The largest global business in the world today is tourism. Employing one out of twelve people in the world and producing $6.5 trillion of the world's economy, it is the main source of income for many countries. Elizabeth Becker describes the dimensions of this industry and its huge effect on the world economy, the environment, and our culture. Becker travels the world to offer lively portraits of far-off places: France invented the tour and is still the leader of the travel business; Venice is dying of over-tourism. In Cambodia, Becker watches tourists crawl over the decaying temples of Angkor, jeopardizing precious cultural sites. Costa Rica has abandoned raising cattle for American restaurants in order to protect their jungles for the lucrative field of eco-tourism. Dubai, in the Arabian Gulf, has transformed a patch of desert into one of the world's largest shopping malls. Africa's safaris are thriving, even if its environment and wildlife are ¬ ocean cruise ships are spoiling the oceans and ruining city ports. China, the giant, is at last inviting tourists and at the same time sending its own out in droves. Becker's investigation of global travel industry practices and their long-term ramifications is an eye-opening examination of this tremendous phenomenon. It is a staggering and unexamined element of the global economy.