Tourism is no longer simply an innocent pleasure, but has been reinterpreted as damaging to cultures and to the environment. ‘New’ forms of tourism, such as ecotourism, alternative tourism, community tourism and ethical tourism, have been presented as morally superior alternatives to the package holiday. Ironically though, even advocates of the new, ethical tourism brands are increasingly subject to criticisms, not dissimilar to those that they themselves level against package holidays.
The Moralisation of Tourism puts today’s critique of tourism in historical context, and outlines a distinctly moral conception of modern tourism, identifying a ‘New Moral Tourist’, by drawing on a range of contemporary examples. It is a wide-ranging critique, looking at both the effect the New
Moral Tourism has on the holidaymaker, and the effect it has on the host societies in terms of development opportunities. Travel that is ‘nonintrusive’and ‘low impact’ is seen as a way of reconnecting with nature and rediscovering lost truths. However, not only does this deference to the
destination create new barriers between people – people who are defined by their differences rather than what they have in common – but it also has a
negative impact in the field of development.
The Moralisation of Tourism critiques a number of assumptions that are rarely challenged – that the package tourism boom has been destructive and
that nature-based tourism is somehow ‘ethical’. It argues that eco-friendly and culturally concerned tourism is based on the false premises of environmental and cultural fragility, and of a surfeit of individual freedom for tourists. Using a host of international examples from the industry, the media
and non-governmental organisations, Jim Butcher examines what the advocates of ‘new tourism’ see as being wrong with Mass Tourism, looks critically
at the claims made for the new alternatives and makes a case for guilt-free holidays. |