Suchergebnisse

The critical discourse on tourism is as old as tourism itself. The rise of a debate on the faults of mass tourism was a result of the strong growth of the sector since the end of the 1950s. In this paper, the most important milestones & traps of the debate on tourism are discussed with a look at their particular historical context & in view of their strengths & weaknesses. Enzensberger (1958) excellently analyzed the capitalist principles structuring tourism & animated the debate with his theory about traveling as a form to escape one's own social living conditions for a few weeks. The widespread dissatisfaction of leftist & solidarity groups with social conditions at home & the dominant world system as a whole prepared the ground for a broad reception of dependence theory. Soon the damage to traditional societies & cultures & to the social structures of the receiving countries caused by mass tourism from the North was a central point of the debate. At the same time "voices from the South" complained about adverse social impacts & criticized the colonial-style character of tourism. The controversial debate was recognized by development experts, & for some time support for tourism as part of development cooperation stagnated. Finally, during the 1990s, the debate on sustainability integrated the doubts & the critical views about tourism. The International Year of Ecotourism (IYE) 2002, launched by the UN 35 years after the International Year of Long-Haul Tourism in 1967, marks a preliminary result that stands for the hope to reconcile economic & ecological aspects. Nevertheless, the article concludes that between these two symbolic dates there is hardly any change in the basic socioeconomic, environmental, & cultural impacts on the people living in the main tourist destinations. 48 References. Adapted from the source document.

Backes, Martine ; Goethe, Tina: Meilensteine und Fallstricke der Tourismuskritik. S. 7-30