Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sending a message that indigenous culture and traditions do not bring
economic development to a nation. This process encourages developing
nations of the South to embrace things that are Euro-American and devalue
indigenous culture and traditions. Fisher (1988) studied the impact of mod-
ernisation on sub-Saharan societies and noted that imported goods flooded
African markets, replacing traditional items. As a result, indigenous crafts-
persons were discouraged and dependence on unskilled labour for primary
production was encouraged. However, as 'indigenous' culture and traditions
are also important commodities in the tourism business, tourism itself urges
local populations to maintain their local values, traditions and heritage.
Tourism development can create more opportunities for indigenous crafts-
persons and artists to preserve traditional art forms. This also leads to the
creation of 'new' traditions such as Canadian Inuit soapstone carvings. Inuit
soapstone carving is not a traditional art in a strict sense. Traditional Inuit
carving utilised ivory and bones but a contemporary export ban on certain
ivory and bone goods made it impossible for the traditional art form to sur-
vive in a commercial sense. Soapstone carving was recently introduced as an
alternative means of income for the Inuit population, the members of which
were losing their traditional means of living, such as hunting. Soapstone
carving has become established today as an authentic form of Inuit art and
each piece fetches a high price.
With well managed small-scale tourism development, cultural exchange
through tourism can also be possible. It is known that tourists in general
come to a destination with certain stereotypes in mind regarding the host
culture and their stereotypes are often reinforced by the manipulation of cul-
tural exhibitions (Stanley, 1998). In some cases, tourists' stereotypical images
are strengthened during a trip regardless of what they have actually seen in a
destination. However, through small-scale development in which local per-
sons are actively involved, direct cultural exchange can be achieved through
the use of local guides. Home-stay or farm-stay programmes, the main pur-
pose of which is cultural exchange, are becoming popular. With the wide-
spread use of the internet today, regions or municipalities (e.g.
Bungotakada-city, Japan: http://bungotakada-gt.com/wp-content/uploads/
2011/04/panf.pdf), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (e.g. Servas
International: http://servas.org//content/blogcategory/42/77/, The Hospitality
Club: www.hospitalityclub.org/) and private businesses (HomeStay Inter-
national: www.homestayinternational.com) are advertising home-stay pro-
grammes. Another phenomenon is called 'couchsurfing', which involves no
monetary exchange between hosts and guests with guests searching through
online social media for alternative accommodation. An open mind is the pre-
requisite for an effective cultural exchange. It does not necessarily mean that
everyone agrees with everyone else; however, it means that one can accept
the existence of different views, opinions and customs without arguing
whose opinions and customs are superior. Higher tolerance and acceptance of
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