Toffler wants an end to mass tourism
By Rita Widiadana and R. Fadjri
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Futurologist Alvin Toffler yesterday called for an end to "mass tourist industry", claiming it destroys a nation's cultural heritage.
Speaking at the opening of the International Conference on Tourism and Heritage Management here yesterday, Toffler said "mass" tourism was a product of a society heavily influenced by industrialization and capitalism.
The three-day conference was opened by State Minister of Population Haryono Suyono in a colorful ceremony at the Balai Senat (Senate Hall) of Gadjah Mada University.
Wearing traditional Indonesian costumes, dozens of school children from Yogyakarta International School welcomed 317 local and foreign participants, including tourism experts, archaeologists and anthropologists.
Toffler said mass tourism aimed to attract more and more tourists to a country for money.
"The mass tourist industry is amazing. It absorbs more than 240 million human resources worldwide. But could we maintain this industry without affecting both cultural and environmental aspects?" Toffler said.
The information era is affecting tourism, and rapid development of information technology, mass production and mass education have changed dramatically, he said.
"People are looking for something unique, special," Toffler said.
A few years ago, he introduced the "home-office revolution" concept which advocates that people work at home using personal computers, facsimile machines and other modern equipment.
"Most American people mocked my ideas then, but now almost 30 million Americans are working individually at home. They are not working in a large group," he said.
On tourism, Toffler said "demassification," a trend toward individualism, is occurring.
He said people were tiring of mass tourism, and that they were looking for "niche" holidays.
"Many tourists ask for unique things and they are eager to learn about a country's culture before they visit it," he said.
"Mass tourist industry will result in immediate profit but in the long run it will ruin a country's natural and cultural heritage," he told The Jakarta Post.
Edi Sediawati, the Ministry of Education and Culture's director general of culture, gave a speech yesterday, calling for a proper sociocultural approach to tourism.
"Without this approach, the tourist industry may destroy our culture," she said.
She acknowledged that although a sociocultural approach had been tried, traditional culture was still at risk.
She commended traditional art festivals such as the Lake Toba Festival in North Sumatra.
But in their rush to meet tourists' demands and be creative, festival organizers often misinterpret or misrepresent the philosophy behind cultural performances.
"Many of these people do not fully understand the aesthetic meaning of many ethnic groups' culture, and local artists can then become 'cultural victims'," she said.
Famous American anthropologist Clifford Geertz said tourism should be culturally productive as well as economically productive.
He said anthropologists, archaeologists, site managers, tour planners and other experts should cooperate to help decision- makers run a balanced and sustainable tourist industry.