The most hard core American travelers haven’t been stopped by the Cuban travel-ban. But it has stopped plenty of people who could use a good cultural experience a hop-skip-and-jump from Florida. So it’s very good news that the nearly 50 year American travel ban to Cuba may soon be lifted.

The travel-ban, and other American policies towards Cuba, never made any sense to me. It seem like a blunt tool of political vengeance. Long after Bay of Pigs and the missile crisis, America got caught up in other conflicts with communism, like Viet Nam. And yet Viet Nam, where there was a much harder fought conflict on the other side of the world, has fairly warm relations with the states. I suppose it all come down to the political power of the Cuban exiles in Florida who can swing a presidential vote.

I only fear that Cuba’s opening will result in cheap all inclusive tourist resorts. However, if the Cuban government can keep tourism on it’s own terms, I’m sure it will mean good thing for Americans and Cubans alike.

The folks of Tristan de Cunha, the most remote inhabited place on earth, are a secretive bunch. In an article for BCC, Simon Winchester discusses being banished from the island for inadvertently sharing an island secret. And no, he doesn’t repeat the secret in the article. But he does have a powerful philosophical conclusion about the moral code of travel:

Travel brings with it many responsibilities: not to damage the environment, to “take only pictures, leave only footprints” as the mantra has it.

But we, in our clumsy outsider way can unwittingly do other and less obvious damage too, like imposing, breaching codes, violating secrets.

I have to conclude that a quarter of a century ago I did so too. So melancholy though it may be for me, I am inclined to believe that I have been given a late-term lesson in the ethics of tourism and that the people of Tristan, in obliging me to stay away and remain here, were quite probably… absolutely right.

It’s a shitty situation to receive a lifetime ban for an accidental transgression. But I appreciate Winchester’s take on the situation. The fact of the matter is that when you’re traveling, you have to respect the rules of the destination. Even if you break a rule you didn’t know about, then you have to be willing to accept the consequences. Typically you find out about breaking unknown “rules” when a crooked cop tries to corner you for a bribe. But every so often you’ll make a misstep and have to realize you are from somewhere else, and have to play by others rules for the privilege of being a guest. C’est la vie.

I’m not a huge fan of finding places shut down from lack of visitors, nor am I a fan of huge crowds of tourists. So I find the news about the changes in tourist flows in the financial crisis very interesting.

The UN says that global tourism – of the cross border variety – could decline between 2 and 5 percent this year. Talib Rifai, secretary general of the U.N. World Tourism Organization, says that Europe will likely see the largest decline in tourism, but there are murmurs of massive drops of the number of tourists in East Asia, and the IMF says that Africa will suffer as tourism declines there as well. So where are people going? As Europe and East Asia account for a large chunk of the world’s tourism, there must be some massive increases elsewhere.

Secondly, the UN article notes that China hope to see in increase in the number of tourists leaving the county and they are largely going to Europe, and that American’s and Europeans aren’t likely to scale back their travel plans that much. So if some the biggest markets are still sending out tourists, who is sending fewer?

This is purely me theorizing, but I feel that the answer to both questions is: emerging economies. First, folks who still have money are likely looking for somewhere you get a lot of mileage for your yet, dollar, euro, or whatever. Emerging economies provide that. and to the second point it seems to me that international travel is one of the things people would give up first as their income declines. Not me of course, I’m talking about “most people”. So tourists from places like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and India might decide to stay home in the face of the global recession.

If this is indeed the case, that could be a very good thing for those economies. It means that less currency is leaving the country, while there is still a good amount coming it. I’ll be interested to see how this shakes out and if I’m right.

Some of my favourite travels have been in the developing world, so a recent post of Intelligent Travel and longer article on Traveler on poverty tourism gave me pause. Clearly, tourists cruising through slums snapping pictures though the windows of an air conditioned tour bus is exploitative and disturbingly voyeuristic.

As they also mention in the articles, I think that there is a good way for visit developing areas as well. Study abroad programmes, for example, provide a chance to have a true cultural exchange, rather than just cruising though, seeing the sights, and buying the souvenirs. But I’m hesitant to cite my own experience as proof of this because there were certain moments on my study abroad time that I got that sickening feeling of being in a position of power and advantage.

I think you have to let the golden rule be the test. If you’re don’t think you’d be happy in your home country if tourists behaved the way you are behaving, then don’t do it. Thing is, that’s a really hard test to pass. I don’t think I would ever like it if some really rich folks showed up in my life and wanted to see how I lived, then after eating some takeout with me and playing Guitar Hero, hoped in a limo and drove off to box seats at the Chelsea match. Yet that’s not too different from what I’ve done.

It’s tough. It’s obviously very valuable to have the cultural exchange, especially for many people in western countries who have no concept of what life is like in the developing world. So go forth and explore, but remember to try and keep the playing field as level as you can and “do unto others…”.

Image: Me with a family I stayed with for a couple of weeks in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. It was a crazy fun time, I think we both learn lots about each other’s cultures, but in the end, I hoped in a bus and went home.