This sounds obvious but I am not sure we are all able to answer that question After all, both the expatriate and the tourist are in a country that does not match the country of their passports and both may have a tourist visa anyway. And regarding the duration of the stay abroad, a tourist who has taken root is not necessarily an expat. And if you want my opinion, I would say that expatriates usually focus on similarities while tourists tend to put their fingers on singularities. I could also add: expats do not take time to visit the country while tourists do not have time enough, tourists often complain whereas expats usually try to explain, etc.
According to the World Tourism Organization, tourists are people who “travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”. On the other hand, an expatriate may be defined as a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. Hum … I am not sure those definitions are really helpful.
If we refer to the role played by tourists and expatriates in the host country, we may suggest that tourists are only consumers while expatriates have also producing activities. Hence the negative image of tourists (often considered as parasites, polluters or looters) and the necessity to promote sustainable consumption of tourism resources as much as sustainable production.
I am always surprised to notice that whenever people talk about sustainable tourism, they usually focus on the supply (hotels, resorts, destinations, etc.) and rarely on the demand, as if tourists were just victims of a system they cannot control.
Following the release of the study “Is there a demand for Sustainable Tourism” conducted by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in preparation for the World Tourism Forum Lucerne 2011 (see my former post), I have started discussions about the subject on some Linkedin groups, including “A Vision for Sustainable Tourism”. The topic of the discussions was “Sustainable Tourism as an Interesting Market Niche?”, a title borrowed from the article of Hospitality.net related to the study. I had added an interrogation point in order to make sure this is not an assumption but some people prefered to ignore it.
Though the discussion could have quickly died in the egg (French expression that I do not need to explain) due to the apparent absurdity of its subject, it turned out that the participants (including myself hehe) really succeeded in elevating the debate to higher levels. I therefore take the opportunity of this post to share some comments I found interesting and constructive. I will of course mention the authors of the comments and I hope they will consider it as a tribute and not as a copyright violation.
I must confess that I have started to put oil on the fire (I must have been in a mischievous mood the day I wrote the following …):
“The more I am involved in sustainable tourism, the less I feel comfortable with the terminology. I even feel that sustainable tourism may be an oxymoron.
First of all, tourism can be many things at the same time: an industry, a market, a economic sector, a human activity (e.g. the World Tourism Organization defines tourism from a demand perspective), a right, etc.
Then we add 'sustainable' to tourism and we get something quite confusing: sustainable tourism can be a vision, a mission, a business strategy, a market segment (a niche one), a lifestyle, a marketing argument (a promise), a development approach, an utopy etc.
I think that most important in sustainable approches may be the notion of resources (natural, cultural, climate, human, economic, etc;): consumption of tourism resources, development and management of tourism resources, reduction of negative impacts on resources, creation of economic resources, investments on resources, etc. I therfore think that UNEP's approach of sustainable tourism may be one of the most relevant.
Anyway, why should tourists pay more for sustainable tourism and why should sustainability be a luxury while sustainable approches often help reduce costs ? If the cost of pollution and the cost of negative impacts were included in the price of tourism products, then sustainable tourism products would be cheaper.
Since there is no tourism without tourists, I guess there is no sustainable tourism without sustainable tourists. And I therefore think responsible tourism may be a better terminology.
Sorry if I am even more confusing ...”
And I particularly liked the following comments:
“I could not agree more with the statement that there is no sustainable tourism without sustainable tourists. As long as we do not involve tourists in any sustainable tourism development, we shall remain stuck half way and not be solving the problems our future generations need to see solved.
As long as we consider tourism to be a primarily economic activity, but we do not book the loss of nature or bio-diversity as an economic loss, there is little point in discussing who will pay for mitigating the effects.
While before the 1960s tourism was a foremost social activity, it developedf during the second half of the 20st century in a mere economic one. Not until now we are in an era which is sometimes described as post-modern, whereby the social-psychological aspect is becoming more important, whereby tourists should be seen as responsible people and not as clients only worth their money.
Some of these ideas have been further developed at: http://www.tourismtheories.org/?p=905
Thanks for turning a potentially boring discussion in a very interesting one!”
From Marinus C. Gisolf
And this one:
“Well I hope I am not too late to make some comments too! I pioneered community tourism internationally in 1978 as a brand name in order to encourage a more responsible approach towards tourism development and marketing a country with the involvement and participation of the communities towards entrepreneurship projects within their own environment. Then came sustainable tourism as the approach internationally and we endorsed this until I noted that it was being presented as a 'niche market' and this was not consistent with the mission and aims and objectives of community tourism. In my country too, many public and private sector persons were promoting community tourism also as a niche market along with eco-tourism, cultural tourism etc and I formed an organization called Countrystyle Community Tourism Network as a business enterprise to provide business development, marketing, training and facilitating low interest and grant funding support.
