All Tourism Is Cultural - Article Example

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction “All tourism is cultural yet all tourism destroys culture”. Based on this statement, this paper aims to show how with the changing world tourism ends up destroying culture. Most tourist attractions are based on people culture for example in Malaysia, Fiji, the Maasai in Kenya and several other places. With changes in the world and the quest for the tourism industry to ensure sustainable tourism; a new tourism industry develops. This is a clear indication that the original tourism systems fade and new forms arise. If all tourism is cultural and all tourism changes due to sustainable development, then all tourism destroys culture based on Urry’s argument that postmodernism destroys culture. Sustainable tourism leads to changes in the tourism industry and changes lead to postmodernism and postmodernism leads to a destruction of culture through ways that will be explained in the paper. All Tourism is Cultural All tourism is referred to as cultural since tourism involves similar practices of tourists. Tourists visit different tourist sites for the same reasons. A tourist is a person who visits a place for leisure. Tourism is sight seeing, going to places of interests or visiting areas with attractive sites and cultures. The reason why people visit tourist attraction sites and places is because of the unique cultures of those regions and the attractive sites, which in most cases hold unique historical backgrounds and unique historical events. Examples of such tourist attraction places include; African countries like Kenya with unique events in the wildlife and Egypt with historical monuments, Malaysia, Bali, Fiji, and several other areas (MacCannell & Lippard, 1999). The tourists go for leisure reasons as has been noted and perform almost similar practices. When tourists visit a site with historic events like the wild beast crossing of river Mara in Kenya, they visit such a place to see the wonderful event (MacCannell & Lippard, 1999). This kind of event happens during a specific season and not every time. There are also different cultures that are of interest to people like the Malaysian culture which people long to experience. The activities of tourists give them the name of tourists just the same way a tribe with a specific name is distinguished by its culture. This is just an explanation to the fact that tourism practices are distinguishable just the same way as specific community’s practices are distinguishable. All tourism is therefore cultural; it is a custom or way of life. Sustainability Sustainable development is that which sustains the current human kind in a specific environment and makes it possible for the next generation of humankind to live in the capacity environment that supports it (Wahab, 1997). Objectives and principles of sustainable development include; equity within and between generations, conservation and enhancement of ecological processes and integration of environmental, social and economic considerations (Wahab, 1997). When there is sustainable development, then sustainability is achieved. Wahab noted that, “sustainability implies fresh approaches to planning and renewed commitments to use the resources within the capacity of an environment to sustain the environments for such use” (Wahab, 1997 p.18). If the resource available in the environment is culture, and culture is used to attract tourists and make money/to boost the economy of a country, fresh approaches and planning would be made to sustain tourism in that country or region. With fresh approaches, automatically there will be change. In today’s tourism, tourists do not get the original cultures, monuments or attractions that were there in old days. More tourists are needed at the tourist’s sites and therefore new developments to attract them and retain them have to be developed. Consideration however is put on the ability of the region to continue attracting tourists even with the current changes in the future. Tourism and Sustainability Sustainable development has been considered by the tourism industry as a way to deal with problems in modern tourism. In order to ensure sustainable development, the tourism sector tries to balance the growth and development of the industry and the environment which is through ecological sustainable development (Wahab, 1997). For the industry to solve its problems and grow, it has to ensure sustainable development. Sustainable tourism development constitutes development of tourism economically, ecologically, culturally and socially (Wahab &Cooper, 2001). It therefore focuses on tourism and tourists responses to the changing socioeconomic circumstances, attitudinal and cultural changes, political changes, to growing environmental concern and to improvements in communication and spatial awareness. This is because of the potential influences these fields had on tourism in the 1990s and the need to avoid a fall of the tourism industry (Wahab, 1997). Tourists shy away very easily and any threats to their safety, health, financial well being and property would send them away from the tourism industry hence affecting the industry’s market (Lockie et al, 2000; Wahab, 1997). Efforts to make