Travel Reference
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of a destination. In order to accommodate lucrative tourism business, a host
community often has to accept tourists' culture. Even though there may be
no need for the host community to take the position of the 'weaker' culture,
because of the power imbalance, the host community is often placed in a
subjugated position.
As part of cultural imperialism and assimilation, changes in language
will also be observed. Although Mignolo (1998) argues that the relocation of
language is nothing but the result of modernisation processes, tourism is a
form of modernisation today and transformation of language in destination
areas may be partially due to the introduction of tourism. Most international
tourists do not learn or know the languages of host communities, and, instead,
they use English as a 'common' language between themselves and hosts.
Those who serve in the tourism industry or related businesses have to learn a
communicable level of English. The language use of younger persons also
changes, as an expression of 'fashion'. Pidgin English is a good example of the
fusion of local languages and the language of communication with tourists
(English, in this case). In other areas of the world, as a legacy of colonisation,
the common language may be French or Spanish. To address the use of foreign
languages as a vehicle for communication with tourists, school systems also
change language curricula.
Demonstration effects contribute to social and cultural changes in host
communities. During their brief encounters with tourists, members of host
populations are not always aware of the fact that tourists' behaviour is not
typical of normal behaviour in their home environments (i.e. tourists being
overly self-assertive, extravagant and often promiscuous), and this stirs feel-
ings of envy or disgust in members of host populations. For example, tension
between daring female tourists and local Greek women who are loyal to
tradition has been documented as mounting (Leontidou, 1994). Balinese com-
munities are becoming aggressive towards tourists, as they have begun to see
tourists' cultures as a threat to Balinese culture (Karyadi, 2000). In Indonesia,
an average tourist spends the equivalent of an average Indonesian's yearly
wages for a few nights in a hotel (Karyadi, 2000), and in Tunisia, a tourist
spends the equivalent of a Tunisian's yearly wages in one week (Tsartas,
1989, cited in Leontidou, 1994). What tourists possess and how they spend
money affect the material culture of host communities (e.g. cameras and
video recorders, electronic gadgets, cell phones, jewellery, fine clothing, or
fashionable jeans and T-shirts). McCarthy (1994), particularly considering
Indonesian youths, warns that young persons in a host population, admire
everything Western without question. The ways in which tourists behave
has an influence on the spiritual or cultural norms of host populations: dis-
respectful attire and behaviour in the context of religious environments,
demonstration of affection in public, tourists' diet patterns and so forth.
Authenticity of displayed culture is another debated area. Tourists are
seeking 'the past' or evidence of 'heritage' (Lowenthal, 1985) in foreign
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