An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology - Essay Example

Running head: TOURISM ANTHROPOLOGY Tourism Anthropology By __________ Tourism whether local or global, is somehow connected in establishment of globalization through the channels of modernity. As Urry suggests, "Tourism, can be characterized as an engine and example of patterns of globalization". Anthropology and tourism have one thing in common. Both seek to identify and make sense of culture and human dynamics. According to Burns "Because tourism is a global set of activities crossing many cultures, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the consequences of the interaction between generating and receiving tourism societies" (Burns and Holden, 1995). According to McKean (1977) tourism can be defined as "A profound, widely shared human desire to know 'others' with the reciprocal possibility that we may come to know ourselvesa quest or an odyssey to see, and perhaps to understand, the whole inhabited earth". Thus he considers tourism as a positive act of self-fulfillment actively participating as an agent of global change, and its marked imprint on landscapes in many parts of the world. Stiglitz defines globalization as: "The closer integration of the countries and people of the world are brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication, and the breaking down of artificial barriers of the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and people across borders." Recent debates about globalization have only served to emphasize the theme of modernization. While some proponents of globalization have pointed to its ability to encourage economic modernization in the developing world, critics have characterized globalization as a homogenizing force (Hoogvelt, 2001; Scholte, 2000). effecting globalization to be extremely uneven and induce changes that benefit some political, economic and social groups while disadvantaging others. The unevenness of tourism developments, as part of broader processes of globalization, provides an ideal vantage point from which to analyze the ethical dimensions of globalization itself. Anthropology can be defined as the study of humanity and besides the traditional ways to study tourism; anthropologists have shifted its grounds towards many other ways in which tourism can be studied. According to Buck's idea (1978), "tourism can be seen through opposing schools of thought". The critical deconstruction which the tourism faces is among one of the assumptions about the strength of culture, what constitutes 'authentic' and what tourists do on their vacation as weak and bound up in a very introverted, unconnected view of the world. When it comes to different types and styles of tourism, classifications by purpose of travel have also been established with tourism types as "recreational tourism"; "cultural tourism"; "health tourism"; "sport tourism"; and "conference tourism". Each touristic type has its own scale of values and its hierarchy. However, two or more kinds are frequently combined in one trip. For instance, one might visit the museums and cathedrals in Europe (Historical) and then go to Northern Scandinavia to see the Midnight Sun (Environmental) and the Lapps (Ethnic), or one might combine the Historical, Cultural, and Ethnic by touring India. Certain types of tourism are closer in fact and function than others; for instance, Ethnic tourism is a combination of Culture and Nature tourism. Others are conceptually further removed, such as Cultural tourism, with its emphases on the great traditions, in contrast to Hunting and Gathering tourism represented by African hunting safaris. Within these categories of tourism, there are infinite variety of sub styles including class, and ethnic and national variations. The levels of preferred nature of the touristic goals vary almost as much by age group and personality as by national origin. Another part of the anthropological response to tourism is focused on its cultural dimensions, where tourism considered as cultural exploitation provides competing styles reflecting age groups, occupational class and lifestyles, as emerging as the phenomenon itself matures and marketing expertise becomes more sophisticated. While leisure tourism (holidaymaking) might be thought of as a system for managing pleasure, it has gone through tremendous complexities over different phases of tourism. Tourism has experienced a history under influences from the impact of globalization, thus tourism has suffered silence and ignorance for decades until tourism presented itself as a solution to abhor economic devastations in this region. Demographic drifts that especially affect young people who seek work in the cities leave a predominantly older population in the peripheries. The remaining older population sanction the selected version of the past as if they themselves make an 'authentic' past attainable for tourists. With the rise in economic infrastructure, tourism caused a common man to divert upon traveling, so the traditional concept of tourism to some extent faded and people started pretending that tourists are not just tourists but travelers, this discourse encouraged tourists to ignore the reality of power relations within modern tourism, such as their dependence on the travel industry, or their