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Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The best and worst universities for graduate salaries revealed
'Maybe it's got nothing to do with Group of Eight in itself, just that these people have higher ATARs to start with, or are on average a bit smarter, maybe better connected, and that's kind of starting to show as they get further into their careers,' he said. While some graduates had low starting salaries, he said it was not necessarily reflective of their lifetime earning potential. 'Medicine has a very good long-term trajectory, even though the four- to six-month-out salary is not super impressive,' he said. Norton said regional university graduates earned more initially because students typically had more work experience before starting their degree. Psychology graduates from the University of New England were the biggest earners in their field, while that institution's science and mathematics graduates were also around the top of the salary table. Completing a degree in dentistry was one of the biggest earners, with someone from Charles Sturt earning a median salary of $93,000 straight out of university. Charles Sturt graduates were also the top paid in social work and computing and information systems when compared with other NSW institutions. Charles Sturt vice chancellor Professor Renée Leon said the university had industry partnerships which gave students an advantage when competing for jobs. 'At the end of the day, our students deserve this reassurance that, after years of dedication and hard work in their studies, they have every chance of getting the job and salary they've dreamt of,' she said. Independent economist Dr Kim Houghton said while there was a preconception that professionals were paid more in big cities, that was not borne out by research data. He noted research from the Regional Australia Institute this year which revealed a significant income premium for workers in outer regional areas. 'The further west you go, the more inland you go, the higher those salaries are,' Houghton said. 'Health specialists are in really short supply, so there are quite a lot of incentives, both Commonwealth and state, to induce people to come and practise those professions in regional places. 'The labor market is trying to function to the extent that you're paying more people to fill a shortage, but there's still chronic shortages in those sorts of skilled specialist medical professions across all the regions.' The University of NSW had strong graduate salaries across fields including health services, science and mathematics. A spokeswoman said salaries post-graduation were a key factor when it came to choosing the university. Loading 'Although UNSW does not influence graduate salaries directly, we are deeply committed to student success and continuously monitor graduate outcomes … This data informs our ongoing efforts to enhance the student experience and ensure our graduates are well prepared for the workforce,' she said. Sydney University pro vice chancellor of educational innovation Adam Bridgeman said the university helped students understand what employers wanted and how to present themselves in the job market. 'While salaries aren't the only thing students need to consider when deciding their career goals, they can be an important factor for many, and our career consultations include salary trends and coaching and advice on how to negotiate salaries,' he said.
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
The best and worst universities for graduate salaries revealed
'Maybe it's got nothing to do with Group of Eight in itself, just that these people have higher ATARs to start with, or are on average a bit smarter, maybe better connected, and that's kind of starting to show as they get further into their careers,' he said. While some graduates had low starting salaries, he said it was not necessarily reflective of their lifetime earning potential. 'Medicine has a very good long-term trajectory, even though the four- to six-month-out salary is not super impressive,' he said. Norton said regional university graduates earned more initially because students typically had more work experience before starting their degree. Psychology graduates from the University of New England were the biggest earners in their field, while that institution's science and mathematics graduates were also around the top of the salary table. Completing a degree in dentistry was one of the biggest earners, with someone from Charles Sturt earning a median salary of $93,000 straight out of university. Charles Sturt graduates were also the top paid in social work and computing and information systems when compared with other NSW institutions. Charles Sturt vice chancellor Professor Renée Leon said the university had industry partnerships which gave students an advantage when competing for jobs. 'At the end of the day, our students deserve this reassurance that, after years of dedication and hard work in their studies, they have every chance of getting the job and salary they've dreamt of,' she said. Independent economist Dr Kim Houghton said while there was a preconception that professionals were paid more in big cities, that was not borne out by research data. He noted research from the Regional Australia Institute this year which revealed a significant income premium for workers in outer regional areas. 'The further west you go, the more inland you go, the higher those salaries are,' Houghton said. 'Health specialists are in really short supply, so there are quite a lot of incentives, both Commonwealth and state, to induce people to come and practise those professions in regional places. 'The labor market is trying to function to the extent that you're paying more people to fill a shortage, but there's still chronic shortages in those sorts of skilled specialist medical professions across all the regions.' The University of NSW had strong graduate salaries across fields including health services, science and mathematics. A spokeswoman said salaries post-graduation were a key factor when it came to choosing the university. Loading 'Although UNSW does not influence graduate salaries directly, we are deeply committed to student success and continuously monitor graduate outcomes … This data informs our ongoing efforts to enhance the student experience and ensure our graduates are well prepared for the workforce,' she said. Sydney University pro vice chancellor of educational innovation Adam Bridgeman said the university helped students understand what employers wanted and how to present themselves in the job market. 'While salaries aren't the only thing students need to consider when deciding their career goals, they can be an important factor for many, and our career consultations include salary trends and coaching and advice on how to negotiate salaries,' he said.
