Ethno-Tourism and His Concept and Importance - Essay Example

?Topic - Although in the short-term ethno-tourism can be beneficial, in the long-term the negative consequences far outweigh any advantages Introduction Tourism had been an exciting activity for people around the world since many decades .Tourism practically is the movement of people from their place of residence and work to another place in the search of pleasure and adventure. It allows people to have novel experience by giving them opportunity to get in touch with unaccustomed people and places all over the world .The tourist mainly are in look out for unique cultural behaviors and living pattern of people around different places of the planet. When people travel to explore the ethnicity of different cultural groups and their authentic behavioral patterns then it is termed as ethno tourism. Even though, ethno tourism allows economic development to many countries it can also have a negative impact on the living quality of minority ethnic groups. “Sometimes, the presence of minority people is a visitor attraction in itself, However, even in such places , specific tourism businesses may be created to provide opportunities for tourists to experience aspects of ethnicity”(Fyall,2008,pg.24). Ethno – tourism can be seen as a specific form of cultural tourism where in people explore different cultural values and system of ethnic groups by travelling to different places. This is a unique experience for the travelers. However the consistent visiting of people from various places can interrupt the living environment of ethnic groups. Their daily life and living structure can be greatly disturbed and also the natural environment they live in can get polluted significantly The Concept of Ethno - Tourism Ethno – tourism is not a very old concept, and is formulated by travel agencies and marketing companies to promote the tourism industry. Ethno tourism is focused on the exploration of the cultural practices of the indigenous groups of different countries. The ethno tourism helps the poor countries to help themselves to come back from poverty. According to (Brian ,2007)“The main formula for ethno-tourism involves governments working with aid agencies, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, and private partners to help indigenous communities develop sustainable tourism industries”. Tourism is a modern concept and tourists also look out for authentic places and unique experiences. Ethno tourism focuses on the exploration of primitive culture and practices of indigenous groups. Ethno tourism allows people to travel to exotic and unique places and explore places and people which are otherwise unknown to them. The increasing demand among people for adventure has given new dimension to ethnic tourism and more and more people are getting interested in it on worldwide basis. The local government and tourist industry is taking more initiative in revealing exotic places and destination where tribal people live to meet the special demands of the tourists. Tourism industry is a huge concept, and want of people for something new and different and getting to know about secretive tribal groups and their practices has given rise to the concept of ethno – tourism. In ethno - tourism the attraction is on the exoticism of a particular group of people in order to draw the tourist to a particular country. In ethno – tourism the local people is placed on stage to attract tourist rather than considering them just as background players in the process of tourism. Instead of watching natural wonders or historical monuments, ethno tourism specifically focuses on the lifestyles of ethnic groups and tribes. Since the ethnic background of local people differ from the life of tourist’s , they find great pleasure in visualizing and experiencing it. Ethno – tourism mainly depends on the relationship between native and tourist’s .Here the prime interest of tourist is to interact with exotic ethnic people and understand their unique way of living and culture. However it is not only the ethnic groups and tourists are involved in the whole process of ethno – tourism. In this there is an involvement of various parties like government, local suppliers and brokers. As per (Jafari,2000,pg 12)“In simple sense ethno – tourism is a complex process of ethnic relations, with significant implications for changing expressions of ethnic identity among locals”. In ethno – tourism the elite travelers mostly visit exotic places and this comes as a great advantage to the under developed and third world countries. Here middle men and brokers are required to assist the tourist in visiting places and the former get ample profit out of it. Brokers hold a very valuable position in the whole process as they help both the tourist and local in interacting with each other. Advantages of Ethno – Tourism Ethno – tourism is a powerful strategy to upgrade and empower the country and life of the indigenous people and tribe. It gives opportunity for the urban and rural development of the countries which are poor and underdeveloped. For example, in Australia aborigines have been made centre of attraction to tourist to boost the tourism status of the country. In his journal, (Hipwell,2007,pg 3-6)wrote “ In Australia, for example, aboriginal ethno tourism was increasingly promoted by the government and private sector through the 90s”.The aim of the government here is to achieve economical development and socio – economical development of the country as well as indigenous group by attracting tourist. Here the aboriginal people are a resource for the government to upgrade their tourism development which can benefit both the country and people. The most beneficial factor of ethno – tourism is that it provides chances to upgrade the inferior infrastructure of poor and underdeveloped country. The flourishment of tourism gives way to investment for economical development and also provides the tourist with new and unique experience. The tourism plays a significant role in enhancing the economic development of an underdeveloped region .Mainly the under developed regions of a country are where there is more inhabitation of tribal people and ethnic groups. These ethnic communities are backward in their living quality and social environment that tourism gives them opportunity to grow. When tourist arrive in countries for visiting purpose the host country earn money and with this get ability to develop the country in all aspects. Tourism is a very big industry and profit from it is immense , and it can bring promising benefits to the host country. “Ethno – tourism