1.

Provide a clear and well-founded argument for the role that global tourism plays in
contemporary global society. For example, do you see it as a negative force or a positive
force for development, inclusion, and cultural integration? Include both empirical evidence
and make a selection of categories from Chapter 12 in which to develop your answers, such
as those relating to work, identity, politics, culture, or economics.

Many of us have travelled to exotic destinations and witnessed white sand beaches in order
to escape the stressful lives full or bureaucracy and institutionalised society. With the advent of an
increasingly modernised and globalized world society and economy, the number of people
following the aspirations of an exotic getaway will only increase. This is due not only to greater
financial prosperity and capability by an increasing number of people, but also due to the need for
those living in highly institutionalised and employment-based societies to “escape” (how many
times have we used the term in relation to a vacation!?) to an idyllic natural or anthropological
paradises.
The appeal of tourism to the modernised societies is multi-fold and is underlined by both
psychological and social factors. For once, there is a western conception of “deserving” a holiday, a
break from the everyday life and to escape from the values and expectations that keep us bound to
our social contexts and that require effort to maintain. However, it is in human nature to fear what is
unknown, thus the highly organised, mundane, and highly predictable holidays and related
“packages” that the vast majority of tourists prefer over the anthropological and ecological tourist
“adventures”. This psychological factor is positive towards those who benefit from a couple of
weeks of complete relaxation on a white sand beach or a luxury resort, and it has economic
advantages as a worker is deemed more productive and efficient afterwards, but becomes counter-
productive at the community level, and does not serve or enhance the preservation of the local
culture.
On the other hand, there is a small conclave of so called “smart” tourism which aims at
creation an atmosphere of conviviality between tourists and the local cultures and indigenous
people, and the environment, with a strong educational agenda. This offers, in some cases, an
alternative and a moderately strong incentive to those desirable tourist destinations, as some realise
that the economic aspect of the industry is not the sole one to consider, and that there are other
externalities which are not traditionally included in the calculations of revenue and development
deriving from the tourism industry. Despite ecotourism composing only around 7%1 of the world's
total, some encouraging signs are present, such as it being the fastest-growing sector in the tourism
market with an annual growth of 10-25% in recent years2. Not surprisingly, 82% of those partaking
in ecotourism hold a college degree, indicating a preference in the educated sector of the
population. A shift in interest in ecotourism from those who have high levels of education to those
with less education was also found, indicating an expansion into mainstream markets.3
Globalization has had enormous impact on the expansion of tourism not only as a means of
escaping a societal context, but also enhancing the anthropological value of the visited cultures, and
as a method of personal and familial enhancement.
The majority of tourists, however, seldom consider the greater social and environmental
implications of their actions overseas. The creation of tourism as a means of economic competition
and survival in developing nations and areas inevitably leads to the exploitation of the liberal
market values previously mentioned. The question of sustainability of tourism in an increasingly
globalized world thus arises, for the majority of developing nations, deeply entrenched in the
purposely perpetuated debt cycle, rarely have the chance to employ their own resources towards
sustainable tourism, and the control over their domestic tourism market. When domestic actors fail
to act in such world, transnational ones often take control, or overpower the domestic market.