Forbes
06-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What Happened When Leaders Tested The Power Of Business Storytelling?
By embracing storytelling each professionals reach their goals and experience significant leadership ... More transformation. Since the early 2000s, business storytelling has become a key communication strategy for leaders across sectors. At a board meeting, nonprofit leader Arlene Milon saw the impact of effective storytelling: 'We had a lot of data to share, but instead I kicked off the [board of directors]Similarly, the following four leaders experienced the impact of story-based leadership. By embracing storytelling each professional reached their goals and experienced significant leadership transformation. CFO Becomes Recognized Leader In Financial Storytelling Karma Auden, Chief Financial Officer of University of New England, Australia, has always thought of profit and loss statements as stories. 'I believe that every number is not just a number. A number represents a person or a resource or an activity,' she said. 'So you need to understand what that number represents in order to share the information effectively.' But convincing other accountants of the value of storytelling had been a challenge. That's why she became a Certified Story Facilitator through Leadership Story Lab. With the adoption of AI for more of the routine work of accounting, Auden believes accountants must develop their communication skills to effectively interpret the data for the business. It's been transformational in her own work and also in her quest of turning all accountants everywhere into storytellers. She relies on storytelling strategies when presenting budgets to different groups at her university and when she's conducting workshops for other accounting professionals. Auden has become a go-to expert with industry groups asking her to lead financial storytelling workshops for accounting teams. 'I keep saying, I'm trying to make finance fun for everyone.' Coaches Embrace Storytelling And See The Results In Their Clients As a former actor and entrepreneur, public speaking coach Chris McAuley keenly understood storytelling and its power for effective communication. He now uses leadership storytelling with his clients to see transformation. One client came to him because she was painfully shy, but her role at her company required her to give presentations. To help his client, McAuley used a storytelling tool called Passion DNA to help her understand herself in a new light. Through the exercise McAuley got a sense of her passion and her confidence. 'I will write a story with an intriguing beginning, the riveting middle, the satisfying end,' explained McAuley about his client using the information from the storytelling exercise. When he sent her the story, the impact was immediate. 'Her supervisor even called me and said, 'My God, what did you do?'' Seeing herself from the perspective of her coach allowed her to tap into an innate power and confidence that had always been there — he just helped her discover it through storytelling. Similarly, Reggie Polk, a corporate trainer at a ServiceNow, software company that helps organizations employ AI, infuses storytelling into his corporate training programs to help his colleagues tap into their strengths. 'If you want to move people, then you have to figure out what makes them move,' says Polk. 'Most courses are very regimented with no room for flavor or imagination. Understandably the goal is to get a point across or reach a destination, but how do you keep an audience engaged.' For Polk, the answer is making space for authentic storytelling. By incorporating storytelling into his training, he sees his colleagues open up, make meaningful connections with each other and learn how to understand their clients' pain points better. Executive Rolls Out Organizational Change with Storytelling Chuck Rhorig was tasked with leading one of the biggest organizational changes in his department at USAA, a financial services organization for members of the military and their families. For this reason, he was grateful that USAA had adopted storytelling as a key skill for their corporate strategy scorecard and provided training to help him implement storytelling into his leadership. 'I'm a lot more intentional [since the training].' Rhorig reflected. 'Anytime there's a big change, we can freak out. That's why with that first message about the change, I spent a ton of time shaping and reshaping and practicing that story and getting it tight, not too long.' He knew he needed to engage his audience emotionally, so they could listen to all the information he had to share. But for Rhorig, storytelling is not just about those big moments. He said, 'I need to get more into the practice of bringing it into more day-to-day opportunities.' It's about making connections and building relationships with his team at every opportunity. The Case For Business Storytelling As seen in these five case studies, storytelling is a flexible communication tool that helps leaders communicate effectively in different scenarios — from budget meetings, mentorship and coaching to leading organizational change. Leadership storytelling is more than about being the sage on stage. It's also about being the guide on the side. When storytelling is embraced as a leadership strategy, it unlocks relationships and skills latent within people. If you are an executive who wants to discover the power of storytelling as a leadership strategy, here's how you can get started.