relationships of power with locals as they might actually exist. While constructing this travel fantasy, the importance of colonial discourses, with their inherent race, class and gender relations of power, such as colonial superiority and exploration emerged. The fact that anthropologists have, purposely turned their attention to the study of tourism can only be seen as a welcome and overdue development. In the second half of this century, anthropologists have discovered tourists everywhere they have gone, as Nunez says, "for the simple reason that tourists are everywhere". Modern tourism accounts for the single largest peaceful movement of people across cultural boundaries in the history of the world. Given that, tourism is unavoidably an anthropological topic whose exploration and explication of cultural similarities and differences cannot be ignored by anthropology as the phenomenon of tourism tries hard to retain its identity. While one cannot limit tourism to the extent of individuals, as an industry or a set of interlinked industries it is also a complex set of social phenomena; for the purpose of understanding it however, it is best to approach it as a system or a set of sub-systems encompassing a variety of models. The advantage of a systems approach is that tourism is not automatically seen in isolation from its political, natural, economic or social environments but it is also measured to emphasize the inter-connectedness between one part of a system and another. This encourages multi-disciplinary thinking which, when given tourism's complexities, is essential to deepen our understanding of it. Having an understanding of the tourism system at a particular destination will enable a far better grasp of the processes of tourism, thus moving from the framework of how it all fits together, including relationships between the destination and a number of generating countries and how the system operates. According to MacCannell (1992) "Tourism is a primary ground for the production of new cultural forms on a global base. In the name of tourism, capital and modernized people have been deployed to the most remote regions of the world, farther than any army was sent In short, tourism is not just an aggregate of merely commercial activities; it is also an ideological framing of history, nature, and tradition; a framing that has the power to reshape culture and nature to its own needs" (1992:1). While MacCannell has added much to the theorization of tourism, it is difficult to believe his central thesis that all tourists are searching for authentic experiences denied to them at home in their industrial/post-industrial world. Anthropologists and other social scientists argue that people, rather than business lies at the heart of the need to analyze tourism; anthropology offers an approach to the critical analysis of tourism through its comparative framework, the ability to bring the local and global together by recognizing the interconnectedness of economic, environmental and social domains. Smith proposed an interesting alternative perspective by describing tourism as a social practice: "The phenomenon of tourism occurs only when three elements, temporary leisure + disposable income + travel ethic, simultaneously occur. It is the sanctioning of travel within a culture that converts the use of time and resources into spatial or geographical social mobility. If travel is not deemed culturally appropriate, then time and resources may be channeled elsewhere." When considering complexities of tourism, the creation of certain gap between the ability of a developing country to achieve certain domestic savings targets and developed countries could be made up with transfers of capital from the industrial developed countries i.e. aid from the West, In this sense, Rostow was not a pure laissez faire capitalist but with his support for government planning and intervention he was successful in the development of Marshall Plan that re-constructed Europe after the Second World War. So, while some continue to place value on Rostow's work for its ability to provide insights into the development process, the deterministic viewed that development will come about through the removal of obstacles, the right mixture of science and technology, the emergence of new elites willing to fabricate industrial society, and the development of social conditions that encourage entrepreneurial risk-responses to material incentives, does not take account of the complexities of the global political economy within which Third World countries are entangled. Development models in the context of the Third World have been overshadowed first, by the incidental racism of Darwinian theory, and second, by the Eurocentricity of both Rostow and Marx, as illustrated by Mehmet who is critical of both of them, "Rostow, the economic historian was like Marx, his ideological Nemesis, Eurocentric; their theories were linear, deterministic and guided by Western history." Dependency theory seeks to examine 'the effects of imperialism on overseas territories in an attempt to explain the roots of backwardness' (Hoogvelt, 1982:165). The basic assumption for dependency theory is, the reliance of Third World countries upon the economic policies of the developed countries. A further corollary asserted by