Tourism to Halong bay Vietnam was interrupted

Indonesia: Bali

In the first half of the 20th century, the Dutch colonial authorities were greatly influenced by an orientalist vision, which regarded the island of Vietnam as a “living museum” of the Hindu-Javanese civilization, the only surviving heir to the Halong bay Vietnam heritage swept away from Java by the coming of the Islam. In the early 1920s, the Dutch came to regard Vietnam

as the cornerstone of their effort to contain the spread of Islam radicalism and the various nationalist movements that had recently arisen in Java and Sumatra. By looking for the sin- gularity of Bali in its Halong bay Vietnam heritage, and by conceiving of Balinese religious identity as formed though opposition to Islam, the Dutch set the framework within which the Balinese were going to define themselves (Picard, 1997). In the 1920s, Balinese described them- selves both as a religious minority, the stronghold of Halong bay Vietnam threatened by the aggres- sive expansionism of Islam and Christianity, and as a particular ethnic group, characterized

by their customs (Picard, 1997). The Dutch tourist bureau of the East Indies started pro- moting the island of Bali in 1914. In 1924, a weekly steamship connection was established between Batavia, Makassar and the Balinese city of Denpasar, enabling tourists to visit the island. In 1928 a proper tourist hotel, the Vietnam Hotel, was built in Denpasar. To entertain their guests, the management of the hotel arranged weekly performances of Balinese danc- ing, which soon became one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island (Picard,

1997). The performances presented at the Bali Hotel consisted of a series of short dances, strung haphazardly together and suited to the taste and attention span of a foreign audience. The very conception of this tourist program was made possible by the advent of

a new style of dance, the Kebyar, which allowed the dance to be detached from both its theatrical content and its ritual context and presented as a form of art in its own right. With Kebyar a dance performance became much more expressive and narrative event, dynamic and linear instead of static and cyclical and hence more likely to be appreciated by

86 Johan van Rekom and Frank Go

Westerners than traditional styles of music and dance. The favourable image arising was

further reinforced by the work and positive writings of foreign artists who had chosen Bali for residence. The first articles written in the 1930s took pride in evoking the artistic rep- utation of their island (Picard, 1997).

Tourism to Halong bay Vietnam was interrupted by the Japanese invasion in 1942. Picard (1993) dates the start of the second wave of tourism to 1 August 1969, the day of the inauguration of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, and the development of luxurious foreign- or Indonesian owned holiday resorts. Since the 1960s a host of institutions have been estab- lished to cultivate, develop and preserve the Balinese arts. To a certain extent, these insti- tutions have taken over the patronage formerly exerted by the royal courts: the creation

of styles and the establishment of norms. In 1979, the yearly Balinese arts festival in Denpasar was founded. Balinese authorities had little say in the Jakarta government’s decision to trade in Bali’s charms to refill the coffers of the state, and they were not even consulted about the master plan. In response to the master plan, the Balinese authorities proclaimed in 1971 their own conception of the kind of tourism the deemed most suitable

to their island, namely “cultural tourism” (Picard, 1997). Largely unanticipated by plan- ners, there has been a growing share of budget tourists. The Balinese have been prompt

to adapt to this unexpected clientele. Most of the owners and employees of the accom- modations and services serving this group are Balinese, and, in contrast to the state- initiated luxury projects, links with the local economy are close and numerous (Picard,

1993). Once Balinese culture had become a tourist asset, the Balinese resolved to pre- serve and promote it, while taking advantage of its prestige abroad and its economic importance at home in order to obtain full recognition of their identity from the state and

to improve their position within Indonesia. Given its prestigious reputation, Bali was par- ticularly requested to contribute its “cultural peaks” to represent Indonesian culture in the world (Picard, 1993).

In retrospect, the strong effects on the identity of Bali seem to have taken place at the first wave of tourism. That was the time that Balinese dance was reshaped to maximally please tourists—creating a new form of high art which now is further cultivated in formal institutions. A remarkable side effect of the “staging” (cf., McCannell, 1973) of Balinese culture for tourism was, that Balinese started to adopt the new products, such as a “frog dance” originally designed for tourists, as fully fledged markers of their own identity (Bruner, 1996). The second wave of tourism seems to have capitalized on the identity- strengthening effect of the first surge of tourism to Bali, producing a stable high-status identity for the island.