The Advertiser
30-06-2025
- General
- The Advertiser
Why we need more 'champion Australians' like BackTrack's Bernie Shakeshaft
Twenty years after it was established, BackTrack has become one of the most successful and sustainable youth development programs in the country. In 2020, its creator Bernie Shakeshaft was named Australia's Local Hero as part of the Australian of the Year Awards, and his phone has been ringing off the hook for five years since. "I think it has given BackTrack a much broader footprint," Mr Shakeshaft says of the national recognition. "They're pretty big awards, they've given us a bit of national exposure." "[The phone calls] weren't just from different towns wanting to get something started; It started tweaking the interest of a lot of private wealth or philanthropists, they were looking for organisations they could then back and support themselves." Based in Armidale in NSW, BackTrack began in 2005 as a job-ready program for high school kids, but Mr Shakeshaft quickly recognised there was no quick fix for kids who might have grown up with trauma or around crime. He said many kids as young as 11 and 12 might have already been having criminal issues or schooling issues. He and other volunteers saw how many weren't safe at home or were already sleeping rough. "We started with one little thing, and that was to get those kids at that time work-ready, so we're trying to keep them off the streets at night and trying to keep them out of stolen cars and work out somewhere safe for them to stay," Mr Shakeshaft said. "And that's where the dogs came into it ... we had tried 50 different things and there were wins, but we hadn't quite cracked it." He had a litter of working dog puppies, brought them to work one day and said it was a "light bulb" moment when he let them loose on the lawn with the kids. "That was the first time I saw these wild kids sitting with these pups, and they were so soft and gentle." It was 2006 when Mr Shakeshaft got a call from a mate asking if he knew about dog high jumping - he didn't - but quickly learned what it was about and decided to give it a crack. "We grabbed half a dozen dogs, went down there and we won the Armidale Show just with a few mates, then the next week it was the Guyra Show, so we took a few of the kids and they won that, then there was the Walcha Show a few weeks later." Then came the BackTrack Shed, where they began training programs like welding and metalworking, which included maths and literacy for kids who weren't going to school. Research done by the University of New England showed youth crime plummeted by almost 50 per cent. Around 2015, they rolled out a pilot program to house and feed nine participants. Suddenly, almost 90 per cent of participants were able to find work. But many struggled with long-term employment, so seven years ago, BackTrack developed its own commercial business to provide work opportunities. "We'll have our 21st birthday next year, and we're doing a 100-year vision; we want this to be here well past my use-by-date." Mr Shakeshaft is encouraging others to nominate someone for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards. He said people putting in hard work in their community normally weren't loud about what they're doing, but nomination alone can give them the drive to keep going. "You don't go around blowing your own trumpet, you know," he said. "It is a pretty important cause. If you look down the history of Australians of the Year or people winning those awards, it's not people out there broadcasting themselves. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE NOW! "People know about the special stuff that unique individuals are doing, and you see it in your own towns. [Nominating someone] is a marvellous gesture. Even if they don't win the award, to be nominated is pretty cool, and I think it helps people; it motivates them. "I've met some bloody champion Australians, and getting to meet other down-to-earth, really cool people that are doing something a bit special, it is a part of the journey that has touched me the most. It is eye-opening to see the special things people are doing right across the country. "That's probably the most special part of the awards, I reckon." Help find the 2025 Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero by nominating someone you admire. The only way someone can be considered for the annual awards, which were first presented in 1960, is if