dependency theorists is that of underdevelopment, whereby dependency results in persistent low levels of living as dependent economies are distorted towards the needs and predilections of the metropolitan centres; growth for the underdeveloped economies is 'a reflection of the dominant countries' (Peet, 1991:45). For dependency theorists, development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same coin: surpluses from the exploited countries, generated first through mercantilism and later through colonialism, had the combined effect of developing the metropolitan countries and under-developing the peripheral countries. The dependent situation became heightened with the development of local elites, according to Hoogvelt "whose economic interests becameintertwined withthe advanced capitalist states, and whose cultural lifestyles and tastes were a faithful imitation of the same" (Hoogvelt, 1982:166). Peet describes as "Latin America's peripheral position and primary exports were the causes of its lack of progress, specifically because of a long-term decline in the terms of trade of the periphery" (Peet, 1991:44). These are the conditions under which, according to Waters, development, becomes 'impossible': Prebisch suggested that the solution to underdevelopment was through modernization, that is to say, investment in industrialization. The consequence of this approach was a move away from primary (agricultural) production. The main support structure for this program of industrial investment was import substitution through internal growth, and the development of 'infant industries' sustained by fiscal and non-fiscal tariffs (i.e. import taxes and import restrictions/quotas). Import substitution failed as a long-term policy, becoming a remedy 'seen as a cause of the economic illness' (Peet, 1991:45). Wages did not rise to stimulate domestic demand, balance of payments worsened and income distribution became less equitable (Hoogvelt, 1982:168). According to Middleton (1998) "Although travel and tourism is invariably identified as an 'industry' it is best understood as a total market which reflects the cumulative demand and consumption patterns of visitors for a very wide range of travel-related products. One of the biggest cultural shifts seen in countries with advanced economies is the change in attitude towards spending and buying, the change from generally buying what was necessary to the idea of shopping for shopping's sake. In continuation with MacCannell's theme "Consumers in capitalist societies today know that they do not need what they buy" (1992:67). Bayley relates the history of the word 'consumer' to the development of the Western economy. He describes how the change from 'buyer' to 'consumer' came about: Mass production and all that it entails, investment, long lead times, low unit costs and ready availability, replaced a system where simple makers could articulate and satisfy needs; the new distant customers alienated from the production process became consumers. The movement of people across international boundaries has facilitated the development of an industry serving a wide cross-section of the public and meeting the needs of the post-modern consumer. For tourism development to fulfill the needs of mass consumerism, many of the characteristics needed for mass consumption referred to by Bayley must be fulfilled. These will include: Mass production and trans-global repetition of services to meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people moving annually around the globe; Investment from governments to provide the necessary infrastructure and financial incentives essential to attract corporate investment from global organizations viewed as necessary to provide the facilities for tourism; Long-lead times by governments who wish to have tourism master plans drawn up and trans-national corporations associated with strategic planning; Low unit costs achieved through economies of scale as a result of horizontal, vertical and diagonal integration (Poon, 1993) and increasing employee productivity partly through the use of sophisticated communication technology providing a global system of information and reservations for ready access; The standardization of products such as package holidays, which may be purchased from the travel agent, telephone or Internet with the minimum of inconvenience. Thus, the provision of goods and services to tourists and the characteristics of international tourism are framed by mass consumption on the part of nationals from the most developed countries benefiting from low production costs. For example, salaries and wage costs in Food and Beverage departments as a ratio to total revenue in Australia are 32.4 per cent compared to 12.4 per cent in China (PKF, 1993:48). Up to 80 per cent of all international travel (measured by volume) is made by nationals of just 20 countries (WTO, 1998). It is partly this scenario that provides the 'cheap' holiday in Third World countries. The main contention in tourism advancement as faced by the Governments in the underdeveloped nations is the financial problems and an end to secure markets for their goods in former colonial powers have in turn recognized that tourism provides a potential answer to their problems (Lynn, 1992:371-373). Most, regardless of their