I subscribe to a number of magazines,several of which either deal specificallywith or contain sections dedicated totourism and international travel. It issomething that I know a bit about, havingworked in the industry for a number ofyears.

It is a fascinating business,particularly in the area where I wasemployed planning and operating grouptravel to destinations both near and far.I spent many wonderful times working withpeople around the world, and takingpeople to experience many differentregions and cultures.

Still, today, as I read the traveloguesand view the perfectly composed photos ofrural France, the heart of Charleston,Cape Ann, the canals of Venice or thevast expanse of the Kalahari, to nameonly a small sample of temptations, myfeet itch and I am ready to hit the roadfor yet another exploring adventure.

However, unlike years ago I now havemixed feelings about travel, particularlyluxury travel where one flits like a beefrom flower to flower, sampling thenectar with only limited exposure to theunderlying reality.

Today we live in a world that has becomeseriously overpopulated and where thecommon wealth of the planet has beendivided so unequally that while some livein obscene luxury, many can not even findenough to meet the basic day-to-dayrequirements for survival. Let us take alook at some facts.

Starvation is widespread in Africa.About one third of the continent’s 900million people do not get enough food tomeet their daily needs. Worldwide over800 million people or about 13 per cent ofthe population are underfed. Over onebillion people in the developing worldlive below the international poverty lineof $1 per day, while three billion world wide live on less than $2 per day. Evenin the developed countries we see pocketsof severe poverty amid a sea of wealth.

The poverty that we see is not becausethere are not resources to meet people’sneeds, but because a few people have toomuch. The situation is getting worse.About 20 per cent of the world’spopulation live in the richest countries.In 1960 their income was 30 times greaterthan the 20 per cent living in the poorestcountries. By 1995 that ratio hadincreased to 82 times greater and in 70countries incomes had dropped.

In 2003the UN’s Human Development Report saidthat 50 nations were worse off than theywere in 1993. In 1820 the ratio betweenrich and poor countries was only three toone; by 1913 it had increased to 11to one. The obvious trend is that richcountries and rich people are growingfatter and fatter at the expense of thepoorer ones. Poverty is a main featureof our economic system built onexploitation.

We could solve the problem. According tothe UN the cost of providing universalaccess to basic social services andalleviation of income poverty would costabout $80 billion. The world spends overten times that much every year onmilitary expenditures, almost half of itby the United States.

The cost oferadicating poverty, according to the UN,is about one per cent of global income, orless than $300 billion. It boils down tojust a matter of choices, bothcollectively and individually. We couldspend more of our wealth to help others,and we could change the system to seethat more people get a fair share.However, most of us never think about itor understand that much of a problem evenexists.

An argument can be made that by promotingtravel more people are exposed todifferent cultures and realities,broadening both their experiences andunderstanding of how others live — anexperience that theoretically bondspeople of different societies closertogether and makes for a more peacefuland cooperative world.

To some extentthis may be true, but how much? Mosttourists do not book trips that includeexposure to the people of Darfur or theslums of Manila, and even when there isexposure to depressed areas, there isalmost always the accompanying andcomforting shell of first class or betteraccommodations, food, transportation andsecurity.

Tourists in troubled areas arevoyeurs and the inhabitants thespectacle. Poverty and disease asentertainment. Of course most travel isnot to these areas, so the real problemsof the world remain safely out of view ofthe average tourist.

There is a moral issue involved withtravelling thousands of miles andspending thousands of dollars in theSouth of France or Cape Breton orwherever while millions go hungry aroundthe world for lack of a few extra dollarsper day to feed them. There are alsoenvironmental issues.

But, these issuesare not simple and certainly not blackand white. It would be paradise if wecould all live in the pages of the travelmagazines, but too many in the world donot. How each person deals with thisfact tells us much about them. Simplyacknowledging that it exists and thinkingseriously about it is a step forward.