Marwa Jowadi

Candidate Number:

0217

Center Number:

US619

John Overton High School

April 2017

Question:

To What Extent is Tourism a Positive Influence on Culture?

Word Count:

1817
 To What Extent is Tourism a Positive Influence on Culture?

Unbeknownst to other people, tourism does not only consist of luxury hotels along the

coast, the epitome of serenity only a payment away. No, there are many different kinds to exist

with many different reasons as to why it exists. Such examples that specifically deal with cultural

tourism are heritage tourism, arts tourism, urban and rural cultural tourism, indigneous cultural

tourism (Olsen). Thanks to tourism, people from all over the globe can learn and experience

something new and unique, while others can share their knowledge and love of their background.

However, some speculate that as tourism in an area boosts, so does their need for something

"new" eventually leading to manufacturing a cheap, lazy, yet profitable copy of their culture.

Which brings up the question: is tourism a positive influence to a culture? Or will it only leave

behind the remains of something once beloved? Some may say that even with how great of an

impact tourism may bring to, not only the culture, but also the land and lives surrounding it, it

also has the possibility of leaving nothing but poverty and negligence behind, no trace of a true,

authentic, and different way of life ever living there.

Many people use tourism as a sort of cry for help when their culture is dying out or in

need of assistance. With the help of tourism, unique cultures and heritages can be preserved,

even spread for all to see, which can create an overall sense of pride and determination to further

keep the culture (Simm). As more and more people know of its existence, and if it proves to be

profitable, adverts left and right will pop up all around the world, notifying other people of this

new way of living that's unlike their own. This usually helps generate the money needed to keep

the culture around and to fix any problems that may have been caused by it. This can already be

seen in action in Luang Prabang, Laos, a monk city that was dying out until it recently saved

itself by molding how it works for the tourism industry (Mydans).

 Sadly, because the ancient city changed itself to be more modern, it has lost its "Buddhist

Spirit", lost its authenticity, lost its meaning (Mydans). As the monks walk out of their

monasteries, they're treated as nothing less than a herd of rhinos as groups of tourists run out and

take photos, shoving food into their faces, and just being noisy. This disrupts such a normally

peaceful tradition that's been with these monks for years. Eventually, the spirit will be replaced

by some staged variation, used as a gimmick for money and to seem more modern.

Not only does it suck away the authenticity that's been built up for ages, but it also causes

locals to relocate from their homes, homes they most likely lived in for centuries, all for

temporary hotels and private beaches (Simm). The very people that offered them to witness their

culture, pushed aside as if they were only needed to get the business going, now homeless.

On the up side, however, while bringing in awareness to an area, it also has the chance to

provide schooling to children in need and helps them with any research they desire (Childs). Not

only children can partake in this too, adults from all over can travel and learn about a new culture

and heritage they heard about thanks to other tourists, thus broadening their view of the world as

a whole. Witnessing how other people interact with each other, what their traditions are like, the

tales and stories they created about the world, everything that defines that culture. People have

the chance to learn new things, share it with their friends, and to an extent, this makes it seem

like that culture will never die, not when its way of life is passed around and shared from country

to country.

And when thinking environmentally, tourism has the power to bring a certain area (or

culture) to light by helping promote, preserve, and secure it, making sure it stays so other people

in the future can view it, thus boosting the industry (Simm). When the focus is placed on the

environment, the usual center point in a culture, people will become more and more aware on
whether it needs to be saved or not. The money generated could help with things such as saving

an ecosystem or providing fresh water to a place currently suffering with a drought, possibly

even maintaining a reservation and/or national park. And when this is done, it improves the

overall outlook of the setting, further contributing to the exotic home-away-from-home aesthetic

some places are looking for. When placed in a situation that deals primarily with the

environment of an area, it truly benefits all who encircle it, the industry gains more profits, the

culture has a home it can be proud of, and it also helps preserve environments.

However, tourism actually causes the opposite. Instead of helping with preserving an

environment, studies have shown that tourism can assist with the very same issues that harms the

environment. With the fun of travelling growing more and more, the outcomes of pollution

causes an increase in environmental issues around the area, which evidently leads to a decline in

tourism (Simm). More gas emissions, more CO2 released, more garbage thrown out like its

nothing of value, left to pile up over time, even more deforestation to make room for stuffy

hotels and shops. Eventually, the tourism-based economy will go down as less and less tourists

visit the area, causing little-to-no-money be given back in support of the actual culture. An

example of this would be in India, specifically around the area of the Dal Lake, also known as

Srinagar, a "once pristine" lake "now covered with animal carcasses, sewage and weeds." (Roy).

Thanks to the ever-growing need for hospitality surrounding the area, hotels and lodges have

been built alongside the bank of the lake, where they conveniently dispose their waste into,

harming not only its marine ecosystem, but also to all the above ground animals that depends on

the lake for fresh water.

