[luckylion]

Tourism is not education as evident by the fact that global tourism is at an all time high, yet people are extremely ignorant.

Teaching them to read again will be more fruitful than flying them around the globe if less ignorance is the goal.

[chintler]

I have a few counterpoints against your first sentence:

0. Tourism isn't a cure for ignorance, but it helps in widening worldview and experiencing how other people live and see. However, today it is mostly about having some time away from your residence/work.

1. Tourists are a small though non-negligible part of humanity as a whole

2. A large part of the people who have traveled as tourists have traveled to tourist spots, places that are developed to cater to the _tourists_ and hence aren't an authentic representation of the local population.

I do agree with your second sentence.

[luckylion]

I don't disagree, but I believe that it's not the traveling that's widening horizons, it's the readiness of the traveler to have their horizons expanded. Imho, modern tourism isn't leading people astray, it's giving them what they want. It's a tiny subset that wants something else, maybe we need a different term for them.

[higeorge13]

Tourism can be educational, it's just destroyed by the modern life behavior e.g. social media addiction. Most people now compete on who has done the most trips in their lives, enjoyed the best cocktail in an exotic beach and posted the most perfect photo from the most iconic touristic destination. But you still can visit destinations to learn their history and blend with locals which no book can teach you.