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Author : Peter Varga
School/Work Place : Ecole Hoteliere Lausanne, Switzerland
Contact : peter.varga@ehl.ch
Year : 2013

The question how native societies cope with the increasing pressure of global values, such as sustainability, westernization and democratic institutions has been asked in the last decades (Smith, 1989; Honey, 1999; Nash, 2001; Honey, 2008). Ecuador, as an important tourism destination in South America, has focused on eco-oriented tourism practices since the last decade of the 20th Century. Due to this increased global interest in the country’s diverse natural and cultural settings, ethnic groups in tourism destinations have experienced the growing demand for sociocultural adaptation not only to the tourists’ behaviors and expectations (Doxey, 1976) but also to the organizational strategies of the external stakeholders. As one of the central interests in the discipline of anthropology of tourism, various scholars have been focusing on the impacts of today’s tourism practices in the host populations (Chambers, 1997; Burns, 1999; Mowforth and Munt, 2009; Macleod and Carrier, 2010).

The present research is interested in how a local, indigenous community, the Siona in the Ecuadorian Amazon, has been experiencing the growing presence of the externally-led tourism practices in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, Ecuador. Tourism statistics show a sixty-three-fold increase in tourist arrivals between 1984 and 2010, indicating an important growth in the sector (Ecuadorian Ministry of Tourism, 2010). The author of this paper carried out several anthropological field-works in the area since 2001 (twelve months in 2001 and some shorter periods afterwards), with the objective to understand the current changes in the locals’ social structure due to, primarily, the increasing presence of non-native tourism actors in the reserve and second, the growing competition for tourism revenues not only between indigenous communities, but also within native families. The research highlights the growing lack of “interactive-participation” of the natives in tourism dynamics (Pretty, 1995). As one of the various responses from the Siona in front of this degrading situation, some families established a new community and started to revitalize certain traditional practices as authentic elements of their culture in order to attract more tourism revenues (Urry and Larsen, 2011).


List of Articles
No. Subject Views Date
142 Think Tank V Ideas for A(u)ction: Tourism Risk Management file 8173 Dec 14, 2013

As a contribution to BEST Education Network ThinkTank V, Managing Riskand Crisis for Sustainable Tourism, the following paper has been prepared in two parts. The first part of the paper focuses on the idea that an appropriate model can be de...

Author: Scott K. Cunliffe 

Year: 2005 

OPA: Keynote Speech 

141 OPA award Using Tourism to Build Social Capital in Communities: ... file 8664 Nov 06, 2013

Despite considerable discussion about how tourism could or should contribute to sustainable destination development, there is little evidence that the practice of tourism planning or development has altered in any significant way in the last...

Author: Gianna Moscardo, Andrea Schurmann, Elena Konovalov & Nancy G. McGehee 

Year: 2013 

140 OPA award Slow Travellers - Who Are They, and What Motivates Them? file 7926 Nov 06, 2013

Tourism’s contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is estimated to be around 5% and is forecast to grow rapidly, to around 16% of global emissions by 2020. Future strategies for mitigation must address the levels of demand for t...

Author: Derek Robbins & Jaedong Cho 

Year: 2012 

OPA: 2012 Outstanding Paper Award Winner 

139 Think Tank X The Managing Local Tourism Master Class: Communicating... file 7587 Oct 13, 2013

The aim of this paper is to describe an action-based research project entitled the Management Local Tourism Master Class (MLTMC) and to discuss the merits of this extension tool in building sustainable tourism management practices across loc...

Author: Dianne Dredge, Emma-Jane Ford & Michelle Whitford 

Year: 2010 

OPA: 2010 Outstanding Paper Award Winner 

138 Think Tank VIII A Framework for Work-Life Balance Practices in the Tou... file 3848 Oct 13, 2013

This paper addresses the key issues surrounding the debate over work-life balance. It provides an overview of current thinking in the general work environment, with specific focus on the issue within the tourism industry. This paper present...

Author: Margaret Deery & Leo Jago 

Year: 2008 

OPA: 2008 Outstanding Paper Award Winner 

137 Think Tank VII Envisioning Sustainable Tourism Futures: An Evaluation... file 4546 Oct 13, 2013

Methods for researching the future have grown both in variety and rigour, offering new opportunities for understanding sustainable tourism. This paper discusses the value of futures research as a tool for envisioning and planning sustainable...

Author: Pierre Benckendorff 

Year: 2007 

OPA: 2007 Outstanding Paper Award Winner 

136 Think Tank VI Stakeholder involvement, culture and accountability in... file 7215 Oct 13, 2013

Following its historical rise and fall, America’s first industrialized polluted landscape garnered federal and local support to remedy its near destruction. Today, the Blackstone Valley is a pragmatic example of translating theory into pract...

