This Open Space will be discussing ethical dilemmas in tourism. I'll first set the context of why adventure tourism and "primitivist" forms of tourism (a term coined by anthropologist, Rupert Stasch) have become so popular in the past few decades. What drives us to experience other, perhaps more simple, cultures? Is there something that can be learned from other cultures that cannot be experienced in the West? Then we'll look at the power dynamics that are associated with primitivist tourism and the relationship between financial capital and "cultural capital" and how a traveller's percieved value of a community can have negative consequences for the economic and social wellbeing of the locals.
Here are some questions you may want to think about prior to the session:
- Is it possible to continue to travel and have only a positive impact?
- Is it tour companies, or the visitors themselves, who are ultimately responsible for the impact of tourism?
- Does tourism help to sustain indigenous cultures, or pave the way for a global culture?
- Do preservation efforts through tourism actually benefit the environment?
- What are the economic risks in utilizing the profits of tourism?
- Are primitivist tourist attractions an honest learning experience & economic boost to impoverished communities or exploitation?
