Tereza Kohutova

BSc ITM3

The Relevance of Anthropology

Already Wells (1903) claimed that anthropology can be compared to a great region, which has

been perceived as unique indeed as within the sphere of influence of science, but unsettled

and un-subdued. He further adds, that all such basal sciences, anthropology is a favoured

environment for adventurers. Over the past century, anthropology has become a discussed

science and its importance and relevance has been frequently questioned (Hoye, 2006;

Korstanje, 2010). As tourism is generally perceived as the largest industry in the world, this

question of relevancy can be applied. The aim of this paper is therefore to discuss the extent

of relevancy of anthropology to the business of tourism and adventure. This will be done

through a thorough analysis of definitions and particular travel and tourism industry examples

of each. First of all, anthropology as science will be defined, with focus on society and

tourism relevance. Furthermore, tourism as industry and a social phenomenon will be

examined, specifically emphasising the importance of ethnic tourism and authenticity. Further

on, the phenomena of globalisation and neo-colonialism will be discussed, with reference to

sex and film tourism. Subsequently, the concept of adventure as a mind set in the context of

tourism will be analysed. Finally, the inter-connection of these phenomena will be briefly

interlinked. At the end, a concise conclusion will be drawn.

According to Olson (1991), anthropology has not been defined yet as a distinct subject matter,

and because it seems not to have a pragmatic method, there is a significant anxiety over its

attempts for definition. Marcus & Fischer (1999) attempt this by defining it as a science

which is supposed to offer worthwhile critique for the society, to enlighten people about

possibilities which their society provides and to engender an awareness of normally

unexamined assumptions created by encounters with members of other cultures, i.e. societies.

More updated definition is by Merriam-Webster (2011) who state that it is a study of humans

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in relation to social relations and culture, as well as it deals with their origin, nature and

destiny in more theological sense. Both definitions clearly establish this science to be of a

humanistic nature and within both of them a clear link with tourism can be traced, as justified

further on. As widely recognized, tourism has become a universal phenomenon among middle

classes of society. According to Harkin (1995) and Schwimmer (1979), it can be perceived as

a primary mode of reciprocity between classes, regions, ethnic groups and even countries.

Anthropologists euphemistically label tourism as host-guest encounters in spatiotemporal

strategy of exotopy (Fussell, 1980; Smith, 1989). This can be seen from Harkin’s (1995)

semiotic square model of tourism ideology (see Appendix - Figure 1). This complex of

amphibious reality represents tourist’s motivations both narrative and cognitive (Jameson,

1987). Nash (1977, cited in Smith, 1989), Schwimmer (1979) and Harkin (1995) agree that

one of the most important elements of this model is the concept of leisure. As leisure is not

only a distinction between activity and passivity, but also between production and

consumption; hence can be in this context labelled as tourism. Rosa (2001, p.449) identifies it

as a “cyclical, continual revival” of mono-industrial nature. One important aspect of this

concept is to demonstrate the ability of tourism to temporary raise social classes, as can be

demonstrated on an instance of “exotic” developing destinations introducing ethic tourism

(Harkin, 1995). According to MacCannell (1976), ethnic tourism has two idiosyncratic

concepts: authenticity and organic solidarity. This can be illustrated on an instance of Yunnan

province in China, which is one of the first destinations of ethnic tourism (Li, 2004). The

number of visitors grew from just over 5,000 in 1985 to nearly 2.8 million in 2005 (Banna

Statistics Bureau, 2006) and resulted in Yunnan to become one of the most economically

developed provinces, but the dependency on tourism increased as well. However, according to

Banna Statistics Bureau (2006), Figure 2 (see Apendix) shows that the number of inbound

tourists slightly decreases, which proves Harkin’s (1995) argument that the class and poverty

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elevation is only of a temporary nature. As it can be seen from Figure 3 (see Appendix),

ethnic tourism development faces various tensions and issues which can be demonstrated

within the semiotic square framework. Yunnan province is frequently being offered as an

authentic destination, i.e. traditional minority cuisines and witnessing the minority ethnicities

(China Odyssey Tours, 2011), illustrating the phenomenon of authenticity as a key concept of

anthropological link to tourism. Nevertheless, as MacCannell (1976) criticizes, the

authenticity of indigenous should be questioned, especially as the ethnic tourism develops

over a long period of time, this may become a vivid issue. For instance on Trip Advisor

(2010a, 2010b), Yunnan Minority Museum and Stone Forest are frequently described as

“fake”, “over-touristic”, “over-commercialised” and “inauthentic”. This critical perception of

authenticity quest can be apprehended as a one of the fundamental parts of Harkin’s (1995)

framework and obstacles of ethnic tourism.

