Monthly Archives: March 2015

 In October 2014, a tour guide in San Francisco went on a racist rant about the very people that were the subject of her tour: Chinese immigrants living in Chinatown.  While most people, especially those in the media, focused on what was actually said, racism is nothing new.  As Chang Jun (2014) from the San Francisco Journal put it, “sometimes people just lack the education and experience to comprehend and sympathize with the sufferings of others”.  What’s more disturbing to me, however, is that these stereotypes and racist comments elicited laughter and sneers from her tourists that day.

Reactions such as these reveal the kinds of ‘hidden’ racist views and attitudes that are still prevalent in this country today. An excellent example is that of the heritage tourism industry in Charleston, SC.  For most of its existence, tourism operators have either omitted any mention of black culture and history or have included only a minute portion of their contributions to the region.  Even in recent years, when black heritage is included in a tour, it’s oftentimes incorrect or inauthentic (for example the proportion of African Americans in 1720 Charleston), approached timidly or used as a defense mechanism against Charleston’s associations with slavery (Cox, 2012). These reactions also symbolize the danger that heritage sites run into when they are more interested in entertaining tourists rather than educating them.  This doesn’t mean that all heritage tour operators are racist or hold racist views.  However, the decisions made by tourist companies and operators about what tourists should see and their interpretations of what and who is seen oftentimes discriminate against the very populations that they are learning about and observing.

 

In Chinatown, for example, while the cultural heritage of the Chinese community is mentioned in their advertisements, walking tours continue to emphasize the stereotypical views that are often found in the media.  For example, a company called Viator offers walking tours of Chinatown that encourage tourists to “sample fortune cookies…step inside an herbal pharmacy….and visit an authentic Buddhist temple” (Viator).  The same walking tour also claims to provide “the inside scoop” of Chinatown’s “private clubs and secret societies” (Viator).  In an interview by Bek Phillips (2013), Philip Choy, author of the book “San Francisco Chinatown”, sees this ‘inside scoop’ as a means of promoting Chinatown as “a dark, sinister place” in order to earn money from unwitting tourists.  In fact, during the interview Mr. Choy points out that the only authentic part of the pagoda of the building under which they stood were the colors; the pagoda itself was inauthentic.

 

Authentic portrayals of cultural regions like Charleston and Chinatown are under attack by tourism operators who are willing to use staged authenticities and inauthenticities to cater to what they believe tourists want.  Some might place the blame on popular media.  Surely movies like Gone With the Wind, with its images of the Antebellum South, and Big Trouble in Little China, with its smoky back alleys and dark figures, have created within tourists expectations of what they might find.   However, a large part of the blame must also be shouldered by the tourist industry’s desire for economic gain at the expense of an education based on authentic cultural history and heritage.  If we’re really serious about ending the type of discrimination and racism found in the viewpoints of people like the ranting tourism operator, then a re-examination of heritage tourism’s policies and responsibilities to the larger culture might be in order.

 

Cox, Karen L. Destination Dixie: Tourism and Southern History. University Press of Florida, 2012.

Jun, Chang. 2014. “Racism Takes a Bus Ride Through SF’s Chinatown.” ChinaDaily USA. Accessed March 2, 2015, http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2014-10/29/content_18818222.htm.

Phillips, Bek. 2013. “Philip Choy Explores Real Chinatown.” SFGate. Accessed March 2, 2015, http://ww.sfgate.com/books/article/Philip-Choy-explores-real-Chinatown-4180193.php

Viator. “San Francisco Walking Tour.” Accessed March 2, 2015, http://www.viator.com/tours/San-Francisco/San-Francisco-Chinatown-Walking-Tour/d651-2326WALK

 

When I think of Heritage Tourism, I automatically think of historic sites where great battles were fought or majestic natural landscapes that reflect a sense of our own cultural heritage.  In recent years, however, there has been an increasing interest in a type of tourism that takes people away from the hustle and bustle of “touristy” attractions (e.g. Yosemite National Park) and the increasing stress of urbanization: agritourism.  Agritourism consists of wineries, farms, orchards, fairs – pretty much anything that relates to agriculture – and is meant to educate tourists about an area’s cultural heritage.

Part of the attraction of agritourism is the nostalgia it creates for a simpler time, what John Sears in Sacred Places calls “rural peace and posterity” (49).  Heritage tourism sites use this type of nostalgia to promote agritourism.  The Shasta Cascades Wonderland Association, for example, advertises that tourists will be able to experience the “hardworking lifestyles of Northern California’s farmers” (http://www.shastacascade.com/thingstodo/agritourism), while an article on California tourism stresses the importance of ‘experiencing nature’ (Backyardnature.com). Another selling point of agritourism is its authenticity.  Tourists are being sold not only on beautiful sceneries and visual aesthetics but also experiences that are meant to open up a new world for tourists who are tired of the hustle and bustle of city life.

Agritourism can benefit the economy of the local community as well. Agritourism and the resulting need for roads and infrastructure can means added jobs and income and could be used as “a means of diversifying a farm’s potential income” (McAlister, 2014, A1).  Another benefit to the local community is concerned with education.  According to Shermaine Hardesty, “Several farms offer tours for elementary kids who can learn where their food is coming from and how it’s produced … and expose students to new career opportunities”(McAlister, 2014, A1).

I would imagine that there are some that don’t approve of agritourism.  Perhaps some will argue that tourists that are running to the countryside are ruining the pristine beauty that they so desperately want.  In the wine country, for example, entire towns are becoming structurally transformed based on the needs of wineries.  However, if history is any indication, agritourism is here to stay.  Whether it’s an interest in natural landmarks, like rivers or vineyards, or the aesthetic views of local sceneries, such as those of the Connecticut and the Hudson described by John F. Sears (1989), as long as people want to experience nostalgia for the past, tourists will come.  If this is the case, then I would argue that local communities should capitalize on this trend, both for its economic boon as well as a means to preserve local, cultural heritage.

All pictures courtesy of The Daily Enterprise website.

“Agritourism”. Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association. Accessed March 23, 2015, http://www.shastacascade.com/thingstodo/agritourism.

California Green Solutions. “California Agritourism”. Backyardnature.com. Accessed March 23, 2015, http://www.backyardnature.com/cgi-bin/gt/tpl.h,content=464

McAlister, Jason. “Assembly Members Hear About Agritourism”. The Davis Enterprise, (2014): A1. http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/assembly-members-hear-about-agritourism-opportunities-and-challenges.

Sears, John F. Sacred places: American tourist attractions and the nineteenth century. Oxford University Press, 1989.