Title : Cultural Consumption, Private Entrepreneurs and the Question of Sustainability in Tourism
Author: M.P.Saji
Junior Research Fellow
Department of Extension Education
Gandhigram Rural University
Dindigul- TN
+919790602146
Cultural Consumption, Private Entrepreneurs and the Question of Sustainability in Tourism
Culture is the acquired knowledge that people used to interpret and generate social behaviour. Culture, in general, consists of, the way of life, behaviour, believes and values of a community; cultural performances like performing arts and festivals; and cultural artifacts such as craft and art objects. Culture is so dynamic that, while transferring form one generation to other, it refines and changes with adaptation and adoption of other culture. For every social group, the culture is the foundation of their “identity”. The past two decade witnessed globalization of economic activities in its highest level, which not only means the mass movement of people, goods and capital but also a strong undercurrent of cultural movement across regions and community. In the post modern society, with its globalized atmosphere, cultural interface is very fast and intense, that while provide a platform for cultural-exchange, often reaches to the level of conflicts. However the cultural interface has also found a subsequent turning point to cultural consumption- where often the relation become more monitorised and packaged to suite for consumption. Tourism, which directly bear on globalization for its growth is one of the activities that have major role in the global cultural consumption.
Why Culture an ‘everybody’s business’ in Tourism
Culture and heritage has featured prominently in the global tourism development. However, the cultural dimension was often treated as complementarily to other aspects of tourism experiences. Now, tourism has grown into a multi billion dollar business, claiming to be the largest economic activity in the world. The post-modern tourism has its’ spatial and social reach to almost all the regions, people and class either as travelers or being traveled. The huge economic opportunity that it put forth made most of the governments in the world attending seriously into tourism development in their respective countries. The focus is not only to add new destinations, but also to diversify the experience offered for tourists. The cultural heritage, especially, of the relatively pristine communities and regions are now found to be of greater opportunities by the industry to attract tourists. The complementarily of the local culture to the natural beauty of a destination has identified as new opportunity for adding value to the existing tourism styles. The present trend in tourism styles such as Ecotourism, Rural Tourism, Heritage tourism etc. is the outcome of that realization in the industry level. This also sounds well for the local government as a justification for introducing tourism economy to remote, or otherwise, uncared locations. These new tourism forms stimulate consumption of various cultural products and made culture a core component of modern tourism experience. The local festivals, way of the life of local people, crafts and art objects of the community, all become tourist attraction. In a highly competitive globalised tourism market, the exotic appeal that the destination culture, provides to, other wise, general tourism experiences, become a strategy for the tourism service providers to sustain the distinctiveness of a destination. Thus for the tourism industry the local culture become a vital component for ‘reteritorialisation’ of tourism market.
Commodification of Culture
The communication of culture refers to the exchange of culturally relevant aspects in anticipation of monitory benefits. While there are many aspects of culture such as craft that has commodity nature, not all other forms such as rituals or artforms have equitant characteristics of commodity. It is in this context that to say that cultural consumption in tourism industry has taken all the characteristics of rapidly expanding material culture. The primary difference is that this particular arena of consumption is heavily infused with what Walter Benjamin terms the ‘aura of history’.
Context to this issues related to cultural consumption is the post liberalization transformation in the tourism in India in general and Kerala in particular, where free market initiatives have come to position the cultural celebratory potential of its diversifies and extensive heritage directly in line with the global tourism market.
While general tourism promotions strategies in India revolve around the ecological and historical sites that spread across the country, there are attempts to reinforce the local specific representations in tourism development. This is perhaps is in line with the global trend towards incorporating multiple experiences to single tourism destination. Thus nitch tourism programmes such as Rural tourism, Eco-tourism, Heritage tourism are the focus of contemporary tourism promotion in India. While almost all states in India have identified the potential of tourism as a revenue earner and local development strategy, three states viz., Kerala, Goa and Rajasthan stand distinct in their success to create their own brand name in the global tourism market. Both government as well as private service providers have major role in these states to bring into main tourism market.
