Socio-Cultural Impact in Tourism

Socio-cultural Impacts of Tourism

The socio-cultural impacts of tourism relate to the effects on host communities of direct and indirect relations with tourists, and of interaction with the tourism industry. It is natural for people belonging to different cultures, life styles or social settings to interact, and leave an impact on each other. In tourism this happens at a massive level. Tourists may explore the social life at the destinations, whereas the most population attempts to imitate the life style of
tourists. This can bring positive as well as negative impacts For a variety of reasons, host communities often are the weaker party in interactions with their guests and service providers, leveraging any influence they might have. These influences are not always apparent,
as they are difficult to measure, depend on value judgments and are often indirect or hard to identify.

The impacts arise when tourism brings about changes in value systems and behavior and thereby threatens indigenous identity. Furthermore, changes often occur in community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies and morality. But tourism can also generate positive impacts as it can serve as a supportive force for peace, foster pride in cultural traditions and help avoid urban relocation by creating local jobs. Tourism has the potential to promote social development through employment creation, income redistribution and poverty alleviation. Other potential positive impacts of tourism include:

·     Tourism as a force for peace-- Traveling brings people into contact with each other and, as tourism has an educational element, it can foster understanding between
individuals and cultures and provide cultural exchange between hosts and guests. Because of this, the chances increase for people to develop mutual sympathy and
understanding and reduce their prejudices.

·     Strengthening communities-Tourism can add to the vitality of communities in many ways. For example events and festivals, of which local residents have been the primary
participants and spectators, are often rejuvenated and developed in response to tourist interest. The jobs created by tourism can act as a vital incentive to reduce emigration
from rural areas. Local people can also increase their influence on tourism development, as well as improve their job and earnings prospects, through tourism- related professional training and development of business and organizational skills.

·     Facilities developed for tourism can benefit residents-As tourism supports the creation of community facilities and services that otherwise might not have been developed, it can bring higher living standards to a destination. Benefits can include upgraded infrastructure, health and transport improvements, new sport and recreational facilities, restaurants, and public spaces as well as an influx of better quality commodities and food.

·     Revaluation of culture and traditions-Tourism can boost the preservation and transmission of cultural and historical traditions, which often contributes to the
conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, the protection of local heritage, and a renaissance of indigenous cultures, cultural arts and crafts. For example,
in Bali, the presence of visitors who continually praise Balinese art and culture has given locals a type of confidence and pride in their art removing any possibility in the people's
mind that their art was in any way inferior to the art of advanced nations. This plays an important role in conserving and developing the art in general.

·     Tourism encourages civic involvement and pride-- Tourism helps raise local awareness of the financial value of natural and cultural sites and can stimulate a feeling of pride in local and national heritage and thus interest in its conservation. More broadly, the involvement of local communities in tourism development and operation appears to be an important condition for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

However, the listed positive consequences of tourism can arise only if and when tourism is practiced and developed in a sustainable way. Involving the local population is essential. A community involved in planning and implementation of tourism has a more positive attitude, is more supportive and has a better chance to make a profit from tourism than a population assively ruled (or overrun) by tourism. One of the core elements of sustainable tourism development is community development, which is a process and a capacity to make decisions that consider the long-term economy, ecology and equity of all communities

At the same time there are certain impacts which have been termed as negative impacts. Among most celebrated issues pertaining to tourism in Third world are those related to effects that tourists and industry have on societies and cultures of local communities.
Any influx of tourism, however small, will make some impact on a region, but the extent of the impact is dependent not just upon numbers but also on the kind of tourist which the region attracts.

Negative Impacts

Demonstration effect of tourism- The stereotyped image of tourist is a man wearing T-shirt and jeans walking with a camera or handicam.This comparative wealth of tourist may be resented or envied by locals and generate a certain tension & restlessness. It is called demonstration effect. it creates condition where residents may try to copy tourist behavior and spending patterns, at the same time resenting their inability to do so and lacking comparable
purchasing power. This all emerges in the form of loss of local identity and values.

Loss of local identity and values-Tourism can cause change or loss of local identity and values, brought about by several closely related influences:

·    Commodification-Tourism can turn local cultures into commodities when religious rituals, traditional ethnic rites and festivals are reduced and sanitised to conform to tourist expectations, resulting in what has been called "reconstructed ethnicity".

·     Standardisation-Destinations risk to be standardised in the process of satisfying tourists' desires for familiar facilities. While landscape, accommodation, food and
drinks, etc., must meet the tourists' desire for the new and unfamiliar, they must at the same time not be too new or strange because few tourists are actually looking for
completely new things. Tourists often look for recognisable facilities in an unfamiliar environment, like well-known fast-food restaurants and hotel chains.

 Loss of authenticity and staged authenticity- Adapting cultural expressions and manifestations to the tastes of tourists or even performing shows as if they were "real life" constitutes "staged authenticity". As long as tourists just want a glimpse of the local atmosphere, a quick glance at local life, without any knowledge or even interest, staging will be inevitable.

·     Adaptation to tourist demands- Tourists want souvenirs, arts, crafts, and cultural manifestations, and in many tourist destinations, craftsmen have responded to the growing demand, and have made changes in design of their products to bring them more in line with the new customers' tastes. While the interest shown by tourists also contributes to the sense of self- worth of the artists, and helps conserve a cultural tradition, cultural erosion may occur due to the commodification of cultural goods.

