nontourism

Nontourism is a term used to describe forms of travel and engagement that deliberately avoid or minimize conventional tourism activities, such as visiting well-known sites, shopping, or consuming curated experiences. Proponents view nontourism as a way to prioritize local perspectives, reduce environmental and cultural impacts, and foster more meaningful encounters with places and people.

The term appears in debates on sustainable tourism and anti-tourism that emerged in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Scholars in geography, anthropology, and environmental studies use it to analyze practices that resist mass tourism or commercialized experiences, while still enabling mobility and learning.

Common characteristics include a low environmental footprint, longer stays, voluntary work or collaboration with local projects, participation in everyday life rather than staged activities, and cautious, respectful interaction with hosts. It may involve fieldwork, community service, homestays, or visiting sites that are not marketed to visitors.

Critics argue that the term is ill-defined and can be co-opted as a marketing label, obscuring power imbalances or perpetuating insider/outsider hierarchies. Measuring impact is difficult, and some worry that nontourism paradoxically relies on travellers to define and sanction what counts as legitimate, non-touristic participation.

Examples include researchers conducting field studies in remote communities, volunteers contributing to local development projects, and travelers who prioritize nature, heritage, or learning over conventional attractions.

See also: sustainable tourism, slow travel, voluntourism, anti-tourism.