Anthropology and tourism
Introduction
Anthropology is a study of people around the world with different heritages different social
and cultural. It is also how we are, how we controlling our mind relations in individual
perspective.
Anthropology is a social science and it includes biological, cultural, archaeological, linguistic
and historical aspects however anthropology is cross-cultural. It means that it considers every
way of life and place in the world.
It also includes how it is comparative and compelling us to situate ourselves in a global and
historical context.
Teaching about anthropology is learning about cultural diversity. We learn how different our
countries are comparing to our selves and it makes us respect and understand it. Our historical
stories we can share and makes them a part of us and we become a part of them and the story
becomes true, these makes us connect to each other.
Sustainability becomes real and we will be part of our losses of hour world’s history. It does
also inform our plans for the future what we will build, make, or do. All things we do as
human beings makes us tied and connected into one coherent system.
Anthropology comes from the Greek word anthropology, which means human. Anthropology
is a type of study of the human being. This means that any kind of study history, nature or
business, which is about the human being, is anthropology. What people misleading about
anthropology is that they think is only about our social culture but as I mentioned earlier it’s
not just about that, Anthropology is also about the human being.
History of anthropology
The modern presentation of anthropology started in the 1860s. These subjects were: biology,
prehistoric and philology as Charles Darwin said: In the origin of species (18599 Charles
Darwin). Charles Darwin realized that all life share the same blood in our wains.
(Ralph W. Nicholas) (10-1-2014)
He published the book Descent of man, which was about the evolution theory.
In this book he tells that our world has intelligent species, that the ape is the closets animal to
the human and how the evolution has developed.
Edward Burnett Taylor the pioneering anthropologist he understood that as a intelligence
started to develop so the civilisation started to get advanced. He thought also that all past and
present societies would be arranged in a evolutionary way.
(http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/27505/anthropology/236828/History-ofanthropology)
Cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology emphasizes groups and their traditions. Cultural anthropology is
valuable because it’s rediscovering the normal, which is an important and is the main based in
forms of psychology.
Culture anthropologists have formed a list of all the social patterns behaviour of a human
being, which can illustrate in the normal behaviour of all individuals in a group. A person is
divided by the subtle in the system of characteristics ideas of the whole culture. these ideas
within the system being established for the individual by different specialized types of
participation. (Sapir.E, the journal of abnormal and social psychology. Vol27 Oct 1932 229242)
The last trends in community fairy have putted a large weight how to affect the analytic and
political reasons. For an example this have been written as an human experience which are
different from feelings to language, pre –social but not as social material or something
dynamic, with energy who make you receive new developing phenomenon. This type of
categorizing affects some questions: how will the theorists understand and adjust first
languages and later as a body insensitive how will it feel our tenacity by our body language?
Why does this line affect energy dynamic and new feelings, which are glued together as a
statistic, which is self-dying, and ocefying?
How much time will it take for us to understand that the social comes before the non –social.
Finally at last, what can we win and what can we lose? This conversation what to adjust of
science and the alythical tools that we use to work with anthropologists and who will we start
to work with them (Richard Mcgrail,jesse davie Kessler , Bascom guffin . article may 17 ,
2006)
Links Sapir, E.
The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol 27(3), Oct 1932, 229242.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0076025
The anthropology of the tourism is focused on the problem of impacts of tourist activities in
destinations, mainly in “Third world” countries. The research divided on two main fields: the
political anthropology, which includes economic, social and political relations of hosts and
guests. And another area is the cultural effect as an outcome of the first (Holden, 2005).
Over the past decades tourism has become a one of the fastest-growing sector of the economy,
creating 266 million jobs around the world, and bringing 9.5 per cent of global GDP
(www.wttc.org). Tourism along with other major contributing factors led to globalization,
which can be defined as a process of global economic, political and cultural integration.
Globalization became a natural result of increased mobility of goods, services, and people;
international trade and relations, advanced technology (the Internet, air transportation,
telecommunication systems) to list a few (www.bbc.co.uk). With the integration, the borders
became less important from the cultural point of view (Burns, 1999)
Joseph Stiglitz in his work “Making Globalization Work” argues that globalization does not
have a positive effect on poor countries; it is the only developed countries that get all the
benefits, which he calls non-democratic and unwillingness to pay attention to “third world’s”
countries’ needs. Main aim was to provide boost to all the participants, but in the end all the
developing countries went to the bottom line. Economic view stand above anything else and
environmental and social factors are left without attention. Poor countries also dealing with a
lack of knowledge, and intellectual property policy worsen the situation. Start making US
dollar and euro as a world currency has brought poverty and economy failure (Stiglitz, 2007).
On the other hand, the author points out, that globalization process has become a push in
lowering prices on transportation and telecommunication, technological improvements.
According to Stiglitz, the process of globalization is inevitable, but it is also manageable.
With proper tools and policies, more favourable towards the poor countries it is possible to
bring the balance and let them have the benefits.
Globalization has a direct impact on tourism business, creating a dilemma. On the one hand,
is that the global market requires standardization, for example establishing a hotel chain
abroad. On the other hand, the niche tourism is about authenticity and uniqueness of tourism
destinations. Going towards “full standardization” can be a huge drawback due to loss of
interest of visitors from developed countries in host country because of their lack of
authenticity and cultural identity (Burns, 1999).
