We all know what they look like, a fanny pack, large camera (sometimes more than one), back pack, and really obnoxious. Also no matter how hard you try not to be, you just can't help it, you become a tourist. You can't avoid it; you go somewhere new and you are compelled to take photos and have a grand ole time. Becoming a tourist is inevitable; it is going to happen at some point.
These things listed above are just a few of the signifiers/markers that identify who is a tourist. (camera, bag, passport holder, loud, obnoxious)
Annually tourism brings in billions of dollars. Often, in many smaller countries this can be their whole economy. This is great right? Not all the time. This product of travel is supplementing millions of people by creating traffic in the most unusual of places around the world, but Have you ever stopped to think what the natives really think about you, or if they want you there? If you are like most tourists, then probably not.
Jamaica Kincaid's book A Small Place is about a small island (108 sq mi) in the west indies named Antigua. This island was colonized by Britain in 1632 and the natives were soon forced into slavery to harvest sugar cane. In 1834 the slaves were emancipated, but the island was still dependent on plantation owners. The native inhabitants of the island struggled economically until 1939 when the Antigua Trades and Labour Union was formed. Antigua gained full independence in 1981.
In this book the main narrator says...
"You are not an ugly person all the time; you are not an ugly person ordinarily; you are not an ugly person day to day. From day to day, you are a nice person. From day to day, all the people who are supposed to love you on the whole do. From day to day, as you walk down a busy street in the large and modern and prosperous city in which you work and lie, dismayed and puzzled at how alone you can feel in this crowd, how awful it is to go unnoticed, how awful it is to go unloved, even as you are surrounded by more people than you could possibly get to know in a lifetime that lasted for millennia and then out of the corner of your eye you see someone looking at you and absolute pleasure is written all over the person's face, and then you realize that you are not as revolting a presence as you think you are. And so, ordinarily, you are a nice person, an attractive person, a person capable of drawing to yourself the affection of other people, a person at home in your own skin: a person at home in your own house, with its nice backyard, at home on your street, your church, in community activities, your job, at home with your family, your relatives, your friends - you are a whole person."
Tourists are easy to spot and the description of a tourist is pretty consistent across many cultures. However, there are many different viewpoints of a tourist. First off, we see the word tourist (signifier), then we get the mental image (signified), then we see the picture above (referent). I will specifically talk about what a tourist means to the Antiguans, and what it means to the tourist in Antigua.
The above quote shows the view point of a Native on Antigua. The narrator(who is Antiguan) thinks that the tourist is disgusting because he/she visits the island, has fun and does not think about how this country came to be like it is. He says that the tourist does not think about the slavery and oppression that went on there before now.
While the native is thinking this, the tourist is having an uneasy feeling about the island but can slough it off because this is his/her vacation and why should he/she worry about anything while on vacation. This attitude is psychological and the norm for how a tourist should act. This norm is perpetuated by the actions of almost every tourist. When you go on vacation what do you do? You let go, you don't think about your or others actions ( I understand this may not be your exact view but it is the most common), all you want to do is have a good time.
The meaning of a tourist is not set it changes from culture to culture. Even though these countries think that the tourists are disgusting they rely on them and use them for economic gain. Like I said tourism is a huge cash cow, people spend tons of money to get their piña coladas, or margaritas and listen to Jimmy Buffet. So these natives don't verbally scoff at the tourists, but in their heads and in private they are screaming at these people. To one group a tourist can be a good thing, and to another they are disgusting.
So if you would like to feel like a tourist and see what a tourist looks like go HERE
Picture from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anselor/3685472316/lightbox/#/photos/anselor/3685472316/
Tourists are easy to spot and the description of a tourist is pretty consistent across many cultures. However, there are many different viewpoints of a tourist. First off, we see the word tourist (signifier), then we get the mental image (signified), then we see the picture above (referent). I will specifically talk about what a tourist means to the Antiguans, and what it means to the tourist in Antigua.
The above quote shows the view point of a Native on Antigua. The narrator(who is Antiguan) thinks that the tourist is disgusting because he/she visits the island, has fun and does not think about how this country came to be like it is. He says that the tourist does not think about the slavery and oppression that went on there before now.
While the native is thinking this, the tourist is having an uneasy feeling about the island but can slough it off because this is his/her vacation and why should he/she worry about anything while on vacation. This attitude is psychological and the norm for how a tourist should act. This norm is perpetuated by the actions of almost every tourist. When you go on vacation what do you do? You let go, you don't think about your or others actions ( I understand this may not be your exact view but it is the most common), all you want to do is have a good time.
The meaning of a tourist is not set it changes from culture to culture. Even though these countries think that the tourists are disgusting they rely on them and use them for economic gain. Like I said tourism is a huge cash cow, people spend tons of money to get their piña coladas, or margaritas and listen to Jimmy Buffet. So these natives don't verbally scoff at the tourists, but in their heads and in private they are screaming at these people. To one group a tourist can be a good thing, and to another they are disgusting.
So if you would like to feel like a tourist and see what a tourist looks like go HERE
Picture from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anselor/3685472316/lightbox/#/photos/anselor/3685472316/
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