Chapter Chapter 66

The socio-cultural impact The socio-cultural impact of tourismof tourism

Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives

• To identify aspects of socio-cultural behaviour most susceptible(sensitive) to tourism activity

• To gain an understanding of the various approaches to studying the socio-cultural aspects of tourism

• To provide a framework for the study of the relationship between tourism development and socio-cultural impacts; and

• To provide an understanding of the key concepts.

Approaches to the studyApproaches to the studyof socio-cultural impacts of tourismof socio-cultural impacts of tourism

• Tourism Impact Studies

• Host Guest Interaction

• Tourist Systems

• Tourists and their behavior

• Dependency theory

• Core–periphery(surface) theory

• Typologies

The nature of socio-cultural impacts of The nature of socio-cultural impacts of tourismtourism

• The socio-cultural impacts of tourism is manifested trough an enormous range of aspects from the arts and crafts through to the fundamental behavior of individuals and collective groups.

• The impacts can be positive, such as the case where tourism preserves or even resurrects(livens) the craft skills of the population or the enhancement of cultural exchange between two distinct populations.

The nature of socio-cultural impacts of tourism

• The impacts can also be negative, such as the commercialization and bastardization (illegalize) of arts and crafts an the commercialization of ceremonies/rituals of the host population.

• The impacts can also detract(lessen) from cultural exchange by presenting a limited and distorted(harm) view of one of the populations.

The nature of socio-cultural impacts of The nature of socio-cultural impacts of tourismtourism

• There is a tradition of viewing the socio-cultural impacts as a combine effect because of the difficulty in distinguishing between sociological and cultural impacts.

• This distinction is also somewhat artificial given the fact that sociological and cultural effects overlap to a large extent.

The nature of socio-cultural impacts The nature of socio-cultural impacts of tourismof tourism

• There is also a tradition of examining the socio-cultural impacts of tourism purely in terms of the contact that takes place between the host and visiting populations: this is very limited approach.

• The true socio-cultural impact of tourism is far reaching and encompasses direct and indirect effects in a manner similar to the economic impacts.

Typologies of TourismTypologies of Tourism• Wide range of alternative schemes(diagram)

• Simple – Push - Pull or Package - Independent typologies

• More complex such as Plog’s and Smith’s

• Overlapping categories create problems

• Difficult to delineate (portray/describe)

The typology of tourists• Typology is method of sociological investigation that

seeks, in this instance, to classify tourists according to a particular phenomenon, usually motivations or behavior. A simple example of a typology which has implications for the development of the tourism product is shown in the Table 7.1.

• Package tourists – usually demand Western amenities, are associated with rapid growth rates and often lead to the restructuring of the local economy.

• Independent tourists – usually fit in better with the local environment and social structure, are associated with relatively slow growth rates and often lead to local ownership.

Smith’s Typology

Table 7.1 Typology of tourism: frequency of types of tourist and their adaptations to local norms

Off-beat- extraordinary, incipient: beginner

The Tourism Development Process

• Discovery of a destination

• Local recognition and provision by entrepreneurs

• Public sector provision of new or improved infrastructure to cater for the inflow of visitors

• Institutionalised or mass tourism is developed.

The Tourism Development ProcessThe Tourism Development Process• Although tourism development can take place in

a wide variety of forms, atypical development scenario considers the tourism product as it grows from infancy (beginning) to maturity and looks something like this:

• A few tourist “discover” an area or destination.• In response to this discovery, local entrepreneurs

provide new or special facilities to accommodate the growing number of visitors and service their needs.

• More importantly, they provide the means to attract visitors in the future.

The Tourism Development Process

• The public sector provides new or improved infrastructure to cater for the inflow of visitors.

• Finally, institutionalized or mass tourism is developed, which is commonly resort-based and sold as a package.

• It is based upon large-volume production techniques in order to exploit economies of large-scale production in marketing, accommodation and transport , such as high payload factors for aircraft.

