World Tourism Day: How our privilege to travel can be a force for good

For a lot of people, international travel is a way of life. Many of us possess a passport that enables us to cross borders without being questioned, the financial stability to take time out of work without worrying about survival, and the courage to explore somewhere new. As a result of these freedoms, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reports that the average world traveller flies at least once every 22 months.

However, not everyone is fortunate enough to travel as freely, or as frequently, as many of us do. According to a 2018 IATA report on the global scale, distribution and growth of aviation, only 11% of the world’s population travel by plane in the course of one year, with 4% travelling internationally. Just 1% of us fly frequently.

There are additional hurdles that some travellers face when planning adventures. Prevalent among this demographic are stories of negative attitudes towards minority groups and people with disabilities. So, for those that do travel, the onus is on us to make our presence count for something.

Barriers to be broken

In her UK documentary Fight to Fly, paraplegic TV presenter Sophie Morgan addresses the barriers people with reduced mobility face when flying, including disturbing and extreme situations such as travellers having to drag themselves along the airline floor to the toilet because of a lack of space for wheelchair use.

“I have to travel the world for my job, but almost every flight is a battle,” she explains. “Disabled passengers are left stranded on planes; we’re treated like second-class citizens and denied boarding… Disabled travellers regularly feel they’re victims of discrimination. Too often, we have our wheelchairs broken. [My wheelchair] is like my legs. Your life stops when your wheelchair is broken.”

A 2024 survey by Scope UK and Opinium reported that 55% of travellers with reduced mobility had experienced accessibility issues when flying, with half revealing they’d faced discrimination when travelling by air.

A major airline carelessly breaking her wheelchair was the last straw for Sophie, who launched the Rights on Flights campaign with the aim of ensuring airports and planes are adapted, by law, to be accessible, just as trains and buses often are. She has also requested government approval for the Civil Aviation Authority to fine airlines found negligent towards people with disabilities.

Read next: Wanderlust contributing editor Sophie Morgan introduces her new regular feature on inclusive travel

A stranger’s lens

Other barriers are the laws and regulations of more conservative destinations – especially where expressions of homosexuality are criminalised. There are many countries that aren’t safe for LGBTQ+ travellers, who remain at risk of arrest, violence and discrimination. This question of safety applies not just to traditionally religious regions such as the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa, but also seemingly liberal nations. As a result, LGBTQ+ travellers must always be alert.

Likewise, people from ethnic minority backgrounds can face prejudice, ill treatment or even straight-up racism or religious discrimination. This lack of safety can present itself in many ways. In Nanjala Nyabola’s Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move, the author addresses the complexities of travelling as a Black or Brown person. She writes:

‘Something about a lone African woman travelling provokes interesting reactions in people. Shopkeepers watching me as I peruse the aisles in American and Western European pharmacies, and open hostility in Central Europe. Uninhibited curiosity in Asia, and complete indifference or comical enthusiasm in Africa.’

As a traveller who is Black and female, Nanjala has discovered that she has the power to broaden perspectives through her presence alone.

‘I’ve learnt that by simply turning up, you force people to contend with their own preconceptions of what Blackness and womanhood can be. It challenges you to either continue feeling fearless and turning up, or to walk away and return to your comfort zone. I’ve learnt to choose fearlessness.’

Empowering elements

Recognising the privilege to travel freely, as many of us are able to do, is the first step to making our adventures a force for good. After all, we have the power to support cultural and environmental conservation the world over, uplift Indigenous communities that have in the past been sidelined, and support community-based tourism in neighbourhoods that don’t often benefit from the money tourists spend.

We can even bring acknowledgement to those who have previously suffered the intergenerational impacts of persecution and colonisation. The truth is: our privilege and power as travellers come as a package. Perhaps that’s something to remember when we embark on our next journey