Author: Robert Billington, Veronica Cadoppi & Natalie Carter 

Year: 2006 

OPA: 2006 Outstanding Paper Award Winner 

135 Think Tank V Crisis Communications and Tourism Recovery Strategies ... file 5357 Oct 13, 2013

This paper describes the application of lessons and processes gleaned from previous crises and disasters to the tourism recovery process for the Maldives following the tsunami of December 26 th , 2004. An assessment of existing literature as...

Author: Jack Carlsen 

Year: 2005 

OPA: 2005 Outstanding Paper Award Winner 

134 Think Tank XIII Understanding Sense of Place in Tourism Development: T... file 6424 Nov 06, 2013

This paper introduces the rationale for a study which explores the relationship between sense of place and sustainability at Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park (TARP), Sabah. Sense of place encompasses an understanding of the meaning bestowed ...

Author: Paulin Wong Poh Lin & Balvinder Kaur Kler 

Year: 2013 

» Think Tank XIII Striving for Environmental Sustainability through Soci... file 6024 Nov 06, 2013

The question how native societies cope with the increasing pressure of global values, such as sustainability, westernization and democratic institutions has been asked in the last decades (Smith, 1989; Honey, 1999; Nash, 2001; Honey, 2008). ...

Author: Peter Varga 

Year: 2013 

132 Think Tank XIII City Slicker to Roo Carer: The Journey of a Wildlife V... file 3998 Nov 06, 2013

The level of interest and participation in voluntourism has progressively become a major sector in contemporary tourism. The notion of combining a novel and pleasurable tourism experience with the fulfillment of contributing a worthwhile cau...

Author: Eunice Tan 

Year: 2013 

131 Think Tank XIII Visitors' and Residents' Perception of Tourism Impact ... file 20028 Nov 06, 2013

Tourism is one of the leading contributors to service industry in Malaysia and is gradually growing. The growth of this industry brings impact towards the environment, specifically the water quality of islands. This study views into the visi...

Author: Murugadas Ramdas & Badaruddin Mohamed 

Year: 2013 

130 Think Tank XIII Exploring the Relationship between Cultural Capital in... file 6578 Nov 06, 2013

There is substantial literature on the impacts of tourism on culture, both positive and negative, however, there are relatively few articles that explore the relationship between cultural capital and sustainable tourism. This paper will repo...

Author: Laurie Murphy & Andrea Schurmann 

Year: 2013 

129 Think Tank XIII Local Residents' Involvement in Rural Tourism: The Cas... file 4545 Nov 06, 2013

Community involvement is regarded as a significant factor for the development of rural tourism. In Malaysia, cooperatives are used as a catalyst to achieve community development through community involvement. This paper focuses on the involv...

Author: Uma Thevi Munikrishnan, Sushila Devi Rajaratnam, Paolo Mura & Vikneswaran Nair 

Year: 2013 

128 Think Tank XIII Using Tourism to Build Social Capital in Communities: ... file 13295 Nov 06, 2013

Despite considerable discussion about how tourism could or should contribute to sustainable destination development, there is little evidence that the practice of tourism planning or development has altered in any significant way in the last...

Author: Gianna Moscardo, Andrea Schurmann, Elena Konovalov & Nancy G. McGehee 

Year: 2013 

127 Think Tank XIII Assessing the Impact of Rural Tourism Development on t... file 6696 Nov 06, 2013

Past literature has posited that tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors and has been signified as an attractive investment proposition. Rural tourism sector has been actively promoted by the Malaysian government and currently, it is c...

Author: May-Chiun Lo, Vikneswaran Nair, Peter Songan & Helen Lee HuiHui 

Year: 2013 

126 Think Tank XIII Measuring Tourism: Developing a Regional Level Framewo... file 6310 Nov 06, 2013

In the field of tourism impacts research it is often assumed that certain characteristics of tourism are related to the nature and extent of tourism impacts on the destination’s community well-being. However, a standard set of measures for t...

Author: Elena Konovalov, Laurie Murphy & Gianna Moscardo 

Year: 2013 

125 Think Tank XIII Sri Lanka, Tourism for a Brighter Future? A Review of ... file 27846 Nov 06, 2013

Tourism is considered to have the potential to generate foreign exchange revenue, create jobs for all levels, support handicraft and export industries, promote art and subsidise the development of transportation infrastructure; as it’s a vec...

Author: Zilmiyah Kamble & Frederic Bouchon 

Year: 2013 

124 Think Tank XIII Resident Perceptions of the Impacts of Tourism in Majo... file 4715 Nov 06, 2013

Despite the importance of cities and tourism flows to cities, the literature which explores the effect of tourism on host communities tends to focus on non-urban locations. As different types of tourists place different demands upon the reso...

Author: Tony Griffin & Deborah Edwards 

Year: 2013 

123 Think Tank XIII Tourism investment and sustainable development: A comp... file 15277 Nov 06, 2013

Despite the growing importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) for tourism in developing countries and its perceived importance for stimulating sustainable development, few empirical studies have examined its impact. This paper explored t...

Author: Lee Davidson & Mondher Sahli 

Year: 2013 

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