At first glance, Bruges feels like a place that belongs to another century. Cobbled streets wind between medieval buildings, canals glide beneath stone bridges, and horse-drawn carriages move slowly past Gothic churches and market squares. The city’s preserved beauty gives the impression of a town frozen in time. Yet beneath this carefully maintained historic façade lies a highly organised modern economy built around tourism, heritage preservation, and cultural storytelling.

Tourism is often spoken about as an industry of hotels, flights, and attractions. In reality it is something much larger. Tourism is a global business system built on the movement of people, money, culture, and infrastructure. Entire regions design their economies around the idea that people from elsewhere will arrive, spend money, and leave with a story. From the beaches of the Mediterranean to safari lodges in Kenya, from pilgrimage routes in Saudi Arabia to nightlife distr