Though if one were to look at it on a more economic scale, then it would make sense that

as tourism gets bigger in an area, so does the need for jobs supplying the interests of all the
tourists coming into the country. As this continues, the economy increases as well, which leads

to an even greater need of tourism (Simm). This also benefits any student just getting started ith

the working world. With a massive influx of people looking to buy things like goods and

services when they're out on vacation, so does the need for workers, stockers, etc. More jobs

filled lead to a better economy, which leads to more money being made that has a chance to be

given back to the culture it ultimately came from.

And yet, they do. The money generated from the tourism-centric economy rarely ever

goes back into the communities. Normally the money circles back to the big-name industries

that supplies the hotels and lodges and other attractions that entices people to travel there

(Simm). At this point, if people are only vacationing in an area purely for the attractions

constructed by monopolies, then the culture that built the entire economy in the first place is long

gone, now replaced with a plastic copy, easily bendable and pleasing to look at from afar.

As would be expected, tourism has the chance to do good to, not just the culture, but also

the area encompassing whether this be from a social, educational, environmental, and

economical standpoint. Socially, tourism can assist with the preservation of cultures that seem to

be dying out while environmentally, it helps preserve the land centered around said culture, such

as rainforests, fields, mountains, etc.. Also, speaking economically, people recognizing said

culture means an increase in the need for jobs, helping out any locals who look for a way to

make a living. Alongside that, the more the people are interested in said culture, the more they'll

want to learn about it educationally, broadening their view of the world.

And yet, it seems that the negatives outweigh the positives, for what truly is a culture is

all that's left is some cash-grab. Yes, it may help preserve he culture and the land around, but

what's left to save if its all been pished to the side like mud to make room for 5-star rated hotels
and artificial beaches, the surroundings filed to the brim with pollution. And yes, an increased

awareness may lead to a boost in a country's economy, but if that money doesn't lookp back

around towards providing for the culture, then won't that awareness die down, husly leading to a

recession. Not to mention how simple it becomes for sex labor to thrive once an area becomes

well-known enough. Worst of all, tourism causes a culture to lose its authenticity, only providing

a "staged" version, the version tourists only want a glimpse at.

Going into this I immediately knew which side I was on, personally seeing how tourism

has affected my own culture, yet I was still curious as to how someone could possibly find

something positive with it. As I researched and learned more, reading up on several other

accounts of people with situations similar to mine, I found it harder and harder to be so

supportive of my side. On one hand, fake culture and a capitalistic cash-grab, on the other,

support and awareness.

Nonetheless, running a culture dry till there's nothing left proves itself to be a lot worse

when compared to something as meager as awareness. This can be so easily avoided, however,

should the industry be more considerate of where it stems from and treats it with more respect.

Tourism, when it's done right, help increase the reason why investors and corporations should do

things like help with sewage and water resources. Not only would this benefit the industry, but

also the culture within the area no less the area itself.

Another simple solution would be finding a sort of middle ground between the rapidly

growing need for tourism and the preservation of culture. Take the nation of Oman, who recently

began melding their traditions with the way of modern life. Unlike the big name countries of

Arabia, like Egypt and India, the nation of Oman has balanced their culture and modernity, not

letting their identity be rewritten yet still attracting tourists (PRI's World). Because an entire
nation has attempted this, and such a method actually works, then it is proven that this soltuion

works, making it a solution everyone must at least try.

 Works Cited

Childs, Carolyn. "Culture and Heritage Tourism." MyTravelResearch. N.p., 09 June 2015. Web.

13 Oct. 2016.

"The History of Indigenous Peoples and Tourism." Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine June

1999: n. pag. Cultural Survival, INC. 2016. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Hoi An Centre for Monuments Managements and Preservation. Impact: The Effect of Tourism on

Culture and the Environment in Asia and the Pacific: Alleviating Poverty and Protecting

Cultural and Natural Heritage through Community-based Ecotourism in Luang Namtha,

Lao PDR. Bangkok, Thailand: UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for

Education, 2008. PDF.

Mydans, Seth. "Tourism Saves a Laotian City but Saps Its Buddhist Spirit." The New York

Times. The New York Times, 14 Apr. 2008. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Olsen, Daniel H. "Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies." Journal of Cultural Geography 23.1

(2005): 151. Student Resources in Context. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.

"Oman Is Fusing Its Traditional Culture with Modern Touches... and Pulling in Tourists." PRI's

World 28 Nov. 2014: n. pag. Student Resources in Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

"Positive And Negative Impacts Of Tourism Tourism Essay." UKEssays. N.p., 23 Mar. 2015.

Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Robinson, Mike, Pr, and David Picard, Dr. Tourism, Culture, and Sustainable Development.

N.p.: UNESCO, 2006. UNESCO. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Roy, Shruti. "Impact of Tourism on Environment." The Viewspaper. The Viewspaper, 4 Jan.

2010. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.