1 Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet

2 Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet
3 Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet
 If the World Tourism Organization’s forecasts are on target, international tourist arrivals will
climb from the present 625 million a year to 1.6 billion in 2020. By this date, travellers will spend
over US$2 trillion, (against US$445 billion today), making tourism the world’s leading industry.4
Like any major industry, that of tourism often needs a restructuring of the local economies,
environment, and cultures in order for the destination (which is, in all effects, a product on the
market) to be competitive and this appealing to the customers (the tourists), in accordance with their
standards of “beauty” and cultural interest. Most of the economic restructuring is in the interest of
big business, not in the interest of the public5. It also becomes increasingly harder for the public
market to compete with such invasive and aggressive marketing procedures and techniques, causing
the annihilation of the sovereignty of the public over the utilisation of their land. Especially
concerning in tourism development has been the almost complete abandonment of a development
agenda focused primarily on the societal welfare of the local peoples and communities, and its
replacement by a narrow-minded and widespread vision of integration and homogenisation in the
global market economy.
As more tourists seek out hard-to-reach “frontier” and exotic destinations, those areas
become popularized, and soon private industry takes over as the capital and resources at its disposal
are often, and this factor is accentuated when in transnational terms, considerably greater than those
at the disposal of the public market. Once an area is targeted for tourism development, the process
of economic and social restructuring begins with road building and displacement of the local
population.6 The impact derived from the displacement of local cultures and community is a
devastating one, and often a difficult one to understand with a westernised conception of the world
since in developed countries exist a homogeneity that simply is not present in the vast majority of
developing countries, or is simply considered irrelevant and an obstacle to the liberal market.
However, when looking at the tourism industry, one must realise that the attachment to specific
areas and lands is very often the foundation of such indigenous cultures; their displacement thus
signifies a paradigm shift for such communities and people who have developed in close
accordance and even with strong physical and spiritual ties to the land upon which they live, and
without which they fail to survive.
The development of the aforementioned areas thus begins, in the majority of the cases, with
the development of vast infrastructures such as roads and additional transportation routes in order
for the paying customer to reach the seemingly “hard-to-reach” destinations, thus also creating a
paradoxical contradiction. The installation of communication systems is also one of the key aspects
of tourist development, and is becoming increasingly essential with the advent of the digital age,
and the necessity for economies to base themselves and exploit these digitalised systems.
Infrastructure and communications in turn provide other industries, also led by transnational
corporations and conglomerates, with easy access to cheap labour and natural resources, all in the
guise of “development”. Gill calls this system 'market civilisation' and describes it thus: “A
disturbing feature of market civilization is that it tends to generate a perspective on the world that is
ahistorical, economistic, materialistic, "me-oriented", short-termist, and ecologically myopic”7

According to Martin Khor, president of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Third

World Network, globalization is a leading threat to local communities, particularly in the global
South:

“Before colonial rule and the infusion of Western systems, people in

the Third World lived in relatively self-sufficient communities… The modes
of production and style of life were largely in harmony with the natural
environment. Colonial rule… changed the social and economic structures

4 The Globalization of Tourism

5 Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel
6 Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel
7 Globalisation, market civilisation and disciplinary neoliberalism.
 of Third World societies. The new structures, consumption styles, and
technological systems became so ingrained in Third World economies that
even after the attainment of political independence, the importation of
Western values, products, technologies and capital continued and
expanded…”8

The creation of such intensive communication systems is parallel to the development of

energy-intensive accommodation for the visitors, which in turn deplete the intrinsic value of the
local societies and cultures. Such accommodation are also almost always constructed without any
regard for environmental regulations. This is mostly due to two factors: the laxity with which
“Third World” states adhere to their own regulations due to corruption and lack of resources for
their implementation, and the pressure put by transnational actors upon governments to change,
neglect, or even create tailored policies, laws and regulations.
The environmental aspect and the social impact of tourism on communities are among the
most destructive of the externalities caused by tourism as a perpetuation of globalization. As Martin
Khor stated in the previously quoted passage, the westernised consumption styles implemented in
drastically different social and cultural contexts created the dependence on such western ideologies
and materials, thus slowly annihilating the pre-existing ones.
The construction of western-like shopping malls, residences, night clubs, restaurants, and
infrastructure for leisure activities and the provision of materials desired by the tourist/consumer
crushes small farmers and shopkeepers under the weight of the producers and marketers whose
activities are exercised and undertaken of a global scale, thus justifying, but not in any way
legitimising, such actions as mere economic competitions. If such a philosophy is employed, the
survival of local and communal economies, and the societal and cultural values attached to them,
will simply and inevitably perish. Rural and indigenous communities will be hardest hit,
intensifying the trend toward urbanization, and the loss of traditional culture and values. “In the
new global economy, production everywhere will be focused on the needs of a single, Western
monoculture, while Indigenous cultures and diverse location-specific adaptations will be steadily
erased. Local self-sufficiency will become an ever more distant memory.”9
It could be thus argued that the tourism industry is not per se the engine of globalization, for
there are other, and many more, macroeconomic factors which are arguably more influential on its
progression. It seems a more sensible analysis that of considering tourism as one of the industries
more violently perpetrating a non-sustainable model of globalisation. The enormous increase of the
importance of the tourism industry, as displayed by the statistical analyses of the World Tourism
Organization, is thus both a cause, and a derivative of the process of globalization. It is a derivative
in the sense that the creation of increasingly globalization and “modern” societies also creates a
larger consumer base for the products offered by the tourism industry. It is, on the other hand, a
cause as tourism has been so intricately connected to the development of other destructive
industries, which benefit the homogenisation of the global society, and the transnational and
international markets and actors.
Governmental instruments and international organizations that help shape international
tourism policy encourage the growth and involvement of transnational corporations because they
provide quick money and expanded trade and services, which are deemed essential by those
governing such countries in order to fulfil their governmental duties, or to serve their own political
and economic interests.

