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THE CULTURAL IMPACTS OF ECOTOURISM: A COMPARISON OF HOST AND ECOTOURIST PERCEPTIONS AND AWARENESS
Aims and
objectives
Introduction
Ecotourism
is an alternative form of tourism, based on the natural environment, with
post-modern characteristics that opposes typical mass tourism. Although the term
ecotourism has no strict, universal definition, it is broadly concerned with
promoting the concepts of sustainability, both economic and cultural, and green
practices within the tourist industry. The overall aim of ecotourism is to
reduce economic, environmental and cultural impacts that are associated with
conventional tourism.
Within
tourism there are complex power relations that exist. One of the facets of
ecotourism that appears in many of the definitions is the element of cultural
interaction involved in tourist relations, with one of the underlying aims being
to reassert power into the hands of the locals.
This is to ensure that tourism does not take on a parasitic character,
and instead allows local people to manage and benefit from the industry that is
growing on their doorstep.
Fennell (1999) argues that tourism is the world’s largest industry, and its earnings are predicted to grow from US$ 423 billion in 1996 to US$1.5 trillion in 2010. Within the industry, ecotourism is believed to be one of the largest growing areas, although the exact size of this sector is difficult to ascertain owing to the variety of definitions.
Jafari
(2000) explains that prior to 1969 tourism in Indonesia was minimal due to
political instability. However, it has since flourished growing from 86,000
visitors in 1969 to 5.1 million in 1997. One
of the main reasons for this is the multitude of natural environments
(rainforests, coral reefs, mangroves) which act as an attractant to tourists.
By 2005 it is predicted that it will be the largest source of revenue in
Indonesia.
Methods
To determine
host perceptions of (eco)tourism in villages with varying exposure to tourism, 4
locations were chosen. Labundo
Bundo is the Buton base of the UK-based ecotourism, and hosted over 125
volunteers in 2002. Kawele is a
sub-base of Operation Wallacea, with up to 25 monkey researchers staying there
in 2002. Kakenauwe neighbours
Labundo Bundo and is regularly visited by members of Operation Wallacea
conducting social science research and by staff and volunteers when visiting the
beach. Bautauga is to the south of
Bau Bau, and has never been visited by ecotourists. 15
interviews were carried with both male and female interviewees in Kawele,
Kakenauwe and Batauga; and 40 were carried out in Labundo Bundo.
These semi-structured interviews contained questions aimed at elucidating
the attitudes and opinions that locals held towards tourists.
To investigate ecotourist perceptions of their cultural impact, a detailed questionnaire was constructed, with questions of various nature: closed, Likert scale, rank, multiple choice and open ended. Although a complete census of volunteers and staff was the ideal, in practice this was not possible due to the movement of people between the different sites, and a satisfactory 60 % of staff and volunteers were surveyed.
Initial
Results
It was
discovered that the interviewees in Labundo Bundo, owing to the relatively high
degree of exposure to tourists, revealed the greatest number and variety of
behaviours that were considered to be undesirable.
The common complaint was that of public drinking, and public displays of
affection between members of the opposite sex.
However some other, more unusual, issues were aired.
It was discovered that it is considered acceptable for women to engage in
other sports such as volleyball, however some members of Labunso Bundo felt it
was unacceptable for them to partake in football. Similarly some residents of Labundo Bundo felt it was
inappropriate for women to smoke. A
reoccurring complaint was that tourists should be respectful during prayer time,
and should be quiet when prayers are being broadcast from the mosque.
In
comparison of the different villages, one of the most striking results was that
in Batauga a very common complaint of tourists was that of inappropriate dress.
There is very limited exposure to tourists, however it is felt these
complaints are due to exposure to media, such as MTV, rather than actual
encounters with tourists. Inappropriate
dress did not feature as significantly, despite a high degree of exposure to
tourists, as a negative impact of tourists in the interviews conducted in
Labundo Bundo. It is believed that
this is due to the successful attempts by Operation Wallacea to ensure that
locals are not offended by the dress of volunteers and staff.
Overall, the
attitudes towards tourists were positive with the majority welcoming the idea of
increased numbers of visitors. Many
people cited the economic benefits that they enjoy due to the presence of Opwall,
however a significant proportion mentioned the environmental benefits saying
that there was a significant decrease in the amount of logging, and an increase
in environmental awareness of locals due to the presence of Opwall.
Many people also mentioned the improvement of facilities, such as mandis
and streetlights.
The majority
of interviewees in Bautauga had never heard of Operation Wallacea, and the
majority in Kakenawue were unsure to what Operation Wallacea was doing here. In
Kawele there was slightly more awareness as to the aim of Operation Wallacea,
with many of the interviewees being aware that research on monkeys was being
conducted, however their knowledge was limited to this.
In Labundo Bundo their was slightly more awareness that Operation
Wallacea was here to conduct research, however the majority of respondents felt
that their knowledge was limited and many of them expressed a strong desire for
greater understanding and communication of the results of Opwall’s research,
particularly when it has direct relevance to their livelihoods and lifestyles.
The initial
findings suggest that Operation Wallacea volunteers and staff are more critical
of their presence and deem their impact on Indonesian culture to be greater than
locals do. This needs further, more
detailed analysis to explore the different areas that each group cited and the
proportion of respondents that fell into the different categories: however, it
reflects the fact that Operation Wallacea has a policy of making its volunteers
and staff aware of cultural differences and the need to minimise unnecessary
conflicts. However, the
discrepancies between local perceptions and tourist awareness of cultural
differences suggests that there is potential for the Operation Wallacea policy
to be updated so that it more accurately reflects local desires.
Final
report
A dissertation entitled “Cultural interaction - the forgotten element in ecotourism” will be produced by January 2003 by Nina Luder, Trinity College Dublin.