… the changing and diversifying tastes of the modern-day consumer are being catered for par excellence by the travel market. Tourism is the quintessential global industry, fusing international travel with the desire for leisure and recreational activities of all kinds, and, increasingly, an interest in the multifarious cultures of the world. The average tourist today is likely to want to combine a visit to the beach with a weekend’s shopping, a day or two of sightseeing, an evening at the theatre or a concert, followed by a couple of bars or nightclubs. (M. Smith 2003: 19)
At the present time, there exist many types of tourists as differentiated by their motivations to travel and the types of experiences they seek. Different writers have articulated various typologies of tourists, but one provocative distinction that has emerged is that between the “post-tourist” (from “postmodern tourist”) and the “cultural tourist” (M. Smith 2003: 16-23; 34-36; 37). Melanie Smith provides a useful comparison of the profiles of these two sorts of tourists (35):
Smith also provides a breakdown of cultural tourists into a number of types distinguished by the sorts of sites and activities that interest each: heritage tourist (castles, palaces, archaeological sites, museums, religious sites); arts tourists (theatres, concerts, galleries, festivals); indigenous cultural tourists (hill tribe, desert or mountain trekking, cultural centers, arts and crafts, cultural performances, festivals); among other types (M. Smith 2003: 37). Other writers have classified the variety of tourists they perceive using different taxonomies and labels, but what one can take from this is an awareness that there are many different kinds of tourists seeking different sorts of encounters and finding fulfillment in varied ways.
Tourism providers are quite understandably interested in satisfying the desires and meeting the expectations of their clientele, so they by default serve as cultural arbiters at tourist sites. Orchestrating the available cultural resources into a representation of the local character–real or imagined–that finds resonance with the expectations held by the majority of visitors to the site is a prerequisite for success. I sense that many tourism providers have very strong feelings in regard to what their cosmopolitan clientele consider as entertaining, and providers quite consciously seek to blend elements of presentation they have picked up through global flows of mass media and their own travels with those of the local traditions. Thus, it has not been uncommon for me in my travels to encounter elements of spectacle and fantasy a la Las Vegas in the programs I have attended in purpose-built facilities at tourist destinations catering in large part to what was labeled above as “post-tourists.” Other providers might target a totally different segment of the tourist community and arrange for “serious” cultural tourists, intent on encountering authentic people performing meaningful actions mostly for themselves, to be transported to a village location where the performers have been coached to act as pre-modern as possible (the author experienced such an arrangement in Burma; it is not included here because the encounter did not include music or dance performance).
One way to approach what goes on in cultural presentations for tourists is to think of them as a dialogue between tourist expectations and tourism providers’ powers of accommodation. This conversation is influenced, indeed shaped, I would argue, by media delivered representations of distant places and peoples. Think of how programs produced by National Geographic or articles in its magazine have shaped the way you understand the world. Think for a moment how you or your family members might have been introduced to a distant locale and its culture and sites of interest through a televised travel show (there is even a cable channel called the Travel Channel; their website is listed in Suggested Readings). Think about how, if you have traveled abroad recently, you likely depended on a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet guidebook not only for seeking out accommodations and transport, but also for cultural and historical background information and the creating of a “must see, must do” list. Any major bookstore is going to have a substantial amount of shelf space dedicated to such guides for both domestic and foreign destinations. The Rough Guide company has even produced over 200 anthology CD releases many of which are titled by country or world region. These are available at major book and record store chains and online, making it ever so convenient for the potential tourist to fuel their imagination and desires for cross-cultural musical encounter (see Suggested Readings for instructions for accessing the CD releases in this series). All of this literature is part of a huge flow of information, images, and sounds that shapes our desires to travel while at the same time makes evident to tourism providers what they need to provide their clientele. In my experience, I would say that when cultural presentation is part of what is offered to tourists by tourism providers, its nature is largely scripted by the providers to deliver to the visitors what they want, which is typically a conveniently scheduled, reasonably short, varied, colorful, and entertaining (sometimes educational) program that replicates the visual and descriptive enticements that got them there in the first place.
Traditional Performing Arts in the Global Tourism Marketplace is a schematic summary of the interrelated components of the arts in tourism topic discussed in the above paragraphs.
Suggested Readings:
Rough Guide CD compilations available commercially: on Amazon.com select “music” in the department field > type “rough guides” in the search field.
Smith, Melanie K. Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies. London: Routledge, 2003.
Travel Channel website: <http://www.travelchannel.com/>