In recent years, the advent of alternative tourism has created the opportunity for a more
equitable and sustainable model to a traditionally negative industry. The definition and correct
terminology for such a phenomenon are contentious, but have been mainly interpreted and
synthesised in three different ways: “as a polarised opposite of and substitute for mass tourism; as

8 Global Economy and the Third World

9 The Trouble with Trade
the new niche markets arising due to the demands of 'new' consumers; and yet others speak of a
transformation in all tourism towards more benign forms”10 .

The Seattle protests of 1999 and the consequent rise of the anti-globalization movement
have drawn the world's attention, and especially that of scholars and intellectuals, political and legal
activists, and radicals. As the result, a large and increasing number analysts and academics are
devising and anticipating an alternative and more just form to the current predominant model of
capitalist and neoliberal globalization.
Analysts such as Professor Leslie Sklair of the London School of Economics and Political
Science have envisioned and proposed a more humanistic form of globalisation predicated not on
the precepts of the market but instead upon human rights. In the light of such developments in the
philosophies pertaining to sustainable, moral, and equitable globalisation, many in the tourism
industry must consider what role alternative tourism can, and may, play on such philosophies.
Many envision alternative tourism as not just another variant of a market product, but aspire
for it to become the tourism in the promotion of a new order of social and economic relations in
between people/s, cultures, and societies. A very large majority of the proponents of alternative
tourism, and in particular what is more specifically termed “justice” tourism, hold radical agendas
and ideologies which would propose not only the overturning of an inequitable and exploitative
system of tourism, but also envision such efforts as being the precursors, or catalysts, for a more
humanistic form of globalization based on the respect for the social, cultural and human rights11.
There are many and various particular aspects of the alternative tourism movement/market
that promote the implementation of societal and ecological transformations that might be conducive
to a transition to an alternative globalisation. Among the most prominent as such facets would be
ecotourism, sustainable tourism, pro-poor tourism (PPT), fair trade in tourism, peace through
tourism, volunteer tourism and justice tourism12. However, many of these phenomena have been
compromised and bitterly obstacled by a threatened tourism industry and diverted from fulfilling
their full capacities and potential. Only justice tourism stands out starkly from this list in its
unwavering commitment to overturning inequitable tourism and capitalist globalisation13.

The question of tourism as the engine of globalization thus persists, and must be analysed
from various aspects. There is some evidence to back up such a claim, although the tourism industry
is often considered to be an integral part, and a by-product of, the economic and social globalization
process. However, it does have some aspects that could define it, in part, as one of the causes of
such a process, although it is not traditionally considered so. The mainstream tourist benefits from
globalization in the fact that it provides the comfort and the consistency and stability that is
requested and deemed preferable by those who adhere and benefit from such systems. Transnational
actors benefit from the construction of infrastructures and development plans justified as pertaining
to the tourism market, in turn providing various other industries with the cheap labour and the
exploitation of land and resources which fuels the liberal and capitalist economic mode, but which
severely deplete the cultural and environmental heritage of the local communities and populations.
More appropriate is the consideration of alternative tourism as an engine of social and
economic change striving for a more humanised model of globalization. Under such aspect, justice
tourism, as well as ecotourism and the PPT, are true and intensive catalysts for social movements
aiming at an equitable model which respects, protects, safeguards, and promotes the human, social,
and cultural rights of the various peoples and populations, as well as the environmental integrity of
the developing countries. However, it will still be a long time before such initiative can establish
itself as a prominent instigator of social and economic change. The road of alternative tourism is a
long and torturous one, especially since it is not one being built with the deforestation of natural

10 Justice Tourism and Alternative Globalisation

11 Justice Tourism and Alternative Globalisation
12 Social Movements and Global Capitalism
13 Social Movements and Global Capitalism
reserves, the displacement of indigenous peoples, and it is not built with bulldozers but, rather, with
the strong will for a better world of a dedicated and persistent proponents.