Author Archives: Shariat

Palau Pledge, Years Later: The Environmental Pact Written in the Passport

In 2017, Palau asked visitors to commit to the place they were about to discover. Years later, a broader question remains: can travel become a pact of care between those who arrive and the territory that welcomes them? After many hours of flying, when the Rock Islands, lagoons, and coral reefs are still images on…

Suspended Geographies. What Happens to Countries Excluded from Travel Catalogues for Years

World Bank, MENA Economic Update, 2024 — impact of the conflict on Jordanian tourism. Jordan Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Tourism Reviews 2024 — data on tourism in Jordan. Liu et al., How Risky Is Jordan to Travel To?, 2016 — perception of tourism risk. World Bank, Economic Impact of Ebola on Sub-Saharan Africa, 2015…

Invisible Guardians of Knowledge, Rituals and Practices That Hold Places Together

From everyday gestures to collective rituals, from techniques passed down through generations to knowledge of the landscape: behind every destination lies a network of people and practices that continues to shape it, preserving its traditions, folklore, beliefs and deep-rooted identities. Discovering it means adding to the journey the knowledge that transforms a place observed into…

Day Design for Revenue: From the Room to the Daily Programme

Hospitality has long been designed primarily through space: room, suite, lobby, pool, spa, restaurant. Day Design adds time as a design material. Morning, midday, afternoon, sunset and evening become moments with their own characteristics. Some require energy, others sociability, others silence. The Experience Builder can work on these differences by combining place, moment, activity and…

Shikoku, Tohoku and the Japan That Cannot Be Known on a First Journey

The Japan we know even before leaving is made up of extraordinarily powerful images: Tokyo illuminated at night, Kyoto and its temples, Osaka, Mount Fuji, cherry blossoms, and shinkansen trains crossing the country like a promise of precision. It is such a powerful imaginary that it almost becomes a mental geography. Then there is another…

Tourism Sandboxes: Cities and Territories Experimenting with Rules, Access and New Model

Tourist destinations have always planned campaigns, events, infrastructure and services on the basis of forecasts. Today they can do something more dynamic: observe what is happening, test a response on a limited scale, measure its effects and adjust the model before extending it. The word sandbox belongs primarily to the fields of technological and regulatory…

The New Geography of Flight: The Aircraft Changing the Map of Destinations

The Chicago Convention was already looking beyond the war. In its preamble, the signatory States declared that the future development of international civil aviation could contribute to creating and preserving friendship and understanding among the nations and peoples of the world. The idea that flight could become an instrument of international relations was formulated while…