This was supported and endorsed by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) which also formed the IIPT Community Tourism Network and appointed me their Co-cordinator and the IIPT Caribbean chapter which I am the President of. We have held several conferences and Seminars to educate everyone that community tourism, sustainable tourism and now responsible tourism are all the same but they are not niche markets but the way tourism and community-based tourism niche markets are encouraged: eco-tourism, cultural tourism, heritage tourism, cuisine tourism, health and wellness tourism, beach tourism etc but they all must be developed in a sustainable responsible community way!
We have now created the IIPT Caribbean/Countrystyle Tourism Village programme which we have branded Villages as Businesses and already seeing the positive results of community leaders taking a responsible approach towards the development of their villages without depending on politicians (but understanding that they are important partners) and others once they are trained in business development, environmental awareness, basic hospitality skills, entrepreneurship, art and craft, organic farming etc - we have in fact created an economic model for community development with tourism as the driver and developed exciting community experience vacations and tours over the past 15 years which includes 'pick a project' and 'adopt a village' while on Vacation and this encourages more visitors to become partners and friends which equals repeat business.
Anyone wishing more information on our programme can email me at:
iiptcaribbean@yahoo.com or call me at 876-488-7207.”
From Diana McIntyre-Pike, BSc, O.D.
Now let me mention some other findings in March and April.
I have had many opportunities to learn new things over the last months. For example, I have learnt how to use social networking as a marketing tool and not only for the fun. I have therefore spent a lot of time on the Internet, Google, Twitter, Netvibes, Linked, Hotmail, Gmail and Blogger, absorbing, digesting and sharing information. I have also been busy meeting new people on the web and in real life, processing personal and professional requests, receiving visitors (yes, tourists!) from France, headhunting and job hunting, developing business, etc. And as a result, I have not had much time to produce personal posts for my blog. Not that many people care …
Well, there is at least one person who cared and accused me of misleading people and pretending I was the author of all the posts I shared on my blog. Well, it hurt me since I do not see myself as an imposter or a plagiarist and I usually mention my sources and credit the authors of the articles I post. However, I really would like to apologize if I was not clear enough about that.
But as my father used to say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Talking about hell, I think I really need a break these days. I need to be in a place where I can get rid of my ceaseless drive to be in: informed, in touch, interested, in tune, etc. I need what I cannot find in Seoul: detachment, time for myself, change of scenery, exoticism ... Well, I actually to be a tourist again ! And for this, I need to take a vacation ! Is it too much to ask ? Apparently, yes.
First of all, Korea is the most connected country in the world and I virtually don’t know anybody in Seoul who does not have at least one email address, juniors and seniors included. Now that nearly everybody (but me) has an Iphone, people are getting used to staying connected on a permanent basis, wherever they are, whatever they do and whenever they want it (or not). And when I see (or hear) all those Korean women answering the phone in the restrooms (must be the same for men but I have not checked), I think I need to travel abroad (not only because of that phony situation).
I can’t imagine myself not checking my emails at least 10 times a day. But most of the time, I wish I had not turned my computer on because it usually involves more things to do, endless googling and surfing and getting lost on the Social media. The best solution to stop all this is therefore to get a recess outside Korea so that I have a chance to stay away from easily available technology.
The problem is, vacation is a bad word in Korea, one of OECD's countries with the longest (but not the most productive) working hours. On the other, my father also used to say: you cannot have your cake and eat it. In French we actually: you can’t have the butter, the money of butter and the smile (if I stay polite) of the dairywoman. I know I ca't be both a tourist and a expatriate in Korea but how can I talk about tourism if I do not have any practical experience of it?
So finally, what have I found these last months?
Thanks to my mother, I have learnt that our world would end on December 21st 2012. She had called on the occasion of the tragic events of Fukushima, probably to make me relativize. I have checked this information about this 2012 story on the Internet and it seems many people agree with my mother. And this makes me relativize.
Check one of the many videos about December 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11iCmzGnOI8 or learn more about the Web Bot project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Bot, a fascinating initiative probably inspired by Murphy’s law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy
But as my father used to say: fear does not prevent danger and instead of fearing globally, we should act locally and even individually. So it is may be time we should also change the usual Think Global, Act Local for Think Local, Act Global as many people suggest. Or may I suggest to think AND act locally? ok, just trying to challenge my perspectives these days.
I have read the book The Room by Emma Donoghue and I am still haunted by the amazing story it tells. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/01/room-emma-donoghue-review-fritzl
Ah! And I also realized once again how nice it was to live in a clean and safe city. I lost my wallet in the bus last month and thanks to the driver and a Korean friend, I could get it back the day after. I still believe that bus is the most uncomfortable means of transport in Seoul but it is also the most educative about the Korean society.
That's all folks !