Kerala,undoubtfully, make great impression on the tourists visiting the state. The growth of tourism in the last two decades confirms this argument. The rich natural diversity contained within around 38000 Sq. km, locating between the Westernghat Mountain and Arabian sea is what makes the first attraction to the visitors and which made way for tourism development in the state. In the last two-decade long tourism development in the state is not only special in terms of adding a series of diversified destinations with in a small circle, but also incorporating diversified cultural experience in the tourism styles that development in the state. However what is striking is the level and forms of cultural consumption in tourism sector in the state. What has Kerala’s society developed for centuries as their distinctive cultural life has found its representation in tourism through varied forms and styles. Thus the way of life of agrarian society of rural Kerala, their colourful festivals and rituals, spectacular performing arts, the craftsmanship, the traditional architectural styles, traditional health practices, all found a place, either as a major attraction or complementarily to other tourism styles.
A major dimension of the process of commodification of culture is the role played by the private entrepreneurs in tourism, who are involved in providing various forms of services This include, the entrepreneurs of hospitality sector, travel services tour operators, the tourist guide, the local artists/artisans etc. Each of whom consume the same destination culture in different ways. In the global tourism industry, with private entrepreneurs plays a major role, this process of commodification of culture the forms and modes of cultural consumption are largely decided by private entrepreneurs As shown in the below figure, the tourist- local interaction is heavily mediated by various service providers, who not only just take a role of mediation, but also plays a curial role of deciding the forms of cultural consumption.
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Figure -1 here |
For instance, the performing art such as ‘Kathakali’ of Kerala, which received a notable position in the cultural representation in tourism promotion, has a highly unique socio-cultural context in which it is being originally performed. However in order to make the performance suitable to the convenience of the tourists, the service providers in tourism often goes for a ‘refining’ process, far removed from the actual performance context.
Another issue is the difference between what is presented for consumption and what is observable in the real life situation of destination culture. In the process of cultural integration, even the simple way of life of the local people become a spectacle for the tourists. While the industry plans tour programme meant for catching the glims of real life, conflicts and disappointments often arises. This is because either such activities are often become an intrusion to the life of people or because under the situation of changing socio-cultural and economic situation, what is projected as representation of the local life is simply may not be available as tourist’s expectations, in such situation the private entrepreneurs have to often go for ‘staged authenticity’ or ‘enclaved’ tourism spots to give a ‘model rural life experience to the tourists. Thus cultural representations primarily oriented towards the global tourists are susceptible to glossing the complexities of local socio-political dynamics in order to make these cultural aspects more suitable to the redemptive narrative perceived as desirable to that audience (Weiss, 2007). In so doing, and in order to sustain this process, it is important to consider that heritage operations come to conceal what is , in effect, the alienation of near by population not readily linked to the destination narrative by constantly producing a kind of cultural ‘freezing’ in those linked to the destination history (Garland and Gordan 1999).
