Lauren Sánchez and Katy Perry were onto something with their much-hyped (and equally ridiculed) jaunt into space. But neither pop stardom nor a billionaire fiancé is necessary to tap into travel’s latest frontier: the skies. From the mountains of Colorado to the deserts of Arabia, astrotourism is capturing the imagination—and wallets—of intrepid nomads.
One step below rocketing into the heavens, astrotourism is all about stargazing. The goal is to recharge in luxurious hotels far from civilization while learning to appreciate the power of darkness.
With 80 percent of the planet impacted by light pollution, those regions that are free from the blight of big light are both elusive and potentially lucrative.
“People have lost their connection to the nighttime,” says Ruskin Hartley, C.E.O. of DarkSky International. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and with more than 70 chapters around the world, DarkSky’s mission is to protect the Earth from light pollution while inspiring appreciation of the nocturnal realms.
Championing an environmentally sensitive approach to travel is a big part of the organization’s remit. Nine lodges and a handful of eco-tourism sanctuaries are among more than 200 global sites certified as International Dark Sky Places. This seal of approval identifies communities minimizing their use of artificial light at night and educating the curious about astronomy.
Hartley partially attributes the rise of astrotourism to improvements in photography. Now that amateurs can share their experiences on Instagram, it’s more compelling to travel to the ends of the earth. In the United States, astrotourism’s growth is also a result of the increasing, pandemic-inspired popularity of national parks. According to the National Park Service, there were a record 332 million individual park visits in 2024. And visitors tend to love the dark: in more remote states such as Utah, says the N.P.S., more than 60 percent of them stargazed.
The economic benefits of astrotourism alone are impressive. In the vast Colorado Plateau, the N.P.S. predicts, astrotourism will generate $5.8 billion in visitor spending over the next decade and lead to 10,000 new jobs each year. In the more modestly sized Northumberland Dark Sky Park, in the United Kingdom, astrotourism is anticipated to contribute more than $30 million in annual economic impact.
With its vast deserts and still relatively unsullied skies, the Middle East is another important destination for stargazers.
In October, the first official Dark Sky Park accreditation was awarded to AlUla, a sprawling desert development project on Saudi Arabia’s western fringe. By day, visitors can explore AlUla’s vast trove of 2,000-year-old Nabataean ruins—the same type found in Petra, in Jordan. By night, they can gaze skyward as part of AlUla’s Astronomy Club, which brings together scientists and enthusiasts for events and tours. Most intriguingly, AlUla has also established a partnership with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute to look for life beyond our own planet.
Egypt is also poised to experience an astrotourism boom. Remember last year’s total-solar-eclipse craze? Get ready to scramble for a prime viewing position in August 2027—and this time the best spots will be in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. The eclipse’s path of totality will peak over Luxor, and the sun will be obscured by the moon for nearly six and a half minutes. It will be the most expansive eclipse of its kind until 2114.
Yes, August in the northern Sahara will be hot, but luxury-tour operators vow to keeping their clients cool in five-star style. Wilderness Travel, a safari outfitter, is selling an 11-day package that includes temple visits and boat tours down the Nile, beginning at $17,000 per person. But like many other eclipse itineraries in Egypt, it’s already sold out.
David Christopher Kaufman is an editor and columnist at the New York Post, a regular opinion writer for The Telegraph, and an adjunct fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute
