I believe, to a certain extent that tourism is responsible for the commodification of culture and tradition. Whenever you read books that deal with tourism as consumption, they will also address the issue of commodification as a central concern, which in this case means the traditions and culture of the country be 'objectified' for the purposes of the global market.
When tourism first started in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared tourism to be a universal and fundamental right of all citizens, causing the tourist floodgates to open drastically. Immediately following the declaration, new records in tourist arrivals, receipts and expenditures were reached, with each year increasing upon the previous. In less than half a century tourism grew into a phenomenon that overwhelmed societies, economies and environments and firmly established itself as the vertiable service industry of the last century, leading to mass tourism.
Mass tourism, as we know,leads to pollution, excessive exploitation of natural resources, cultural erosion, cultural clashes, as well as deterioration of the social situation.
A shocking issue I came to learn during tutorials is about Cambodia, which shares many of the same attitudes to dress and social taboos with other Southeast Asian cultures. Cambodians are conservative people, and regardless of their means do their very best to keep clean; you'll gain more respect if you're well turned out and modest in your dress. Behaviour that is offensive to Cambodians includes any display of public affection between men and women; even seeing foreigners holding hands is embarrassing to them. However, during a recent presentation by my classmate on 'child sex tourism', my perception towards Cambodia changed. Raising the question, "How can such a conservative country be engaging in such activities?"
Dr. Jerry Albom, known to be a loving son, loyal friend, respectable doctor, and
a hard-working individual by his family,friends, and patients back home turned out to be one of those child sex tourist as well. In the article (http://www.yapi.org/rpchildsextourism.pdf ), it stated that although child sex tourism has existed for decades, the practice has exploded in recent years due to the rapid globalization of trade and the growth of the tourist industry. As countries once insulated now open their borders to global markets, and as airfares become more affordable to consumers, sex offenders find new opportunities and easier means to travel abroad for underage sex. There are also other factors such as the lack of education, the discrimination against female children, widespread poverty, poor law enforcement, political corruption, and advances in information sharing through Internet technology.
However, I felt that if there is no demand, there will be no supply. If Cambodia did not open its doors to tourism, would such an issue be happening to them now? There is still a possibility that it will happen, but not as severe. There may also be arguements on locals who would engage in child exploitation as well, however, it may also be due to influences of the tourists that a conservative country like Cambodia engagesin such activities.
When people travel, they expect to experience the unfamiliar. Entrepreneurs leave no stone unturned in producing dream holidays, to develop tourism and attract more tourists. Normally, the development will be targeted at those that are easily recognisable and sellable, and that may be the culture and traditions of the country, which differentiate one place from another. This brought me back to the culture of Portugal, especially developing region like the Trás-os-Montes. The caretos, as mentioned in the previous post, is something unique that only happens every year in the region. As the region open its doors to tourists, will the demand of tourists lead to the appearance of caretos whenever we visit the region? An example would be the Maori Culture at Tamaki Maori Village Hangi, which have became quite a booming business. In the villages, watching cultural performances has become one of the “must-do” things whereby performances such as the Hakka Ceremony are performed just for the tourists.
Tourists products are also created and modified according to the tourists needs. The host communities have little influence because the tourists either come alone or by tour guides or operators. As tourists also spend money in their region, the tourists command too. An example will be Benidorm, Spain. Spain enjoyed dramatic and uninterrupted growth in visitor numbers from the early 1950s to the late 1980s. As a result, quiet fishing villages along the Mediterranean coast were transformed over a short time into tourist destinations for the short-haul European market interested in a sun-sea-sand experience. Over time, much of the coastline become synonymous with the worse excesses of mass tourism. While the trend had reversed in the late 1990s and showed signs of recovery, such as Benidorm, the host population has lost out in the sense that their culture and traditions have been changed as a result of tourism.
Furthermore, if tourism does not affect the traditions and culture of a region, will the word 'Disneyfication’,which means one that transforms everything into a theme park and makes authentic travel experiences impossible, be a trend now? This word came about because of the success of Disney reaching out to almost every corner of the world, hence everybody know Disney characters through comic books, Internet, television programmes and came to know Disneyland as well. In order to earn more money and attract more tourist, many places are applying the aspects of Disneyfication such as theming.
What will all these eventually lead to? I believe to an extent it will lead to the loss of authenticity of the place, with social factors such as preference for commitment only to those occupations which contribute to a financial return, especially to the future generations who did not understand the culture and traditions their parents once experienced.
