ARTISANS AND ICT IN PERU:
BEYOND DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
MARIO CESAR URBINA RUIZ
WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY STUDENT
MASTER PROGRAM: LEISURE, TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENT
2006
SUMARY
Globalization has promoted people interaction in different levels, going form
individuals to whole countries from all over the world. Fair trade was conceived
as a movement to decrease global differences so that small entrepreneurs from
less developed countries could have fair opportunities to participate in global
trade systems. On the other hand globalization is also promoting and promoted
by activities such as tourism, in which intercultural experiences as well as local
culture protection take place. Thus artisans’ activity is very important as it
represents local identity and tourist attraction, besides, “artisans” have become a
synonym of poor and marginalized communities. Empowering artisans’
communities means a cultural self-esteem improving; but this could no be
possible unless they count with globalization tools such as Information and
Communication Technology, which would not only introduce them to a global
market but to the globalization process and development.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
INTERNET AND GLOBALIZATION
Internet had its origins in the 1950’s during the cold war era, when the United
States faced Russian communism. (McPhail, T. 2002) ARPANET is the
predecessor or Internet, it was created in a war environment in order to create an
invulnerable communication system to protect knowledge, information and
communication, as these elements were related to sovereign. The design of this
system was focused on sharing information regardless the geographical location
or the distance. As a second step it was used in academic level for research, and
later on it was employed by any people.
In 2001, there were more than 3 billion public Web sites and more than half of all
U.S. and Japan citizens had Internet access. The same is for most western
European countries. Internet and other communications technologies have
tremendous implications for intercultural communication. (Martin, J. Thomas, N.
2004)
Nowadays the use, access and development of Information and Communication
Technology – ICT- is used as an indicator of development, but one third of world
population have never used the telephone and less than one fifth haven got
access to internet jet (PNUD -Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el
Desarrollo, 2001) and European Union named Peruvian artisan as one of the
targets on exclusion risk (ALIS – Alliance for Information Society, 2006)
Besides, ICT is improving and transforming substantially the tourist industry in
both ways supply (reservation, management, marketing, business-to business,
business-to-consumer, etc) and demand. But that this development hardly
supports artisans’ communities as the 80 percent of tourist industry is managed
by transnational companies as Mowforth and Munt (2006) argued.
PERUVIAN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND ARTISANS’ COMMUNITIES
According with the World Tourism Organization WTO (2000), Peru was a
suppressed area for tourism, but has seen a considerable increase in visitor
arrivals despite the fact that political sustainability had led to European operators
increasing their coverage despite rising the ground cost. The current growth in
tourist arrivals can be attributed to economic reforms in the country which
includes the liberalization of the air transportation.
During the last years Peru has recognized that tourism is an important resource
for sustainable developing, due to the Peruvian Ministry of International
Commerce and Tourism is putting effort on policy-making and advocacy. Some
institutions were created in order to help promoting and regulating tourism and
environmental policies: namely CONAM (Consejo Nacional del Ambiente)
National Committee for Environmental Issues; INRENA (Instituto Nacional de
Recursos Naturales) National Institute for Natural Resources; PROMPEX
(Comision para la Promocion de Exportaciones) Commission to Promote
Exportations: and PROMPERU (Comision de Promocion de Peru) Peru
Promotion Committee.
On the other hand, Peru, as a traditional tourist destination is iconic represented
by Macchu Picchu, located in Cuzco (South Peru) and the main tourist flows
remains in South Peru. The foremost attraction of Cuzco to most tourists is thus
a combination of archeological, cultural and ethnic tourism. In addition, the
spectacular mountain setting of the region lends itself to other subsidiary forms of
tourism, such as mystical, adventure, and ecological or nature tourism, combined
with challenging outdoor sports. (Santana, G. 2001)
But Peru can offer a large variety of tourist attractions, culturally and ecologically
all around its geography. New findings in North Peru, like the Senor de Sipan,
and Kuelap temple ruins started to get the attention of international tourists as
well as national tourists, but Macchu Picchu is still top minded. It is quite hard to
create and develop, in both ways operational and communicational, new myth as
strong as Macchu Picchu. So that, it could be a good option creating bridges
from south to center and north Peru, based on sustainability principles:
Ecological, Social, Cultural and Economic sustainability. (Mowforth and Munt,
2006)
In Peru there have been developed numerous efforts on new ways of tourism,
namely eco-tourism, cultural tourism, community based tourism and so on, as a
way to develop tourism. It is recognized as a way of sustainable development,
considering it an economical activity based on renewable resources. As a
consequence of tourist activity other activities are promoted and expanded.
