‘Tourism Is Not Seen As An End, But, As A Means To Achieve Community Welfare’

Myra P Gunawan, deputy minister for tourism product development - Ministry of Culture and Tourism from the Republic of Indonesia says purposeful cultural tourists will need a well planed product

The seemingly common term of cultural tourism is not a simple understanding, it has different meanings for different stakeholders. The meaning of cultural tourism has been changing throughout the last two centuries. In reality, cultural tourism has become a means for social mobility. Well, how can one relate cultural tourism with poverty alleviation? Can tourism really be a means for alleviating poverty? Poverty has become a social issue and not a tourism issue. With the new 'movement' of pro-poor tourism, it seems that more and more concerns are put on the poor community in location where tourism exists. The good intention is not always easy to be implemented, and even it is true that tourism creates jobs and increases income as well as provides opportunity for other livelihood benefits, it may not be applicable to the poorest. There seems to be a certain level of well being needed by the community to be appropriate to get benefit directly or indirectly from tourism.

Cultural tourism can thus be defined as a process as well as a product. It is a process whereby tourist interact with the host community of differing intensity, whether as the service provider or as the general public in places visited. Cultural tourism as a product is referred to a combination of tourism and cultural elements: Goods and services with cultural ingredients. Cultural heritage, physical, as well as non-physical are also among the ingredients.

Tourists Making The Impact

Different type of tourists will need a different kind of product and will create a different way of cultural interaction with the host community. The purposeful cultural tourists will need a well planned product ready to serve the purpose of the tourists, the serendipitous tourists need an original traditional daily life, both in selected communities. The sightseeing cultural tourists need famous or popular product. Physical establishment of cultural heritage will play an important role for the casual tourists who may have a broad range of different interest, and in the meantime the incidental cultural tourists will need an interpreter who can interpret whatever cultural elements available in the place visited. In this latest case the community can be indifferent of the tourist existence, or they may also be proud of being visited and becoming point of interest. Experience gained by the community will vary from low to high and the need for promotion will also differ in catering different market segments. While cultural tourism can take place in many different forms, how it contributes to the enhancement of human development for the local community may appear in many different ways. Some have direct impacts through direct interaction and others may have indirect impacts that enable people to gain something from tourism undertaking.

Conclusion

Finally, one must comprehend that tourism is not seen as an end, but as a mean to achieve welfare for the community at large, especially those at the closet tourist location. In Indonesia,cultural heritage conservation in Indonesia is not only for cultural protection, but also for tourism development as well as culture development: both tangibles and the intangibles.

The government should take the lead and work hand in hand with NGOs and other stakeholders in making tourism as an alternative source of income for the community and also in providing the community the opportunity to benefit from tourism infrastructure. The Indonesia government is very keen in encouraging people to travel to fulfil their cultural need and gradually become 'cultured'.