[I got all thrown off because Jen's post was a day late- so I think I'm a day late too. Please feel free, whoever is supposed to post today, to post today. I won't mind.]
I have no personal experience with this type of thing (I've never left America) and have never thought about this before Jen's post.
I would like to think the type of negative tourism doesn't happen often- as in, going to another country to treat the locals like shit and have a negative impact on them. I'm sure it does happen. But I am not against people going to other countries, even those less "developed" than ours, and touring. I think it's a good thing to see other cultures, and, since a theory is that civilization began in Africa (a country that gets a good chunk of this kind of tourism), I think it's a positive thing to see that region and how people there live. I think that one cannot assume to know what someone's motivations are in traveling to and touring these places- one would obviously like to think people go there to learn, to explore, to understand, to admire; I would like to think that most people do go with that motivation and attitude, but obviously there will be people who go with less positive motivations.
I have a co-worker who travels to Africa every year. From the stories I've heard, the locals love having the foreigners there, especially if you bring them things (and they seem to expect you to give them or trade them something). Also, your idea of the locals making foreigners pay for things is not too far off- my friend says that they will let you take their picture, but you have to give them money. Good for them. But the stories that I hear are wonderful. The only remotely first-hand experience I have are the shows on the Travel channel (especially the ones with Michael Palin). The things that I feel when seeing these people in their tribes and in their element are not superiority or pity etc. I can almost feel some envy- imagine living in a world without the worried and bullshit that we have to deal with: traffic, money problems, social bullshit, materialism, American Idol (and for that matter, all the shit on TV), etc. They live simply, they are happy- and if an effect is that foreigners come back to their normal lives and do feel lucky, and do savor something simple like a shower or a restaurant meal, that's not a bad thing. As far as looking down on people and feeling superior, we have plenty of that even in our own country, with Northerners/Southerners, rich/poor, young/old, educated/not educated, etc. It seems to me, also, that any tribe or village or town etc. that does not want foreigners to come through don't let them do so; they are in their element, after all.
I remember having a pen pal in Ghana when I was little. We would send things like coins and pictures and other stuff to each other. It was very cool, and those things are saved somewhere up at my parents' house. Even as a little kid, I thought it was fascinating and enlightening to learn about how they lived and get the perspective that, as Morrissey says, America is not the world. Sure, there will always be jerks who go to gawk, like kids do at those National Geographic magazine with naked tribespeople in them. But we can hope that the locals will do what they can to take advantage of those people.
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I see at least one major problem with this "Ethnic Tourism" that hasn't come up yet. (This is a marvelous topic, by the way. Way to go, Jen.)
Nick, you mention in your post that your friend always pays locals for services they provide. Unfortunately, this is actually a big problem (as I understand it) with tourism by Westerners/people from developed nations in the less-developed world: we have no idea of scale when it comes to currency.
My guy and I have been researching and planning a trip to Madagascar. I have been fascinated by that country for several years now, and, having gotten to know some Malagasy folks in my recent travels, I am even more devoted to this dream of travelling there. We have purchased the only available English guides to travel in Madagascar and have been gathering all the information we can about the country, its many peoples, and how to go about visiting there in a responsible manner.
One of the more striking things I have read, both in guides and through eco-friendly tour groups, is how much throwing money at natives just screws up their lives.
Consider: you arrive in Tana (capital of Madagascar) and change your money at the airport. You know from this transaction how far your dollar has gone, and you make a mental note of this. You engage a "taxi" to take you to your hotel, asking the price first. At your destination, you give the driver the "ridiculously cheap" price and decide to throw in a tip. How much do you give him?
The low cost of everything is so striking to tourists that they often feel guilty about paying a fair price! The "going price" of things is always a bit inflated for tourists as opposed to natives anyway, but when they are confronted with these prices, they can't help but compare them with their own experience in their home country or other developed nations. Tossing the taxi driver a dollar, we would think nothing of it. Maybe we would even be proud of how much we're "helping him out." It's quite possible that this slightest of tips is a week's wages for this guy! What have we really done here?
Well, we have had a big influence on the taxi market and this man's personal finances. I won't go on about all the possible bad things to come of it, but let's just say that one artificially inflated tip is a windfall, but a steady stream of clueless tourists creates competition for their fares, resentment in the general public (THEY can't afford to use taxis at tourist prices), greater wage imbalance between taxi drivers and other non-touristy trades, etc.
Imagine now that our friend the Western tourist decides to keep up this great philanthropy out in the Malagasy countryside, far outside the "wealthy" metropolis of Tana. If the tip given the Tana taxi driver was the equivalent of his week's wages, how much is this same tip to the remote villager who poses with tourist man in his native garb?
I am not an economist and I have never gone to a developing nation (or anything like it...the closest to a not-as-Western place I have gotten is former soviet states). The benefits of research before travelling include knowing more about how NOT to screw things up for people in the places you visit. The guides to Madagascar that we have both give the names and addresses of chariable organizations in Madagascar that would benefit greatly from tourists' donations.
I think this issue is part of the attitude of cultural superiority Jen brings up: "I am a rich man here! I will help these poor suckers! I can pay to feed their kids for 2 years on what I make in one day! Here, have 5 bucks!" You have to find out what is appropriate compensation for services rendered. Save your charity for the people who can administer it correctly.
Of course, your friend might be perfectly responsible about his money. My point is that not everyone is.
Hey Nick - Not to be the typo Nazi, but Africa's a continent, not a country :-)
Caitlin - Excellent point!
Thanks Jane, I'll correct it- through most of the post, though, I was trying to talk more in general about going to other places, it wasn't all about Africa; I only referenced Africa because I know someone who went there.
And Caitlin, that is a great point that I have obviously never thought about (since I have never thought about ANY of this before two days ago). I only used my co-worker as an example- and the only mention of paying anyone for anything is her story about how they make you give them something (not always money, by the way) to, for example, take pictures with them or whatever.
One would hope, again, that the tour guides and whatnot would try to make sure the foreigners don't screw up the locals and their economies.
Geez, I wrote that post in like two minutes; give me a break!
Well, the fact that the locals already ask for money (how much money? what percentage of their income does sitting for pictures account for?) is probably a clue that things could be handled better, but we can't know for sure.
Just a thought.
And I'm not picking on you, Nick. Note: I did not post as "anonymous"!!
I think bartering is probably the best way to go when dealing with people far outside your cultural norm. It seems as though it's less likely to throw the local economy out of whack, and liking new and different things is universal.
I was on a Greyhound this past December and the driver said he goes down to Cuba once a year and pays his way there almost exclusively with baseball equipment. Seems fair to me.
Hah! It's a good thing you didn't post as anonymous, Caitlin. :)
I agree that bartering is probably a good way to go; one funny thing that I saw on one of those travel shows is how much local people in foreign countries just love to haggle. American's don't seem to have such a sense of haggling (real haggling at least), at least not how some other people do it. We're used to things being marked with a price and either paying for it or not. Makes me think of that scene in Life of Brian.
Great point, Caitlin, and one I hadn't considered! I'm glad to see this is of interest to people besides me :)
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