tourism sustainable led to changes in the industry, one of them being the manner in which cultures are presented to the people which in turn degrades the culture as will be explained (Urry, 2001). Sustainability also leads to commercialization of certain cultural practices in order to deal with market problems. As mentioned previously, tourism industry is driven by the tourist preferences, tastes and values and since it also contributes to the economy of a country; is motivated by profit making leading to commercialization of cultural practices and historical events. Sutton and House noted that the industry of tourism is one of exponential growth and increasing diversity with activities being classified as tourism increasing as postmodernism takes over the world. Because of the aim to make tourism sustainable, most human cultures become a form of tourism resulting in cultural pluralism, a characteristic of postmodernism (2009). Wahab also noted in his ‘Tourism, development and growth: the challenge of sustainability’ that, “Tourism in today’s world finds it necessary to manipulate and modify the environment to suit its purpose” (1997 p. 19). The environment referred to in this case encompasses socioeconomic and cultural phenomena as well as biophysical elements. Tourism is the world’s largest economic sector that depends on the environment in which it also has vested interest in. If tourism is the world’s largest economic sector and it depends on the environment, and again it manipulates and modifies this environment to suit its purpose. Based on Urry’s arguments about postmodernism, it destroys a lot of culture since tourism sustainability leads to changes that in turn destroy culture. The modification of the industry in response to environmental factors, the tourists’ attitudes and responses to so many factors and several other factors previously mentioned leads to postmodernism which destroys the culture (Theobald, 1998). Tourism and Postmodernism “Ideal tourism, grow out of complementary natural features and compatible social processes” (Wahab, 1997 p. 18). In the tourism industry, there are several opportunities and interests that the tourism developers have to service. They therefore have to anticipate new settings and spatial forms for the volatile industry which is sensitive to changes in economic, biophysical and political circumstances as well as changes due to taste and perception (Wahab, 1997). The tourism professional component has to ensure it is ahead of change in order to deal with change in technology, travel preferences and in many factors which make the travel market. The changes lead to what Urry refers to as post modernism. Postmodernism is the dissolution of boundaries between cultures, that is, between low and high cultures as well as between different cultural forms like education, art, shopping, architecture, sport, music, television and photography (Urry, 2001). Post modernism is a regime with de-differentiation as the main trait. It comes after modernism which is a regime with differentiation as the main trait; that is the development of normative and institutional spheres independently. The spheres that develop independently belong to the state, science, family, the economy, aesthetic realm and morality. Urry noted that “Each sphere develops its own conventions and mode of valuation” (2001 P. 76). Within the cultural sphere for example, the value of a cultural object depends on how well the object measures to the norms appropriate to the sphere. This is referred to as horizontal differentiation. When a sphere horizontally differentiates and becomes more separated, vertical differentiation develops. Vertical differentiation in a cultural sphere consists of distinctions between culture and life, scholarly/ auratic art and popular pleasures, mass and elite forms of consumption and high and low cultures (Urry, 2001). Horizontal and vertical differentiations are the processes of modernism. Post modernism however involves de-differentiation of the spheres and there is no distinctiveness of the cultural activities. According to Urry, each sphere implodes into the other with most of them involving visual scenes and play (2001). An example is the case of multimedia events that are not easy to classify under any sphere due to undifferentiated cultural activities (Urry, 2001). In postmodernism, the cultural spheres lack their auratic value. Cultural spheres before postmodernism had their singularity, originality and uniqueness, were separated from the social spheres, and were based on some artistic creativity and organic unity, but in postmodernism, cultural spheres do not have the above described, they are anti-auratic. This means that the culture that exists in the postmodern environment is electronically and mechanically reproduced, which is a way today’s tourism industry manipulates and modifies the environment to suit its purpose as Wahab noted (1997). Differentiation is lacking between the order of life and art and between social and aesthetic values. Real culture obtains its value from the formal properties of the aesthetic material while postmodern culture places its value on the unity of cultural spheres which are also imitations of the real cultures, randomly collected artistic