Etymologically, the word ‘tour’ is derived from the Latin ‘tornare’ and the Greek ‘tornos,’ meaning ‘a lathe or circle; the movement around a central point or axis.’ Therefore, suggesting the meaning of the word as a round-trip. Modern tourism is generally for leisure, exploration, and relaxation. Researchers suggested that the onset of modern tourism began in England during the industrial revolution with the rise of the middle class and relatively inexpensive transportation. The paid leave and commercial airline industry boomed the growth of Tourism after the World Wars (Wang, 2000).
However, some scholars suggest that studying tourism is trivial, a waste of time and that sociological understanding is not exclusive of other branches like Economics, Psychology, and Politics (Wang, 2000). Since, Tourism is one of the most important sectors for income, employment, human mobility and regional interaction for every country, the author of this reflection argues that studying tourism is not a waste of time. It is rather an investment in analyzing the societal influence, factors and motivation behind the tourism industry to increase its productivity along with protecting human rights, preserving the environment and authentic culture of a place. In order to argue the claim, the author uses the studies in the field of sociology which directly deals with human interaction, societal influence and motivation to travel.
Before moving on to the importance of sociological understanding of tourism, we may need to lay grounds for the definition of sociology.
What is Sociology?
The term ‘sociology’ originates from the Latin ‘socius’ meaning a ‘companion’ and the Greek ‘logos’ meaning ‘study of,’ hence it means the study of the process of companionship (McLeish, 1993). Auguste Comte was the first person to attempt to move the understanding of society from a philosophical to a scientific basis (Holden, 2004). Auguste Comte’s interests laid in establishing a reliable knowledge source of the behaviors of humans, which could contribute to the improvement of social welfare (Giddens, 2011). In simple terms, Sociology is a study of finding patterns in social welfare using the data gathered from individual human behaviors.
How Sociology fits into Tourism?
Started off in 1899, Sociology plays an important explanatory role in tourism; “The sociology of tourism is an emergent specialty concerned with the study of tourist motivations, roles, relationships, and institutions and their impact on tourists and on the societies which receive them” (Cohen, 1984) In simple terms, sociology can help in understanding about the tourist, his idea of travel, local communities and their role in tourism, societal influence, and dynamics of corporates/governments. Rapid growth in tourist numbers post-World-War 2 led to significant works in the area (Cohen, 1984).
Many sociological works took different approaches to understand the concept of Tourism. Most of them broadly fall under one of the following categories: The Tourist, Tourist-Local Interaction, The Structure, and Functioning Systems, and Consequences of Tourism. Though these four categories are not exclusive to the sociology of tourism (Wang, 2000), the technique to find patterns over society using the data in the broader context does not fail to make the sociological approach a ‘legitimate approach.’ Below are the arguments (according to the four branches) on how studying tourism can help?
The Tourist
Studying the concept of “tourist” is very interesting and challenging at the same time. They are the end-user and central players of the industry. They represent a mixed group of people who have diverse personalities and backgrounds. They show how different they are in terms of culture, language, and experiences (Cooper, 2012). A closed definition of “tourist” can help us distinguish between other travelers (e.g., Businessmen) and study the mobility of the human race post-war.
The formation of tourist motivation had been a crucial sociological topic alongside psychology, which says that motivation has been the development of health, freedom, nature, and self (Wang, 2000). Furthermore, “Man is not born a traveler; instead, He learns to travel from society” (Krippendorf, 1987) suggests sociological investigations. In order to understand the formation of tourists, it is vital to learn about how people get influenced by others. In the era of Industrialisation and Modernisation, the travel industry boosted due to extended paid leave post-World-War 2. However, as globalization was incrementing, a new concept called “Alienation” was introduced (Wang, 2000). Alienation or solidarity provided new perspectives to tourist motivation by introducing concepts such as Escape, Social Therapy, and Tech Detox. These concepts are essential for the present state of the work routine and provide travel opportunities. Even concepts like FOMO and expectations from Tourist Gaze, studied through sociology, have been significant driving factors in analyzing the “tourist.”
Tourist-Local Interaction
One of the major critics of tourism sociological studies is that the onset of touristic activities is only from the developed Western Lands. However, there has been an increase in the rate of tourists visiting third world countries (e.g., oriental Asia and authentic Africa). According to the author, these approaches can be applied to study the tourist-local interaction as well as local-local interaction. Hence, these approaches are not just limited to developed lands.
Tourist-Local relationships are unique. They are not built with a chance of meeting in the future. At a new location, the relationship is warm and welcoming, but as time passes and tourists grew in number, the relationship gets commodified or commercialized in parallel with the Doxey’s model (1976). Also, it is interesting to study the exchange of values, thoughts, and emotions that evolve between these two in the short duration of the interaction. On top of that, asking questions like: “Are the locals happy with visitors?”, “If Not, why?”, “What is the perception of a tourist?” and “Will he/she come back?” are essential for a country trying to increase its revenue using Tourism. These relationships help one understand and improve the dynamics in a region. For example, hypothetically if Pakistan wants to increase its tourism then they will have to work on removing the fearful stigma attached to its people.