The sociologicalbasis of tourism development (25.11.2013)

Tourism has grown because of:– Population growth– Increasing urbanization and the overwhelming pressures of

urban life which create the desire to escape.– Growth in communications and information technology,

creating awareness and stimulating interest.– Changes in mobility and accessibility, brought about largely

by the growth of air transport and private motor car ownership.

– Increased leisure time and longer periods of vacation, together with rising real incomes in the wake of sustained economic growth.

– Increases in world trade for business tourism.

Factors affectingthe attitudes of people towards tourism

• When examining the factors that are associated with tourism development it is interesting to note that they can also be categorized according to weather they are push factors or pull factors.

• By this we mean that some factors generate a desire to escape (push ) such as urbanization , overcrowding, pollution or even tedium(boring), whereas other factors such as specific events (Olympics) or climate and natural phenomenon generate a magnetism that attracts tourists(pull).

• There are a number of factors that will influence the attitude of people towards tourism at both domestic and international levels. These include AgeAge, , EducationEducation, , Income levelsIncome levels and and Socio-economic backgroundSocio-economic background of the visitors.

Factors affectingFactors affectingthe attitudes of people towards tourismthe attitudes of people towards tourism

• Age. The age of the tourist will, within certain boundaries, influence the type of tourism activity pursued. For instance, there is likely to be less demand from the elderly for trekking and mountaineering vacations than from other age groups. Similarly, the greatest demand for tourist destinations with a hectic (exiting) nightlife is likely to be form the 18-35-year-old age group. Of course there are always exceptions to these rules.

• Education. There is a tendency to associate the more adventurous and independent vacations with the more educated portion of the population . These would include Plog’s allocentrics as well as Smith’s explorers and elite travelers.

Factors affectingFactors affectingthe attitudes of people towards tourismthe attitudes of people towards tourism

• Income levels. Income levels have an obvious influence on the decision of people to travel , the location to which they travel, the nature of the activities undertaken while away and the model of transport utilized.

• Socio-economic background. The previous experiences of people will play an important role in determining the type of holiday they will consume in the future time periods. For instance, children from the higher socio-economic groups, who are accustomed to frequent trips abroad, are likely to continue this pattern through-out adulthood.

Differences between Guests and HostsThe magnitude of the direct socio-cultural impact associated with tourism development will also be determined by the extent of the difference in socio-cultural characteristics between hosts and guests. Inskeep suggests that these differences include:

• basic value and logic system;• religious beliefs;• traditions;• customs;• lifestyles;• behavioural patterns;• dress codes;• sense of time budgeting;• attitudes towards strangers.

Stages towardsAntagonism and Beyond

When attempting to measure the level of irritation generated by tourist-host contact, Doxey drew up the fallowing index

• The level of euphoria (happyness): the initial thrill and enthusiasm that comes along with tourism development results in the fact that the tourist is made welcome

• The level of apathy (insensitiveness): once tourism development is under way and the consequential expansion has taken place, the tourist is taken for granted end is now only seen as a source of profit-taking. What contact is made between host and guest is done so on a commercial and formal footing(base).

Stages towardsAntagonism and Beyond

• The level of irritation (angryness) : as the industry approaches saturation point, the hosts can no longer cope with the number of tourists without the provision of additional facilities.

• The level of antagonism (hostility): the tourist is now seen as the harbinger of all ills, hosts are openly antagonistic towards tourists and tourists are regarded as being there to be exploited.

• The final level – beyond: during the above process “development” the host population has forgotten that all they once regarded as being special was exactly the same thing that attracted the tourist, but in the rush to develop tourism circumstances have changed. The social impact has been comprehensive and complete and the tourists will move to different destinations.

