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Promoted as an emotional pre-requisite for cross-cultural understanding, the notion of empathy connects with tourism in a variety of ways. This article explores this connection by considering the current and potential role of empathy in tourism encounters and tourism studies. The discussion develops a critical understanding of the positioning of empathy in tourism, highlighting the importance of examining empathy’s limitations and risks. It is argued that important differences lay between an unquestioned or non-reflective empathy and a more ‘unsettled’ empathy, which is reflective and renders possible a productive sense of shame. The article concludes by considering the possibilities of and for empathy within tourism and tourism studies, and by suggesting questions to take the links between tourism and empathy forward.