offers economic benefits both to the contracted tribal communities and the nation located geographically on the land in which they reside”(From your text book). However the impact of ethno tourism can bring in positive as well as negative results on the locals as well their environmental arena. When the size of tourist gets bigger the impact on the indigenous groups and their living environment is on greater level. Tourism is always a major foreign currency earner and when tribes and indigenous group of exotic places are staged for tourist the flow of money gets even bigger. When we look from financial angle, the advantage of tourism industry is high but on the other side the tourist brings in lot of negative aspects to the host country. Negative side of ethno tourism Ethno tourism is depended on the values and knowledge of indigenous group. The natural heritage is highlighted along with the enormous diversity of the tribe and ethnic groups. But the arrival of mass tourists can result in the commoditization of the local ethnic groups and tribes. The culture of people is displayed and being utilized to make money and their values are considered as a show case object. Their homes and living environment are visited consistently by tourist which can be a thing of discomfort. Tourists’ search for authenticity can lead to a distortion of the culture of local people just for the enjoyment and pleasure of tourists. Here the culture of people is reduced to a product ,and their values and beliefs get marketed with a profit motive. It should be realized that if tour is sold then it is a product and even the local ethnic people and tribes are products. Even though, the cultural values of people are preserved here at some stage there are being exploited for the benefit of money making, In order to increase revenue the government increase the amount of tourists and these people can pollute the environment which are exotic . There occurs a great level of cultural intrusion in the life of ethnic community due to ethno tourism as there is consistent flow of tourist to view their unique culture and lifestyle. Tourism is a very beneficial thing for any country which is backward in economical development, but too much intrusion in to the social life of indigenous people can be harmful to them. Ethno – tourism dominates a particular region and can exploit the economical base of the region. Ethno tourism can spoil the livelihood means of ethnic groups and can destroy industries which are local due to the expansion of transportation, economic infrastructure and communications. For the progress of tourism the natural resources of particular region is utilized greatly, which can be dangerous to the ecosystem sustainability.“Ethno- tourism provides a link between the tourist and the indigenous communities to allow a firsthand experience with their culture and way of living”(Pehlchen,2007,pg25). Ethno tourism and obstacles it bring to indigenous people In ethno tourism there is great level of intrusion from outside world and this can hamper the daily life of these people. They are exploited mainly for their exotic life style and culture and they can feel it as a strange experience. Even nowadays it can be found that this ethnic groups and tribals have changed their culture and lifestyle to attract the attention of tourist.According to the (The Lady Tramp,2008) “Stemming from this, indigenous peoples have altered their own cultures, playing into these stereotypes for the monetary benefits that tourism brings”. The indigenous people are tested and developed for the tourism marketing purpose and this can give way to the alteration of their authentic lifestyle. In the process of commoditization of their ethnic background the originality of their historical couture and lifestyle get affected negatively. The tribal territories and living environment are unpolluted and unexplored by outside world and when these are marketed for the tourism purpose, it can get polluted .Since ethnic people are greatly attached to the environment in which they live in and exploitation of these places can harm their livelihood and living quality. There can be social tension among the tribal groups and indigenous people as their privacy in social life is interrupted. Moreover, these locals can lose their cultural identity and can solely become a marketing and tourism product. Conclusion Ethno tourism has lot of advantages as it gives opportunity for an underdeveloped and poor country to progress socially and economically .It promotes the preservation of the ethnical background of indigenous people and tribes which is a positive aspect .Moreover the outside world also get a chance to understand the ethnical value and culture of a particular tribe or local people. A country can develop a lot on the basis of ethno tourism as the infrastructure and socio – economical scenario of the host country can change deeply. “We can see from the experience that ethno and heritage tourism, authenticity become a commodity in itself”(Papen,2007,pg132). the social, cultural, economical and scenario of a host country can drastically change with the development of ethno tourism. However with all the positive sides to it the exploitation of exotic places and indigenous people is not very recommendable. The tourist can dislocate the local people and their businesses .The locals may get benefits from ethno tourism but they can get alienated from familiarity and flavor of their own living environment. Also great inflow of tourist can create overcrowding in the local places and can bring in obstacles in the life of tribal and indigenous people. The litter and damage brought in by tourist at times can be very dangerous for the natural environment where local people live. In General, tourism is good for development of a country but commoditization of natural environment and ethnic people for profit can be a dangerous to country, people and nature. References  Brian, M. (2007, February 14). Eco-tourism expands into ethno-tourism. Retrieved from http://blog.sustainabletravel.com/ecotourism_expands_into_ethnot.html .Fyall, A. (2008). .managing visitor attractions . Burlington: Elsevier ltd. Hipwell, W.T. (2007). Taiwan aboriginal eco -tourism. Academia .edu, 34(4), 3-6 Jafari, J. (2000). Encyclopedia of tourism. Oxon: Routledge Pehlchen, B. (2007). Analysis of the chilean tourism market . London: GRIN Verlag Papen, U. (2007). . literacy and globalization: reading and writing in times of social and cultural change. Oxon: Routledge The lady Tramp, (2008, April 05). The lady tramp. 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