Cultural Homogenization and Tourism Industry - Essay Example

CULTURAL HOMOGENISATION Introduction This paper will look at the concept of cultural homogenization and how it has been achieved in the world. It will specifically look at how global tourism and the hospitality industry have helped the world to achieve a homogenized culture through experiences of different cultures of the world. The paper will explore how modernity has led to fragmenting of the traditional boundaries of culture and how post-modernity practices have helped to spread the idea same culture in the world. Cultural homogenization is an aspect of modern world which has emerged due the concept of globalization. Cultural homogenization has resulted due to the mix up cultures where there has been development one culture in the world. It is one of the effects of increased globalization of culture. Cultural homogenization defines the aspect of achieving one culture which is used to as a bench of all other cultures in the world. As the wave of globalization takes on the world, there has been increased mix up of people and in the same way mix up of culture. One of the areas in which people have interacted most is in the area of tourism and hospitality industry. Global tourism has been on the rise in the recent past which has seen the growth of the industry by large margins. Global tourism refers to the aspect of people visiting foreign countries for leisure, business or for other purposes. Most of the people participating in global tourism have been doing so for holidays although in the recent past there has been increased global tourism for other purposes like medical tourism, cultural tourism, business tourism, and others. Hospitality industry has been one of the areas that have enabled global tourism to grow at such rate. Hospitality industry is mainly engaged in provision of service to those who are not in their homes which defined in the context of tourism will mean those who are touring other areas away from their homes. This is one of the industries which have been serving diversity in the world as it is involved in serving people of diverse origins. Therefore it is one of the areas that have been able to achieve cultural homogeneity as it employee's people of diverse cultures and also service the same kind of people. Examples of hospital industry are hotels, lodging, lodges, and others. Modernity is an aspect that refers to the modern way of life. The concept of modernity was coined in order to reflect the changing life of the world which was being reflected in many things. But this has been overrun by the post modernity period which is marked by the current wave of globalization and in which the focus has shifted from observing the changes taking place in the world towards achievement of standardized way of doing things in the world. (Carley 1998, p. 43; Castles 1996, p. 81) Background After the Second World War in 1945 there were marked changes in the world. There was increased response to the concept of having one world which was united in solving many problems that the world was facing. There was marked development of modern society since 1945. One way in which the society was coming together was through the formation of the United Nations immediately after the war. This was however a political arrangement of nations. There was systematic development of a modern society which was increasingly becoming responsive to the needs of human life. The society was changing political as we have shown above and also in technology. The market was as well changing as corporation started spreading their wings to foreign countries. There was marked development in the production process. There was marked development of fordism which was mass production and the markets became more open and countries found no need to have closed markets. As a result the concept to post-fordism was later developed with was change in the production process. Post-fordism was based on a model of market production which was dictated by the demands in the market. In his regard, there was less utilization of the house ware as goods were produced for a targeted market which included controlled volume of production. In his regard, mass market was achieved with development of mass advertising which was targeting more people. There was also marked development in national markets which was meant for national products. Apparently this was not to last long as the market become liberalized and opened up for external competition. The concept of MacDonaldisation was taking root in the corporate world as companies spread their wings and set up operations in all parts of the world. The concept was marked by four elements of efficiently, calculability, predictability and control. These have been the main pillars which have been used by capitalist to build their empires. The predicting chains has been efficiently in the sense that products are offered to consumers directly, and calculability is measured in the sense that consumer are convinced that bigger is better and get more for their money. Businesses create homogenous products and services in order to offer sense of predictability the consumers expect. There is a high level of control and human labour has been substituted for technology. (Kelley 2003, p. 7; Fish 2007, p. 6; Madore 2006, p. 9) There has also been marked rise of classes which has been largely based on incomes. There are high class citizens, middle class and lower class citizens who live in abject poverty. These have been social division which have been marked by age, gender, ethnicity and the social class that one occupies. This has been one feature of changing society in the world. (Cerulo 1997, p. 93) The coming of globalization since 1980s has seen increased movement of people from one region to the others. This has led to development of global tourism as people move to experience different parts of the world. In correspondence, there has been development and growth of hospitality industry to offer services to the growing global tourism. This growth has seen the rise of global player in the industry with process all over the world. For example Hilton hotel which has been established in all parts of the world. (Cohen 2003, p. 75) Globalization and post modernity The wave of globalization took the world by storm from 1980s and since then no part of the world has been spared. There has been increased globalization of economy and culture which has led to a great change in the life of the people. Globalization can be referred to reduced distance between different parts of the world or creation of what has been referred to as global village. Economic globalization has seen increased integration for economic systems and the rise of multinationals which provide goods and services to the word. On the other hand cultural globalization has led to a spread of common culture in the world which is judged by the same values, which has seen changes in some aspects of culture like clothing, food, music, and others. Globalization has marked the post modernity period as the world move towards one unified world in all spheres of life. (Bryant 1998, p. 67; Carey 1995, p. 21) Globalization has also seen increased change in communication which has led to increased sharing of information. As a result there has been increased knowledge on many subjects as people gain access to information through revolutionized communication and information technologic devices like the internet. This has been having an effect on the cultural life of the social and culture life of the people. Global communications systems have been responsible for the increased change in life of the people. (Dvorak 2004, p. 89) Global communication and impact on culture One of the benchmarks that have been used to evaluate the effect of globalization has been the way in which it has affected the culture of the world. In this regard, there has been increasing change in the life of the people as more and more information flows through improved communication networks like the internet. The development of internet, cell phones, and other technological devices has been the most influential effect that has led to homogenization of culture. Changing in culture has been