Selling culture? Between commoditisation and cultural control in Indigenous alternative tourism

Abstract

Indigenous cultures are significant for tourism but their owners have been systematically excluded from its benefits and control. To counteract this tendency, some indigenous organisations are becoming tourist agents offering alternative eco-cultural tourism. Their niche market has social and ecological consciousness but influenced by postcolonialist ideologies it still expects culture to be "authentic". To succeed, indigenous organisations need to manage tensions between their own culture and identities and what the market demands. Applying the notion of cultural control, in this article I evaluate how alternative projects in Mexico and Peru deal with the challenge of commoditising culture and nature on their own terms. To understand the paradoxes they face, I analyse their cultural representations, organisational identities and alliances through an ethnographic reading of their Web-stories.

“We are reconciliators”: When Indigenous tourism begins with agency

“…Specifically, the practice of Indigenous tourism carries risks for local communities to have their rights eroded and to suffer oppression and exploitation (Cole & Morgan, 2010;Ruhanen & Whitford, 2019). Commercialisation and commodification processes can subvert local control over representations of culture and limit access to financial benefits of operations conducted on sovereign lands (Coronado, 2014). Indeed, the Larrakia Declaration on the Development of Indigenous Tourism asserts that: "for Indigenous tourism to be successful and sustainable, Indigenous tourism needs to be based on traditional knowledge, cultures and practices and it must contribute to the well being of Indigenous communities and the environment" (Pacific Asia Travel Association [PATA] & World Indigenous Tourism Alliance [WINTA], 2014, p. 12).…”

“…Here, tourists are primarily understood as consumers, and only secondarily as visitors to a place, and seldom as visitors to the people of a place. Commercialisation presents risks for Indigenous hosts and communities who may sacrifice their authenticity in order to meet market demands (Coronado, 2014). This leads to the question: how can the rights and…”

From unlikely to likely partnerships for change - child welfare and Indigenous tourism in Canada

“…Research. Since the 1990s, Indigenous tourism has become an important field of investigation in academia (Coronado, 2014;Mercer, 1995;Moscardo & Pearce,1999;Nielsen & Wilson, 2012;Zeppel, 2007). One Canadian example is through the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) (1997), where they compiled numerous bibliographical references for the Canadian tourism field of study.…”

Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial Indígena: Análisis De Las Potencialidades Turísticas De Los Simbolismos Del Cacaodel Pueblo Bribri (Talamanca, Costa Rica)

“…A pesar de las declaraciones y documentos para la mejora a nivel internacional del movimiento indígena y del turismo 1 (con instrumentos que presentan propuestas de modelos de autogestión comunitaria indígena, así como medidas legales para favorecer el turismo), en general puede decirse que, en la actualidad, las comunidades indígenas siguen excluidas de los beneficios y del control cultural del desarrollo turístico (Coronado, 2014;Valcuende, 2017). La gestión de emprendimientos turísticos por parte de las comunidades indígenas se ve limitada por la falta de experiencia profesional en el sector, la falta de formación, así como por los repartos desiguales de beneficios del turismo entre tour operadores y las propias comunidades (Fuller et al, 2005(Fuller et al, y 2007Bennett et al, 2012;Witford y Ruhanen, 2014;Pastor y Espeso, 2015).…”