AUTHOR:Mick Smith and Rosaleen Duffy
PUBLISHER: Routledge
DATE: 2003
PAPER: Virgin fiber
PAGES: 208
PRICE: $29.95
Ah vacation, relaxing on the beach, sipping tropical drinks . . . polluting the local ground water. Yes, it’s true. Tourism has a dark side. The question
posed by this book is whether or not it’s possible to pack our morals beside our
swimsuits.
These days we’re always popping over to the Caribbean or taking a holiday in
Tuscany. But what impact does our collective desire to get away from it all have
on the local peoples, cultures, and environments we encounter? According to the
authors, our self-centered motives, which they say drive the tourism trade, make us consumers
of faked culture who turn a blind eye to poverty and political injustices.
In light of the recent report from Conservation International and the United
Nations Environment Program which says the tourism boom is ruining sensitive
ecosystems, the book’s topic is timely. Yet, should you tackle this text, be
prepared for a lengthy (and overly academic) discussion of the nuisances of
ethics and a generally pessimistic view.
The book offers a few disturbing anecdotes--Mount Everest climbers ignoring
dying hikers--and raises a couple intriguing questions--can market-based
conservation jive with animal rights? But as a whole the work is heavy on
theory and light on case studies or conclusions. It does offer a framework
for understanding the morality of tourism, while leaving it up to the reader
to pass judgment on whether or not an ethical vacation exists.
--Avery Yale Kamila
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