Toledo Ecotourism Association - Socio Cultural Impact Analysis

Wearing and Neil [1999, p.77] assert that ecotourism should aim to “Promote and foster a respect and an increase in awareness of other cultures, in fostering mutual beneficial relationships between hosts and guests”. Many Toledo Ecotourism Association members asserted that they enjoyed the cultural exchange between themselves and the tourists. The table in Appendix A notes some of the changes local people attributed to tourism. The Toledo Ecotourism Association chairman in Laguna stated that tourism had increased the respect local TEA members had for each-other and for tourists, noting that previously many people had viewed foreigners with suspicion, believing that they just wanted land. A TEA member in Medina Bank noted how interactions with tourists had improved the villagers’ ability to speak English, especially amongst the children. However, fifteen out of eighteen people interviewed believed tourism had resulted in no changes to the village or village life.

One potential negative impact that can be attributed to tourism is the increased availability of alcohol. The shop-keeper in Laguna said that he was planning to sell alcohol in the future to increase the income he obtained from tourism. However, alcohol would then also be locally available to the villagers – a potential problem as Mayas have not traditionally drunk alcohol. Currently, alcohol is frowned upon by most members of the community.

A further potential problem is based on the fact that many of the Toledo Ecotourism Association villages are not informed of tourist arrivals in advance. It is TEA policy to always inform local TEA members if tourists are going to visit, but this is not always the case and is sometimes impossible if the village does not have a telephone (as is the case in Medina Bank, see appendix A). TEA member’s traditional farming lifestyles are therefore disrupted when they are told that a tourist is waiting in the village for them to return from their (often distant) plots of farmland. This was not seen as a problem in villages such as Medina Bank because visitor rates are low and TEA members appreciated the additional income, but would have to be addressed if tourist numbers were to increase in the future.

In some of the villages, mainly the less isolated ones, many of the villagers no longer dressed in traditional Maya costumes and some houses had Western style music blaring out. Hurricane Iris flattened most of the villages’ buildings, some of which were rebuilt as concrete structures with tin roofs rather than the traditional thatched-roof huts. My jungle tour guide in Laguna noted that tourism was both weakening and strengthening their culture at the same time. He asserted that when the local people, particularly the younger generations, saw either tourists or people in the district capital dressed in a Western fashion, they tried to imitate them. However, he also believed that tourism was helping to preserve their culture and distinctiveness because they wanted to preserve it for the benefit of tourism. A few of my guides also noted that tourism was reinforcing local crafts, as tourists were buying such locally produced products. Waters [1966, cited in Pearce, 1994, p.107] also notes tourism’s ability to preserve traditional cultures:

“With a modest amount of help, the native craftsman practising a dying art finds a new demand for his product and then employs young apprentices, thus teaching his trade to a new generation.”

However, many cultures have traditionally attached enormous symbolic and spiritual significance to their arts, crafts and ceremonies [Pearce, 1994]. Their importance may become eroded amongst younger generations and overlooked by tourists in a process of “museumification” [Graburn 1984, cited in Harrison , 1992, p.21]. According to Pio Saqui [cited in Duffy, 2002, p.112] at the University College of Belize, it is not uncommon to find Maya children who believe that the baskets are made purely for tourists and have no significance beyond their material value.

Wearing and Neil [1999, p.77] believe that “Indigenous people must not be asked to maintain their traditional practices simply for the sake of tourist entertainment”. Unfortunately, this does seem to be happening amongst the Mayan communities. Most of the communities have already been converted to Christianity – in San Jose for example, there are six different Christian churches and local residents told me that no-one really held traditional Maya religious beliefs. As a result the spiritual and symbolic significance traditionally attached to crafts and ceremonies is waning. Dancing and singing shows are put on by some of the older local TEA members who dress up in traditional costumes. I was told that these shows are not just tourist spectacles as they were sometimes practiced anyway, but they are what MacCannell [1973] refers to as “staged authenticity” – rituals staged for the benefit of tourists. In effect, Maya culture’s authenticity has been eroded in a process of commodification.

The Maya people and their culture is one of the main tourist attractions in Toledo . A major concern about tourism amongst indigenous communities is that it zooifies the local population, leaving them in a position of powerlessness [Mowforth & Munt, 1998]. But if the Maya people are zooified by tourism in Toledo , so too are the tourists, who prove to be a major attraction especially for the young local children. This process of zooification need not be a concern for the TEA as it also involves a sensitive process of cultural exchange that is appreciated by the Maya people.

The Mayans of Toledo seem to be slowly losing their cultural distinctiveness but this is due more to their exposure to the rest of Belize ’s diverse society rather than to tourism. The TEA attempts to minimize any negative socio-cultural impacts through its culturally sensitive and appropriate tourism. In fact, the program reinforces Maya distinctiveness as they realise they should be proud of their culture and preserve it, if not just for the benefit of sustaining local tourism. However, the fact that traditional Mayan culture is slowly disappearing anyway implies that the overall marketability of the tourist product in Toledo is also decreasing. This is not what Wall [1997] regards as “sustainable tourism”, because one of the resource bases of tourism in Toledo – Maya culture – is slowly disappearing.

VIII. II. Identity construction and the appropriation of meaning

Some of the literature on tourism in Belize [Belsky, 1999] and in the Maya region as a whole [Brown, 1999] notes the cultural construction of identities for the benefit of tourism. While this may be the case elsewhere in the region - for example, Belsky [1999] notes the cultural construction of identity in Gales Point Manatee in central Belize – it is not the case in the Maya villages of Toledo , where the Mayans remain ethnically and culturally distinct. Brown [1999] is highly critical of the appropriation and commoditisation of space and meaning brought about by the “Mundo Maya” (Maya World) project, which promotes tourism in the Maya region of Central America :

“The Mundo Maya project is the production and commoditization of a Maya cultural landscape. However, it is a cultural landscape constructed with meaning systems foreign and external to the Maya region. As observed by King (1996: 149), in relation to tourist projects in general: ‘these features have been mapped (with) a variety of names and images that appear to have been imposed with little regard for native realities.’”

Such cases can also be found in Toledo , though most names of tourist sites still retain a degree of meaning for the local Mayas. While “ Gibnut Cave ” near Laguna is a direct translation of it’s Mayan name, the same cannot be said for “ Tiger Cave ” near San Miguel, the name of which has been altered: the local Maya actually refer to it as “ Jaguar Cave ” (based on and old tale of an encounter with a jaguar there). A similar example is the naming of Aguacaliente Nature Reserve, which is a Spanish word meaning “hot water” (Spanish is spoken elsewhere in Belize , but few speak it in Toledo ). The “ Tommy Trail ” at Pueblo Viejo has clearly been given a name completely external to Maya meaning systems.

Community Ecotourism and eco-tours in Ecuador at Piedra Blanca