The evolution of tourism from Byron to Bezos
SIR – Those who complain that space tourism (“Bezos boldly goes to the boundary of space”, report, July 21) is expensive or elitist might reflect that all tourism started that way.
Two centuries ago, you had to be someone like Lord Byron and go on the Grand Tour to visit Paris, Venice, Naples and Rome, picking up the odd statue for your country estate.
Improvements in transportation, communication and food preservation – some spurred by the Second World War – made modern tourism possible. Now we’re seeing the same process on a larger scale.
The first European explorers to visit the Grand Canyon said that theirs would probably be the only expedition to visit such an out-ofthe-way place. Nowadays, of course, it is a major tourist destination.
The Noctis Labyrinthus canyon system on Mars is longer than the Grand Canyon on Earth. It is always possible to go one better.
Peter Davey
Bournemouth, Dorset