The explanation for this may lie in the concept of globalisation. According to UNWTO

(2010), if services exports were analysed exclusively to overall exports, the share of tourism

exports would be almost 30% of global account. Murdock (1982) states that even though

globalisation of tourism could be considered as “cultural universals”, the original merit comes

from historical affluence, i.e. colonialism and neo-colonialism tendencies. As tourism has

apparently become a vital part of particular destinations’ economies, for instance Montero

(2011) reports that particular regions of Caribbean have their economies formed by the

aforementioned tendencies. As it can be seen from Figure 4 (see Appendix), Antigua and

Barbuda’s travel and tourism percentage of GDP accounts for more than 80% and similarly

Bahamas’s and Barbados’s one accounts for more than 50%. Nevertheless, this apparently

leads to leakages in economies; particularly UNEP (2006) reports 55% as an average leakage

in Caribbean region, while the maximum reported leakage is up to 90%, with only 10%

remaining for the locally based investors or only governments. With respect to this, it is

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apparent that anthropological accounts of Caribbean tourism seem to be less prominent. This

can be seen as a result of neo-colonial tendencies of globalisation resulting in controversy of

tourism defined as “economic panacea for low-income states” (Gregory, 2003, cited in

Montero, 2011) and consequently, as Montero (2011) argues, leads to homogenising and

segmentation effects. These concepts are however of antithetic nature and may cause

confusion and obstacles for tourist destinations themselves. This links back to the model of

Yang & Wall (2009), identifying tensions of ethnic tourism, such as economic development,

i.e. homogenisation versus cultural preservation, i.e. segmentation effects. An instance of

Spanish Costas can used to illustrate the homogenisation concept, as this region distinctly

focuses on mass tourism, with high number of multinational hotel chains and low-cost

airlines, which may subsequently lead to leakages, yet still achieve a high number of visitors;

hence high economic viability (Mintel, 2010). On the contrary, alternative tourism, such as

ethnic tourism development, particularly “intimate” tourism in Tibet may lead to niche

tourism segmentation, with focus on preserving of cultural heritage (Cultural Survival, 2011).

This seems to be an appropriate point of relevance to anthropology as it is necessary to

balance and harmonise the industrial proclivities of capitalist neo-colonialist society and

corporatized tourism as such.

Grünewald (2001) argues that this is course of study represents an apparent paradox within

anthropology, as tourist experience as an experience of “the other” seems of a high relevance

to applied anthropological research, because it concentrates on viable economic alternatives

of development to touristic communities and offers them a cultural revitalisation when

imposing to global capitalism causes possible decline. Therefore the whole globalisation

tension can be perceived as a question of cultural development enabled by tourism; hence

globalisation should be apprehended more as a process than the actual outcomes. As Legrain

(2002) defines, the focus of modern world should be on how human lives are becoming

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gradually more interweaved with those of distant people and remote places all over the world

in all terms: economical, cultural and political as well. This can be illustrated on an example

of GATS (General Agreement on Trade and Services), which as stated by WTO (1995),

enables developing countries to have free market access to developed countries; hence

introducing fairer trading practices between nations. Nevertheless, Tourism Concern (1996)

argues that this is only a secluded point of view and the reality differs considerably. As a

result of restrictive trading policies, immigration policies, expensive set up costs and

uncompetitive business practices, developing countries are unable to access the markets of

developed countries (ibid) and as Eriksson et al (2009) reports, people at the bottom of

societal class ladder do not understand their value and therefore do not try to negotiate a fair

deal. This may all lead to pure loss of authenticity, commodification as well as

acculturalisation, rather than to establishing world without boundaries, as globalisation is

often generally defined. For instance Dominican Republic is a vivid example of

commodification not only of cultural assets but of indigenous people as well; hence breakage

of human rights in general. Scheeres (2001) reports that in low season, Dominican women

dress in traditional bright dresses and attract male sex tourists to “love motels”. According to

