Cultural Impacts Of Tourism Development

936 WordsNov 2, 20154 Pages
SOCILA AND CULTURAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT The discourse concerning the impacts of tourism in national development, economic and otherwise, has had both negative and positive connotations. Societies hosting tourist attractions are frequently seen as the victims of the negative effects of tourism while the tourists seen as the perpetrators of the crime; bringing their culture and values and imposing them on the host societies. While these generally accepted stereotypical thoughts may be true in some instances, it is however misleading to hold these notions regarding the changes in the social and cultural aspects of a society. Whereas socio-cultural changes may in part be due to tourism, it can also be due to other modernization and global factors such as international trade relations, military actions, migration etc (Sharpley R. and Telfer D., 2002). Concerning tourism development, the socio-cultural changes which occur in the community are more often than not seen as negative, with the positive contributions been underplayed or totally ignored. Though it is difficult to measure the influence of tourism on socio-cultural changes, the extent of the impact can be determined by the change in value and logic system, religious beliefs, tradition, lifestyle, behavioural patterns, etc (Inskeep, 1991). The relationship between tourism development and social and cultural characteristics of a society is non-linear; as well as negative effects, tourism development can also have

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