Lovley Hula Hands

The movie discusses the long term impacts of tourism on cultures, economies, and on the environment. It uses dramatic examples from several beach parties such as Thailand’s Koh Pha Ngan Island. With large amounts of litter lining the shore, the film suggests that the financial benefits of tourism will not work without a proper development plan. The story starts and ends in Bolivia focusing on the impact of the autobiographical book “Lost in the Jungle”. In 1981, Ghinsberg gets lost in the Bolivian jungles. He miraculously survives despite near death experiences. His tale of survival has lured many other adventure travelers to Bolivia, creating pressure to the country’s tourism industry. From the jungles of Bolivia, to the deserts of Timbuktu, Mali, we see breathtaking views of how tourism has affected society. The film follows the well-worn gringo trail travel route in Latin America and beyond, revealing a complex web of relationships between that cultures which collide yet require one another. Finally, the movie reveals certain sustainable alternatives to tourism.

Reclaiming of language also contributes to the reclaiming of land. Nowadays, tourism weighs heavily upon the shoulders of the Natives. By using the lure of beautiful sandy beaches, exotic foods and language, and stereotypes of dancers in grass skirts companies are able to attract tourists from all over the world. According to Trask, “Hawai’i suffers six and a half million tourists annually, over 30 visitors for every Native Hawaiian” (50). This overwhelming number drastically outweighs the number of Hawaiians, and creates overpopulated areas as well as outrageous increases in the cost of

Hawaii is a beautiful island and it didn’t take long for people to realize it could be a lucrative business venture. Hawaii’s tourism began, as “bourgeois desires for contact with the rejuvenating "primitive"” became something that interested

The presence of hotel casinos in Hawaii will deteriorate and draw away from the beauty and the culture of the islands that visitors come to see. Year-round warm climate and the inviting outdoors of the playful ocean and mountainous scenery attract people to the tropics of Hawaii. Along with this, another

The annexationist put bands on practices such as, ‘olelo Hawai'i (Hawaiian language) and hula, taking away everything that had formed the identity of Hawai‘i and it’s people. “Children were harshly punished for speaking Hawaiian in school. At Kamehameha schools, even the letters of boarders to their parents were opened to censor use of Hawaiian” (‘Aha Pūnana Leo). The discrimination of the Native Hawaiian culture created a world where Hawaiian children grew up ashamed and confused about their own traditional practices. Over time Hawaiians have been able to revive tradition and language. Practitioners have brought back native practices in hopes to just preserve Hawaiian culture. Hula and Hawaiian music became popular during World War II because of the booming tourism industry. The melting pot of the Pacific has drawn visitors from around the world. According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, in their 2015 Annual Visitor Research Report, a record total of 8,679,564 visitors arrived by air or by cruise ships to the Hawaiian Islands in 2015 (p 2). Some visitors have come and decided to make Hawai‘i their home. This multiculturalism has been proved to be a great obstacle for Hawaiian culture. In an interview with Napua Nakasone, she describes her experience in attending a public discussion about the Kuahu (Hawaiian altar), there she sat on the discussion panel. “I expected to see Hawaiians

“The attraction of Hawai’i is stimulated by slick Hollywood movies, saccharine Andy Williams music, and the constant psychological deprivations of maniacal American life,” states Trask. “Tourists flock to my Native land for escape, but they are escaping into a state of mind while participating in the destruction of a host people in a Native place.”

If this problem continues to grow, then Hawaii's economy will be greatly impacted as well. For instance, if we lose our culture the tourist which is Hawaii's main source of income will stop coming here for vacation causing Hawaii to lose lots of money. However over the years Hawaii has made many unique solutions to this growing problem. In this paper you will learn

American tourism to Hawaii has increased by 14.2 percent in just two years. This dramatic increase in tourism seems to be a beneficial boost for Hawaii's economy; however, the increasing rate of tourism is harming the native people of Hawaii. While the Hawaiian economy is experiencing one of its most fruitful years, the native Hawaiian people are suffering from job loss, poverty, depression, and an overall "cultural destruction" (Trask 260). Haunani-Kay Trask uses rhetoric to discuss these harmful effects in her essay "Tourist, Stay Home" in order to persuade her readers into believing that tourism can actually be a bad thing for an economy. On the other hand, in his article "Surf's Up for the Economy in Hawaii," Jim

Perpetuating Hawaiian hula dancers as a feminine, yet immoral, and concurrently portraying American men as respectable and honorable demonstrates the influence of American presence in the Hawaiian Islands. The exotification of hula dancing as a function of the white male gaze facilitated settler colonialism. Hula dancers, as an example of sexual violence and exploitation, “behave in a manner that is smutty and salacious rather than powerfully erotic. The distance between the smutty and the erotic is precisely the distance between Western culture and Hawaiian culture” (Trask, 191). Among military men, the mere act of cultural and sexual expression is translated into pleasurable entertainment for the male consumer. In turn, the cost of turning hula dancing into accessible entertainment allows military men to establish their superiority and dominance by marginalizing Hawaiian women who are seen as weak and submissive entertainers. An ancient form of dance with deep spiritual meaning, has been made ornamental, a form of exotica for the white male

