Tourism is considered largely beneficial to cities, effective in improving living standards and job availability. However, it can also lead to detrimental effects to the place, majorly affecting the physical environment and locals in the area. This report takes into account the internal conflicts between tourism and preserving Rome’s culture.
Introduction
Holidays provide a much needed rest for billions across the world, and give people time to recover, or even explore a place. Tourism is the act of travelling within your country, or internationally, for either business or pleasure. It can provide many developing/‘younger’ countries with a sustainable economy, but is an extremely competitive environment.
Cultural tourism allows tourists to immerse themselves in the area’s culture, participating in local activities or events and visiting historical sites in the area. For the tourist’s destination, it means that the locals in the area embrace their culture, develop cultural programs, promote and celebrate what makes their community unique, all which result in boosted economic growth.
Some national examples of cultural tourism are the art filled alleyways of the Melbourne CBD, Uluru, a sacred rock for the indigenous people of Australia and the State Library of Victoria, which houses the famous Australian criminal Ned Kelly and was one of the first free public libraries in the world. Globally there is Kyoto, Japan, which contains numerous Shinto shrines containing hundreds of prayer gates and numerous historical castles. Furthermore Paris, France, has numerous world-renowned art museums such as the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay and offers cultural tours underneath the bustling streets of Paris in the dark catacombs which contain the bones of six million dead Parisians.
Spatial distribution
The spatial distribution of locations where cultural tourism takes place is defined by three main things: patterns, quantities of locations in areas and the exceptions to the two points listed before. In Europe/Middle-East area there is a high concentration of cultural locations, such as the Pyramids of Giza, Alhambra and Paris. There are 11 out of 16 cultural locations that I chose which are situated in the Europe/Middle-East area. An exception to these clusters is Saint Petersburg, as it is located far away from other cultural locations in Europe/Middle-East. Other exceptions include the two locations in the Middle-East: The Great Pyramid of Giza and Jerusalem, which are not part of the main cluster of the European locations. In Asia, there are 3 main locations with cultural significance out of 16: Beijing, Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Kyoto, Japan. All three of these locations are spread out across Asia, with Cambodia representing South-East Asia, Japan representing East Asia and China representing Central Asia. There are no real exceptions in this region as a result of the relatively low concentration of cultural locations. In the America’s, there are 2 cultural locations out of 16, Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu. Chichen Itza is located in Mexico, North America, and Machu Picchu is located in Peru, South America. As there are not many cultural locations in this area, there are no real exceptions.
Accounting for patterns in spatial distribution
Historical factors such as events which have occurred in the past plays a large part in the way cultural locations are distributed throughout the world. Although every place has a certain, unique culture, some cultures have been perceived as ‘more important’ as a result of the factors that will be explained below. For example, how previous powerhouses such as the Roman Empire, France and England colonised area’s throughout the America’s, Africa and Asia resulted in how we see these European locations as places of rich culture and power. They have retained this culture and history as a result of their former conquests of large swathes of the world, which left a lasting impact in many regions. Furthermore, as many of these powerhouses conquered so much of the world, many of the world’s students learn of their importance in history, further amplifying how we see Europe as a hotspot of both cultural and historical importance. Both World War 1 and World War 2 established these European countries as ones of power and prestige, further adding to how many around the world see them as culturally important. In the Middle-East, there are two cultural locations: Jerusalem and Egypt. Both have significant cultural significance because of their long-lasting ancient culture. Egypt is one of the world’s first developed ancient communities, and Jerusalem was the epicentre of the Christian movement, further thrown into cultural significance by the Bible, the best selling book of all time.
