Tourism is part of development aggression, says consultation

MANILA (APEN) – Participants of a tourism consultation held here has opposed the Philippine government’s proposed Tourism Act of 2008 to “foster robust tourism growth” in the country.

The Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT)-sponsored consultation on “Tourism in the Philippines: A view from the underside” rejected the proposed Tourism Act, which it said “will only worsen and intensify the ill effects experienced with the current tourism policies.”

Blaming the government for promoting “exploitative and oppressive forms of tourism,” the participants in a statement said that “adhering to the policies of globalization being peddled by the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the government is pushing tourism as an engine of economic growth, employment, and the promotion of indigenous culture and history; however, they are actually advancing the interests of Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) in airline and shipping industries, hotel and restaurant industries, real-estate development, and travel agencies.”

The participants said that the proposed Act is part of a neoliberal agenda to expand the powers of TNCs which will exploit the people, the culture and the natural resources of the country.

They said that “the so called tourism development” by the government has been part of the “decades of development aggression.”

“Government strategies on tourism since the introduction of neoliberal policies have intensified the commercialization of culture, history, and heritage sites, prostitution and human trafficking, child exploitation, the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and land dispossession and livelihood displacement, especially of the upland farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples and other national minorities,” the statement noted.

Mr Caesar D’Mello, executive director of Chiang Mai-based ECOT told APENews that the consultation “challenged the view of the Philippine government that tourism is an unmixed blessing, and the position that the tourism dollar is the only outcome that matters no matter what the costs.”

Manila-based Peace for Life, with the cooperation of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, CONTAK Philippines, and IBON Foundation organised the consultation, which was attended by representatives of churches and NGOs from labour, environment, culture, rural development, health, indigenous peoples, women, and children’s rights in the Philippines.

The consultation opposed the current tourism practices and the government’s policy direction that

offered the country’s lands, including cultural and heritage grounds, and other natural resources, for exploitation by big business and TNCs in the guise of promoting economic growth as well as the country’s history and culture;
made national interests subservient to the profit interests of tourism-related industries such as airlines and shipping, big hotels and restaurants, so-called medical tourism hospitals, resorts, escort services, and other commercial tourist destinations;
prioritized medical tourism thereby tapping the country’s best hospitals and medical services/facilities with a tour package for foreign visitors and making health and medical care even more inaccessible to millions of Filipinos, underscoring the government’s abandonment of its responsibility to provide basic health services to the people;
placed culture in the service of tourism which is inimical to the development of national identity and genuine nationalism;
promoted “so-called” traditional and indigenous culture and arts but in the process alienate Indigenous peoples from their traditional way of life and their capacity to develop as a people;
developed tourist sites and leisure facilities without regard to and at the expense of the local population and the environment;
lured tourists through images of women and the prospect of inexpensive sexual services due to underdevelopment; and
made children more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

The consultation acknowledged that “tourism can be a good instrument of understanding and solidarity among cultures and people—if we link the population to an ethos of protecting the environment, if we relate the people’s history of struggle with their present situation, if we affirm the people’s cultural and social life, and if we pursue the people’s aspirations for justice, human rights, democracy and sovereignty.”

It challenged the tourism industry to develop forms of ethical and socially responsible travel and recreation which foster understanding and respect for other cultures and beliefs.

It vowed to promote and practice ‘solidarity tourism’ that challenged the profit and commercial oriented mass tourism; offered opportunity to understand the Philippine context beyond its prevailing commercial image; served as a window to the struggle of people for peace and fullness of life for all; offered an opportunity for mutual sharing, learning and participation; and enabled the formation of networks of people and organizations committed to work for justice and peace.

The 21-22 October consultation sought the help of churches to act against unethical strategies of national development, as reflected in the Philippine government’s tourism policy that degraded human dignity and used violence against human communities.

“Voices of the faithful must denounce and oppose tourism as an instrument of oppression and exploitation,” the consultation added.

It also committed to cooperate and network with the ECOT in the pursuit of ethical and socially responsible travel and recreation.

Web link:

www.apenews.org/newsread.asp?nid=186

Tourism in the Philippines: A View from the Underside - A report on the ECOT-PfL Consultation
Unity Statement: Tourism in the Philippines: A View from the Underside
News: PfL, ECOT, Philippine groups probe impacts of global tourism (27 Oct 2008)
The problem with tourism (The Manila Times, 24 Oct 2008)