Abstract
Abstract For ages, tourists have been fascinated with “Other” cultures making it a primary reason for international travel. Several destinations around the world are blessed with cultural pluralism and proudly boast of being “multicultural”. These destinations comprise multiethnic migrant communities living in their respective “ethnic enclave” settings in a foreign land. Enclaves enrich the tourism product by pleasantly punctuating the cultural homogeneity of a destination and inviting attention towards other diverse exotic attractions. This study is an attempt to identify the distinct impressions of the ethnic enclave attractions of “Chinatown” and “Little India” in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore city, in order to determine the imprints of “otherness” left behind in the minds of tourists during their visits to these enclaves. The findings reveal that while authentic ethnic cuisine retains a dominant appeal of the “exotic other”, additional elements of cultural exoticism from these enclave settings are fast fading into oblivion. Rather than being identified as a showcase of a unique culture, the otherness of these ethnic enclave attractions is becoming more apparent in terms of their recognition merely as precincts for “inexpensive shopping”.
Highlights
Throughout the ages, “Other” cultures have piqued the curiosity of mankind and brought about international travel to exotic destinations that house distinct people, ethnicities, religions, cuisines, traditions, lifestyles and art forms
“Otherness” of Ethnic Enclave Attractions in Multicultural Cities: 67 A Study of Chinatown and Little India content analysis using a data-driven thematic approach (Bernard & Ryan, 1998; Krippendorf, 2004; Neuendorf, 2001) on user-generated content from Tripadvisor.com, the study aimed at answering each of the following research questions (RQ)
RQ1: What themes convey the distinct character of Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Singapore (SIN)? RQ2: What themes convey the distinct character of Little India of KUL and SIN? RQ3: What is the overall ambience of ethnic enclave tourism as evident from the impressions of Chinatown and Little India?
Summary
Throughout the ages, “Other” cultures have piqued the curiosity of mankind and brought about international travel to exotic destinations that house distinct people, ethnicities, religions, cuisines, traditions, lifestyles and art forms. An enclave is understood as a thriving culture within itself that provides a microscopic view of a native “authentic homeland culture” of a particular community in a foreign land Being both socioculturally and economically significant in terms of tourism, an ethnic enclave becomes an appealing “exotic” tourism attraction that punctuates the cultural homogeneity and monotony of a destination (Anderson, 1990; Conforti, 1996; Henderson, 2000; Mak, 2003; Santos & Yan, 2008; Shaw, 2011; Wood, 1984). The other in tourism is often investigated in the context of Urry’s (1990) “tourist gaze” that has prompted significant research in exploring how tourists, out of mere curiosity or ethnocentrism, tend to look at /gaze upon people from other lands, ethnic backgrounds or cultures, as spectacles
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