گردشگري و جهاني شدن

Tourism and Globalization

Tourism seems to be a good example how to destroy certain intact landscape fields mentioned above by global interest in a particular place. Rural landscape cannot defy a massive tourist influence. Rural landscape is in special situation. There is obviously no interest in nature protection because there are no wildlife areas, no natural parks. On the other hand, agricultural production itself does not represent a reason for protection, despite the fact that the view of rural landscape becomes still more and more multifunctional in Europe. Rural landscape becomes the natural-cultural heritage.

Looking back at the triangle mentioned at the beginning, i.e. Globalization, Democracy and Landscape, we observe that there is an emerging idea of integrated tourism, which could be in real harmony with the future of local landscape fields. „Integrated tourism can be broadly defined as tourism which is explicitly linked to the economic, social, cultural, natural and human structures of the regions in which it takes place, and which seeks to make optimal use of such structures. In practical terms, it is tourism with clear links with local/regional resources, activities, other production and service industries, and a participatory local community. Integrated tourism has the potential to provide ‘consumers’ with a distinctive local package of products, services and experiences“. (SPRITE, 1999, p.8)

Of course, it is the description of an ideal situation. What is interesting is the fact that the process of globalization works here as a hidden element at least in two features: Local communities can use global information tools to let the others know that they exists. They are even encouraged to do it and some of them are successful in terms of attracting people involved just in their landscape field. Second: local (rural) heritage, culture, products, crafts, lifestyle etc. - all these social and natural patterns become valuable and their values are growing just as an opposite model to global unification.

We think the crucial question of integrated tourism concerns the cohesive forces. Integrated tourism can really integrate local natural and social structure, can be a global positive agent affecting rural landscape; it can reinforce or reduce and destroy cohesive forces of certain landscape fields. There are many unknown factors dealing with the future. Global tools are fit for both alternatives of development: the skeptic and the optimistic.

But one of the factors is known: without community personally involved in a certain place, in itself and at current time, the cohesive forces are disturbed. Maintaining these forces seems to be the role of local community. But what about this ‘tourist community’ in terms of integrated tourism? Should they be henceforth only visitors, spectators, like in the theatre? We know cases of such ‘theatre performance’: landscape as a decoration, and people playing roles in historical costumes for the visitors; there is a potter, a basket master, a rural baker etc. Or should tourists be more involved in decision-making about this locality? Should they be more responsible for the visited place? And how to do it? Isn`t there a bit of confusion between tourists, i.e. people who want to spend their leisure time, and people integrated in a locality?

Can such kind of tourism be free of local social and cultural feedbacks? These questions can help us in better understanding of application of the promising idea of integrated tourism; despite the fact that we do not know all the answers yet.

We tried to discuss a similar question related to global society and changing responsibilities in terms of Global constitution during the Prague conference. The results are rather questions than some paragraphs of a new global constitution, but anyway, streaming for some regulation of global society appears. We think that there were several important formulations to whose benefit should global constitution be: the ‘citizen’; the ‘free person’; corporate actors playing in spaces between people? New world’s constitution could stress the following issues: space - free of boundary, time - future generation, social - human rights, housing, planning; cultural - qualities of environment and behavior; information - access to information; animals - animals’ rights. All these issues of Global constitution are applicable to the relationships among local community, tourists and landscape. On the other hand, the question how to make decisions, who is authorize to make them and where we are now in the process of establishing responsible global society still appears.