Once we got to the museum, we were all impressed at how well the museum was put together; walking through the hallways and being surrounded by the walls of beautiful murals and assortments of life-like replicas made it a much more engaging museum going experience. We were welcomed by a video portraying some of the spiritual stories of how the Earth was created, that also emphasized the significance of fire to their people. Later that night we were lucky enough to attend The Cherokee Historical Association’s play Unto These Hills, which was a drama that followed the story of the Cherokee of the eastern region up to their removal in 1838. I couldn’t help but notice how, while undoubtedly educational, both the exhibits and the play seemed theatrical and mainly catered to the enjoyment of the tourist. I saw young boys playing dress up with traditional headdresses and families coming in looking to be entertained, and I began to see for myself one of the main points our required reading emphasized of the negative side of tourism. The reading states, “Tourism- especially mass tourism- is institutional racism and discrimination at its worst as people go away in search of a different experience from their ‘normal’ lives. Most tourists are

When one looks at the social and economic indicators of well-being, the conclusion is clear. Tourism has not benefited the host Native Hawaiian people and it probably never will. To understand this, one must understand that Hawaii today is at the mercy of transnational interests. Foreign investment related to tourism went from 70.8 million dollars in 1981 to over a billion and a half in 1986. The increase is enough to make anyone’s head spin and confirms the vulnerability of Hawaii and Hawaii’s people. Japanese investment in leading the pack has plunked down over 3 billion dollars for hotels alone in a time period of eighteen years ending 1989. The Australians are far behind the second place with 117 million. Today, almost every major hotel is owned by foreign investors and almost every hotel on the drawing board is being funded by foreign investment. The rapid and phenomenal increase of foreign investment is the clearest indication that any consideration of the short and long term negative impact of tourism is of no consequence to those involved in the industry.

This kind of growth doesn’t happen without displacing land, people, animals, etc. Land based resources, people’s culture and historical symbols are often the victims of tourism development in Hawaii. Many of the major resorts have been built on culturally significant sites. Construction of tourist related businesses have played a huge part in the destruction of ancient Hawaiian burial grounds, archaeological historic sites and sacred places. In fact, on the island of Kauai, a well-known ancient Hawaiian burial ground was excavated to make room for a huge condominium resort project. Out of 22 acres of sacred burial grounds, only a one acre parcel was left, and human remains were displaced and moved to make room for the project. This was devastating to the native Hawaiians who had loved ones buried there for centuries, but seemed to be insignificant to the tourism industry that seemed only to be worried about their new project and making money. Hundreds of other cultural and historic sites have been bulldozed to make way for hotels and golf course developments without regard for the environmental effects of their actions. In addition to disrupting the environment with huge new buildings, many other sites such as ancient temples, house sites, fishing shrines, ceremonial platforms and agricultural have been turned into tourist attractions and have been misused, abused and disrespected by tourism. This is

In Elayne Zorn’s book of community based tourism in Peru, Weaving the future, Tourism, Cloth, and Culture on an Andean Island, Zorn talks about the successful efforts of the Taquileans in managing their lands and culture. Zorn discusses the gendered divisions of labor as well as the issues of cultural identity of the indigenous people of the Andes and Taquile. The book offers an anthropological view of one of the best-managed community based tourism destination in South America, Taquile Island. Zorn offers her observation of Taquile’s progress as a community tourist destination, offering her personal observations of the development of tourism in Taquile as well as in the Andes.

Hawaii, also known as the “Aloha State” is located North of the Pacific Ocean and is known for its beautiful views, lush environment, and most of all, for its traditional dance, the Hula dance. The misconception that I have, along with many other people, is that this dance mainly involves moving your arms and hips from side to side in a peaceful manner. To me, hula dancing is being performed during a luau with instrumental calming music and the dancers are swaying to the beat. In other forms, it can also be very fast paced with the dancers moving their hips in a very quick motion. When I think of Hula dancers in Hawaii I envision that the people performing the dance are happy because it is a celebration of their culture and history. People often forget the importance of hula dancing because tourism and popular culture, therefore it is not appreciated in the form that it should be. Thesis: This essay will look at the cultural importance of the hula dance by evaluating all of its history, variety, and presentation forms.

Mindless, repetitive locals performing once sacred and revered ceremonies now on a daily basis is nothing tourists think about when they vacation to culturally “preserved” areas, yet this unintended cultural destruction is unfortunately the blatant truth. Due to recent travel restrictions lifted by President Barack Obama, Cuba is now open to American citizens to vacation. Whether for the better or worse, new tourism within a previously undisturbed area such as Havana, Cuba, is liable to have significant effects on the social, economical, and environmental aspects of their culture.