In her essay, “Last Resorts: The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean”, journalist Polly Pattullo presents an inside view of the resort industry in the Caribbean Islands, and how it truly operates. Tourism is the main industry of the Caribbean, formerly referred to as the West Indies, and it is the major part of the economy there. Pattullo’s essay mirrors the ideas of Trevor M.A. Farrell’s perspective “Decolonization in the English-Speaking Caribbean” in which he writes about the implicit meaning of the colonial condition. Pattollo’s essay illustrates that colonialism is present in the Caribbean tourism industry by comparing the meaning of it presented in Farrell’s perspective. In this essay I will explain how these two essays explain how …show more content…
Pattullo’s report explains how most of the control of the economy and commerce in the Caribbean is in the large corporations that operate there but are located in other foreign countries. Comparing to Farrell’s account, she explains this by showing how the tourism industry is run and operated there. Farrell justifies reference to colonialism in the Caribbean. He describes colonization as a lack of control over that country’s own movement or development (political, economic, or cultural). Even though tourism is the dominant industry in the Caribbean, it’s not operated where it enables the people there to have control over their economic movement or development. It is the larger airlines and hotel chains that dominate the tourism.
The airline industry also contributes to exploitation in the region. For instance, the airline companies that operate most of the trips in and out of the Caribbean are large foreign-owned airlines that practically have a monopoly on seats sold, and have the say as to when flights are scheduled. There is not much opportunity for other regionally owned airlines to gain a market share of this segment of the tourism economy. In her essay, Pattullo explains, “In 1992, foreign airlines controlled nearly three-quarters of the seats to the region, with American Airlines alone picking up more than half of those seats. American Airlines, KLM, British Airways, Air France (the last three reflecting old colonial links), and
Trask is able to use logos to prove how tourism has affected the Hawaiian culture. Trask refers to Hawaii as a “She” who “Rubs off” on the visitor with her magical presence. The beauty of Hawaii is used as an escape from “Rawness and violence” for most Americans though, Trask mentions that the land has a “Western sexual sickness” (Trask 1993). “Of course, all this hype is necessary to hide the truth about tourism, the awful exploitative truth that the industry is the major cause of environmental degradation, low wages, land dispossession, and the highest cost of living in the United States” (Trask 1993). Trask says that the areas of Hawaii which were “sacred” to the Hawaiian’s have now been turned into top of the line hotels. The beaches that were once full of fishermen and their nets are used for recreational activities like surfing getting a tan and jet skiing. On most of the beaches owned by resorts, the beaches are reserved for hotel residences only. In the essay, Trask gives the readers logos as to how tourism is changing the land. For example, thirty years ago the ratio of Hawaiians outnumbered the tourist 2:1. Today,
A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author’s hometown. Kincaid places the reader in the shoes of the tourist, and tells the tourist what he/she would see through his/her travels on the island. She paints a picturesque scene of the tourist’s view of Antigua, but stains the image with details of issues that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of the so-called native food, the inefficiency of the plumbing systems in resorts, and the glitches in the health care system. Kincaid was an established writer for The New Yorker when she wrote this book, and it can be safely assumed that majority of her readers had, at some point in their lives, been tourists. I have been a
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
Sugarcoating the problem of Haiti’s image and tourism industry must be genuine and for that it should be more than nice-looking pictures. It needs to start with getting real ourselves and acknowledging that we have issues that beautiful sceneries and beaches alone won’t change. A prosperous Haiti open for business should also include achieving political stability, rebuilding our infrastructures and raising awareness about the importance of education and by promoting self-reliability to an uneducated population that relies mostly on the diaspora to consume since their own government with zero concern has failed them, grounding NGO’s and “messiah’s” with no regulation using the situation to make profit. Without all these changes tourism, will only be an ideal since a country cannot solely rely on tourism as its primary source of revenue, especially since the
The Butler Model expresses a very generalised idea of what stages a country might go through when developing into a tourism industry. The Butler Model shows the development through each stage until the country reaches stagnation. In this essay I look specifically at each stage of the Butler Model with reference to Antigua.
