yas or the Sahara?
It is perhaps also worth noting here
the ambiguity of the term ‘appropriate’.
Arguments for appropriate tourism
are being heard everywhere - but
the vexed question of appropriate to
whom or to what is left unanswered. I
would suggest that for a number of
interested parties, be they tour operators,
international hotel chains, local
indigenous beneficiaries and indeed
many of the tourists themselves, we
already have appropriate tourism.
Vague, glib assertions as appropriate
‘to the environment’, ‘to the host community’
are not good enough. What,
after all is precisely meant by the host
community - the majority, those in
power (democratically elected?), or
the local politicians? Is, for example,
the decision-making and development
of the UK tourist industry in the hands
of the ‘host community’?