The contradictions of tourism

Tourism may bring benefits to a society but its effects are not always straightforward.

International tourism presents itself as straightforward, passive and benign, yet it is complex, interesting and important, full of contradictions and depths. It has enormous growth potential; almost every country desires an expansion in this sector. Yet whether and how to grow is not nearly as straightforward as one might hope.

Tourism can provide the ideal export for developing countries, which can capitalize on their unique cultures and natural environments. However, to do this they need to have features such as airports, hotels, sanitation facilities, roads and medical facilities. A government can build these itself, using revenue from local taxes or getting finance from foreign lenders. Alternatively, the government may attract foreign investment, allowing others to pay for the building, thus relieving itself of providing capital but forgoing profits.

Tourism is, however, a risky investment. It can gradually decline as a resort becomes seen as outdated, or it can be destroyed overnight by a single hurricane, or a political emergency. Even when successful, countries and localities are faced with a dilemma: keep it within limits, or extend its benefits but also deepen dependence on a single, fickle industry.

By definition, tourists travel to see and knowingly to encounter the different, the original, the authentic. In this increasingly global world, what they want is regional and unique. But only through artifice can the tourist demand for authenticity be met. An event such as a festival or ceremony needs to be brought to their attention and its importance and unique nature elaborated to them. Natural sites, too, need to be presented if they are to be regarded as noteworthy; gates, permits, and notices are required to set them apart from the mundane. Complicated framing and staging allows tourists to recognize, by sight, "the actual thing".

Tourism places a premium on the parts of a culture that are visible, such as handicrafts and costume, and disregards those that are not, like the rules governing seating on a bus, attitudes to the elderly, or appropriate ways of addressing family members; in this way, tourism favours what can be commodified. Yet commodities can be produced most efficiently using industrial machinery to take advantage of economies of scale, an option closed to village artisans. This alienates the producers from what is being produced, and means the product no longer has any personal meaning to them.

In addition, cultural idiosyncrasies and natural spectacles change over time. Tourists can’t be attracted, however, to an unstable and ambiguous culture, or to a natural site that is in the process of transforming itself. As a consequence, efforts are made to fix and standardize: folk dances, tortilla-making, peace pipes, bird habitats and the course of the Amazon have all been bound and defined. Had they not been fixed, however, they would not be accessible.

Tourism also promotes an external orientation. Like other exports, the "tourism experience" is produced by local people, and consumed by foreigners. To obtain loans and ultimately create revenue, a government of whatever size has to please outside investors and potential travelers. In these ways, tourism can result in a political system becoming more authoritarian and giving less consideration to the needs of individuals within the country.

In recent years, with increased awareness of some of these dangers, the phenomenon of ecotourism has developed. This has been seen as a way to prevent and reverse the environmental degradation resulting from tourism as well as from general human activity. Ecotourists distance themselves from mainstream hotel tourists, and also from adventure tourists like those who have, for example, left rubbish at the base of Mount Everest in Nepal. They want to do things like sleep in tents on platforms in tropical rainforests, swim among the fish on coral reefs, or walk over a tree canopy on a net bridge. They value the ecosystem as it is and are willing to pay for its preservation. In this way, they create an incentive for local people to refrain from using natural resources for short-term gain.

However, what is fortunate for the birds is not always so fortunate for the local people. In order to be environmentally sustainable, ecotourists have to be few in number. The economies of scale that allow tourism to be profitable cannot operate in a small bush camp. Camping doesn’t generate much revenue. Ecotourism proves that tourism does not have to be in conflict with environmental preservation. Unfortunately, it also proves that the realm in which the environment and the economy can be mutually supporting is tiny.

Furthermore, Westerners’ interest in biodiversity often means that the tourist wants to listen to a parrot, not a local elder, and that dollars bypass beggars on their way to support trees. Thus ecotourists’ environmental awareness can stand in contrast to their indifference to the local human community. Tourism always contains a message: this is what we value, this is what we don’t.