political ideology, promote tourism as a means of generating employment and a healthy balance of payments, and as a source of foreign exchange (Hall, 1994:112-120; Harrison, 1992b: 8-11). Many governments are keen to justify public-sector tourism development through the use of a pro-business rhetoric (Clancy, 1999; Matthews and Richter, 1991:120-123). In this way, national tourism policies tend to focus on economic growth, and it is regarded as synonymous with Westernization and modernization. The spread of a neoliberal market philosophy goes hand in glove with the increasing hegemony of specifically Western cultural and political values. With the continued advancement of new technology and employment improvements in the generating countries (such as increased holiday leave and disposable income) the demand for long-haul travel has increased substantially. A powerful industry, in terms of its influence on the economies of developing countries, has developed to service the needs of these tourists. Of particular significance to the tourist is the role of the travel intermediaries in providing the link between demand and supply. It is these intermediaries who have had a major influence in the development of destinations, influencing speed of growth, type of development and the markets it will serve. Cooper et al. has mentioned it as: "The principal role of intermediaries is to bring buyers and sellers together, either to create markets where they previously did not exist, or to make existing markets work more effectively and thereby to expand market size In all industries the task of intermediaries is to transform goods and services from a form, which consumers do not want, to a product that they do want." The most apparent intermediary is the tour operator who usually puts together, at a most fundamental level, the accommodation, transport, and the ancillary services, into a package, bought by the consumer. However, while in the past the tourist had become dependent upon the intermediary (given the difficulties of buying travel products directly from producers) the rapid growth, and ease of access to information technology is changing this traditional position. In 1992 the United Nations Human Development Report (United Nations Development Program 1992) showed on its cover a logo of a champagne glass with a broad cup and a narrow stem. The champagne glass has become a metaphor of a lopsided world with a huge gap between the rich and the poor. The bowl of the champagne glass represents the approximately 20 percent of people in the world who in 1992 had 83 percent of the world's income - 60 times the income of the poorest 20 percent of the population. The thin stem of the champagne glass represents the poorest 20 percent of the population who in 1992 survived on less than 2 percent of the world's income. Tourism may well increase the overall welfare in a country, but the direct benefits from tourism often accrue to only a small percentage of the population. Elites in developing countries consistently gain disproportionately more from tourism development, as for example through soaring land values and from favoritism in the participation in investments from abroad (M. Smith 1997). If lucky, the poor may enjoy some of the indirect benefits of tourism development. "On average, up to half of all tourism income in developing countries leaks out of the destination, with much of it going to industrial nations through foreign ownership of hotels and tour companies" (World watch Institute 2003:50). Income may increase overall in a country, yet the wealth gap may remain the same or may even widen. Continued inequality amidst increasing wealth can create a frustration-aspiration syndrome where people aspire to a better life yet are unable to fulfill their heightened aspirations. In justice theory, this is the familiar trade-off between total welfare and equality (Rawls 1971). The global argument against cultural change is a critical position reminding of the challenge, as yet unmet, to conceptualize communities as a complex process of stability and change, and then to factor in the changes tourism brings. To this end, the evaluation of tourism cannot be accomplished by measuring its impact against a static background. Some of what we see as destruction is construction; some is the result of a lack of any other viable options; and some the result of choices that could be made differently. Which is which by no means an easy matter to decide, but it is valued that anthropologists have not met these problems head on. Bibiography Burns M. Peter (1999). An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology. Routledge. Place of Publication: London. Hall C. Michael & Tucker Hazel (2004). Tourism and Post colonialism: Contested Discourses, Identities and Representations: Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Publication Year: Smith Duffy & Rosaleen Mick (2003) The Ethics of Tourism Development. Routledge. Place of Publication: New York. Smith L. Valene (1989) Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism. University of Pennsylvania Press. Place of Publication: Philadelphia. Wall Geoffrey (2005) A Companion to Tourism. Journal Title: The Canadian Geographer. Volume: 49. Issue: 3. pp 319. COPYRIGHT 2005 Canadian Association of Geographers Read More