Sources:
Holden, A. (2005). Tourism studies and the social sciences. London: Routledge
http://www.wttc.org/mission/tourism-for-tomorrow/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/globalisation/globalisation_rev1.shtml
Burns, P. (1999). An introduction to tourism and anthropology. London: Routledge
Stiglitz, J.E. (2007). Making globalization work. ([Pbk. ed.]). New York: W.W. Norton &
Co..
Tourism as imperialism
Imperialism shows us the expansion of a nation's economy and the political interests to other
countries. It gives knowledge on how the western countries political and economic aspects
affects to the less-developed countries. And the view of the relationship between the
developed and the developing countries such as dominate side and the subordinate.
Tuner and Ash say that the relationship between the host and the guest, which the host side is
the subordinate at the mercy of the dominant guest. With other words, the host has a cultural
imperialism, that provides the guest with fun, sun, sex.(1975: 129) Ash explains that in return
the guests damage the local culture and polluting everything during their way. Instead of
people speaking their native language they are forced to speak English so that the tourist feel
more comfortable during their journey. While the Tourist is busy living in a fancy hotel, the
workers are living in the slum or less desirable part of the town.
People are in need of clean water but the tourist attraction such as golf requires a big amount
of water. The golf course also need the pesticide, fertiliser, and herbicide run-off effects local
water courses bringing damage to fisheries, polluting drinking water.
Third World countries are encouraged to build their tourist sector as a means of earning hard
foreign currency. The reality is some how different. A foreign tour company will run the
holiday, foreigners build, own and manage the tourist complexes, food and capital equipment
is imported. What little is paid to local people will be marginally higher than the local wage
rate thus ensuring the destruction of local industry. The few crumbs that trickle down to a
handful of local people do not make up for the destruction of their environment and culture.
Air transport has been growing at a rate of about 10% a year. Emissions from aircraft account
for about 3% of global emissions, but because these emissions take place at high altitudes
their significance and impact on climate change is considerably higher than the figure would
suggest (aircraft have more than half the global warming potential of road traffic). Aircraft
emissions are currently exempt from the Kyoto protocol under the climate convention. The
aviation industry enjoys many tax concessions, including duty free fuel. Within the EU alone,
the externalised costs are estimated at 4.6% of EU GDP, 16.4 billion euros/year.( A
companion to Tourism, 1989, Stephen Page)
Anthropology – Authenticity
Authenticity within Anthropology encompasses wide arrays of discussable topics in which
there are three questions to pose; namely, is it authentic, does it harm the community or host
community/culture, or is it good for the community or host community/culture?
Authenticity is generally discussed within anthropology when studying culture. It has been
discovered in several studies that tourism has had a huge effect on the cultures of the
destination, as tourists in some cases have arrived in such mass that the tourists culture is
imposed on the host community, or in some cases that the host community have chosen to
safeguard their culture by creating a more simplistic “façade culture” in which they choose to
portray only a few of their rites and traditions to tourists (in some cases in return for a fee)
giving the tourist a quick preview into the lives and culture of the host community. An
example of such an event where the host community chose to create an “alternative culture”
similar to their own, in a more simplified manner is in South Africa, in Durban where the
Zulus have chosen to make scheduled performances for tourists where they show ritual
dances and act out certain ceremonial occasions for a fee (Holden, 2006). This is not an
authentic portrayal of the Zulu culture as it has been shortened down and is adapted in order
to become a form of entertainment (Holden, 2006).
The main reason for which they have shortened down the various ceremonies is that tourists
would not have the same interest in viewing the Zulu culture if they would have to take part in
a ceremony lasing for days, as it would quite simply be too long in order to attract a wider
range of type of tourists.
When discussing authenticity it is important to bare in mind that authenticity is a term which
is very hard to define within anthropology, as it generally is used to define if a culture is
authentic or not. However, cultures are ever changing and therefore it can be argued that a
culture influenced by foreign cultures, which have changed from its initial phase, can still be
regarded as an authentic culture, as it may have to adapt due to change of all sorts including
population, religions and even technology.
Type of tourist
How can you specify a tourist? It can be someone who travels away from home for more
than one day but less than a year. What purposes you can have is business, pleasure,
education and religious tourism. As we mention earlier there are any kinds of tourism so
there are many more but we can’t write about all of them.
Business tourist: Is a person, who travels for business, most commonly they have to travel to a
place with the purpose to sell or trade something. Sometimes it can be for promotion of the
company.
Education tourist: Is a person who travels to a specific destination to improve their skills in a
particular area of education. They can for an example go to United Kingdom to improve their
English skill or to Spain to learn more Spanish. Also an educational tourist can travel to a
workshop to improve their skills in a other way.
(http://www.hotelresortinsider.com/news_story.php?news_id=139465&cat_id=8)
(Hotel and Resort Insider 2007)
Links
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/27505/anthropology/236828/History-ofanthropology
.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0076025
(www.wttc.org ) (www.bbc.co.uk
http://www.wttc.org/mission/tourism-for-tomorrow/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/globalisation/globalisation_rev1.shtml
(http://www.hotelresortinsider.com/news_story.php?news_id=139465&cat_id=8