| Deborah McLaren's Rethinking
Tourism and Ecotravel takes on the most pressing issue in
the tourism industry today - how too often ecotravel destroys
both natural resources and local cultures. But there are alternatives
- if we care to pause and reflect - and that is what the author
does in this book.
Rethinking
Tourism could be a big hit in the airport bookstores and
will open the eyes of many travelers. This book is written in
a lively manner that will engage, entertain and infuriate its
readers. McLaren contributes to our understanding of travel
and its promise of improving the lives of local people and the
environment.
Beginning with a personal journey to Jamaica, McLaren recounts
her frustration seeking a meaningful encounter with Jamaican
culture in Montego Bay. "I tried to meet some local people without
being accosted by entrepreneurs," she writes. "But I was taken
to other all-inclusive resorts around the island... I noticed
the creation of a fantasy tourism culture that by no means represented
the real culture of Jamaica." (Prologue)
The book will note please everyone - especially the disciples
of tourism and public relations. McLaren points out that tourism
is often in direct conflict competition with local people and
the development of areas around wilderness areas threatens the
wildlife. She lists 'Examples of eco-oh-ohs' which trace failures
in Costa Rica, the Galapagos islands, Malaysia and the Himalayas.
Yet it would be hard to characterize this book as a negative
critique. This is a positive account of how to restructure (or
at least rethink) tourism so that it does in fact benefit local
people and their environments. |
