Tourism Impacts

Authenticity of culture

There is a growing concern that tourism development is leading to destinations losing their cultural identity by catering for the perceived needs of tourists.

For example, commercialisation of traditional cultural events and customs is leading to ‘fake folklore’ for the tourists. The issue is the potential conflict between the economic and cultural interests, leading to culture being sacrificed for reasons of promoting tourism, at the expense of losing a cultural value.

Hence, the culture does not seem so authentic anymore because it seems that it is now staged for the purpose of commercialising and economic gains from the tourists rather than the understanding and meaning behind it.

According to Department of Tourism Cultural director, de los Reyes, because of commercialism, provinces all over the Philippines have created performances that have no historical basis. For instance, some municipalities have even copied well-known Filipino festivals and merged them with contemporary dances and pop music to appeal to visitors.

The effect of massive tourism development has affected the livelihood of people and on the environment. This has caused people a loss in livelihood as a result of displacements and disposal of lands in favour of tourism purposes.

Another concern is the sexual trafficking of children. Studies have shown that Philippines ranks fourth among nine nations with most children in prostitution—estimated to be between 60,000 to 100,000.

Authenticity of the culture of the Indigenous group – Aetas

Letty Gomez, chairman of the School of the Aetas in Zambales and leader of “Women of the Aetas”. She is all for preserving their culture and heritage.

She told The Times that they conduct theater plays not just for tourists but also for their fellow Aetas, particularly the younger ones, so that they will not forget their roots and way of life.

She said that younger Aetas would appreciate those programs more, because rather than seeing the acts on stage, they would actually be living in that environment.

Tourists can benefit because they can learn why their culture is such and hence, understand the behaviour of the Aetas.

In my opinion, negative tourism impacts such as commodification and loss of authenticity/staged authenticity are inevitable. 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.