Jonathan Tourtellot Tourism

Through the essay ‘The two faces of tourism', author Jonathan Tourtellot has expressed his deepest concerns about the rapid growth of tourism and the kind of effect this will have upon maintaining the integrity of the tourist spots as unique places in the world. Through out the essay the continuous friction between the modernization of the tourist spot against keeping them "as it is" is very much evident. In this essay, the author has talked about Copper Canyon Country in Mexico and the Tarahumara Indians living in this region. The most intriguing line in this essay to me is, "…tourism is transforming the world-in some ways for worse, in some ways for better". And truly it is. It is through tourism that people can know about different cultures
and places and broaden their knowledge. It also gives the unique opportunity to a culture or society to manifest their culture in front of the rest of the world.
And so these are the upsides of tourism. But when people or government start using these unique places as means of earning huge bucks, these places start losing their integrity. Same was the case with the Copper canyon country and the Tarahumara Indians. The nineteenth century Mexican look of this area and the semi-intact native culture of the Tarahumara Indians have been the main attractions for the tourists and according to the author, the inaccessibility of the canyon has aided the most in maintaining these like that. But how come a place so remote and inaccessible could become so much popular among the tourist? I think the reason behind is inaccessibility itself. It is because of the inaccessibility; this place remained so much untouched from the mechanized world. Thus when people hear that there is still a place in this world where they can enjoy a night under the soft
light of a kerosene lamp, wake up from bed by the cooing sound of doves and enjoy a beautiful morning in the vast open space of the canyon, they simply cannot resist going there. So, in my opinion the recent steps of the Mexican government to make new hotels, malls roads and turn this area into a tourist boom will not only shallow the gravity of this place but also put the government into a great lose like what happened in Cancun. Because, I think people got to Copper Canyon to enjoy a night under the open sky and with only the soft light of the stars and moon not neon lights to guide them through their path, they want to listen to the sweet chirping of birds when they get up from bed not the beeps of an alarm clock and they want to intertwine themselves into the simplistic lifestyle of the Tarahumara Indians. But if this place turns to one of the dazzling and lightning tourist spots like Disney land or New York…it will simply loose its appeal and people will simply go to the other places rather then coming here because there will be nothing new for them to see here.
Someone might argue here that, building new hotels, roads and malls is undoubtedly a very good way to draw a lot of tourist.
Well it might not be true in every case. *The point here is that to the tourists who are mainly westerners; malls, hotels and well built roads are like trinkets to them and the reason they come to visit these places is not only to see the place but also to seek some refuge from the hustle and bustle of the modern society. So modernizing this area will jeopardize its captivating characteristics. Because, I think people got to Copper Canyon to enjoy a night under the open sky and with only the soft light of the stars and moon not neon lights to guide them through their path, they want to listen to the sweet chirping of birds when they get up from bed not the beeps of an alarm clock and they want to intertwine themselves into the simplistic lifestyle of the Tarahumara Indians. But if this place turns to one of the dazzling and lightning tourist spots like Disney land or New York…it will simply loose its appeal and people will simply go to the other places rather then coming here because there will be nothing new for them to see here*. The dream of the woman from LA mentioned in the very last paragraph of the essay and the fact that tourists pay more for hotel rooms that don't have any electricity are all clear evidence of the fact that, tourist who come to visit the copper canyon country are great fan of the simple unmixed lifestyle of this place. The
author's words in the last page also seems to substantiate my point where he says, "The future of those places-and the quality of the travel experience- depends not only on how we comport ourselves, but also on how well tourism entrepreneurs sustain the character of what we've come to see.
The life of the Tarahumara Indians living in the Copper Canyons is also at steak as a result of the increased tourism. These people name themselves as "Raramuri' or runners. This is because they want to lead a reclusive life. But, if things run according to the plans of the Mexican government, soon they will have to abandon this lifestyle as there will be no place for these people to stay away from people. This means that, the other main attraction of the copper canyon, the semi-intact native lifestyle of the Tarahumara Indians will soon perish as a result of the government's effort to increase tourism in the region.
Lastly, I would like to mention one line from Barry Lopez's essay ‘The Passing wisdom of Birds'. That is, "It's the birds' independence from the predictable patterns of human design that draws us to them". We can draw the same analogy for tourist spots too. A tourist spots independence of being alike with the places we see on daily basis draws us to them. So modernization of the tourist spots like copper canyon will simply lessen their attractiveness. Because I think even a million-dollar flower vase can not make a flower look as good as when it is in, its mother plant. So adding artificial attractions to a tourist spot is nothing but a futile attempt to make it a better one.