and advocacy, to correct inequality and injustice, preserve human rights and labour rights, and promote direct, genuine and economic democracy, within the tourism and hospitality sectors but also in the host communities, destinations and broadly, the societies. Sustainable Tourism nowadays is so de-politicized, that it is readily endorsed (in the form of national sustainable tourism initiatives and labels) by repressive regimes imprisoning journalists and dissidents and multinationals eager to greenwash their exploitative, oligopolistic models alike. It is more about...
Hospitality predates Money, according to History but also common sense, therefore the notion of a Hospitality that does not involve a monetary transaction, let's call it demonetized, is not utopian. But, back to the present, how could a Demonetized Hospitality pay the bills? Let's have a look at these bills. Electricity? Go off-grid. Water? Use a bore hole, a stream, a lake, or -soon- even the sea. Maintenance? Repairs? The guests can lend a hand. Furniture? The guests can bring second-hand unwanted items or, if they have the skills, create the furniture from locally available materials. Wages? No employees, guests volunteer, in shifts, or they become part-owners. The general idea is: Sharing. Do we dare to share? It seems sharing is the greatest taboo, not just in hospitality but in general, for everything considered 'property', which, as Proudhon pointed out, is at the same time theft and freedom. But property in terms of...
Hierarchy and Inequality are at the root of all our tragedies. Were we ever able to stop obeying orders, and to freely decide for ourselves and our loved ones, based on our enlightened self-interest and common interest, and IF we could fairly SHARE the immense wealth already available on earth among ourselves, among cl...
Greece, and particularly Epirus and the Peloponnese, is dotted with magnificent old stone-arched bridges, built and rebuilt during Byzantine, Ottoman and early modern Greek eras, the oldest being a 4,000-year-old Mycenaean bridge (Arkadiko) linking Argos and Tiryns to Epidaurus which was still in use until a few decades ago. There is an o...
The title "Utopia Inc" may be unfair, but it belongs to a well documented, critical article by Alexa Clay on Aeon. The author convincingly argues that intentional communities, including eco villages, are microcosms of our society, with the same problems of the society that they aim to replace or get away from. But they are ...