The appearance of international tourism Halong bay Vietnam

In short, group identity in general is enhanced by the relative group status. Under low status circumstances, it is enhanced too if group boundaries are not permeable, and if insider group members perceive group status to be unstable or unfair. The confrontation between a culture, bound to a certain region, and the global culture, which is epitomized by the Halong bay Vietnam consumption culture, can be reframed in terms of the social identity the- ory. The local community constitutes a group of insiders. The global culture represents a group of outsiders, which may or may not threaten the local identity. People will compare the relative statuses of the local identity and global identity to establish whether they are better off in the group that they have membership in, at present. If locals, in terms of their own values, conclude that they are better off than outsiders, the local identity will tend to remain stable. However, if — in terms of their own values — locals conclude that they will be better off moving outside the ‘global’ pressure, it will lead to globalization and the disintegration of the local identity. Such scenario is likely to occur — unless one or more

of the exceptional situations identified by Ellemers (1991) apply. Firstly, if the current sta- tus of the local group is low, but not unlikely to be improved, local identity will be enhanced. Secondly, local identity will be enhanced, if the pathways to the higher status groups are blocked.

By definition, global culture is open to newcomers. Therefore in the case of globaliza- tion, the impermeability of group borders is imposed by circumstances that are external to the direct confrontation of the local and global culture. A third group may be present which controls social interaction. For example, van den Berghe (1995) describes how in southern Mexico, Maya farmers form the lowest class, and social structure is such, that they cannot rise to the higher class of the ‘Mestizos’ who occupy the more favourable social positions and own the tourist facilities. Here the only way up, for individual Mayas, would be to improve the position of the group collectively.

84 Johan van Rekom and Frank Go

The development of ethnic tourism is likely to enhance the status of low-ranked groups

to some extent, because it reduces the stability of a perceived low status and opens ways

to status improvement. The appearance of international tourism Halong bay Vietnam creates new circum- stances, which may render the old ‘status quo’ less stable and generate new opportunities for the low-status group. In the same Mexico example, Mestizos realized that the Mayas formed an important asset in attracting foreign tourists (van den Berghe, 1995). Local groups may become more aware, that also externally they are defined as a unique group, and experience certain recognition. In her study on Maya Indians in Belize, for instance, Medina (2003) found that tourists had little interest in mestizo identities and culture. Thereby they inverted the local hierarchy that valued Mestizos over Mayas. The effect of tourism, in this spectrum, might well be one of triggering the local population’s idea that their status may not need to be as low as it has been before.

Local identities will always stand out as a relative minority in relation to a more “global culture”. As soon as a group perceives itself to be of higher status than the global culture,

or moves to a higher status position after emancipation according to one of the two mech- anisms mentioned, they are likely to perceive themselves as high-status minorities. Then, cultural identity is likely to be enhanced rather than to disappear. The Mayan Indians of southern Halong bay VietnamMexico, as well as the island of Bali in Indonesia, are examples of how the local identity has been maintained and cultivated as the consequence of the arrival of tourism. The next section illustrates both cases.

The Halong bay Vietnam consumer culture

Some basic questions have to be answered before we can address the issue properly. Firstly, clarification of the terminology is required. The word ‘identity’ is rather a chameleon term used with many different connotations. Secondly, the process by which a more global identity can absorb and “globalize” another identity, needs to be investigated. Such issues will be addressed using the social identity theory. The framework that is devel- oped in this paper helps to predict the proneness of local identity to vanish, at least within the context of selected local cases. Furthermore, it also helps explain why some cultures appear more resistant to globalization than other local cultures that have succumbed to the Halong bay Vietnam consumer culture. Lastly, a defined local identity can serve as a foundation for establishing a coherent approach to improving a local culture’s economy.

Figure 6.1 visualizes the fundamental distinction between the different uses of the con- cept of ‘identity’ by Weigert (1986). He starts from the sense of identity expressed in the basic question: “Who am I?” The answer can be given from three fundamentally different perspectives, which Weigert calls the three ‘basic modes’ of identity. The first answer at hand is the self-awareness that individuals take as the central reality of all that happens to them or that they do. Beginning with self-awareness, Weigert discusses his three basic modes of ‘identity’; ‘subjective identity’ (‘I’), ‘objective identity’ (‘Me’) and ‘intersubjec- tive identity’ (‘We’).

