...a tourist can't help but have a distorted opinion of a place: he meets unrepresentative people, has unrepresentative experiences, and runs around imposing upon the place the fantastic mental pictures he had in his head when he got there.
In Michael Lewis's book "Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World," he discusses how tourists often form skewed perceptions of the places they visit. Their experiences are shaped by interactions with individuals who may not represent the broader community. Consequently, these brief encounters and moments leave tourists with unrealistic impressions. Such perceptions are influenced by preconceived notions and idealized images they carry before their travels.
Tourists, in their quest for experiences, can end up imposing their fantasies onto the destinations they explore. This results in a disconnect between their expectations and the authentic culture or reality of the place. The book emphasizes that a true understanding of a location is hard to achieve when one relies solely on superficial experiences shaped by chance and personal biases.