materials and based on stories of the real culture (Urry, 2001). The manner in which postmodern culture is consumed damages the difference between high culture and low culture hence does not give those with knowledge about these two cultures’ aesthetics the chance to enjoy. Urry noted in his Tourist gaze book that, Post modern culture affects the audience via its immediate impact, through what it does for one, through regimes of pleasure, and not through the formal properties of the aesthetic material. And this serves to undermine any strong distinction between a high culture, enjoyed by elite knowledgeable about the aesthetics of a given sphere (painting, music, and literature) and the popular or low cultures of the masses. Urry (2001:76). Postmodern culture does not recognize the difference between artistic and commercial productions instead; the culture and commerce are entangled. Postmodernism also makes it difficult to recognize a real culture and a representation of culture. This is because signification is visual making the relationship between reality and representation closer and intimate hence losing the signification through the words or music (Urry, 2001). It is quite clear how postmodernism destroys culture. Tourism Sustainability and Postmodernism According to Urry, culture is about the aesthetic value it possesses or the auratic value it has (2001). Postmodernism destroys culture since the post modern tourist does not visit the tourist attraction site for the true meaning of the culture, but because he/she is a tourist and goes for what he/she feels like he/she should be looking for. House and Sutton noted that, a postmodern tourist is a tourist in his/her own identity (2009). The tourists are preoccupied with themselves and self development is a leisure activity. Egocentricity is therefore a characteristic of postmodernism. With tourism sustainability issues, tourism destinations have changed and offer a range of self development activities. Tourism destinations offer intellectual courses, self development workshops, lifestyle courses, and art and craft production among so many others; which are even offered by scholars who visit the tourist destinations (House and Sutton, 2009). This is cultural pluralism with no appreciation to the real cultures of the local people at the tourism destination and the cultures of those who visit the place. There is no difference placed between the two and these self development activities have also been commoditized. When cultures of different communities are combined like in such a case, individuals’ sense of ontological security is threatened and with egocentrism, identity to a particular group of people is lost which includes a cultural group. Cultural identities are therefore lost (House and Sutton, 2009). Postmodern tourist may demand the old ways of a cultural practice or old monuments with no knowledge of why the cultural practice was done in the manner it was in the old days, or knowledge about the old monument causing regeneration of such practices and features. Regeneration of cultural practices due to tourists demand can lead to cultural involution making people go back to the old days for the sake of tourist satisfaction and not the true meaning of the practice. By this it means that the cultural practice loses its value (Lockie et al, 2000). When there is no differentiation between cultural practices, culture is destroyed. In a case where tourists visit a place and the locals end up imitating or combining there culture with the tourist, the true meaning of the host country’s cultural practice is lost. (Lockie et al, 2000). Postmodernism is characterized by denial of natural enjoyment which is the core of the sphere of culture; a clear indication that there are those who can be satisfied with refined, gratuitous, sublimated, disinterested and distinguished pleasures and who are superior to those who love the aesthetic value of the same cultures. The superiority of this class of people leads to the deliberate disposure of art and culture to satisfy a social function of legitimating social differences (Urry, 2001) In postmodernism, cultural experience can be obtained anywhere and quality and depth of experience does not matter. Surface and quantity have surpassed the quality and depth of experience. Tourists can gain the same experience about a community’s culture in any place without visiting the real place where such culture exists. There is no need for example to visit India to experience the real culture of Indians (Sutton and House, 2009). One example of culture destruction in this case is the British resort loss of value as a tourist attraction site. Distinctive features of this seaside resort are no longer considered extraordinary as they were considered before. Many towns and cities had copied accommodation and leisure facilities offered by the resort making it worthless to the people since people could find the same facilities anywhere (Urry, 2001). The development of these kinds of specialist services in different areas apart from the original place of offer, which is the tourist attraction site, leads to the destruction of the culture in the tourism destinations. Staging of cultural practices and historical events is another example