In this week’s reading, A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, one of the main themes is tourism as a neo-colonial structure, particularly in her home country, Antigua. Colonialism and tourism are very closely linked, and colonial tourism is very problematic in a lot of places.
People have been traveling for all of human history, but it wasn’t until the years following World War II that tourism became a multi-billion dollar international industry. One could argue that there isn’t another industry that has impacted society in so many ways. In her journal article Cultures For Sale: Perspectives on Colonialism and Self-Determination and the Relationship to Authenticity, Christine Ballengee-Morris talks about the rise of tourism around the world, and how many cities try to lure tourists by tailoring their museums, entertainment, parks, food, and even language to the tourist industry. While tourism is one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the world, its effects on native people everywhere tend to go unnoticed.
Tourism tends to reinforce ideas that members of the dominant group have about minorities or native people in other countries. For example, when wealthy, white Americans travel overseas, they see native people living in societies they deem as inferior to theirs, and ignore the reality of their lives to instead view them as some sort of attraction. When tourists see native people going about their daily lives and then return home to simplify their existence into some sort of attraction, colonial and imperialist ideas are reinforced. Examples of this are when people discuss a place they’ve visited, and say things like “the people there are so beautiful,” or “the people are so nice.” While these may seem like harmless sayings, they represent a bigger problem in society that is people traveling to other countries and using human beings as attractions, often taking a bunch of photos of them (probably without consent) and then showing them off to their friends and family back home.
Most people are probably unaware of the effects they have when they travel like this, but the tourism industry is a very big reason that a lot of people view “third world” countries the way they do. If you are staying in a resort in a place where real people are living their lives, you are not immersed in culture, you are just invading it.
Bibliography:
Ballengee-Morris, Christine. “Cultures for Sale: Perspectives on Colonialism and Self-Determination and the Relationship to Authenticity and Tourism.” Studies in Art Education, 2002, pp. 232–245.
“’The People Are so Beautiful!’ That’s Enough of the Colonial Tourism | SE Smith.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Apr. 2014, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/08/people-beautiful-colonial-tourism-travel.
Nice post! I agree when you said that when wealthy people visit different countires who are known for their beaches or pretty views, they don’t look at the people living there. They only care to look at what tourist attractions there are.
I agree that tourism can often submerse and overwhelm a culture or area. Especially one that has a nice location and a good amount of natural resources. As you mentioned tourism is very important economically, being a billion dollar industry. This shows just how much “money talks” and a lot of peoples greed. They will follow the money rather than preserve culture and stand up for those oppressed.
Thanks for the post! I agree I think the average tourist has no idea about the culture or the lifestyle of the people who actually live on these islands. All these tourist care about is the beaches, and luxurious resorts.
I like your post very much. I agree with you. People only care about the beautiful scenery. Think of it as a tourist attraction. They don’t care about the people who actually live there. Of course, sometimes tourism really affects the culture and civilization of a place.