UNICEF (2009), this commercialisation of sex results in one of the highest rates of HIV

transmission in the world, particularly 66,000 people living with HIV. As this can be seen as

one of the results of neo-colonialism and globalisation, this should be of interest of

anthropologists, as even sex tourism is “an experience of the other”, to use terminology of

Grünewald (2001).

According to Littlejohn (2010), the tourists become a ubiquitous feature of all destinations

and regions over the world and this phenomenon of “the global village” has subsequently

created a sense of crisis, questioning the fact that societies lose sense of localisation,

authenticity and particularity. The modern society seems to shift traditional relationships

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between individuals with relation to community to fictional relationships between institutions

and imaginaries. This perspective links back to the semiotic square model of Harkin (1995)

and MacCannell’s (1976) concept of organic solidarity and authenticity. This social

cohesiveness is seen as a prevention of staged experiences created by locals for the sake of

tourist industry, which is by scholars called “staged authenticity” (MacCannell, 1976).

Nevertheless, the segmentation effect, as aforementioned by Yang & Wall (2009), can in

some instances successfully create a sense of authenticity, as can be demonstrated on the

following discussion on sense of adventure within the quest for authenticity.

According to Singh (2002), anthropology concepts lack the focus on analysis of emotions;

therefore the phenomenon of adventure seems little investigated. While adventure tourism has

been defined self-containedly as a leisure activity, adventure as such can be defined in various

ways. According to Miles & Priest (1999), the independent term of adventure delineate risk

and any activity with uncertain outcome. He further adds that this evokes challenging

emotions for the individual as they tend to apply personal competencies to resolve the arisen

uncertainty. Mortlock (1994) argues that rather than simple risk taking, adventure is a state of

mind, substantially of psychological and emotional nature. This seems to be closely linked to

the concept of motivation, and can be therefore demonstrated on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

in Figure 5 (see Appendix). It is apparent that basal needs, safety and security need to be

fulfilled in order to be able to experience positive risks that can be provided by adventure

taking. These can be either categorised as esteem needs, as claimed by Mortlock (1994) or as

self-actualisation, as stated by Haddock (1993). Both of these however match the motivations

for travel and tourism. Therefore the link between the emotion of adventure and tourism can

be traced within for instance film tourism. Film tourism has been growing constantly and

rapidly increases numbers of visitors to the destinations. For instance the Wallace Monument

in Stirling reported an increase in visitors from 66,000 to 167,000 a year after the release of

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Braveheart (Mintel, 2003). The national parks of Sydney, where Mission Impossible 2 was

filmed, reported a 200% increase in visitor numbers in 1999 (ibid). According to Littlejohn

(2010), the deserts of South Tunisia as location of Luca’s Star Wars have become one of the

most unexpectedly popular film tourism destinations. In the movie, the Berber granary Ksar

Ouled Soltane (see Appendix – Figure 6) served as a spaceport Mos Espa (see Appendix –

Figure 7) and the hotel Sidi Driss was used as interior for Luke Skywalker’s home. This can

be on one hand seen as an intrusion of American society and culture into the Tunisian one and

hence great deal of inauthenticity. On the other hand, however, this can be also seen as an

authentic experience for film tourists, possibly consuming American experience in Tunisia.

From postmodernist point of view, the real landscape of Tunisia has been replaced by

fictional simulation of Star Wars and therefore nearly fully replaced the original. However,

according to Littlejohn (2010), this “hyper-reality” was reported to create higher satisfaction

and higher adventure-feel of the destination then the original Tunisian culture. It can be

therefore stated that the “hyper-reality” has become more authentic than the original

landscape. This seem to be explainable by the concept of adventure, as adventure can be

perceived higher in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (esteem and self-actualisation needs)

than usual state of mind and travel, such as mass tourism, which is apparently more concerned

about safety needs. Furthermore, according to Cawelti (1977) adventure is considered to be an

essential part of popular culture and its expression therefore can be perceived as an essential

part of society as such and its behaviour.

