According to David Weaver (2021), «radical and more immediate paradigm shift, although strongly advocated as a timely imperative by some academics (Ateljevic 2020; Guia 2021; Renaud 2020; Sigala 2020), by contrast, seems unlikely to gain traction given the apparent lack of appetite for revolutionary change among consumers, practitioners, or communities ». It is therefore through a neoliberal ecosystem where the most powerful actors control the « tourisystem » that a real paradigm shift towards a more sustainable tourism will occur. This idea is the essence of what the author has conceptualized as "Enlightened Mass Tourism". This concept assumes that there is a single world « tourisystem » that is governed by global transit, marketing, technology, and finance subsystems. Therefore, all types of tourism, including small-scale community-focused options, are seen as components of this system rather than actual alternatives. Despite rejecting alternative tourism as a separate practice, enlightened mass tourism incorporates the associated principles (such as a focus on ethics, communities, and sense of place) to promote a more sustainable or "enlightened" « tourisystem ». Through the question: Is there such a thing as "Enlightened mass tourism?" I wish to provoke a reflection among the participants of the conference on the effectiveness of alternative/critical approaches in tourism, situated in a broader questioning related to post-development, as tourism is heading towards a pre-pandemic recovery for 2025.