a member of the public nominates them. Nominate online at Nominations close at midnight on July 31. Twenty years after it was established, BackTrack has become one of the most successful and sustainable youth development programs in the country. In 2020, its creator Bernie Shakeshaft was named Australia's Local Hero as part of the Australian of the Year Awards, and his phone has been ringing off the hook for five years since. "I think it has given BackTrack a much broader footprint," Mr Shakeshaft says of the national recognition. "They're pretty big awards, they've given us a bit of national exposure." "[The phone calls] weren't just from different towns wanting to get something started; It started tweaking the interest of a lot of private wealth or philanthropists, they were looking for organisations they could then back and support themselves." Based in Armidale in NSW, BackTrack began in 2005 as a job-ready program for high school kids, but Mr Shakeshaft quickly recognised there was no quick fix for kids who might have grown up with trauma or around crime. He said many kids as young as 11 and 12 might have already been having criminal issues or schooling issues. He and other volunteers saw how many weren't safe at home or were already sleeping rough. "We started with one little thing, and that was to get those kids at that time work-ready, so we're trying to keep them off the streets at night and trying to keep them out of stolen cars and work out somewhere safe for them to stay," Mr Shakeshaft said. "And that's where the dogs came into it ... we had tried 50 different things and there were wins, but we hadn't quite cracked it." He had a litter of working dog puppies, brought them to work one day and said it was a "light bulb" moment when he let them loose on the lawn with the kids. "That was the first time I saw these wild kids sitting with these pups, and they were so soft and gentle." It was 2006 when Mr Shakeshaft got a call from a mate asking if he knew about dog high jumping - he didn't - but quickly learned what it was about and decided to give it a crack. "We grabbed half a dozen dogs, went down there and we won the Armidale Show just with a few mates, then the next week it was the Guyra Show, so we took a few of the kids and they won that, then there was the Walcha Show a few weeks later." Then came the BackTrack Shed, where they began training programs like welding and metalworking, which included maths and literacy for kids who weren't going to school. Research done by the University of New England showed youth crime plummeted by almost 50 per cent. Around 2015, they rolled out a pilot program to house and feed nine participants. Suddenly, almost 90 per cent of participants were able to find work. But many struggled with long-term employment, so seven years ago, BackTrack developed its own commercial business to provide work opportunities. "We'll have our 21st birthday next year, and we're doing a 100-year vision; we want this to be here well past my use-by-date." Mr Shakeshaft is encouraging others to nominate someone for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards. He said people putting in hard work in their community normally weren't loud about what they're doing, but nomination alone can give them the drive to keep going. "You don't go around blowing your own trumpet, you know," he said. "It is a pretty important cause. If you look down the history of Australians of the Year or people winning those awards, it's not people out there broadcasting themselves. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE NOW! "People know about the special stuff that unique individuals are doing, and you see it in your own towns. [Nominating someone] is a marvellous gesture. Even if they don't win the award, to be nominated is pretty cool, and I think it helps people; it motivates them. "I've met some bloody champion Australians, and getting to meet other down-to-earth, really cool people that are doing something a bit special, it is a part of the journey that has touched me the most. It is eye-opening to see the special things people are doing right across the country. "That's probably the most special part of the awards, I reckon." Help find the 2025 Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero by nominating someone you admire. The only way someone can be considered for the annual awards, which were first presented in 1960, is if a member of the public