Tourists not only invest time toward shopping during their travels, but they also
spend approximately one-third of their total tourism expenditures on retail
purchases. (Yu, H. and Littrell M. 2003) Among the products that tourists
purchase, textile crafts and apparel items constitute a substantial portion.
Tourism shopping is often associated with symbolic consumption; material goods
can reinforce the sense of self and provide a storehouse of memories from past
experiences. (Yu, H. and Littrell M. 2003)
Lately, few Fair Trade and Pro-Poor Tourism NGOs such as Aid to Artisans or
SNV are focusing on souvenirs and artisan communities. But the number of
these NGOs is really short and therefore their activities are still done in a low
scale, even when they may have a high impact on the communities. It is
imperative to research on these efforts and asses their impacts and problematic.
While researching on the way of these communities get inserted into the fair
trade system we may find new ways to empower them to develop abilities and
knowledge on ITC needed to develop as fair trade well fair tourism suppliers, at
the time they can develop themselves.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
INTERNET AND GLOBALIZATION
Internet is one of the most characteristic elements in globalization, as it this
technology have made more complex the relation between communication and
transportation, and let people being “co-present” in a place without physical
presence. (Urry, J. 2004).
Martin and Thomas (2004) present five main consequences affecting culture and
technology: (1) increased information about people and culture, (2) increased
contact with people, who are different from us, (3) increased contact with people
who are similar to us who can provide communities of support, (4) identity
management through culture and technology and (5) differential access to
communication technology. The three first points refer to an integration process,
recognizing similarities and differences, while the other two refers to the
importance of being an internet user. Being an internet “inter-active” user means
also having a position not only about internet but about the whole globalization
process.
According to Appadurai (1990) the new global cultural economy should be
understood as a very complex phenomenon with overlapping, disjunctive order,
and we can recognize five dimensions of global cultural flow: ethnoscapes,
mediascapes, techoscapes, financescapes and ideoscapes. Meaning that
globalization is influenced by the movement of people; the improvement of
mechanical and informational technology across borders; currency markets,
national stock exchange and commodity speculations moving money; private or
state media productions image-centered, narrative-based as desired fantasies;
and the images and ideologies power oriented.
In any theories of globalization, neither those speaking about a social
phenomenon nor those about talking about a symbolic system, there are
elements of differentiation among the subjects of the so called
Society of
Information, and the main differences are rooted on development issues.
Sofield(2003) contest the term Development as a state of being, as progressive
transformation of society and also as a structure, while Mowforth and Munt
(2006) criticizes the capitalist’s view of development related to the idea of
Western superiority, which presupposes that progress has the same substance
as history, all nations travel the same road and all do not advance at the same
speed as Western society. This is a totalizing discourse of development as a
single linear progression of economic growth and well being.
But Development and Economic Growth are not the same, the first is qualitative
and the latter quantitative. Growth is a quantitative process involving principally
the extension of an already established structure of production, whereas
development refers to a general improvement in the material and social wellbeing
of society as a whole – with changes in economical and non-economical
structures. (Sofield 2003)
SUSTAINABILITY
Latest discourses about development focus on sustainability as the best way to
reach socio-economical improvement and well being. Also WTO (World Tourism
Organization) accepted sustainability approach to its tourist planning and
development studies. (SVN, 2001) The World Commission on Environment and
Development settled four fundamental cannons for the World Conservation
Strategy: Ecological, Economic, Social and Cultural Sustainability. (Sofield,
2003), remaining the same “triple P concept” that other researchers propose for
sustainability: Planet, Profit and People (Slingerlan et alt. 2003), in terms of a
situation that leaves the future generations as many opportunities as we
ourselves had, if not more.