Even though now many countries are practising sustainable tourism and many people are now more aware of the destruction of mass-tourism on the environment, it does not mean that the culture or tradition will not be altered in any way. The impact happens when the host and tourists start to interact with each other.
When tourism first started in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared tourism to be a universal and fundamental right of all citizens, causing the tourist floodgates to open drastically. Immediately following the declaration, new records in tourist arrivals, receipts and expenditures were reached, with each year increasing upon the previous. In less than half a century tourism grew into a phenomenon that overwhelmed societies, economies and environments and firmly established itself as the vertiable service industry of the last century, leading to mass tourism.
Mass tourism, as we know,leads to pollution, excessive exploitation of natural resources, cultural erosion, cultural clashes, as well as deterioration of the social situation.
A shocking issue I came to learn during tutorials is about Cambodia, which shares many of the same attitudes to dress and social taboos with other Southeast Asian cultures. Cambodians are conservative people, and regardless of their means do their very best to keep clean; you'll gain more respect if you're well turned out and modest in your dress. Behaviour that is offensive to Cambodians includes any display of public affection between men and women; even seeing foreigners holding hands is embarrassing to them. However, during a recent presentation by my classmate on 'child sex tourism', my perception towards Cambodia changed. Raising the question, "How can such a conservative country be engaging in such activities?"
Dr. Jerry Albom, known to be a loving son, loyal friend, respectable doctor, and
a hard-working individual by his family,friends, and patients back home turned out to be one of those child sex tourist as well. In the article (http://www.yapi.org/rpchildsextourism.pdf ), it stated that although child sex tourism has existed for decades, the practice has exploded in recent years due to the rapid globalization of trade and the growth of the tourist industry. As countries once insulated now open their borders to global markets, and as airfares become more affordable to consumers, sex offenders find new opportunities and easier means to travel abroad for underage sex. There are also other factors such as the lack of education, the discrimination against female children, widespread poverty, poor law enforcement, political corruption, and advances in information sharing through Internet technology.
However, I felt that if there is no demand, there will be no supply. If Cambodia did not open its doors to tourism, would such an issue be happening to them now? There is still a possibility that it will happen, but not as severe. There may also be arguements on locals who would engage in child exploitation as well, however, it may also be due to influences of the tourists that a conservative country like Cambodia engagesin such activities.
When people travel, they expect to experience the unfamiliar. Entrepreneurs leave no stone unturned in producing dream holidays, to develop tourism and attract more tourists. Normally, the development will be targeted at those that are easily recognisable and sellable, and that may be the culture and traditions of the country, which differentiate one place from another. This brought me back to the culture of Portugal, especially developing region like the Trás-os-Montes. The caretos, as mentioned in the previous post, is something unique that only happens every year in the region. As the region open its doors to tourists, will the demand of tourists lead to the appearance of caretos whenever we visit the region? An example would be the Maori Culture at Tamaki Maori Village Hangi, which have became quite a booming business. In the villages, watching cultural performances has become one of the “must-do” things whereby performances such as the Hakka Ceremony are performed just for the tourists.
Tourists products are also created and modified according to the tourists needs. The host communities have little influence because the tourists either come alone or by tour guides or operators. As tourists also spend money in their region, the tourists command too. An example will be Benidorm, Spain. Spain enjoyed dramatic and uninterrupted growth in visitor numbers from the early 1950s to the late 1980s. As a result, quiet fishing villages along the Mediterranean coast were transformed over a short time into tourist destinations for the short-haul European market interested in a sun-sea-sand experience. Over time, much of the coastline become synonymous with the worse excesses of mass tourism. While the trend had reversed in the late 1990s and showed signs of recovery, such as Benidorm, the host population has lost out in the sense that their culture and traditions have been changed as a result of tourism.
Furthermore, if tourism does not affect the traditions and culture of a region, will the word 'Disneyfication’,which means one that transforms everything into a theme park and makes authentic travel experiences impossible, be a trend now? This word came about because of the success of Disney reaching out to almost every corner of the world, hence everybody know Disney characters through comic books, Internet, television programmes and came to know Disneyland as well. In order to earn more money and attract more tourist, many places are applying the aspects of Disneyfication such as theming.
What will all these eventually lead to? I believe to an extent it will lead to the loss of authenticity of the place, with social factors such as preference for commitment only to those occupations which contribute to a financial return, especially to the future generations who did not understand the culture and traditions their parents once experienced.
Even though now many countries are practising sustainable tourism and many people are now more aware of the destruction of mass-tourism on the environment, it does not mean that the culture or tradition will not be altered in any way. The impact happens when the host and tourists start to interact with each other.