nominates them. Nominate online at Nominations close at midnight on July 31. Twenty years after it was established, BackTrack has become one of the most successful and sustainable youth development programs in the country. In 2020, its creator Bernie Shakeshaft was named Australia's Local Hero as part of the Australian of the Year Awards, and his phone has been ringing off the hook for five years since. "I think it has given BackTrack a much broader footprint," Mr Shakeshaft says of the national recognition. "They're pretty big awards, they've given us a bit of national exposure." "[The phone calls] weren't just from different towns wanting to get something started; It started tweaking the interest of a lot of private wealth or philanthropists, they were looking for organisations they could then back and support themselves." Based in Armidale in NSW, BackTrack began in 2005 as a job-ready program for high school kids, but Mr Shakeshaft quickly recognised there was no quick fix for kids who might have grown up with trauma or around crime. He said many kids as young as 11 and 12 might have already been having criminal issues or schooling issues. He and other volunteers saw how many weren't safe at home or were already sleeping rough. "We started with one little thing, and that was to get those kids at that time work-ready, so we're trying to keep them off the streets at night and trying to keep them out of stolen cars and work out somewhere safe for them to stay," Mr Shakeshaft said. "And that's where the dogs came into it ... we had tried 50 different things and there were wins, but we hadn't quite cracked it." He had a litter of working dog puppies, brought them to work one day and said it was a "light bulb" moment when he let them loose on the lawn with the kids. "That was the first time I saw these wild kids sitting with these pups, and they were so soft and gentle." It was 2006 when Mr Shakeshaft got a call from a mate asking if he knew about dog high jumping - he didn't - but quickly learned what it was about and decided to give it a crack. "We grabbed half a dozen dogs, went down there and we won the Armidale Show just with a few mates, then the next week it was the Guyra Show, so we took a few of the kids and they won that, then there was the Walcha Show a few weeks later." Then came the BackTrack Shed, where they began training programs like welding and metalworking, which included maths and literacy for kids who weren't going to school. Research done by the University of New England showed youth crime plummeted by almost 50 per cent. Around 2015, they rolled out a pilot program to house and feed nine participants. Suddenly, almost 90 per cent of participants were able to find work. But many struggled with long-term employment, so seven years ago, BackTrack developed its own commercial business to provide work opportunities. "We'll have our 21st birthday next year, and we're doing a 100-year vision; we want this to be here well past my use-by-date." Mr Shakeshaft is encouraging others to nominate someone for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards. He said people putting in hard work in their community normally weren't loud about what they're doing, but nomination alone can give them the drive to keep going. "You don't go around blowing your own trumpet, you know," he said. "It is a pretty important cause. If you look down the history of Australians of the Year or people winning those awards, it's not people out there broadcasting themselves. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE NOW! "People know about the special stuff that unique individuals are doing, and you see it in your own towns. [Nominating someone] is a marvellous gesture. Even if they don't win the award, to be nominated is pretty cool, and I think it helps people; it motivates them. "I've met some bloody champion Australians, and getting to meet other down-to-earth, really cool people that are doing something a bit special, it is a part of the journey that has touched me the most. It is eye-opening to see the special things people are doing right across the country. "That's probably the most special part of the awards, I reckon." Help find the 2025 Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero by nominating someone you admire. The only way someone can be considered for the annual awards, which were first presented in 1960, is if a member of the public nominates them. Nominate online