Natural and rural spaces have become the most suitable spaces for sustainable
tourism as Vinals and Bernabe (1999) justified the use of these spaces for
Interpretative-Educative activities, Sport-Adventure activities and Conventional
activities, namely strolling, contemplation of landscapes and natural beauties,
craft-making, painting, writing, vocational studies, and family and friends
meetings.
After sustainable tourism, other concepts with an often-similar meaning are used
more or less interchangeably, for example eco-tourism, cultural tourism, pro-poor
tourism and fair trade tourism. The difference and similarity between these
concepts is essentially determined by the criteria and the practical
implementation of each. (Slingerlan et alt, 2003) For example, Ecotourism, which
is about traveling to nature spaces with the purpose of enjoying the local
landscape, flora and fauna, is confused with other kinds of tourism with which
shares some things like adventure tourism, sport tourism or rural tourism. (Vinals
and Bernabe, 1999) But the purpose of this paper is not classify these types of
tourism but make clear how the criteria of sustainable tourism may be
constructed under different perspective, such Fair Trade or Pro-Poor Tourism.
FAIR TRADE AND PRO-POORTOURISM
Fair trade is a challenge to traditional economic theory and practice in that it
seeks a price based on principles other than those of pure profit maximization
and on practices other than seeking the lowest cost of production in so-called
efficient markets. There are elements of tourism related activities, such as the
production and sale of local handicrafts that provide the opportunity for elements
of fair trade, but as Mowforth and Munt (2006) has confirmed, little or nothing is
known about fair trade in services like hospitality. Fair trading organizations are
non-profit making and those small independent tour operators who are practicing
some quasi-fair trade elements also need to ensure commercial viability.
The concerns about Fair Trade are related to price as the main determinant and
the significance of the degree of local control or the distribution of benefits.
Specifically in tourism there are 6 prerequisites to make fair trade: (1) Access to
capital, (2) Ownership of resources, (3) Distribution of benefits, (4) Control over
representation of the destination in tourist-generating countries, (5) Transparency
of tourism operations and (6) Transparency of price and working conditions.
(Mowforth and Munt ,2006) All these principles are framed in idea of a
sustainable trade, meaning the international exchange of goods and services
yields positive social, economic and environmental development. (Robins and
Roberts, 2000)
On the other hand, Pro-Poor Tourism directly searches for poverty reduction by
generation net benefits for the poor. Proponents argues that pro-poor tourism
puts the poor at the centre of analysis, focuses on tourism destinations in
developing countries and is particularly relevant to poverty conditions. (Mowforth
and Munt ,2006)
Tourism is seen as a tool for poverty alleviation, stimulating the tourism-related
economic activities, with technical assistance for capacity building at various
levels, for both governments and public and private institutions. So that tourist
products are constructed under sustainability criteria and promoted with
marketing standards. Usually the projects are developed under cultural tourism
or community-based tourism schemas.
While the most of the tourist enterprises deal with free trade economy, there
have come some fair trade and pro-poor efforts from different and third sector
organizations.
NOG’S AND THIRD SECTOR
The developmental activities of the third sector - local membership organizations,
non-governmental organizations, NGOs, international NGOs, social movements,
church organizations - have intensified in the 1980s with the expansion of this
sector and found favor with a broad range of supporters. (Booth, 1994)
The third sector is comprised of a wide variety of organizational types. As Booth
(1994) explains, they differ in terms of scale, philosophy, objectives, location,
activities, managements systems and style, memberships, external relationships,
resources and other features. While there are many potential typologies it is
particular useful to distinguish between geographical locations and the different
roles, or mixes of roles, that organizations pursue. Thus we can identify
northerners NGOs (NNGOs) based in donor countries and almost always
directed by ‘northerners’; intermediate southern NGOs (SNGOs), that operate at
the national level or across several regions within a developing country and
commonly work with local-level organizations; and memberships organizations
(MOs) composed of members from a localized area and led by representatives
selected by the membership; they are linked to SNGOs and NNGOs. Many
NNGOs and SNGOs are heavily dependent on each other, the former for a
recipient country base for operations and the later for finance and technical
assistance.
