the controversy, complemented by a more systematic coupling of theory and empirical
research in this field could arrive at a most important result: the specification of the —economic, sociaLand cultural conditions under which tourism generates development
and of those which instead lead to mere dependency. Some of the conditions which
make tourism an instrument of development can already be spelled out: in particular
the need for a slow pace of touristic growth, the need for local participation, the need
for the concomitant development of other branches of the economy, etc. These.
however, are only the most obvious conditions, touching directly upon the process of
introduction of tourism. Less known to researchers are the deeper structural
conditions, characterizing the host society on the one hand and the forces behind
tourism on the other, which facilitate or block the realization of these conditions. It is
here that the anthropological study of tourism, particularly if cast in a comparative
framework, could be most valuable.
ELABORATION OF A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In the recent theoretical literature on the sociology of tourism, the rudiments of several promising conceptual frameworks can be distinguished (cf. Cohen 1972, 1973, and 1974; Graburn 1977; MacCannell 1973 and 1976; McKean 1977; Nash 1977; Smith 1977). The most incisive and promising attempt, in the opinion of this author, is that by
MacCannell which is based on the complementary concepts of "staged authenticity" and "tourist space." But this conceptual framework should be much further elaborated to facilitate its application to the empirical study of tourism in a wide variety of concrete situations. The following short exercise in elaboration is intended to illustrate its inherent possibilities. The distinctions and additions made here are largely derived from an attempt to analyse the aforementioned data from Northern Thailand on the lines proposed by MacCannell.
For MacCannell, the tourist establishment tends invariably to create non-authentic tourist spaces for the benefit of the unsuspecting tourist who tends to accept them unreflectively as "real." Thereby ''staged authenticity" is invariably the consequence of touristic development. However, not all kinds of empirically observed touristic situations fit into MacCannell's scheme. It is necessary to distinguish, on the basis of MacCannell's approach, between four types of touristic situations as
presented in table. 1.