Critical Tourism Assignment 1 ROUGH
3. Kincaid’s primary viewpoint of the tourist is one wrapped in ignorance, where the tourist simply
brushes off the clear signs of oppression and corruption in Antigua out of fear that thinking about it
could ruin their holiday. For example, the tourist reading their book about how the West made their
money, where the exploitation of free labor in Antigua is ignored and replaced by a story of how nobleminded inventors created products like the ‘wristwatch’ to sell to customers (Kincaid, 1988, pg 10).
Kincaid points at how slavery is hidden in popular literature, and how the tourist ignores their own
knowledge of this exploitation, stating “so you needn’t let that slightly funny feeling you have from time
to time about exploitation, oppression, domination develop into full-fledged unease, discomfort; you
could ruin your holiday (Kincaid, 1988, pg 10).” In my opinion, Kincaid is correct in her description of the
ignorance displayed by tourists. In lecture 8 we learned about post-colonialism, and the lingering effects
of slavery and exploitation that are seen after its abolishment. The example stated above is one of those
lingering effects since the literature strays far from the truth regarding how the West came about its
vast wealth. As substantiated by Kincaid, these people and descendants of these people who were
exploited for their labour do not even get the satisfaction from being able to say, as Kincaid states, “we
made you bastards rich” (Kincaid, 1988, pg 10). Thinking about past trips, I have had an experience that
relates to what Kincaid is describing. This experience took place when my family and I were going for a
vacation to Jamaica. While we were driving to the sight in a shuttle bus, we saw houses and areas that
were unfortunately far less nice when compared to the resort nearby. CONTINUE…
1. Unlike other colonies at the time, the Bahamian plantation economy found itself at a standstill
until the introduction of tourism in the area. According to Strachan, the topsoil conditions in the
Bahamas posed an issue in the production of standard plantation products such as sugar
(Strachan, 2002, pg 94). As such, the Bahamas instead took advantage of what they did have to
create economic prosperity, which, in Michael Craton’s words was “A thousand miles of
gleaming sands, seas of peacock blue and winter climate which even the staid Colonial Report
calls ‘most delightful’ (Strachan, 2002, pg 94).” Strachan draws a comparison between tourism
in the Bahamas and the plantation economy through the various accommodations and tourism
services that the country can offer. Institutions such as hotels are mentioned within the reading
since, when implemented, display the aspect of neocolonialism that is discussed in lecture 8
(Strachan, 2002, pg 95). In explanation, these hotels essentially mirror those aspects of the
plantation economy through the imposition of foreign economic dynamics (Western companies
integrating themselves in the Bahamas through the establishment of hotels) which give them a
colonial-type exploitation of the resources in the Bahamas, much like the plantation economy in
other areas. My perspective on this heavily encircles the impacts of the neocolonialism