If Everyone Could Teleport...

Sometimes, I spend a little too much time contemplating what would happen if we all could teleport wherever we wanted to. It's a question that I like to ask my classes because it gets them thinking about consequences and knock-on effects. I assume that if we are able to teleport in the future, there would be rules and regulations but for the purposes of this exercise, we can teleport as much as we want with no restrictions. 

On a personal level, being able to teleport would be amazing - imagine popping to Morocco for a quick lunch, or heading to the Lake District during break to wind down a little - but it would change the world as we know it:

• Airlines would likely become defunct with only a few specialised outfits remaining (e.g. scenic views of Antarctica) - I mean, who would choose 32 hours in a plane when they could be at their destination in a matter of seconds?
• Many low-budget hotels would go out of business if money-conscious travellers could opt to go home at night and save on costs. I would think that some of the more expensive hotels would remain, as they offer amenities that people would be willing to pay for. 
• Would cuisines continue moving around the globe? Would you choose to go to the Indian takeaway down the street if you could go to New Delhi for lunch instead?
• Lost/stranded tourists would be a thing of the past if they could teleport straight home.
• The impact on the tourism industry as a whole?
• What impact would it have on immigration? Countries try to control the movement of people but if it's possible for people just to turn up, where does that leave us?
• What about the human impact on areas of the world where travel is restricted for environmental reasons, e.g. Gough Island?
• What impact would such accessibility to all areas of the world have on our knowledge base?
• How would we control truancy if children could teleport?
• How would we maintain control of criminals if they could teleport out of jail? Also, this has impacts for international crime as (I'm assuming) it would be virtually impossible for border control organisations to monitor movement in and out of countries. 
• What impact would victims' ability to teleport have on crimes like kidnapping and human trafficking?

These are just a few questions that mass teleportation would give rise to  - what other consequences or issues do you think it would create?