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human development paradigm, they de-emphasise quick economic develop-
ment, which is the ultimate purpose of 'development' in a capitalist sense.
What they advocate requires an enormous initial investment in terms of
time and human capital, and they do not necessarily encourage the 'moderni-
sation' that Euro-American societies have achieved.
Even with the available social well-being indices today, it is apparent that
monetary wealth does not always reflect the social well-being of the popula-
tion. Various indices, though not accurate in many aspects, such as in the
comparison of the economic statuses of nations, may indicate a nation's abil-
ity to provide social welfare to its population. The UNDP's HDI, QOL,
Better Life Index and SPI emphasise less the economic status of a nation and
more the context of social well-being. Nevertheless, the fundamental con-
cepts of social well-being in these indices are also based on Western concepts
and are not truly free of cultural bias. Moreover, in the study of tourism,
social and cultural aspects being studied cannot be measured by all of these
indices. These indices are not designed to measure the devaluation of culture
and traditions in terms of cultural assimilation and acculturation. Nor are
they to judge a nation's level of readiness to copy Euro-American lifestyles
and value systems, because these indices fundamentally assume that social
and cultural transformations in developing nations are required steps for the
improvement of quality of life.
Now that development paradigms have shifted (see Chapter 2), perhaps
it is time to review and reconsider the persistence of the modernisation devel-
opment paradigm. Tourism development today raises questions for global
economic development theories and modernisation issues, in which many
have put their blind trust. Due to the very nature of tourism, socio-cultural
changes to host communities are often disapproved of, as visitors want to see
the cultural and historical traditions of a destination. However, without
these changes, development cannot proceed according to Western theories of
development. Similarly, those involved in many tourist destinations have
become aware of the significance of natural environments and living envi-
ronments as tourism assets, and there is a movement against compromising
natural-resource management for short-term economic benefit. Today there
is an emphasis on making all forms of tourism more sustainable. Changing
the foundation of development theory, namely the absolute Euro-American
model based on capitalism, may be the most challenging task. This will call
into question the development achieved, especially during the post-war
period, and will deny today's widespread belief in Euro-American values in
development and improvement in lifestyle. After more than three-score
years of blind worship of the Euro-American model of development in the
postwar era, its effectiveness has been questioned, especially regarding its
unanticipated side-effects on societies, cultures and environments. In
response to the Euro-American model, other models have emerged, empha-
sising tourism development in relation to human rights (see Chapter 13).
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