Peak Travel – Details, episodes & analysis

Because of inequities in passport and visa systems, Europeans and westerners can visit Africa with ease — but Africans themselves face hurdle after hurdle when trying to explore their own continent. 

SHOW NOTES:

• Why Traveling Around Africa is Difficult for Africans
• “The Popi Show” on Instagram
• Southern African countries plan to expand special tourist visa
• Would a visa-free Africa break down colonial-era borders?
• Emmanuel Iduma author page

While other developed countries have invested in their rail systems, the U.S. has leaned into more individualistic ways of getting around. In this episode, we ride cross-country trains in America and China to feel the difference.

SHOW NOTES:

• The State of Highspeed Rail in the U.S.
• History of Amtrak
• Railway Age website
• China’s High-Speed Rail Miracle
• Fast Facts on U.S. Transportation Emissions 

Venice has long been considered the poster child for overtourism in Europe. As ever-growing waves of tourists aboard boats and cruise ships jeopardize the delicate city, residents hope a new entry fee will offer relief. 

SHOW NOTES:

• The Moto Ondoso Reduction project
• Learn more about Venice’s tourist fee
• How Venice is sinking
• The housing crisis in Venice
• Responsible Tourism Partnership website

Peru’s tourism industry is best known for Machu Picchu, a wonder of the world, where adventurers go for a once-in-a-lifetime hike. But the porters who carry the industry on their backs are often abused and exploited. 

SHOW NOTES:

• UNESCO site for Machu Picchu
• Evolution Treks Peru website
• Learn more about the Porters Law
• "Making Machu Picchu, the Politics of Tourism in Twentieth-Century Peru" by Mark Rice
• Fernando Ríos Correa obituary 

The Olympics bring a burst of excitement to host cities, but in places like Rio de Janeiro, Sochi, and Atlanta, they often leave behind a legacy of displacement, worker exploitation, and blighted infrastructure. In Paris, will the 2024 games be any different?

SHOW NOTES:

• The Long History of the Olympic Industry and Totalitarian Regimes
• 5 Key Issues Facing the Paris Olympics
• From Paris to Rio: the rising voices against the Olympics
• “It’s Like a War Zone”: How the Olympics nearly destroyed a Rio neighborhood
• Saccage 2024

After wildfires ripped through Lahaina in August 2023, the Hawaiian government had to decide if and when to welcome tourists back to Maui — and force locals to return to work in the same industry that displaced them.

SHOW NOTES:

• Maps of wildfire damage
• Lāhainā Strong website
• Learn more about Hawai'i’s history 
• University of Hawai’i’s Center for Oral History
• If you want to help families affected by the fires, donate here

Travel can do amazing things: broaden horizons, build relationships, and rejuvenate the soul. But often, those experiences come at a cost. 

This is Peak Travel, a new podcast from WHYY about how travel shapes communities in hot-spots around the world. We’ll share the wonder that comes with exploring new places, as well as the harm that our worst travel habits can cause. And we’ll try to figure out how we can do it better.

Each episode transports you to a new destination. You’ll meet the people who call that place home, hear their stories, and come to understand how tourism has changed their everyday lives. Supported by rich, on-location sound from around the world, Peak Travel unpacks the $1.9 trillion travel industry and its impact on people and the planet.

A partnership between the Mexican government and Airbnb forces generations of families out of the most desirable neighborhoods in Mexico City.

SHOW NOTES:

• Rosalba González Loyde author page
• “País sin techo” by Carla Escoffie
• Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo elected President
• Learn more about Mexico City’s partnership with Airbnb
• ‘Gringo go home’ - El País

The transition of Barcelona’s historic La Boqueria market from a place filled with fishmongers and specialty mushroom vendors to chain cafés and smoothie shops has made the city feel more and more like a theme park.

SHOW NOTES:

• The Battle for the Boqueria
• History of the Boqueria
• 6 Ways the 1992 Olympics Transformed Barcelona
• The Disneyfication of Cities: Historic Centers as Amusement Parks for Tourists
• Interview with mushroom vendor Xavi Petras

Nashville has become the bachelorette party capital of the United States, and residents worry the influx of loud, visible tourists threatens the city’s reputation as a music city. 

SHOW NOTES:

• Nashville Bachelorettes: A Ben Oddo Investigation
• How Nashville Became One Big Bachelorette Party
• ACME Feed and Seed
• Bach to Basic website
• Books by Beth Montemurro