Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!
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Vote the opposite of the norm.
If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.
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You seem to be conflating two unrelated points. When people say "tourists need to go home" or "we need less tourists," they aren't referring to some philosophical argument for the existence of tourism as a gauge of economic health for the middle class.
These phrases are almost exclusively speaking in regards to tourism's negative effects on the local environment and population. Heavy tourism has a tendency to cannibalize an areas resources and then alienate or push out the native population.
Also tourism shows that the middle class elsewhere can afford to travel. You don't hear people complain about Indonesian tourists in Europe, for example. But Bali on tge other hand is truly suffering the consequences of Western tourism.
I wasn't aware that tourism was unpopular as an industry. I know that tourists can be annoying in large quantities because they tend to not follow local customs, treat the place as disposable, expect to be treated with privilege, and can be careless with how their behaviors affect others. This happens particularly in tourist hotspots where the tourists have certain expectations based on what they've heard and then become upset when those expectations are not met. It also happens in tourist hotspots where the purpose is to party since people behave without concern for how their behaviors will affect their long-term reputation.
However, tourism in general allows us to have different experiences and immerse ourselves in other cultures to gain new perspectives and relate to others. I, myself, have been a tourist many times, traveling throughout my home country and the world. I've been to 15 countries and over half of US states. I really value those experiences because I get to see what is universal versus local. I also get to see the world from other perspectives that help me have a clearer understanding of what the heck is going on since nothing ever makes sense to me lol.