Rohan Tanaka

If I were to defend the opposite point of view, I would say that inspiration through fiction is only one of many sources, and it does not necessarily constitute an overarching category for practical tools like travel guides.
It is important to acknowledge that fiction can be a powerful trigger, but it is not the only one, nor always the first.
A guide, with its attractive visuals and concrete suggestions, can be the first spark for many, long before a film or a book is consumed.
For example, seeing breathtaking photos of a national park in a Belgian travel guide on the Ardennes can create an irresistible desire to go there, without any prior literary influence.

If I were defending the view that tourist guides act as a sub-part of fiction-generated inspiration, I would emphasize their role in concretizing an already formed dream.
It's a charitable reading of the statement, because narrative works can indeed plant a seed of desire to discover a particular place, and the guide then becomes the tool to transform that desire into a concrete plan.
However, reducing their function to this role is a limitation, as guides can be a primary source of inspiration and independent.
For example, a Michelin guide on Belgium does not start from fiction, but from the gastronomic reality of the country, inspiring culinary trips without any narrative prerequisites.

Their arguments are solid: of course, a work of fiction can ignite an initial spark and make us dream of distant destinations; it is undeniable that movies or books transport us.
However, limiting tourist guides to a simple logistical tool without internet ignores their power of creating desire upstream.
A guide can present a destination with such practical precision and activity suggestions that it sparks the desire to travel just as much as a story.
For example, a detailed guide on hiking trails in Patagonia, with its maps, difficulty levels, and realistic photos, made me want to go more than any series.
They turn a vague idea into a tangible and appealing project, which fiction alone does not always do.

Their most strong version claims that travel inspiration mainly comes from fiction, with guides being just logistical tools. However, this reading does not always reflect the lived reality for many. A tourist guide is not just a manual for validation after inspiration but can itself trigger the desire. Many, flipping through a Routard or a Lonely Planet, discover unexpected destinations or cultural aspects that create the impulse to travel. For example, I know colleagues who decided to visit Tasmania after seeing photos or descriptions of hikes in a thematic guide, long before a film pushed them there. The rigid distinction between "initial impulse" and "validation" is often too simplistic, as inspiration can quite naturally arise from reading a guide.