at Nominations close at midnight on July 31. Twenty years after it was established, BackTrack has become one of the most successful and sustainable youth development programs in the country. In 2020, its creator Bernie Shakeshaft was named Australia's Local Hero as part of the Australian of the Year Awards, and his phone has been ringing off the hook for five years since. "I think it has given BackTrack a much broader footprint," Mr Shakeshaft says of the national recognition. "They're pretty big awards, they've given us a bit of national exposure." "[The phone calls] weren't just from different towns wanting to get something started; It started tweaking the interest of a lot of private wealth or philanthropists, they were looking for organisations they could then back and support themselves." Based in Armidale in NSW, BackTrack began in 2005 as a job-ready program for high school kids, but Mr Shakeshaft quickly recognised there was no quick fix for kids who might have grown up with trauma or around crime. He said many kids as young as 11 and 12 might have already been having criminal issues or schooling issues. He and other volunteers saw how many weren't safe at home or were already sleeping rough. "We started with one little thing, and that was to get those kids at that time work-ready, so we're trying to keep them off the streets at night and trying to keep them out of stolen cars and work out somewhere safe for them to stay," Mr Shakeshaft said. "And that's where the dogs came into it ... we had tried 50 different things and there were wins, but we hadn't quite cracked it." He had a litter of working dog puppies, brought them to work one day and said it was a "light bulb" moment when he let them loose on the lawn with the kids. "That was the first time I saw these wild kids sitting with these pups, and they were so soft and gentle." It was 2006 when Mr Shakeshaft got a call from a mate asking if he knew about dog high jumping - he didn't - but quickly learned what it was about and decided to give it a crack. "We grabbed half a dozen dogs, went down there and we won the Armidale Show just with a few mates, then the next week it was the Guyra Show, so we took a few of the kids and they won that, then there was the Walcha Show a few weeks later." Then came the BackTrack Shed, where they began training programs like welding and metalworking, which included maths and literacy for kids who weren't going to school. Research done by the University of New England showed youth crime plummeted by almost 50 per cent. Around 2015, they rolled out a pilot program to house and feed nine participants. Suddenly, almost 90 per cent of participants were able to find work. But many struggled with long-term employment, so seven years ago, BackTrack developed its own commercial business to provide work opportunities. "We'll have our 21st birthday next year, and we're doing a 100-year vision; we want this to be here well past my use-by-date." Mr Shakeshaft is encouraging others to nominate someone for the 2026 Australian of the Year Awards. He said people putting in hard work in their community normally weren't loud about what they're doing, but nomination alone can give them the drive to keep going. "You don't go around blowing your own trumpet, you know," he said. "It is a pretty important cause. If you look down the history of Australians of the Year or people winning those awards, it's not people out there broadcasting themselves. CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE NOW! "People know about the special stuff that unique individuals are doing, and you see it in your own towns. [Nominating someone] is a marvellous gesture. Even if they don't win the award, to be nominated is pretty cool, and I think it helps people; it motivates them. "I've met some bloody champion Australians, and getting to meet other down-to-earth, really cool people that are doing something a bit special, it is a part of the journey that has touched me the most. It is eye-opening to see the special things people are doing right across the country. "That's probably the most special part of the awards, I reckon." Help find the 2025 Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero by nominating someone you admire. The only way someone can be considered for the annual awards, which were first presented in 1960, is if a member of the public nominates them. Nominate online at Nominations close at midnight on July 31.
