Deborah McLaren. Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel. Second Edition.
Bloomfield,. CT: Kumarian Press, 2003. xvi + 221 pp. Illustrations,
notes, resources, contributors, index. $23.95 (paper), ISBN
1-56549-169-6.
Reviewed by: Igor Duda, Department of History in Pula, University of
Rijeka, Croatia.
Published by: h-travel (November, 2004)
How to Become a Responsible Traveler
Mass mobility of the second half of the twentieth century has roots in
the natural human desire to see new places, in the earlier high-society
traveling, and in the modern pursuit for leisure. Moreover, "travel and
tourism can be thought of as a search for difference."[1] The problem is
that now something really different, and it has been like this for some
time, can be experienced only by visiting distant places and cultures.
Visitors have means to travel, and the visited have to deal with the
(sometimes unwanted) interest in them, their culture and/or the
territory they inhabit. Following the old colonial path, the visitors
usually try to organize the place they visit to match their standards,
and since they mostly come from the economically wealthier parts of the
planet, they cannot escape "the old arrogant Western Ego that wants to
see it all, know it all, and take it all, an Ego that is isolated by its
belief in its own superiority."[2] In other words: "Must the tourist
always be an imperialist and an exploiter?"[3] The consequences of the
meeting of that ego and the distant places exposed to it are the subject
of the revised edition of Deborah McLaren's book, first published in
1998 with the title Rethinking Traveling and Ecotourism: the Paving of
Paradise and What You can do to Stop It.
In the prologue, the author explains why she wrote the book on the
global tourism industry and the boom in ecotravel. When she visited
Jamaica, looking for the idealistic picture she expected to find, she
was disappointed: "What I found was very different from what I had
imagined" (p. ix). The country was controlled by the tourism industry,
whose growth proved to be destructive for ecology and people, and caused
serious social discrepancies. The noted problems are elaborated later in
the book, the core of which is divided into seven chapters. The chapters
also include short contributions written by scholars and other
professionals involved in tourism: David Barkin, Chris Beck, Charles R.
de Burlo, Cynthia Harrison, Norbert Hohl, Martha Honey, Ron Mader, Kaleo
Patterson, Anita Pleumarom, Crescencio Resendiz-Hernandez, and Luis A.
Vivanco. Their views are valuable and give additional touches of reality
and interpretation to the book.
Chapter 1 ("An Overview of Tourism") is not just an overview of tourism,
but also an outline of the entire book because it introduces all of the
author's important issues of concern, some maybe too soon. McLaren first
gives a very short historical overview of the development of tourism,
from pilgrimages and the Grand Tour to the modern tourist industry. The
emergence of the industry caused deep social changes in the less
developed areas. It promised jobs, economic growth and infrastructure
development, but also put the local residents into fights for land and
water rights. Tourism thus created enclaves of western society in remote
countries, and proved to be a vehicle for globalization and interference
of international corporations. A possible compromise suggested here is
the development of sustainable tourism.
The tackling of sustainability and change problems--structured around
the divide between the wealthy north and the poor south of the
planet--continues in chapter 2 ("The Promises of Tourism"). It can be
summarized in a single sentence: "Welcome to paradise--while it lasts"
(p. 21). Marketing and advertising create the picture of paradise, with
ideal scenery and atmosphere attractive to tourists. What happens back
stage is usually very different: "The tourism industry follows a
well-trudged corporate path that exploits people and resources around
the world in the name of economic growth" (p. 27). The locals become
service employees instead of business owners. McLaren suggests that much
of the problem could be solved if the resorts were domestically owned,
putting native futures back under their own control.
The guest-host relationship is in the center of chapter 3 ("Guests and
Hosts: Disillusioned with Paradise") and may be the most interesting
part of the book. Even if at first they are not aware of the events
behind the scenes, the guests soon realize how limited their paradise is
and often become prisoners of their hotel. However, the disillusion
seems to be mutual. The locals sometimes seem to embrace the changes
brought by the industry and the tourists, because the more well-to-do
guests help perpetuate the false image of paradise. In a specific
example, the idealized western consumer culture often appeals strongly
to the younger local population. In the hosts' imagination, the tourists
are not workers, but only carefree vacationers. Local perceptions of
tourists' everyday lives are skewed by their limited exposure, making
them want to be more like the tourists. The problem is that the
tourists, in their everyday lives, are not the carefree and concern-free
personalities they seem to be when on vacation. "The consumer culture
that tourism brings with it often promotes ... the 'psychological
pressure to modernize,' as locals begin to feel inadequate compared to
the tourist consumer culture and psychologically compelled to reject
what they see as their own poor culture" (p. 40). And there is the real
contradiction, because in many ways, the tourists want the hosts to be
locked in the past and show the authenticity that would suit their
preconceived ideas and idealizations of the local lifestyle.