Social factors such as religion and ethnicity have also contributed to how cultural locations are distributed across the world. As stated above, places such as Jerusalem and Rome have gained great cultural significance because of the Christian movement. As the Christian religion is the largest in the world (2.3 billion in 2015) and has been the most prevalent religion ever, these places have cultural significance as a result of that. Religion’s influence can also be seen in physical monuments in Rome and St Petersburg, such as the Vatican City and St Basil’s Cathedral, an icon of the Russian church (See Figure 1, below). Ethnicity is also a large part of how we see certain locations as ‘culturally significant’. For centuries the white man has conquered lands all over the world, colonising continents from Asia to Africa and Oceania, and this has resulted in many seeing ‘white’ countries as ones which hold the power, and hence have a culture to be admired. This is why we see a large concentration of cultural locations in Europe, and only a small number of locations outside that area.
The main factors which cultural tourism affects:
Cultural tourism has been shown to greatly affect many people and places across the globe, with factors such as acculturation (the process of adaptation and adjustment) and commodification being some of the main effects. Acculturation can occur in many different areas of culture tourism, leading to these locations losing their cultural integrity which may have been a strong part of their community for many years. For example, a global example is how many remote communities in Nepal have been affected by the onrush of tourists looking to learn about the Nepalese culture. This has led to people, especially young, impressionable teenagers to adopt the tourists’ lifestyle that they so often see now. An example of this is how they have started to prefer Western hairstyles, wear Westernised clothing and disobey/disrespect their elders more. Clearly this is an example of how communities can be greatly affected by cultural tourism.
Furthermore, the commodification of cultures has led to many places gradually losing their cultural integrity as a result of this. Many places which have started to produce ‘shows’ for tourists of their local culture, such as a ‘Boma’ in Africa (an African dance) or performing a Haka or Poi in New Zealand, have slowly degraded that area’s culture. This is a result of the operator putting on these shows more for the monetary and economic gain rather than cultural education. Furthermore, the original meaning of these cultural shows may be distorted to give the tourists, who already have a preconceived image of the culture, what they want, further degrading the place’s culture. Although many of these shows may be authentic, meaning to educate tourists about the culture of a place through a show, many other places globally do it for economic gain, resulting in a degraded opinion of the shows and, hence that area’s culture.
However, there are the undeniable positive economic effects of cultural tourism in a certain area. In Rome alone, tourism generated £7.3 billion in 2012, and is one of the biggest industries in the city. Tourism can give many people an income, and positively change their lives for the better. Tourism can also benefit many other, different industries, with jobs such as car rental, transport, hotels, restaurants and much more benefiting tremendously as a result of increased numbers of tourists (see Figure 2). Added tourism results in a growing economy, as a result of how interconnected it is with other industries. Furthermore, the profit generated can be used to upkeep popular tourist destinations such as the Colosseum or the Vatican City, keeping them in pristine condition. The income from tourism also benefits the tourists themselves, as it allows locals to give tourists more genuine and authentic experiences with the money they earn. Overall, cultural tourism can positively benefit a place economically, as it contributes to jobs in the workforce, and can result in better upkeep of important local monuments.
Impact of tourism in Rome:
In Rome, the locals and human environment have been greatly affected by tourism. Tourism has had many positive effects in Rome, and is considered an effective policy for urban development and for revitalising certain metropolitan areas which are in decline. For example, the ward of Testaccio, which used to be Rome’s traditional working-class district in the 1970’s and 80’s now has large amounts of popular night clubs and discos. This is mostly because of the influx of tourists since that time, and the reforming of the district to fit with tourist expectations. These clubs (see Figure 3) provide tourists a fun experience in the cultural hotspot that is Rome, and also provides jobs and a relatively sustainable for the locals in that area.
However, the social sustainability of Rome is slowly being threatened as the cultural integrity of the area is degraded. This is a result of the standardisation of many urban spaces in Rome, as cities with large numbers of tourists such as a Rome start to adopt similar strategies: increased buildings for cultural use such as museums, music and conference halls, pedestrianisation of cultural centres and development of open-air markets and areas. This greatly degrades the uniqueness of the area and damages urban identity.
