Deep Thoughts - Zero Impact Tourism?

The body travels more easily than the mind, and until we have limbered up our imagination we continue to think as though we had stayed at home. We have not really budged a step until we take up residence in someone else's point of view.
-- John Erskine

As tourists, we wield tremendous responsibilty towards the cultures that we visit and observe. The ideal tourist is invisible, and completely non-intrusive, having absolutely no impact on the people that he or she travels amongst. This is, of course, impossible because tourists are not invisible - in fact they tend to stand out like scarecrows in a rice field. Therefore the next best thing is minimum impact tousrism.

What is low impact tourism?

Low or Minimum impact tourism is when the tourists try and minimize their impact on local culture by following some very simple guidelines concerning their behaviour and interaction in foreign cultures.

Why is it needed? Is there indeed effect on local cultures?

It is surprising how blind and unconcerned the average tourist is on the effect their presence has on cultures they visit. We vitnessed this when visiting many countries where we saw western tourists walking around in skimpy tops and shorts while the locals show no skin at all. It is very important to realise that since the average tourist is generally extremely wealthy compared to locals, the locals tend to mimic habits and mannerisms thinking this makes them more equal. The very culture that you come to visit (and therefore value) is being slowly but surely changed by your very presence.

Another thing we noticed is that tourists often carry candy and small 'gifts' like pens etc to hand out to little children along the way. This is a despicable habit as it cultivates handouts and begging and soon the kids trail along with all tourists, expecting candy or pens from them. If tourists feel they need to encourage the kids to go to school, there are better ways to do this than to hand them pens - which doesn't encourage them to go to school anyway, just providing self gratification to the giver. Instead, giving to the school system, or helping to elevate the standard of living so that kids don't have to work in the fields to support the families is a better (tougher and not with immediate results) way to help out. Providing a handout (any kind!) is the worst form of misplaced altruism.

Another thing that happens not so often is that visitors take it upon themselves to pontificate and preach their "right" way of life and thought on locals. We ourselves fell into this once in Tanzania, where we lectured a young man (Anselm) on what the youth in Africa should do, and what they shouldn't do. In retrospect this was really arrogant and downright disrespectful and shameful - criminally so! Being tourists, ours was the role of observers, not meddlers. This world has no dearth of well-meaning meddlers who have little care or respect for peoples right of self determination. A small victory won by ones own initiative is much more valuable than a large one handed on a platter. Besides history has shown that the latter always backfire in time. The best help one can give impoverished nations is to relax the economic stranglehold placed on them by greedy economic powers and give them room to grow on their own, not via 'aid' that is more harmful than narcotics!

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