Time of India
29-06-2025
- Time of India
‘From British Raj tours to US theme parks, holidays evolved — there's ‘anti-tourism' now'
Professor Eric G. E. Zuelow Eric G. E. Zuelow is Professor of European and World History at the University of New England . Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, he discusses vacations — and coming home: When did people start travelling on holiday instead of staying home? Tourism , in its modern sense, originated in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe with the 'Grand Tour' — this initially meant mostly young men expected to travel for self-improvement. They were supposed to develop taste, learn languages, see art, make contacts with people abroad, all of which would help prepare them to become future leaders. This was a merger of travel and consumption, going abroad, consuming sites and essentially buying souvenirs — perhaps a little higher-brow than now but still, souvenirs. Hence, people began visiting European cities in France, Italy, etc. Earlier, people voyaged for months since an elite class was travelling. Today, there is a fairly obvious 'tourist season' — shorter trips started when people who actually work began travelling and matched their holidays to the weather. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Woman Discovers Buried Bunker in Her Garden, Then Sees the Reason Crowdy Fan Undo What is the role of nature in such breaks? During the 18th century, people began re-imagining the natural world and what was desirable to look at. Places previously off-limits or thought 'scary', like mountains and beaches, were now reimagined as wonderful. The idea spread of the 'sublime and beautiful', where the 'sublime' quickens your pulse and the 'beautiful', personified by rolling hills and pastures, was soothing. People increasingly imagined that when they went into nature, they were improving their health. After 1750, 'grand tourists' still went to cities but started adding natural places as well. That was also when the idea grew that nature could be 'assisted' in the process of consuming it — it could be made more attractive. Hence, 19th-century designers even tried to make Niagara Falls look 'more natural'. When did travel with children take off? Young people travelled with their families at least from the 19th century — in Britain, working-class family trips to the seaside were most popular. The mass tourism of today developed post-WWII when the idea of the 'family holiday' became dominant. Tourism developers started building 'family attractions' like theme parks, etc. There was more money in the United States, Europe and elsewhere and travel grew more affordable with package tours, airplanes and the automobile. The latter grew very popular in the US and roadside attractions — such as restaurants shaped like cowboy hats — grew for children travelling on holiday during their school breaks. What ecological impacts have occurred? Christopher W. Wells has written ' Car Country ', a book about the environmental history of the automobile in the United States. It explains how the automobile completely recast the landscape — everything grew from the rise of suburbs and motorways and tourism picked up on that. So, destinations and facilities for holiday-makers, like campgrounds, started catering increasingly to the car. All of that had implications for water tables and drainage — and the prolific consumption of lithic landscapes and burning oil-based products. It only damaged the climate, plant species and animal life. Add to that the ironies of huge aviation or flying to 'enjoy nature' which, in fact, contributes to damaging the very ice you'd like to ski on or the corals you'd like to see. Is there a link between tourism and imperialism? Yes. In the 19th century, the British Raj in India used tourism as a way of selling what it imagined as its 'accomplishments', like the introduction of railways, new farming techniques, etc. The government would direct tourists to such sites. Importantly, when colonised people started to resist and push back, they adopted all-India tourism as a means of doing so. Thus, on the one hand, tourism was an exercise in power on the coloniser's part — on the other, it was a tool of resistance for the colonised. The first package tour in India was organised by an English company but almost entirely populated by middle-class Indian tourists. In the early 20th century, Indian guidebook writers also wrote travel books that subtly promoted nationalist ideas. Today, as travellers from Asia and elsewhere take to global tourism, do you see changes? I think we are already seeing a response. Epic numbers of people are flowing into popular tourist destinations — in 2018-2019, places like Barcelona saw an 'over-tourism' or 'anti-tourism' movement begin. Then, Covid intervened and people remembered what it was like to have their cities to themselves. After the pandemic, large numbers started travelling again and many residents felt resentful of visitors, even though their money might be welcome. It seems the 'anti-tourism' feeling is only picking up — governments will have to pay heed as there's been very little attention to making travel more sustainable or providing adequate living space for residents of places like Florence and Venice. How will all this fare with the human tendency of wanting to display, especially in the era of social media? Transport in fact isn't the largest force in tourism — it's 'tourism mediators'. With the Grand Tour, that meant paintings — and a particular kind where there'd be something like the Colosseum and a bunch of little figures, tourists, looking at it. Later, photographs presented the same views. Then, postcards did the same and tourist guidebooks appeared which told you what to see, how to see it, how to feel about it and what to sketch pre-camera. Now, tourists themselves are increasingly the mediators — when you photograph something and put it on your social media, you are telling people what to see and how to see it. Those photos tend to resemble earlier postcards, sketches and paintings — there's a common aesthetic between them. With phone cameras that keep improving, humans will continue vacationing, mediating that experience for others, and encouraging them to travel.