According to Booth(1994),the third sector organizations orientate the poverty
alleviation in two ways: by economic activity and creating material gains within a
short period of time (the modernization approach); and trough an initial focus on
non-material achievements that seek to empower trough ‘dialogical’ processes
and sees material gains as accruing at some future stage (the empowerment
approach).
RESEARCH DESIGN
RESEARCH GOAL
The main objective of the research is focus on developing Artisan Experiential
Tourism Destinations in Peru. So that, artisans may success not only selling
souvenirs on a global market under fair trade philosophy but also through the
“artisan’s experience” as tourist attraction, hosting tourists and showing them the
way they work, the way they live, getting in touch with natural environment.
Artisans’ communities can make a step further than hand-made labor, and
participate in the marketing and management of their business with ITC.
Fair Trade and Pro-poor initiatives are been implemented recently in tourist
activity and there is no much information about it, neither empirical nor
theoretical.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Which are the ITC requirements for artisans to develop trade and tourism under
Fair Trade and Pro-Poor tourism philosophy?
SECONDARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- What is the level of digital poverty among artisans?
- What are the main differences in ICT involvement between communities
dealing with fair trade and communities which are not?
- What is the level of participation on ICT activities of artisans?
- What is the level of participation on ICT activities of the NGOs?
- Which are the attitude of “digital” consumers and traders towards artisans’
products?
STAKE HOLDERS AND DATA REQUIERED
-
Artisans and Artisan Organizations
o Information on the awareness about fair trade process, the benefits,
and requirements to take part.
o Regular way of trading
o Participation level on tourism-trade process
o Access to ICT
o Attitudes toward foreigners
-
Local communities
o ICT accessibility
o Attitudes toward ICT, artisans, tourists and NGOs
o Other economical activities and possibilities
o Ways of communication with people outside the communities
-
Local NGO’s
o Philosophy and goals
o Structure
o Local and foreign participation
o ICT activities
-
International NGO’s
o Philosophy and goals
o Structure
o Local and foreign participation
o ICT activities
-
Government
o Policies on Artisans, Artisan Trade, Tourism, E-Commerce
-
Tour Operators
o Attitudes towards fair trade in tourism and ITC
o Market criteria
-
Handicraft Traders
o Attitudes towards fair trade and ITC
o Market criteria
-
Potential final consumers – Tourist
o Attitudes towards fair trade in tourism and ITC
o Expectations
SCHEDULE AND DATA COLLECTION
The Research will be done based comparative study cases, selecting two
communities, one involved in fair trade and one non-involved in. There will be
development of criteria to make a pre-selection of possible study communities,
based on tourist development possibilities (accessibility, natural resources,
handicrafts, etc). The research is mainly qualitative.
Schedule:
• April
Research Proposal
•
May
Operational schedule preparation
•
June
•
July
Communities Research
•
•
•
Authorities, NGO’s
August
Tour Operators, Traders, and Final consumers
September
Data Classification
November-December
Report making
Collecting Data – Qualitative Research
JUNE – COMMUNITIES RESEARCH
Participant Observation
1. In order to select the most suitable organizations. Travel around the preselected communities to find out which are appropriate for the study.
Possible communities:
Ayacucho: City close to Cuzco which used to be a well visited destination
until terrorist movement stuck there on 1980s, now it is re-growing as a
tourist destination, and it is known by its artisan products.
San Martin Communities: City in northern jungle Peru, it is just been
known by its artisan products, and have many natural tourist resources.
North Peru souvenirs are also well valued internationally.
2. In the selected communities.
Comparison Indicators








Trade Network advantages
ICT in trade network
Digital development
Work value
Attitude towards globalization
Level of Globalization
Development Process
Participation Level
JULY – NGO’S, AUTHORITIES
Unstructured and in depth Interviews with authorities, NGO’s,
- Power Relation
- Local Participation
AUGUST – TOUR OPERATORS, TRADERS, FINAL CONSUMERS
Semi-structured Interviews with Traders and Tour Operators
- Successfulness expectations on fair trade projects
BUDGET
Transportation and accommodation:
Operational operations
Operational Material
US $
US $
US $
2, 300.00
1,700.00
1,000.00
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