It is apparent from the previous discussion that there is a close link between anthropology and

tourism; however the link between these two and adventure as a state of mind seems to be less

prevalent. Singh (2002) however defends this argument relatively strongly by interlinking the

actual anthropologists and tourists in his work. He claims that there is a thin difference

between anthropologists and tourists, particularly adventure-focused tourists, such as

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backpackers. Both can be characterized by observing tendencies of other societies and

cultures and cling onto them. Both come close to the societies and create relatively lasting

relationships, as reported by Singh (2002). This links back to the guest-host relations

mentioned formerly in the paper, as anthropologists are perceived to study humans and the

society as such, travel and adventure seem to be an essential part of the research.

Subsequently, Hoye (2006) claims that this research is supposed to result in an integration of

anthropological perspectives to solve human problems throughout the world. Nevertheless,

anthropology of tourism appears to have no homogenous approach to the industry of tourism

itself, it rather evinces a high internal diversity to the subject.

To conclude, it can be stated that there is certain relevance between anthropology, tourism

and adventure. Anthropology is perceived as a science which focuses on human nature in

general and fundamentally their behaviour within the society. As tourism is a human activity

of interfering into other societies and therefore “experiencing the other”, as defined by

Grünewald (2001). Tourism should be therefore treated as a social phenomenon rather than

merely a product or economic activity, as it has a nature of multidisciplinary observation of

relationships formed by variety of cross-cultural interactions. As well as the adventure, which

appears to be an essential part of both anthropology and tourism, however is little research as

a psychological state of mind, rather than within the travel and tourism context. It should be

also noted that to create a balanced society of modern world under heavy influence of

globalisation and neo-colonialism, it would be desirable to use anthropology as a tool to

harmonize economical development and tourism with needs of societies and cultures, because

as Hoye (2006) anthropology has got the potential to integrate its findings to solve various

sociological and psychological issues and seems to be relevant to majority of human actions.

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List of References

Banna Statistics Bureau (2006). Banna Statistical Yearbook 1986-2006. China Statistics

Press, Beijing. China.

Cawelti, J.G. (1977) Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular

Culture. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. USA.

China Odyssey Tours (2011) China Odyssey Tours to Yannan.

http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/- accessed 21/03/2011.

Cultural Survival (2011) Close Encounters: "Intimate" Tourism in Tibet.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/china-tibet/close-

encounters-intimate-tourism-tibet- accessed 21/03/2011.

Eriksson, J., Noble, R., Pattullo, P., Barnett, T. (2009) Putting Tourism To Rights. A

Challenge to Human Rights Abuses in the Tourism Industry. Tourism Concern, London. UK.

Flikr (2011a) Giro del Mondo Ksar Ouled Soltane Tunisia.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15038841@N08/3052916017/- accessed 21/03/2011.

Flikr (2011b) Star War Film Set Tunisia.

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Fussell, P. (1980) Abroad: British Literary Travelling Between the Wars. Oxford University

Press, New York. USA.

Grünewald, R.de A. (2001) Tourism and Ethnicity. Horizontal Anthropology. Vol.1. Porto

Alegre. Spain.

Haddock, C. (1993) Managing Risks in Outdoor Activities. New Zealand Mountain Safety

Council, Wellington. NZ.

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Harkin, M. (1995) Modernist Anthropology and Tourism of the Authentic. Annals of Tourism

Research. Vol.22. No.3. Pp.650-670.

Hoye, L.F. (2006) Linguistic Anthropology and Pragmatics. Journal of Pragmatics. No.38.

Pp.944-967.

Jameson, F. (1987) On Meaning: Selected Writings in Semiotic Theory. University of

Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. USA.

Korstanje, M.E. (2010) Exploring the Connection between Anthropology and Tourism:

Patrimony and Heritage Tourism in Perspective. Event Management. Vol.14. Pp.251-256.

Legrain, P. (2002) Open World: The Truth about Globalization. Abacus, London. UK.