The Structure and Functioning Systems
The tourism system comprises national and corporate agencies such as travel agencies, host government, tour operators, hoteliers, and food providers (Paul, 2012). Studying such systems can be very beneficial, since, research on these systems can highlight the demand for new touristic sites (e.g., Selfie Museum), employment opportunities (e.g., local market) and revisiting services (e.g., alternate transportation). Although this part of the reflection is essential in terms of generating revenue and employment, the author feels that the model for setting up businesses and policies by concerned authorities is driven by money and follows capitalistic approach. Rather than their dynamics, their effects on the local community are of sociological concern. The business/revenue models should be in consideration of the local community’s ease, which should be looked over by the government in favor of the host/local community. These players can easily fool the local community over land and exploit them at jobs. However, if they work together, everyone will grow.
Consequences of Tourism
Through sociological approaches, one of the most studied and essential factors analyzed in Tourism studies are the consequences/impact of Tourism (Cohen, 1984), majorly on Economy, Culture, and Environment.
Socioeconomic Impact — The tourism industry is economically the most profitable industry for a country, especially for the Third World Countries. Global tourism in 2014 contributed 3.7 percent (US$2.5 billion) to the world’s GDP, with its total contribution rising to almost 10 percent of world GDP (Turner, 2015). The GDP increase comes from the over one billion international tourists worldwide, a number that has been growing by 5 percent annually since 2012 (Muchapondwa, 2013). Either by investing in showcasing natural beauty (e.g., Maldives[1]) or by preserving/creating concrete structures (e.g., Malta[1] and Macau[1]), a country can easily attract lots of foreign tourists and money into its banks. Tourism generates employment, increases the quality of life and wealth of the region. Supporting services such as hotels, restaurants, and transportation thrive in the region.
However, these benefits start to wear off with time, and the poor start to suffer. Outsiders take away the controls from the locals (Cohen, 1983); competition for resources such as food and land increases, (Noronha, 1979) and locals become the servants of the rich (Baker, 2009). In a study conducted in Turkey (Tosun, 2013), the authorities chose to develop the coastal regions at the cost of rural development due to the thriving tourism industry in the coastal regions.
Sociocultural Impact - Sociological studies highlighted both negative and positive effects of Tourism on the cultural aspect of society. These studies can help us understand the dynamics of people within the tourist community, the interaction of tourists with non-tourists, and the dynamics of people within the host community.
For tourists, Tourism becomes nothing but a vamp of Modernity, which creates a status gap in a society and portrays traveling as a luxury (Wang, 2000). Tourism is converted into a capitalist entity that commodified the culture and service of the local people (Cohen, 1984). On the other hand, tourists from western lands highlighted the plight of the local/tribal people and engaged in cultural exchange through informative programs, souvenirs, and History (Cohen, 1984).
For locals, Tourism reduced gender inequality by providing jobs to females in hospitality (Cohen, 1984) and provided a platform to showcase the cultural heritage (Mason, 2003). However, locals regularly face racism by white “superior” (Holden, 2004); they are considered to be disposable as in the case of Statue of Unity[2]; they are unable to access public facilities such as Churches in the case of Venice and Trams in the case of Lisbon (Paul, 2012) and sometimes the loss of local traditions and values are replaced by false rural culture for tourist expectations (Hester, 1997).
Environmental Impact — Due to the large movements of people in many geographies, Tourism studies can help us analyze the environmental impacts of tourist activity (Holden, 2009). Pollution (Majorly Noise, Waste), animal cruelty (due to leisure rides, souvenirs, and cuisine), un-settled campfires, and degradation of natural canvas due to modern infrastructure at hills, beaches, and lakes are contributing harshly on the environment. These activities are closely related to the touristic movement. On the other hand, Tourism has helped a lot in conserving wildlife and national parks in some cases through the generated revenue (Paul, 2012). Public agencies are issuing guidelines for the ethical consumption of tourism (e.g., the WTO’s global code of ethics for tourism).
Conclusion
Economic Studies answers: How much money is gained from tourism? From what sources? In how much time? Also, the fact behind it? etc.
Psychological Studies answer: how people are motivated to travel? What makes them satisfied? And what excites them? etc.
Political Studies answer: What policies are required for growing tourism industry? Also, What security should be given to visitors and locals? etc.
However, Sociological studies provide a holistic view by binding all these fields together to detect intricate patterns in Tourism involving the statistics, polity, and psychology considering the human interaction in the broader context of social trends, compositions, and social demography. These patterns try to highlight the real welfare of society hidden behind the numbers and facts, which, when analyzed, reveal a bigger picture about the influence of Tourism on tourists, hosts, central authorities (Government and Business), and society as a whole.
Hence, studying Tourism will give you information about the above-mentioned things which makes it an investment to spend time on.
References: Medium article