witness by the changing aspects of culture all over the world. As we stand now, there have been accepted standards of fashion, foods and others in the world which have grown to be a common culture in the world. In particular, the mass media has been having a lot of effect on the life of the people. The mass media has enabled increased sharing of information between different people and therefore the change in perception of life of many people. There has been a realization of the concept of a global village as the distance has been reduced by the communication model and the transport models. It is not easy t communication with a person in another continent through a phone or through the internet any place and at any time. As the communication cuts across the boundaries of countries and continents, there has been increased integration of people and homogenization of culture. The change in culture has not only been marked by fashions, music, and other but also by the good and services. One key aspect of the changing culture has been the rise of consumption culture which has led to development of products with a short life cycle and with luxurious appeal. The national cultures have become eroded and detached from their traditions as new global culture takes on nations. (Carey 2001, p. 71; Carey1999, p. 62) Response of tourism and hospitality industry As a result of increasing cultural homogenization, there has been marked growth of global tourism and the hospitality industry. This is because there has been breaking of many barriers which could have prevented people from visiting foreign countries and many countries have opened up to the world. This has corresponded with the rise of hospital brand like Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Radisson, and others which have been set up in many parts of the world. The MacDonaldisation theory has been well applied in these hospitality brands as they expand and there have been a move to standardize their operations all over the world in a way that visitors in any part of the world will feel at home. These hospitality brands have moved to adopt a homogenized culture of goods and services such that there is an international accepted standard of their operation. This is because people want to get used to consuming what they can find in any part of the world they travel which will make them feel at home. But there have been development of national products by these hospitality industries which apparently identifies their particular operation country and which helps them to market these countries outside. From cultural homogenization cultural hybridization As we have discussed cultural homogenization has led to the development of tourism and hospitality industry as the industry has adopted a standardized way of operation. Currently, this concept has become influential as players in the industry seek those who are experienced in the field from diverse culture that can help them to adopt to the culture of the world. The influence of this concept can be evidenced by statistic which shows increased booking in these multinational plays in the hospitality industry who have adopted the accepted cultures. Although this has been having a positive effect on the tourism industry, it may have negative affection the tourism industry. Cultural tourism has been growing and tourism have been visiting different refines in order to experienced different cultures e.g. the Maasai culture in Kenya. (Bardin 2005, p. 40) Cultural homogenization may have an effect of eroding some of these aspects of cultural tourism. This can be seen as cultural fragmentation as these people lose their identity. This has led to new movement that have been encouraging people to stick to their cultures and resist the wave of change global culture in order to pleasure some of the most important aspects of their culture. As the wave of culture change grows stronger, there has been therefore the adoption of dual cultural which has been seen as cultural hybridization in order to take the good practices of the new culture and at the same time preserve good practices of the old culture. Cultural heterogeneity and post modern consumers The current target in the market has been differentiating consumers based on many aspects. This has been due to rise of different social groups and classes in the society which has been reflected in the market. There has been production for particular goods and services which are meant for a particular segment of the society. This aspect of creation of individualistic market has been witnessed in all sphere of life and also in the hospitality and tourism industry. There are products and packages that are meant for the youth and other for the aged. But this has been corresponds to the increased lifestyle choices as there are variety in the market. However the post modern consumer has more spending power and is more informed the earlier consumer. They are more aware of their rights. They are in search of authenticity and reality in the market as they seek to have the product that satisfies their demands. (Igbaria 2000, p. 4) Response of the industry In order to respond to the changing market and consumer, companies have been branding there products in order to reach the target market. This is achieved through appeal to the consumer in a way that will help them to identity with the product or service. Companies have been offering a variety of choice from which consumer can get what they preferred. The development of post-fordism has also helped companies to produced goods and services that are made to the specifications of the consumers. Companies have started viewing a customer as a partner in the market who should drive the whole production process. (Hauptaman, 2006, p. 51) The hospitality industry has been able to respond by producing goods and service as the customer needs. They have been able to offer varieties fro where customer can choose from e.g. coffee bars, gyms, swimming pools, and others. Hotel and restaurant companies have been franchising and have developed branded outlets which helps consumer to identify them. As the market become more competitive, they have been developing products that are tailored to their niche markets. They have come up with menus that productive customer with a wide variety to choose from with all kinds of cuisines from all over the world in order to make their customers feel at home. To experience different cultures, they have developed cultural centres and heritage. Conclusion Since 1945, there have been changes that have taken place in the world which has brought a change in different spheres of life. There have been changes in the life of the people in all spheres. Most important changes have been in the political, social and cultural life of the people. There has been a change in the production and consumption culture of gods and services. Global tourism and hospitality industry have also not been spared by these changes. There has been marked growth of the two sectors that can be largely attributed to the changing culture of the world. The hospitality industry has been moving towards a standardized cultural practice in a bid to satisfy the needs of the consumers. But there have been cultural heterogeneity in the sense that there seems to be a coordinated campaign which is aimed at reducing cultural erosion as cultural tourism faces a decline. However we can say that global tourism and hospitality industry have recorded growth due to cultural homogeneity and hence the only way to survive in the industry is to move with the changes that are taking place in the world. References Bardin, T. 2005, Social construction, Journal of Communication, Vol. 45, Issue 3, p.12-35 Bryant, J 1998, Introduction to Media communications, Brown & Benchmarek, Chicago Carey, J. (2001): A cultural approach to communication, Communication, Vol. 2 Carey, K. M 1995, Communication technologies and their effect on cultural homogeneity, Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 38 Carey, W 1999, Communication as cultures, Unwin Hyman, Winchester Carley, K. (1998): New structured organizations, The Information Society, Vol. 14 Castells, M. 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