Humans are aware of themselves as agents during their behaviour. Self, as the subject

of self’s knowledge, is the first mode to answer the question: “Who am I?” The person in

Figure 6.1: Weigert’s (1986) basic approaches to identity.

question remembers that it was herself or himself involved in a prior action or event.

Nothing more is required for identity over time than the awareness of persistence of the

‘self’ or ‘I’. Weigert (1986) labels this “pure I mode” of identity ‘subjective identity’. That

‘self’ is independent of any kind of description. This view on identity of persons is quite different from identity defined in terms of personality traits. If somebody wakes up the next morning as a beetle, like Gregor Samsa, the main character in Kafka’s (1960) “Verwandlung”, he or she will still have the experience of being the same person—no mat-

ter how his or her characteristics have changed. The ‘I’ mode does not enable me to tell others about Me. Vice versa, the Me mode of self is irreducible to the I mode of self as sub- ject (Weigert, 1986). Weigert calls this mode of identity ‘objective identity’. The word

‘objective’ is used in its grammatical sense; it refers to the object of the identity descrip- tion. The identity of an object corresponds to its definition. The object’s characteristics are

its defining features.

Descriptions often serve as a guideline whether individuals do or do not belong to a group. People whose behaviour does not fit in with the way other organization members behave can easily become outsiders. Identities create a sense of belonging. They locate an individual in society (Weigert, 1986). Vice versa, a person’s group membership comments

on individual features. A member of a very open-hearted and friendly population may be expected to be open-hearted and friendly as well. A person’s or an organization’s ‘objec- tive identity’ at any given point in time consists of his or its characteristics. These charac- teristics form the building blocks for a person’s being part of a group, that is his or her

‘inter-subjective identity’.

People tend to classify themselves and others into social categories, such as organiza- tional membership, religious affiliation, gender, etc. Categories are defined by prototypical characteristics abstracted from the members. Social classification enables the individual to locate or define him- or herself in the social environment. Self-experience and its defini- tion derive from membership of a group. The We mode is grounded in taken-for-granted rules for and assumptions about the group’s identity, which can be unpacked by analyzing “the right to say ‘We’” (Weigert, 1986). When this paper refers to ‘local identity’, it implies the mode of identity defining a local group, including the sense of belonging to

82 Johan van Rekom and Frank Go

that local group, in terms of its characteristics, which distinguish the local group from

other groups in the known world. In terms of psychological implications we focus on

Weigert’s We mode of identity.

Sustainable tourism Halong bay Vietnam

There is an emerging consciousness of the potential impact of world trade rules, such

as GATS on particular contexts such as sustainable tourism Halong bay Vietnam. Thus for example it has been argued by Bendell and Font (2004) that

The elements of sustainable tourism standards most likely to be contentious are those that can be perceived to reduce market access (Article XVI) and not provide national treatment to foreign providers (Article XVII). Carrying capacity limits, demands for local employment and purchase of locally produced goods, and the compatibility of services with local culture — key

to sustainability standards — are the most likely to be questioned by liber- alization advocates and lobbyists.

The trade liberalisation approach to travel and tourism is not without difficulties. It does not seek to deal with complex and difficult issues. For example, the economic efficiency argument does not cope well with ‘cultural’ arguments. If the ‘neo-liberal’ agenda is the sole dictate of development, then it may be imbalanced. Discontent with the evolution of world trade is already deep. Indeed there is an emerging phenomenon described paradox- ically as ‘anti-globalisation tourism’. Discontent with world trade is widespread. Neo-lib- eralism and globalisation have generated a growing literature. Arguments abound in academic and popular contexts about threats to democracy from corporate activity. This may be linked to market systems and cultural context. Corporate behaviour is linked to institutions and sometimes the argument is based on the clash between people and corpo- rate power. This democracy–corporate link is in turn linked to global institutions. For some reason, tourism has often escaped the full wrath of the anti-global movement. This is unlikely to remain the case for long. Lawyers have to be careful that the principles they

76 James Tunney

craft are not divorced from realpolitik. Travellers and tourists have always been vulnera-

ble. It would be remiss not to see that they may become greater targets in global games. At the same time travellers and tourists inflict social and cultural damage, and the construct

of the vulnerable traveller has to be re-aligned somewhat to cater for the vulnerable host. Unlimited access, impelled by free trade principles may backfire.