Furthermore, this leads to the commodification of urban spaces, usually through chain hotel and fashion brands building in the area. This leads to urban areas around the world having the same shop windows, as these chains hunt for shopping tourists. In this way both the products of local history and tradition are lost in the commodification of the area and so does the local identity. This is a prime example of ‘fast tourism’ developing, as the culture of a Rome is swallowed by fast culture, fast food and fast shopping. Finally, an increase in tourism demand effects sustainability dramatically. The increase can cause many detrimental environmental effects such as air pollution, noise pollution, urban congestion and increase in waste. With the growth of tourism in Rome, there can never be a positive effect on the environmental side.
One of the main problems for locals in Rome is noise pollution caused by tourists as they leave pubs, restaurants and cafes at night, only to occupy the streets and squares, keeping people awake. Another is the disappearance of local residents themselves as commercial offices, hotels and shops replace them. This is a result of the residents being unable to afford the high prices for living and rent in the area, driven up by tourist demand. Historical monuments are also being defaced by tourists, as 5 tourists were caught carving graffiti onto the Colosseum’s walls in 2014, one of them being charged with a four month prison sentence and a €20,000 fine.
Future trends and solutions to save Rome’s culture:
One of the main problems caused by tourists, as noted above, is noise pollution during the day and night. Some solutions in Rome include initiatives to integrate the locals and visitors by using squares for cultural activities. These initiatives aim to increase the number of meetings between both locals and visitors, raise awareness of the tourists to how the local residents live and teach the visitors about the local culture, customs and history. Other initiatives have been aimed at rediscovering lost memories of the community through the local residents, especially the elderly. These lost memories not only enlighten the younger generations about their history, but this knowledge can be passed on to the visitors. This generates a newfound respect in the tourists for the area’s culture and history, leading to them potentially being less rowdy and loud at night, and more respectful of Rome’s rich culture and residents.
A more global solution, which could be expanded to other countries is Paradores, a Spanish company which has aimed to restore Spain’s culture heritage for use by the tourism industry for over 85 years. Paradores missions and vision includes: “To facilitate the reclaiming of our cultural heritage…enabling it to be preserved and maintained” and “contributing to geographical integration, recovery and maintenance of our country’s cultural and artistic heritage”. These quotes clearly show Paradores involvement and commitment to keeping Spain’s culture alive, and educating tourists on Spain’s history and culture. One of the way’s Paradores does this is by offering multiple experiences such as day tours to medieval towns, tours following the route of the fictional Don Quixote and trails on the outskirts of Madrid, visiting its neighbouring provinces and hidden cultural gems.
I think the solution that are currently being used in Rome are effective only locally, as the initiatives aim to increase connection between locals and visiting tourists, and can only be applied in certain municipalities/districts. Furthermore, collecting the lost memories of local communities and then passing them on to visitors increases respect in tourists, likely resulting in less environmental effects and disturbance to the locals. However, if these solution could be rolled out throughout the tourism industry, it would increase respect of tourists, and reduce their environmental and human impacts on the places they visit.
Future trends in tourism, especially in cultural tourism are the commodification and standardisation of the area’s culture and history. Commodification means that chain fashion brands and shops end up being everywhere in the world, providing tourists with standardised shopping. Not only that, but the standardisation of tourism means that similar methods to accommodate tourists are developed across the world, such as open-air markets and large squares. This degrades the area’s culture and history, and strips away urban identity.
Another emerging trend is the price war on hotel rooms, as hotels drive down prices to compete for their share of the growing tourism industry. Some hotel prices are virtually similar to the prices approximately 5-10 years ago, meaning that hotels are charging the same amount, but with reduced profits as a result of increased wages and the inflation rate. For example, average hotel prices in Rome dropped by 6% from January 2014 – 2015, which is also evident in many other European cities (see Figure 4). Finally, a few trends that will be emerging are related to having a genuine, authentic experience, and integrating into the area like a local. Tourists in the future will want to have genuine experiences and live like locals, experiencing the food and culture more ‘naturally’, instead of just ticking of places to see on a list. This will be beneficial to culture tourism, as locals will be able to provide a more genuine and authentic experience for tourists.