Passion of the people – 1.6.1

Trying a definition: star tourism, astrotourism, dark sky tourism

Star tourism, astrotourism, dark sky tourism? All of them refer to travel or tourism-related activities centered around observing, viewing, and experiencing celestial objects and phenomena, such as stars, constellations, galaxies, eclipses, meteor showers, and more. This type of tourism often involves traveling to remote or dark sky locations with minimal light pollution for optimal stargazing experiences.

This type of tourism is still a niche in the tourism business, which is also indicated by the fact that no clear naming convention has yet been established. Star tourism, astrotourism and dark sky tourism are equally used for the same tourism products and services. There is not even an understanding on a spelling of the English name: Astrotourism? Astro tourism? Astro-tourism? The number of providers for this type of tourism is comparatively small, which is of course a great competitive advantage at the moment: anyone who positions themselves well in this sector now with exciting offers can certainly expect to be successful in this business segment.

A successful product in this niche might be linked with other tourism sectors, e.g. with nature tourism, cultural tourism, and health tourism, to name a few. Star tourism is certainly also tourism that highlights the strengths of rural regions, it is sustainably oriented and can generate unique experiences. These are all plus points that meet current travel trends for closeness to nature, conscious sustainable travel, and the search for authentic experiences.

Astrotourism has a core quality of tranquillity and suitably fits with landscapes in National Parks and areas of natural beauty which have or are seeking star park or reserve status. Astrotourism can influence positively socio-economic and labour market effects in regions that suffer from brain drain and the resulting social and economic destabilisation that it brings.

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Passion of the people

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Dark nebula – Image by WikiImages – Pixabay

Galaxy – Image by Lumina Obscura – Pixabay

Universe – Image by Gerd Altmann – Pixabay

Further resources

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Videos

Dark Sky Tourism in Northumberland and Around the World – Valerie Stimac – Astro Ventures