Li, J. (2004) Molding Dai-ness on China’s Periphery: Ethnic Tourism and the Politics of

Identity Construction in Contemporary XishuangBanna. University of Pennsylvania,

Pennsylvania. USA.

Littlejohn, A. (2010) The Quest for Authenticity. Exposition Magazine. Oxford University,

Oxford. UK.

MacCannell, D. (1976) The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. University of

California Press, California. USA.

Marcus, G.E. & Fischer, M.M.J. (1999) Anthropology as Cultural Critique: An Experimental

Moment in the Human Sciences. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago. USA.

Maslow, A.H. (1954) Motivation and Personality. 3rd Edition. Harper & Row Publishers Inc,

NY. USA.

Merriam-Webster (2011) Definition of Anthropology. http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/anthropology- accessed 21/03/2011.

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Miles, J. & Priest, S. (1999) Adventure Programming. Venture Publishing, PA. USA.

Mintel (2003) Film Tourism - International - October 2003. [Report]

Montero, C.G. (2011) Heritage, Identity and Globalisation: The Case of Island Tourism in the

Caribbean. Bulletin of Latin American Research. Vol. 30. No.1. Pp.1-6.

Mortlock, C. (1994) The Adventure Alternative. 2nd Edition. Cicerone Press, England. UK.

Murdock, G. (1982) Outline of Cultural Materials. Human Relations Are Files, New Haven.

USA.

Olson, B. (1991) Ethnicity in Anthropological and Archaeological Research: a Norwegian-

Polish Perspective. Archaeologia Polona. Vol.29. No.1. Pp.5-27.

Rosa, R. (2001) Business as Pleasure: Culture, Tourism and Nation in Puerto Rico in the

1930s. Nepantla: Views from the South. Vol.3. No.2. Pp.449-488.

Scheeres, J. (2001) The Web, Where “Pimps” Roam Free.

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2001/07/44888- accessed 21/03/2011.

Schwimmer, E.G. (1979) Semiotics of Culture, Approaches to Semiotics. Mouton, Hague.

Netherlands.

Singh, S. (2002) Love, Anthropology and Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research. Vol.29.

No.1. Pp.261-264.

Smith, V.L. (1989) Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism. 2nd Edition. University

of Philadelphia Press, Philadelphia. USA.

Tourism Concern (1996) Trading Places: Tourism as Trade. Tourism Concern, London. UK.

Trade Europa (2007) Caribbean Region: Tourism. [Report]

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Trip Advisor (2010a) Yunnan Museum of Minority Nationalities.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298558-d379322-Reviews-

Yunnan_Museum_of_Minority_Nationalities-Kunming_Yunnan.html- accessed 21/03/2011.

Trip Advisor (2010b) Stone Forest: Traveler Reviews.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298558-d321177-r77931682-Stone_Forest-

Kunming_Yunnan.html- accessed 21/03/2011.

UNEP (2006) Sustainable Development of Tourism: Economic Aspects.

http://www.uneptic.org/pc/tourism/sust-tourism/economic.htm - accessed 21/03/2011.

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UNWTO (2010) About the World Tourism Organisation. http://unwto.org/- accessed

21/03/2011.

Wells, H.G. (1903) Mankind in Making. Doubleday. UK.

WTO (1995) GATS and Tourism – Agreeing on Trade and Tourism. WTO, Madrid. Spain.

Yang, L. & Wall, G. (2009) Ethnic Tourism: A Framework and an Application. Tourism

Management. Vol. 30. No.4. Pp.559-570.

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Appendix

Figure 1: Tourism and Anthropology: A Semiotic Square (Harkin, 1995)

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Figure 2: Tourist Flow in Yunnan Province: 1985- 2005 (Banna Statistics

Bureau, 2006)

Figure 3: A Conceptual Framework: Planning for Ethnic Tourism (Yang & Wall, 2009)

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Figure 4: Travel and Tourism Economy of GDP in %in 2004 (Trade Europa, 2007)

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Figure 5: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (adapted from Maslow, 1954)

Figure 6: Berber granary Ksar Ouled Soltane, Tunisia (Flikr, 2011a)

Figure 7: Spaceport Mos Espa, Star Wars (Flikr, 2011b)

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