Not All Consumerism has a Shady Side!

Abstract

Consumerism and tourism on mass scales are two defining characteristics of modern society which have both inspired much criticism. They are also closely connected and certain examples of tourism are seen as undesirable manifestations of consumerism. Questions of whether the censure of the phenomena is justified and the nature of their relationship are addressed in this brief commentary written in response to the research probe which raises enduring and still pertinent issues about tourism as a human and commercial activity, underlying dynamics and impacts. Reactions to the proposition that consumerism encourages bad tourism partly depend on the meanings ascribed to the terms. The notion of bad tourism is frequently associated with selected instances of modern mass tourism and its consequences, exemplified by the urbanization of coastlines around the world deemed by detractors to have been ‘ruined’. Large resorts and developed seashores are not, however, intrinsically bad and are a core visitor attraction with the capacity to perform valuable functions for tourists and destination residents. Their popularity may alleviate pressures elsewhere and protect more sensitive and vulnerable socio-cultural and physical environments which are under threat from the shift away from standardized tourism to a series of markets of vacationers looking for novelty of setting and experience. Smaller scale tourism of a sort typified by ecotourism and cultural tourism is lauded by suppliers and participants. It is hailed as the antithesis of and superior to modern mass tourism because of the rectitude of motives and positive effects, yet it is not necessarily better or to be welcomed. Tourists who search out pristine territories and remote communities could cause disruption to fragile eco-systems and everyday life, despite protestations about responsible travel (Butcher 2003). What constitutes bad and good tourism is clearly subject to interpretation and perceptions reflect the position of the individual and group alongside circumstances prevailing in countries of departure and arrival. Academic opinion is also divided within and between disciplines, although social scientists as a whole have been very fierce critics of tourism which is perhaps something of an easy target for them. The long standing dispute about whether tourism is a blessing or blight (Young 1973) would seem to be one that will never be fully resolved; for almost every argument, there is a counter-argument which has resulted in a circularity of discourse. Tourism as a field of enquiry and action is full of complexities and contradictions, encompassing an immense range of individual behaviour and commercial products as well as spaces where it occurs. Generalizations become difficult and opinions about badness or goodness are determined by personal, economic, political, socio-cultural, geographical and historical contexts. Interestingly, the debate is not confined to instances from contemporary society and Baranowski (2004) writes about consumerism and mass tourism in the Third Reich in her study of the Nazi ‘Strength through Joy’ programme. It claimed to be one of the largest leisure and travel organisers in the world and a force for good, integrating work and leisure, a view which soon became untenable.