Tourism through local eyes
Most talk about tourism starts with the tourist and where to go, what to see and how much it costs. The people who live in a destination experience it differently. Tourists arrive in their streets, shops, churches and villages, stay for a while, and then leave. Meanwhile the jobs, customs and sometimes the rights of local people can change for good.
Try a See-Think-Wonder on the three photos. See: what do you notice in each one? Think: what does each photo suggest about tourism and the people who live there? Wonder: what questions does it raise for you?
Share your ideas with your group or class.
The people who live in a tourist area are called the host community. Some host communities are indigenous peoples, like the Dani in the first photo.
The local people who live in a place that tourists visit.
Groups whose traditional way of life belongs to a particular place, such as the Dani of the Baliem Valley in Highland Papua, Indonesia.
The daily life, traditions, customs and beliefs of a group of people.
Tourism affects host communities in two big ways. It changes how they earn a living, and it changes their socio-culture.
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