Toffler wants an end to mass tourism
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.