On air: Does tourism bring positive change to your country?
| 12:31 UK time, Wednesday, 7 April 2010
I've just finished making a documentary series called Living With Tourists (you can listen to part one here, and I've just writtenfor the Guardian about what I found). First things first thanks to all you who helped me with guest and idea suggestions along the way. There were two questions that I really wanted to answer: why do different places react so differently to hosting tourists? And should mass tourism always be seen as a threat to people's way of life and culture? For this series I focused on the three places where I grew up (Cornwall, The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago) but I'd be really interested to hear your experiences wherever you are (whether as tourist or host).
And here are some more questions: Does where you live play host to tourists? Can you see their presence creating changes? And do you welcome that contribution?
Do you feel visitors to your part of the world are interested in who you are and how you live? Or do you they just want sunshine and somewhere to sleep, relax and sometimes party? And if that is all they want to do, shouldn't that be considered enough? They are after all bringing in money and helping to create jobs. Or should the tourist feel obliged to take an active interest in local people and their culture?
And even if the visitor is interested in local culture, are there dangers in packaging it up to be consumed by the tourist? Do you risk diluting and compromising who you are?
Lots to talk about, and just as while I was making the programmes, your personal experiences will be gratefully received.