Bringing the approaches together

Figure 7.2 The approaches to studying the socio-cultural impact of tourism

Examples of generalnegative socio-cultural impacts

• Economic– Differences in wealth– Differences in consumption habits– Growing income inequalities– Increased tax burden to pay for infrastructure

• Labour– Limited local labour opportunities– Change in behaviour of tourist workers– Child labour

• Behavioural and Demonstration Effects• Resource Allocation Issues

Examples of specificnegative socio-cultural impacts

• Sex

• Crime

• Health

• Commodification (making commoditiy)

• Staged authenticity (originality)

• Standardisation

Some specific socio-cultural impacts of tourism

Sex• The fact that tourist will travel abroad to enjoy

uninhibited casual sexual encounters is not a new phenomenon.

• The early European tourists were to some extent motivated by the liberal attitude towards sex in some of the Third World countries they visited.

• More recently a major tourism market has grown up around sex tourism and destinations such as Thailand, The Gambia and some of the Central European countries have actively marketed the sexual content of their products.

Some specific socio-cultural impacts of tourism

Crime• The link between tourism and crime is hard to establish.

Many writers have suggested the link but find it hard to establish whether crime increases because of the increased population density or whether it is more specifically associated with tourism.

Health• The problem of AIDS has already been mentioned.

However, there are other less newsworthy diseases that can be transmitted when people from different communities interact. Although often not fatal, these illnesses can cause social and economic stress to the host population who may have less immunity to the diseases than the tourist population.

Some specific socio-cultural impacts of tourism

Commoditisation • Commoditisation is a long-standing criticism relating to

tourism’s effect on culture and art. Crafts, ceremonies and rituals are often driven into an exploitation stance, abbreviated , made more colorful, more dramatic and spectacular in order to capture the attention and imagination of an audience that often does not possess the underlying knowledge / experience that would make the unadapted version appealing.

Staged authenticity• With growing public awareness regarding cultural and ethnic

differences there has been increasing demand for tourism products that offer cultural authenticity. That is, environments where the tourists can “gat behind the scenes” to meet and observe the real people.

Alien cultural experiences of tourists• This issue revolves around the apparent inability of

tourists to take part in or enjoy meaningful cultural experiences within their home environment.

• As with many of the aspects that underlie the motivation of tourists, it is not so much the inability of tourists to enjoy meaningful cultural experiences within their home environment, indeed many do so without even recognizing the fact, it is more the reflection that tourists search for different- or alien- experiences.

Some specific socio-cultural impacts of tourism

Alien cultural experiences of tourists

• The desire to experience different climatic experiences (sun, rain or snow) and different environmental experiences (deserts, rainforests, cities or rolling green fields) are willingly accepted.

• Therefore, it is not an absurd proposition to suggest that tourists may actively seek out cultural experiences that are deliberately different from their norm- indeed such motivation is becoming an increasingly important aspect of late twentieth century tourism.

Staged Authenticity

Figure 7.3 Levels of cultural penetration

Some general positiveSome general positivesocio-cultural impacts associated with tourismsocio-cultural impacts associated with tourism

• Fosters(increased) local pride

• Tourism for socio-cultural awareness and peace

• Provision of shared infrastructure

• Tourism can provide direct socio-cultural support

Methods of measuringthe socio-cultural impact of tourism

Table 7.2 Data from different sources

Methods of measuring (cont’d)

Table 7.2 Data from different sources (cont’d)

Potential Socio-Cultural Indicators• Ratio of tourists to host population• Number of contacts between hosts and guests for

transactions• Number of contacts between hosts and guests sharing

facilities• Number of contacts between hosts and guests for socio-

cultural purposes• Differences between host and guest age distributions• Percentage of local population coming into contact with

tourists• Percentage of population working in tourism-related

industries weighted by indirect and induced employment• Tourist/host clustering(grouping)• Nature of tourism

Conclusion• The typology approach can provide a framework to

facilitate the development of socio-cultural impact methodologies

• But this framework is static and limited by the nature of the variables used

• There are positive as well as negative aspects to tourism’s socio-cultural impacts

• Tourists can transmit(pass) socio-cultural impacts back to the populations of the originating countries

• Staged authenticity can act as a catalyst for further cultural penetration.