The Question of Sustainability
Can the process of commoditization of destination culture be beneficial for tourism in long run? Perhaps the question is not so welcomed in the post modern economic spheres, where profit maximization at the fastest rate matters, instead of thinking about the long term implications. While at the same time there is emergence of new conscious terminologies on raise in tourism industry as ‘sustainable tourism’ ‘responsible tourism’ ‘ethical tourism’ etc. meant to make tourism sector more sensitive to the matters they are dealing. The commidifying of destination culture is important for the industry for the exotic appeal of a specific destination, thus ensure competitive edge over other destination. As I motioned in the case of Kerala, the service providers are in the process of integrating whatever unique features of the destination culture to suit to the tourism experience of the visitors. However the question less asked is, how far these cultural integration authentic as it claims? What precisely does the cultural heritage reveal to the tourists? Whether it is Cultural artform like Kathakali or the traditional artifacts related with way of life of a destination (eg. The houseboats of Kerala’s backwater transport), what is presented before the tourists are its ‘mark’ and refind form suites to the customers. While the industry continue to stand in hyper real spaces of entertainment (Hall, 2006), the authentic cultural life has much deviation, This discrepancy between what is presented and what is real may have some negative consequences in the tourism sphere, when the tourists tries to search of the real life situation. In the post modern socio-economic environment, almost all traditional communities are exposed to modernity and the traditional way of life is fast disappearing. It is in this situation that tourism sector trying to search for new tourism styles that are focusing on traditional cultural life. Let me take a case of Thekkady Eco-tourism initiative in Kerala for integrating the tribal life into the tourism experience. The tribal community, now living in the fringes of Thekkady forest, area are fast assimilating into mainstream life, while the tourism initiatives in that destination are in the process of projecting their traditional life through many forms. For instance, the forest department has constructed traditional bamboo house structures and tribal museum as part of ethnic experience for the tourists. However many tourists who, later visit the tribal hamlets expresses their disappointment of seeing the absence of any such traditional characteristics in the tribal life style as projected by the service providers, where as the community originally lives in government built housing colonies with almost marked similarity of mainstream lifestyle. This case is just to mention the fact that modern tourists are no longer just satisfied with ‘marks’ and ‘museum piece’ experiences. Be it the cases like as mentioned above or the traditional art forms such as ‘Kathakali’ which is being presented in its ‘refind’ tourist art form, the industry has to realize the fact that they have two parallel challenges before them; In a highly information intensive society, the ‘representation’ are not enough for the post modern cultural tourists to get satisfied. And also in the globalize atmosphere, the very destination culture and social life is fast changing, by leaving whatever remaining traditional cultural aspects into extinction. In such situation tourism styles developed around the cultural themes has to actively act upon a to make these fast disappearing cultural heritage, a living culture instead of leaving it to a ‘fossilized ‘culture. The private entrepreneurs who are in the winning position in the process of commoditifition have much more to gain out of this social act.
Conclusion
In contemporary tourism private entrepreneurs, who have a clear dominance in the tourism industry, is playing a crucial role in deciding the modes and forms of cultural consumption. The cultural consumption and its implication in local culture are so complex in the wake of varied interest among different stockholders of tourism. There exists the unavoidability, from the industry’s side, to format and remodel the local culture to make it attractive to the tourist, thus generating demand for cultural products. The industry, at large, with its economic motive, is not very sensitive to the complex dynamics of local culture. The mass tourism with its vigorous attempt to provide packaged tourism products with cultural elements may often create conflicts of interest unless there is a pro-active role by the tourism service providers to preserve and rejuvenate cultural heritage of the destination. In the absence of any serious initiatives on this direction, the argument that ‘the growth of new tourism styles around cultural theme has the potential to bring benefits to economically peripheral regions’ do not holds much value. In the long run, the tourism development based on a ‘fossilized’ culture may pose threat to the sustainability of the tourism growth of the destinations based on culture and heritage.
Reference
Garland,E and R.J.Gordon (1999),’The Authentic (In)Authentic:Bushmen, Anthro-Tourism’, Visual Anthropology 12: 267-87.
Hall M. (2006), ‘ The Reappearance of the Authentic’ referred in Weiss Lindsay(2007) ‘ Heritage-Making and Political Identity , Journal of Social Archeology’ 7: 413
Hazbun Waleed ( 2004) , ‘Globalisation, Reteritorialisation and the Political Economy of Tourism Development in the Middle East’,; Geopolitics;9:310-341
Puijk Roel (2000), ‘Local implications of Tourism: A Case Study form Western Norway’; Current Issues in Tourism, 3: 51-80
Shepherd Robert (2002), ‘Commodification, Culture and Tourism’, Tourist Studies 2:183
Weiss Lindsay(2007) ‘Heritage-Making and Political Identity , Journal of Social Archeology’ 7: 413