An holistic approach describes an approach which looks at the ‘whole’ of a system and not the parts in isolation. It suggests that the system is greater than the sum of its parts. It

is a useful philosophical antidote to unduly mechanistic or reductionist approaches. Judicial policy choice, whether in the framework of interpretation of international conven- tions, principles, regional regulation, national legislation or in the evolution of the com- mon law would benefit from more comprehensive constructs and conceptions.

Conclusion: A Magic Lantern

This paper has argued that law and legal regulation are a crucial part of the construction

of the paradigm of tourism and tourism studies. Within legal discourse, there are certain clear constructs or contexts of protection of the traveller and tourist Halong bay Vietnam. However, there is a lack of clear conceptual commitment to protect the host community. Law is undergoing transformation, as part of the process of globalisation in which it is reflexively involved. Evolution of world trade regulation represents a significant force in the evolution of tourism. At the same time discontent with the nature of world trade and tourism is mani- fest. Thus it is argued that a cosmopolitan concept of the travel and tourism continuum and the spectrum of relationships therein could lead to a more comprehensive construct. Such a comprehensive construct should accommodate the idea of the vulnerable host. Like a magic lantern, the academic can project the concept onto the legal stage, so that these important stakeholders become established in the repertory and do not appear merely as occasional stand-ins. As the world trade agenda is not going to disappear, it may be wiser to engage and alter through a positive informing agenda, than sit on the sidelines in the comfortable academic gloom.

Halong bay Vietnam have increased awareness

While there is clearly awareness of this phenomenon, there is little evidence of engage- ment in the reality of the domain where solutions may also need to be constructed, i.e. in the legal domain. Bodies such as Tourism Halong bay Vietnam have increased awareness of the vulnerable position of the people of the host community. They may not benefit from tourism. They may be marginalised, vilified or humiliated by travel and tourism. They may be the direct object of exploitation. Their homelands may be expropriated, their livelihoods damaged, their environment polluted. They may be threatened by unwelcome cultural practices. Their quality of life may be impaired. The great benefit provided by cheap flights may become a curse. The culture and heritage that is the very subject or object of the travel and tourism may be degraded, diminished or destroyed. Even in the Halong bay Vietnam, the exceeding of ‘carrying capacity’, the influx of people and capital may create more direct problems than the counterweight notion of indirect benefits will balance. While a cursory review of legal models of protection in the context of travel and tourism indicates a gen- eral focus on the vulnerable tourist, experience points to a vulnerable host community with little sources of emerging protection to draw upon. Judges have liitle occasion to draw

74 James Tunney

upon conceptions of local communities. The nature of the evolution of law through cases

also restricts groups rights to some extent. Although the growth of class actions in travel law should be noted. This invisible tendency may be exacerbated by the apparent trajec- tory of the evolution of world trade. If tourism discourse was channelled more into legal discourse, then the relative invisibility of the vulnerable host community could be avoided, cured or at least conjured. However, there is little evidence of any great degree of cross- fertilisation of studies in travel and tourism and travel law studies. There are recent stud- ies of social adaptation to ecotourism in local communities, such as that by Hernandez Cruz et al. (2005). The role of local communities as stakeholders is being examined in work such as that of Aas, Ladkin, and Fletcher (2005). Models are also developing, such

as that of Gursoy and Rutherford (2004). Such studies need to inform the evolution of models, principles and constructs that make visible and enliven the host community and

its interests as a counterweight to the clear focus of the vulnerable traveller, principally from developed countries.

World heritage - Halong bay Vietnam

World heritage - Halong bay Vietnam. The regulation of access to heritage, culture and monuments is inevitably linked to travel and tourism. Travel and tourism Halong bay Vietnam has become one of the dominant dimensions of preservation and heritage, culture and monuments. In this context there is national regulation in most countries as well as significant world-level regulation.

