Reference no: EM133207434

Discussion

Question 1.

Among the Toraja people of Sulawesi, Indonesia, not all was going well with tourism. In fact, resentment became so great over the way in which sacred funeral ceremonies were being adapted to meet tourists' needs that in the late 1980s, a number of Toraja communities simply refused to accept tourists. The result is that host communities find culture and traditions under threat from the purchasing power of the tourism industry. Neither are tourists better off from the cultural viewpoint. Instead of getting rich and authentic cultural insights and experiences, tourists get staged authenticity; instead of getting exotic culture, they get kitsch. Question: Within the context of the narrative presented above, discuss four cultural differences (Scollon and Scollon, 1995) that may have prompted the Toraja communities to resist the threats posed by tourism.

Question 2.

In many Muslim countries, strict standards exist regarding the appearance and behavior of Muslim women, who must carefully cover themselves in public. Tourists in these countries often disregard or are unaware of these standards, ignoring the prevalent dress code, appearing half-dressed (by local standards) in revealing shorts, skirts or even bikinis, sunbathing topless at the beach or consuming large quantities of alcohol openly. Besides creating ill-will, this kind of behavior can be an incentive for locals not to respect their own traditions and religion anymore, leading to tensions within the local community. The same types of culture clashes happen in conservative Christian communities in Polynesia, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.