Facing the Paradox: Tourism in Taos
A few weeks ago, I sat down with Emery Veilleux on the Voices of Taos podcast to talk about Destination Stewardship in Taos, and about what tourism really means for our community.
A bit like mountain weather, tourism can be bright and generous one minute, heavy and complicated the next. So while the visitation economy supports many locals financially, it also puts pressure on infrastructure, resources and sometimes even people’s patience (helloo, traffic!)
In my conversation with Emery, we talked about the “knee reaction to tourism” in addition to some of the positives. Visitors fall in love with Taos for the creativity, beauty and people. Visitors - with open minds and hearts, can bring a gorgeous energy that is contagious. When it works, tourism can be a vibrant exchange - leaving both visitors and locals inspired to learn, to share, and to connect.
But the pressure is real, too. The same success that fills hotels can burden the housing market. The same marketing that celebrates these landscapes can overcrowd them. The same curiosity that draws people to Taos’ living cultures, can commodify and coopt them.
The truth is, tourism holds both sides: the light and the dark, the opportunity, and the pressure. But how can we start to build a future that takes those pressures and opportunities into account? Destination Stewardship as a framework, invites us to sit with the tension, while in turn using it as fuel for creative solutions towards a more reciprocal and generative exchange.
Naming the Paradox, Not Denying It
Sometimes it seems like tourism is something we only talk about in extremes. We either celebrate it as our economic lifeline (bringing over $3 million annually through Town & County lodgers tax alone) or condemn it as the root of our challenges (as housing markets are strained here, and across the country).
But Taos has never been a place for easy answers - as the histories, cultures, and geography all demand nuance.
In the podcast, Emery and I spoke about attempting to strike a balance: how we can build an economy that welcomes visitors in ways that strengthen, not strain, our community. That’s what the Taos Destination Stewardship Network is trying to facilitate: building connections, ideas and innovation towards reaching a net benefit of tourism.
Solutions in Action, Informed by Community Voice
Since the publication of the Taos Destination Stewardship Plan in 2024, we have seen major progress from a variety of actors in our community - ideas that were sparked as a direct responses to feedback from over 3,300 community members during the 2022 Tourism Revisited campaign. The Taos County Lodgers Tax Board designed a transparent grant and sponsorship program to invest in local businesses through capital contributions, putting money earned through tourism right back into our local economy. Several businesses are designing products that showcase Taos’ authentic cultures - from agriculture to adobe through experiences rather than things. Policy makers have made significant moves towards facing the housing shortage through innovative regulation and expanded capacity. The Town of Taos Tourism Department has begun integrating stewardship values into its marketing by way of creativity and some community engagement. And on a regular basis, I have the honor of connecting folks across sectors and perspectives to continue percolating and advancing ideas that get to the heart of this work - that a great place to live is a great place to visit, but the other way around is not always true.
An Invitation
Can Taos lead the way in redefining what tourism means for the future of a “mountain town”? Can we provide more than just transactions, but also opportunities for reciprocity?
As manifesting is in vogue for our little town, let’s go ahead and say we can. We can build a model where visitors understand they’re stepping into living communities, not attractions, where local businesses thrive because the community thrives, where success is measured not just in dollars, but in well-being of people, land, and culture.
So: let’s face the pressures, acknowledge and talk about the paradox, and get creative about how to continue the balancing act.
Tourism isn’t going away. But how it grows, who it benefits, and what it means - that’s still up to us.
Jessie Hook is the Manager of the Taos Destination Stewardship Network. You can reach her at destinationstewardship@taosmainstreet.org. Listen to her conversation with Emery Veilleux on the “Voices of Taos” podcast