Chapter 4 ("Tourism Development in the Local Community") further follows
the issues that emerged in the previous chapter. Since the global North
(as the author calls it) pushes the global South into fast development,
but also wants it to be locked in the past, culture clash is inevitable.
The locals are displaced because of the construction of resorts and golf
courses, real estate prices escalate and are affordable only to
transnational corporations which then influence the land planning and
layout design. The hosts go through three stages of tourist
development--euphoria, apathy, and antagonism--and often end up as
low-skill employees or worse, beggars, criminals, or prostitutes. While
they have to deal with serious social, health and ecological issues, the
tourists often have no sense of obligation to the local community, a
lack that creates a growing host-guest disparity.
After presenting the problems in the first half of the book, in the last
three chapters McLaren shows what the possible solutions could be.
Chapter 5 ("Rethinking Ecotravel") presents ecotourism as "responsible
travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the
well-being of local people" (p. 91). However, this kind of tourism is
not faultless either. It needs detailed planning in order to minimize
the jet travel impact on the climate and potential destruction of the
wilderness. Furthermore, it is not sustainable and it offers no
significant benefit for the locals unless they participate in it and run
their own businesses. Ecotourism must be connected to other fields and
integrated into the local economy. A solution could be found in the
projects that promote integrated sustainable development (e.g.
agrotourism network created by the European Center for Eco-Agro Tourism,
or COOPRENA in Costa Rica).
Chapter 6 ("Ecotravel Issues for a New Century") focuses on ecotourism
certification, which often lacks standards and criteria due to
inappropriate and inadequate legislation. The Blue Flag in Europe and
South Africa, Certification for Sustainable Tourism in Costa Rica, and
National Ecotourism Accreditation Program in Australia are pointed out
as programs that award achievement, not intent. The U.N. proclaimed the
year 2002 as the International Year of Ecotourism, and several
international organizations (UNESCO, UNEP, WTO/OMT, World Bank) are
trying to be active in the reevaluation of the tourism market.
In a manner similar to chapter 2, chapter 7 ("Rethinking Tourism")
begins with the sentence: "Welcome to Paradise ... before it's gone" (p.
137). In line with the responsible tourism movement that began to emerge
in the 1970s, tourists are advised to question the nature of their
tourism experiences, understand traveling as learning by living, use
indigenous brochures and services, contribute constructively to the
community, and develop relationships and communication with the local
population. Educated, responsible tourists can leave less of an impact
and sometime help the areas they choose to visit, if they prepare
themselves well for the experience.
At the end there is a large list of various resources (pp. 165-206),
extremely useful for further reading and research. It includes
responsible tourism organizations; ecotourism organizations; general
environmental, development and indigenous resources; responsible tour
operators and programs; social and environmental justice programs; human
rights and social justice organizations; short-term travel study
programs; tourism-specific college and university programs; U. S.
Government contacts; international organizations contacts; magazines,
newsletters, journals, surveys and travel guides; audiovisuals; books;
guides for students; and websites.
Deborah McLaren's book will be found interesting by anthropologists,
sociologists, economists, historians, environmentalists, as well as
anti-globalists. Everybody with an interest in tourism, modernization,
westernization, commercialization, social change, and environment will
find something of benefit in this work. However, it seems that this book
is primarily meant for the general public, an average tourist without
previous knowledge of tourism and travel history or theory, as these
details are less evident. When it comes to the global South, the book,
though focused mainly on the negative side of tourism development,
leaves the hope that communication between tourist enclaves and the
indigenous population can improve. One potential benefit, "the ultimate
integration of tourism into the local community occurs when the local
people discover the convenience and desirability of using facilities
designed originally for tourists."[4] McLaren strongly believes that the
decision for such integration should be made by the locals. In the mean
time, this work can be a handbook on how to become a responsible
tourist. Tourists coming out of, for example, Europe's Mediterranean and
Atlantic vacation centers, which a century ago were no more than
anonymous fishing villages, have had the experience of being both a
destination population and travelers. They will certainly find this book
useful when they leave their home by the sea and go to faraway
destinations, on a search for a new "undiscovered" beach, yet another
"real" paradise on earth.
Notes
[1]. Chris Rojek, John Urry, "Transformations of Travel and Theory," in
Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory, eds. Chris
Rojek, John Urry (London, New York: Routledge, 1997), p. 17.
[2]. Dean MacCannell, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class
(Berkley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1999), p.
xxi.
[3]. Fred Inglis, The Delicious History of the Holiday (London and New
York: Routledge, 2000), p. 144.
[4]. MacCannell, p. 169.
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