High in the Andean mountain range, nestled on a ridge between two mountains high above the valley floor below sits the amazing city and archaeological site of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is about 1400 kilometers south of the Equator on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes. The site lies near the head waters of the Amazon River and is on the ridge between two prominent mountain peaks – Machu Picchu and Hauyna Picchu – about 500 meters above the valley bottom (Wright and Kenneth, 2-3). Machu Picchu, believed to be the royal estate of the Inca ruler Pachacuti, is the most well-known of all the Inca archaeological sites. Professor Hiram Bingham discovered the site in July of 1911 and excavated it with the help of National Geographic and
Eric William in chapters seven and nine of his book, “From Columbus to Castro”, provides his readers with an in-depth knowledge about the political and economic history of the Caribbean. Eric William gives his readers the story of how Europeans “discovered” the Caribbean and how they governed it. Thus the various events that took place right from the time of Christopher Columbus, focusing on the colonial sweepstakes pursued by France, England, the Netherlands, Spain, and Denmark. The main idea of chapter seven is how the Caribbean came to be the cock pit of European rivalry and wars in the latter parts of the fifteenth century up to the eighteenth century, an interesting tale of adventure, greed and cruelty. What William offers
In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid criticizes tourists for being heartless and ignorant to the problems that the people of Antigua had and the sacrifices that had to be made to make Antigua a tremendous tourist/vacation spot. While Kincaid makes a strong argument, her argument suggests that she doesn't realize what tourism is for the tourists. In other words, tourism is an escape for those who are going on vacation and the tourists are well within their rights to be “ignorant”, especially because no one is telling them what is wrong with Antigua.
Nonetheless, since an overwhelming majority of the industry is owned and managed by foreign operators, the social and economic contribution to the Galapagos Islands are minimal; “[w]hile foreign visitors outnumber domestic tourists almost four to one, […] just 15.1 percent of the foreign expenditures stayed in the Galapagos local economy, compared to 95.2 percent of the money spent by Ecuadorians” (130-1). Both mass tourism and ecotourism can arguably provide an excellent opportunity for development, but their negative impact is sure to be seen, and could potentially outweigh the benefits that they have brought.
American airline industry is steadily growing at an extremely strong rate. This growth comes with a number economic and social advantage. This contributes a great deal to the international inventory. The US airline industry is a major economic aspect in both the outcome on other related industries like tourism and manufacturing of aircraft and its own terms of operation. The airline industry is receiving massive media attention unlike other industries through participating and making of government policies. As Hoffman and Bateson (2011) show the major competitors include Southwest Airlines, Delta Airline, and United Airline.
Tourism is an endeavour sought by an individual or a party of individuals, which leads to a movement from one place to another with the idealism of a specific task, to visit a place or several places with the primary purpose of achieving entertainment and increasing knowledge of countries, cultures, and their history. The expression ‘largest industry in the world’ is universally used with mention to tourism, ensuring its recognition as the largest generator of wealth (over 11.7% of the global gross domestic product) and employment (7% of the world’s jobs); this shows that tourism is indeed an important industry that depends on culture and legacy.(Budeanu, 2002) Vancouver is feasibly one of the most prevalent tourist destinations in Canada
During a recent visit to Jamaica, I observed a number of resorts that themed their golf courses and pools after the old sugar plantations of the island. As the sun-burnt American and British children splashed among the recreation of the 'old mill', local Jamaicans in floral uniforms served drinks to the adults lounging by the pool. The association between the plantation and the modern resort did not appear to disturb the tourists relaxing in the sun. And why should it? This is
This paper explores a great number of academic research journals and databases on the impact that the tourism industry has on the countries in the Caribbean. Tourism impacts the Caribbean in three different sections. Tourism has a social impact that allows for increases in revenue, jobs, and service for the people living there. Tourism’s cultural impact allows the history and heritage of the Caribbean to be acknowledged and practiced not only here but around the world as tourists come and go. Tourism’s environmental impact effects the natural and geographical diversity that can only be found in these countries. Although tourism brings about many advantages in all three categories, there are still negatives attributes that appear from tourism that must be handled properly to maintain a successful industry. This paper examines 12 different research journals that suggest all of the positives and negatives of tourism in the Caribbean and how they can effect not only the tourism industry but the area in which they are practiced.
Another aspect of impact of tourism on a country’s economy is that it facilitates the expansion of the market of goods and services. Foreigners come to a country willing to spend money on different goods and services, thus increasing the amounts of sales. This is a great chance for producers and service providers to receive larger profits. This concerns not only hoteliers, tour operators, and souvenir shops owners. Public transportation, retail stores of different kind, restaurants, and cafes benefit from international tourism. Obviously, if these industries are in demand, businesses will be expanding. On the one hand, it means that more money is paid to the budget. On the other hand, profits generated by the owners are spent inside the country, affecting almost all the fields of the
“To what extent can it be argued that genocide and revolution are central themes in Caribbean History?”