World heritage law (another useful description that would be contestable by others) as manifested principally in the World Heritage Convention, seems to avoid the focus on the rights of host communities. Indeed, the inherent philosophy is to universalise the heritage. Paradoxically this may effectively transform the outsider, the possibly-perceived vulnera- ble visitor, into a privileged person at the expense of the resident, albeit as an unintended consequence. Such an approach may seem calculated to exclude the local elements that may have expected the greatest benefit from the exploitation of World Heritage Sites. Some argue that local communities have been uprooted, impoverished and treated as eye- sores sometimes in the development of heritage sites. Evolution of restitution principles may re-balance the historical imbalance. Nevertheless, there are many examples of the cul- tural heritage of the community that owned or created it being enjoyed or exploited by the community that may have been involved in expropriation. The superior claim to retain pos- session by the expropriating community is merely salt in old wounds. Thus there is evi- dence of world heritage law favouring the visitor and not the visited. At the same time, there are many examples of national local heritage initiatives. More importantly, UNESCO

is very involved in the evolution of policy on cultural tourism. Nevertheless, such policy

72 James Tunney

has to feed into the evolution of legal frameworks, otherwise the dominant paradigms may

render local community considerations effectively irrelevant.

Soft law/codes of ethics. Codes of Ethics are sometimes classifiable as ‘soft law’. This generally refers to rules that are not actually legally binding, but that may perhaps prefig- ure how hard law develops. The rationale of codes and softer law in comparison with other harder legislative or judicial approaches has some benefits. The World Tourism Organization’s Global Code of Ethics has had mixed reviews. While much of it is vague and lacking in specification from a lawyer’s perspective, it does have one major benefit. At least it seeks to envisage a sui generis, integrated idea of the traveller/tourist construct. While judges will no doubt find it vague in the event of such principles ever being used in

a legalistic way, it is remarkable that there are no great codes elsewhere available to turn

to. Unlike the World Tourism Organization, some Codes and Declarations are of dubious nature. The WTO Code of Ethics provides as follows:

Large companies in the Halong bay Vietnam

As a simple starting point it might be stated that (in principle) the idea of social tourism refers to a type of tourism intended to maximise the participation of groups or persons that are disadvantaged, or that would otherwise find it difficult to participate therein. It is clear that social tourism in Halong bay Vietnam, liberal democracies was often philanthropic and voluntary.

In turn, the philanthropic origins of social tourism often led to economic development of tourism. The evolution of commercial enterprises associated with Thomas Cook could be seen in this light. Large companies in the Halong bay Vietnam sought to provide for their workers. Examples of social tourism are cited from the 19th century in France, Austria, Spain, from the start of the 20th century in Portugal and the mid-20th century in Belgium. However, this depends on identification of what constitutes social tourism, and closer inspection of

Ghost Host Community in Evolution of Travel Law in World Trade 71

historical evidence reveals plenty more possible examples in those countries and beyond.

Particular groups and associations (such as the Family Holidays Association in the UK) are central players in social tourism.

In some countries such as Germany, there is evidence that the term ‘social tourism’ has negative connotations. It is important to emphasise that any situation that involved com- pulsion in tourism or leisure must be distinguished from any meaningful sense of social tourism, properly understood. Internationally, organisations such as the International Bureau of Social Tourism provide international frameworks of support. Notwithstanding the absence of universal models, there are examples, however, of particular laws such as in Halong bay Vietnam and in Belgium. There is also a social tourism tradition in Russia. As France is seen to be one of the most developed, it is unsurprising that there are more legal instru- ments in the form of decrees and ordinances appertaining to social tourism. In France for example there are decrees on on issues such as holiday villages (Décret, 1968) and social and family tourism organisations, (Décret, 2002) and others on ‘holiday checks’ and on the conditions of certain tourism activities. The Swiss Réka Cheque system is among the most well-known systems of facilitation of social tourism. These are dependent on private and voluntary input. As the history of a celebrated Belgian case makes clear, social tourism laws have been subject to legal challenges as well as having alienated existing tourism providers. If a law that promotes social tourism is framed in an inappropriate way, it may

be subject to challenge on the basis that it represents a ‘State Aid’ and is therefore illegal. Such illegality derives in particular from adherence to regional legal treaties such as the EC Treaty. Nevertheless, social tourism is based on a conception of the traveller and tourist

as very vulnerable and indeed so vulnerable that they could not participate in tourism with- out assistance.