Why meaningful tourism starts with measuring its true impact

Peter Semone, Chair, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

“We always talk about how much money we make from tourism, but we don’t really talk about what it costs to actually sustain tourism.”

— Peter Semone

Meaningful tourism starts with measuring what matters

Tourism has long been measured in numbers. More flights, more arrivals, more revenue. But as Peter Semone argues, it’s time we stop simply focusing on the revenue, and include the costs of hosting more visitors too.

As the chairman of PATA, Peter is calling for a new approach, one that moves beyond the surface-level promises of sustainability and leans into something deeper: meaningful tourism. That means understanding the real costs of welcoming tourists, from rising demand for water, waste, and energy to the social strains felt by local communities, and taking action to manage them.

Destinations, he says, must be empowered to strike a better balance. That might mean charging more for tourism experiences, or investing in destination management over marketing. Because if we fail to manage the pressures, we risk losing the very places that draw people in.

Peter believes tourism can be a force for good, but only if we stop treating it as a race for numbers and start building quality experiences that support local economies, respect culture, and protect the environment. The future lies in collaboration across sectors, governments and communities, and in giving destinations the tools to say “yes” to tourism, on their terms.