The ongoingness of imperialism: The problem of tourism dependency and the promise of radical equality

Recent work in development studies asked: “whatever happened to the idea of imperialism?” This article will analyse the ongoingness of imperialism in order to illuminate sources of injustice and inequity in tourism. It will also delve into historical understandings of the capacities of tourism in a time when revolutionary, decolonising leadership looked to build a New International Economic Order. The outcomes from such an exploratory, critical analysis will offer a moment of truth-telling in tourism with a view to making links between colonial histories and practices, racialised inequalities and global conflicts and crises which shape our world and constrain our future. It is possible to imagine a different, more equal global order and accompanying forms of tourism that offer better futures.