Tourism strains the fabric of communities

[Coconut Kid]

These are brief excerpts from a section of a 1994 college geography text book.

The cities of Caribbean America constitute a potential source of income as tourist attractions and ports of call for cruise ships. The thriving cruise-ship industry (based in Miami and Ft. Pauderdale) has experienced spectacular growth since 1980, and places such a Ocho Rios (Jamaica) and Puerto Plata (Dominica) were added to cruise itineraries that already included San Juan, Port-au-Prince, and Nassau in the Bahamas. The Caribbean has long been known for its magnificent beaches and beautiful island landscapes, but visitors also are attracted by the night life and gambling of San Juan, the cuisine and shopping of Martinique's Fort-de-France, and the picturesque colonial architecture of Curacao's Willemstad.

Certainly, Caribbean tourism is a prospective money-maker, and it already ranks at or near the top on many of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. But tourism has serious drawbacks. The invasion of overtly poor communities by wealthier visitors at times leads to hostility on the part of the hosts. For some island residents, tourists have a "demonstration effect," which leads locals to behave in ways that may please or interest the visitors but are disapproved by the larger community. Moreover, tourism has the effect of debasing local culture, which is adapted to suit the visitors' tastes. Anyone who has attended hotel-staged "culture" shows has witnessed this process. And many workers say that employment in the tourist industry is dehumanizing; expatriate hotel and restaurant managers demand displays of friendliness and servitude that locals find difficult to sustain. A typical handicraft "industry" that has mushroomed with the tourist business is Haiti's visual arts: when cruise ships are in port, dockside areas are bedicked with countless paintings and carvings for sale by local artists.

Tourism does generate income in the Caribbean where alternatives are few, but the flood of North American tourists cannot be said to have a beneficial effect on the great majority of Caribbean residents. In the popular tourist areas, the intervention of island governments and multinational corporations has removed opportunities from local entrepreneurs in favor of large operators and major resorts; tourists are channeled on prearranged trips in isolation from the local society.

Tourism, then, is a mixed blessing for the developing Caribbean Basin. Clearly, the tourist industry contributes positively to island economies but strains the fabric of the local communities involved.

[Coconut Kid]

The game Tropico does a pretty fair job of reflecting this conflict -- well, at least in my opinion.

Citizens are not allowed to use some of the tourist attractions for their own entertainment. Those venues which citizens and tourists share often get priced out of the citizens' ability to pay.

The most successful tourist areas carefully exclude most of the citizens' activities / daily life.

Any commentary?

 

[Coconut Kid]

A cross-reference to a useful thread which examines gameplay tourism.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=10971.0