of how tourism destroys culture. As noted earlier, postmodernism makes it difficult to differentiate the real cultural practice and the staged or the fake one. Staging of these kinds of practices is due to demand from tourists for experience. Postmodern tourist does not consider what value the historical event holds to the local people of what aesthetic value a cultural practice is. The aim of the tourist is to get to have an experience of how that cultural practice is done or looks like, and be satisfied with no consideration of if it is real or not. Satisfaction is all the postmodern tourist seeks. Due to such demands, tourism professionals produce representations of the real cultures to the tourists. Since tourism is a cultural event and takes place during specific times or is defined by specific events of a tourist destination, these staged cultural practices soon become the ‘real’ cultural practices with no meaning to the local people. The original culture is destroyed or even if culture were to change, its meaning would be lost to the people who practice it. In Malaysia for example, most historical events are staged and there are new tourism forms developed due to postmodernism (Hitchcock et al, 1993). Some cultures have also been made national which means not specific to a certain community even though the cultural practice came from a specific community. In modern day tourism, when tourists get advertisements about visiting Malaysia, culture is considered as one, which is the Malaysian culture and not specific to the Chinese of Asians in the place (Hitchcock et al, 1993). Staged dances in Bali are another example. In the early days of tourism in Bali Island, dances were over and over again staged for tourists. These dances became the genuine heritage of Balinese because of tourism while their original forbidden and sacred dances were forgotten (Richards, 2006). The demand for certain arts, crafts and practices also lead to staging of performances and fake arts and crafts which also contributes to the destruction of culture. As noted earlier, postmodernism makes it difficult to differentiate the staged cultural practices, arts and crafts, and the real cultural practices and arts (Urry, 2001; Sutton and House, 2009). The real art and crafts becomes similar to the fake ones so that one cannot know which is the exact craft of value or art of value. In museums for example, there are representations of historical swords considered important to a community that was unique in history in different places. It is like almost all museums got the real sword yet only one sword was used by may be a hero during historical times. If one with no knowledge of the real sword for example visits one museum with a representation of a historical sword, the conclusion would be; that is the real sword. Not knowing it is just a representation. Lack of differentiation is also seen in the commercialized tourism. In tourism destinations, people sell tourist attraction arts and crafts from different countries in one tourist attraction site that does not produce all of them. The value is given to the fact that all are arts and crafts and can earn income and not their aesthetic values. In Bali for example, arts and crafts shops sell sculptures from different regions of the world provided they are sculptures and are pleasing to the tourist gaze. One businessman in Bali owned a shop with different sculptures including those from Egypt which has no meaning to visiting Bali. The cultural value of Bali is lost and it becomes a place of attracting tourists not for its aesthetic value, but for money (Richards, 2006). Conclusion With tourism sustainability developments, one of the consequences is irreversibility. Postmodernism has made it difficult to know what cultures are real and has made cultural practices and historical events lose their values. Going back can never happen even if the tourism industry would want to since the industry would not know what to go back to. The real cultures are no longer real or have disappeared. Tourism involves culture, and with the changes in tourism to make it sustainable, it has changed the culture just as have been described above in the process of postmodernism. This is how tourism destroys culture. References Hitchcock, M., King, V. T., Parnwell, M. and Parnwell, M. J. G. (1993), Tourism in South-East Asia. London, Routledge Lockie, C., Walker, E. and Livingstone, C. (2000), Travel Medicine and Migrant Health, New York, Elsevier Health Sciences. MacCannell, Dean and Lippard, Lucy R. (1999), The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, California, University of California Press Richards, Greg. (2006), Cultural tourism: Global and Local Perspectives, Pennsylvania: Haworth Press. Sutton, P. and House, J. (2009), The New Age of Tourism: Postmodern Tourism for Postmodern People? http://www.arasite.org/pspage2.htm (24th July, 2009). Theobald,, W. F. (1998), Global tourism, Boston, USA, Butterworth-Heinemann. Urry, J. (2001), The Tourist Gaze, 2nd edition, London, Sage. Wahab, A. and Eldin, S. (1997), Tourism, Development and Growth: the Challenge of Sustainability, London, Routledge. Wahab, S. and Cooper, C. P. (2001), Tourism in the Age of Globalization, London, Routledge. Read More