·     Culture clashes-Because tourism involves movement of people to different geographical locations, and establishment of social relations between people who would otherwise not meet, cultural clashes can take place as a result of differences in cultures, ethnic and religious groups, values and lifestyles, languages, and levels of prosperity . The result can be an overexploitation of the social carrying capacity (limits of acceptable change in the social system inside or around the destination) and cultural carrying capacity (limits of acceptable change in the culture of the host population) of the local community. The attitude of ·local residents towards tourism development may unfold through the stages of euphoria, where visitors are very welcome, through apathy, irritation and potentially antagonism, when anti-tourist attitudes begin growing among local people Cultural clashes may further arise through :

1. Economic inequality-Many tourists come from societies with different consumption patterns and lifestyles than what is current at the destination. In
   resorts in destination countries such as Jamaica, Indonesia or Brazil, tourism employees with average yearly salaries of US$ 1,200 to 3,000 spend their
   working hours in close contact with guests whose yearly income is well over US$ 80,000.
2. Irritation due to tourist behaviour-Tourists often, out of ignorance or carelessness, fail to respect local customs and moral values bringing about irritation and stereotyping. Such cultural clashes are typical of strict muslim countries where women are to carefully cover thernselves'in public. Tourists in these countries often disregard these standards, appearing in revealing
   shorts, skirts or even bikinis, or sunbathing topless at the beach. Besides creating ill-will, this kind of behaviour can be an incentive for locals not to respect
   their own traditions and reI igion anymore, leading to tensions within the local community .
3. Job level friction-In developing countries especially, many jobs occupied by local people in the tourist industry are at a lower level, such as housemaids, waiters, gardeners and other practical work, while higher- paying and more prestigious managerial jobs go to foreigners or "urbanised" nationals. In addition, even if nationals and foreigners occupy the same position, foreigners will be paid more than locals resulting in friction and irritation .
4. Ethical issues-Partly due to cultural clashes and loss or change in indigenous identity and values that tourism brings about in host destinations, tourism can
   create more serious situations where ethical and even criminal issues are involved.
5. Crime generation--Crime rates typically increase with the growth and urbanization of an area, and growth of mass tourism is often accompanied by
   increased crime. The presence of a large number of tourists with a lot of money to spend, and often carrying valuables such as cameras and jewellery, increases
   the attraction for criminals and brings with it activities like robbery and drug dealing. Repression of these phenomena often exacerbates social tension. Tourists
   staying in beachside five star resorts close to extremely poor communities in hillside small towns are at risk of pickpockets and stick-ups. Security agents, often armed with machine guns, stand guard nearby in full sight, and face aggressive reactions from locals who are often their neighbors when they go
   home. Tourism can also drive the development of gambling, which may cause negative changes in social behaviour.

6. Child labour-studies have shown that many jobs in the tourism sector have employment conditions that leave much to be desired : long hours, unstable
employment, low pay, little training and poor chances for qualification. In addition, recent developments in the travel and tourism trade (Iiberalisation, competition, concentration, drop in travel fares, growth of subcon- tracting) and introduction of new technologies seem to reinforce the trend towards more precarious, flexible employment conditions. For many suchjobs young children are recruited, as they are cheap and flexible employees .

6. Prostitution and sex tourism-The commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women has paralleled the growth of tourism in many parts ofthe
   world. Though tourism is not the cause of sexual exploitation, it provides easy access to it. Tourism also brings consnmerism to many parts of the worla previously denied access to 'luxury commodities and services. The lure of this easy money has caused many young people, including children, to trade their
   bodies in exchange for T-shirts, personal stereos, bikes and even air tickets out of the country. In other situations children are trafficked into the brothels on
   the margins of the tourist areas and sold into sex slavery, very rarely earning enough money to escape.
7. Social stress-The physical influences that an increasing tourism flow, and its consequent developments, have on a destination's community, can cause severe social stress .
8. Resource use conflicts-such as competition between tourism and local populations for the use of prime resources like water and energy because of
   scarce supply. Stress to local communities can also result from environmental degradation and increased infrastructure costs for the local community; for
   example, higher taxes to pay for improvements to the water supply or sanitation facilities .
9. Cultural deterioration-Damage to cultural resources may arise from vandalism, littering, pilferage and illegal removal of cultural heritage items. A common problem at archaeological sites in countries such as Egypt, Colombia, Mexico and Peru is that poorly paid guards supplement their income by selling artifacts to tourists. Furthermore, degradation of cultural sites may occur when historic sites and buildings are unprotected and the traditionally built environment is replaced or virtually disappears .
10. Conflicts with traditional land uses-This happens especially in intensely exploited areas such as coastal zones, which are popular for their beaches and islands. Conflicts arise when the choice has to be made between development of the land for tourist facilities or infrastructure and local traditional land use. The
    indigenous population of such destinations is frequently the loser in the contest for these resources as the economic value which tourism brings often counts
    for more. As an example, in coastal areas construction of shoreline hotels and tourist facilities often cuts off access for the locals to traditional fishing ground and even recreational use of the areas.

The break down in host-guest relationship can be largely ascribed to volume of visitors. Doxey (1975) developed an ‘Irridex' or 'Index' model of relationship between tourism growth and community stress.

In the early stages of tourism development, the locals are euphoric, pleased to see investment and improved job prospects for local people. The comparatively small numbers, and the fact that most tourists will belong to 'explorer' category and accept the nom1S and values of the hosts, mean that tourists are welcomed, and even treated as 'friends'. As locals become used to the benefits they receive from tourism and become aware of problems which tourism
generates as it grows, so they come to accept it, and their meetings with tourists become more common and more commercial. Further growth leads to a general feeling among locals that tourists are a trouble rather than a benefit, as they note how tourism is changing their cultural norms and community. In first stages locals show open antagonism towards the visitors, other factors like length of time will also affect the relationship.

Managing Social Impact of Tourism-sustainable tourism needs to be managed. This can be done by-

(1) Responsible officials can attempt to integrate the guest into local community and to control overall number of visitors.

(2) Educate the local population and train them with assisting in raising finance for investment in local tourism business