One of the most occurring topics in Tourism literature today, and probably all time, when talking about the affects of tourism is the ‘affects of tourism industry on Local communities’, especially indigenous peoples. As mentioned in the introduction of this article by Raymond de Chavez, Third World countries saw tourism “as a shortcut to rapid development of the economy”. I remember from my childhood, the president of Turkiye would talk on television about the growing tourism industry as the ‘industry without a chimney’; emphasizing its cleanliness whilst delivering big on the economic scale. It sounded great and most of the public, involved in tourism or not, got behind the industry and showed support only to realize later that this new industry is not really taking their needs into consideration. Actually tourism did not take anything into consideration other than looking for ways to bring more and more people in somehow. This rapid unplanned growth caused the loss of pristine environment, especially on the coastal areas of west and south Turkiye. Growing number of holiday villages and big hotels on these once unspoiled land started to enclose their surroundings and drive the locals away. Adding to this was the pollution of the beaches and the sea as well as growing arrogance of the tourists and their disregard for the local traditions. So, as I read this article and articles similar to this one, I can picture clearly from a local perspective how the tourism monster in unleashed.
To protect and preserve something, first, one has to love that thing. If one loves money more than nature or people, then it is understandable (!) that they will try to protect their interest - money wise. By opening up pristine land occupied by indigenous peoples to tourism industry, to tourism corporations to be exact, it is almost giving up the land rather than giving it away.
What makes me bitter and sad in most of these scenarios is the attitude of 'exploitation'. An exploitation of natural resources, exploitation of traditional values, exploitation of trust between cultures (seeing visitors in 'dollar signs' etc) yet there is not much 'generation' or even 're-generation' of something. Tourism generates money which most of goes to the head offices of the corporations anyway. The money it generates for the local indigenous economy more often than not is not enough to take that economy to another level. The locals are at the base of the wage chain working for a minimum in most cases.
I cannot help but think about the sociopolitical, sociocultural and political affects of Chavez's words when he says,
Cash production for the tourism industry has led to commercialism and individualism in contrast to the indigenous ways of simple living and mutual cooperation.
Tourism arguably has led or helped the disintegration of many cultures, big or small, around the world. 'Individualism and loss of mutual cooperation'. I have grown up in an environment where family was all about mutual cooperation to whereas now that I look around it is more of an individual game. In such a short time of maybe 10 years, now that I move back and forth between Canada and Turkey, I can clearly observe the change as it is happening, not gradually but very rapidly almost in a revolutionary sense. Of course there are many reasons for it; Media, mainly television being at top. However, tourism is not innocent.
Like the example Chavez gives on the hotel that was built on sacred land in the Cook Islands, Tourism and the drive to exploit as much as possible without taking into consideration anything about locals, not even sacred lands is the killer of those communities. Don't you see any resemblance of Americans taking over Native Soil?? I think there is an invasion nowadays under the name of “Tourism”.
As Chavez says, “unless benefit sharing mechanisms are put in place” there is no way tourism will ever help indigenous peoples. It is of course if it's not already too late..
No comments:
Post a Comment