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Introduction
The global population is economically divided into haves and have-nots. The former group lives in first-world nations and exhibits significant control over the other lot. The have-nots dominate the developing economies worldwide, where they experience poverty and poor governance, among other issues. A majority of the first worlds countries, especially in Europe, played a major role in shaping the other groups past and present life through colonialism. The colonial masters used different tactics to control their subjects, including changing the hosts culture and governance systems. Antigua is per excellent of an underdeveloped nation suffering today because of colonialisms influence. The North American island depends substantially on tourism, courtesy of its geographic location. As such, tourism and colonialism work together to induce a powerful influence on the country of Antigua. The two aspects adversely affect Antiguas culture, and natural resources, and abuse the locals efforts for the non-locals profit. The following work uses Jamaica Kincaids A Small Place to validate its barney.
Kincaids view of Tourism
Colonialism and tourism combine to cause a powerful outcome in Antigua. Kincaid maintains that the nations poverty, cultural deterioration, and continued abuse of the locals efforts result from the two aspects. According to the author, Antigua struggles with economic issues due to the colonialists corruption and selfishness taught to the locals. For example, during the colonial era, the English governors living in Antigua separated themselves from the masses, mistreated the locals, and forcefully assumed natural resources ownership for Englands benefit (Kincaid 35). Moreover, during the colonial age, the English masters living in the U.S. used Antigua as the enslaved peoples stock. The folks willingly eradicated the locals culture and taught them English norms, such as the use of judiciaries to settle civil cases.
Besides, Britons introduced an England-related education system to the locals, making them alienated and baseless. Kincaid also blames colonialism on the issues of corruption and social disintegration in Antigua (36). The writer insists that what seemed to the Antiguan natives as ill behavior during the Whites entry into the nation currently forms the standard practice among the locals. According to Kincaid (31), the current young generation of Antiguans worship Americans and their culture in the same way her age mates venerated the English colonial masters. The matter pushes many Antiguans to focus more on external issues than local problems, thus further deteriorating the community.
Tourism in Antigua causes more harm than good, as it happened during colonialism. Kincaid calls tourists from Europe and America ugly due to their hurting influence (17). The writer starts her account by describing the general feeling among many white tourists entering the island to enjoy their vacations. According to Kincaid, many foreigners touring the island alight airplanes at an international airport named after the countrys prime minister (4). The carefree tourists then proceed to their destinations in expensive Japan-made fuel guzzlers driven by impoverished locals on leaded gasoline. The foreigners never stop on the messy roads to think about the locals plights because they are tourists, according to Kincaid (4). Worse still, the visitors never care about the corrupt young government establishments in the capital city because the locals hurting lives form part of the natural attractions to the tourists (Kincaid 15). Kincaid further narrates the pollution caused by the tourists guest houses on the environment, where human waste and bathroom water get into the rivers, ocean, and sea waters, threatening the locals health (14). Therefore, tourism, just like colonialism, exposes Antiguans to more problems than benefits.
Money from tourism goes into the corrupt leaders pockets instead of contributing to Antiguas development. Kincaid says that the expensive cars ferrying tourists belong to poor drivers who access them through hefty loans granted by the nations auto firms operated by corrupt ministers (12). Boarding the taxis thus promotes corruption in Antigua while also destructing the environment due to the cars use of leaded fossil fuels. Moreover, the governments focus on tourism money diverts its attention from the publics desire to re-establish the nations only library. Kincaid (37) reports that the Antiguan government wants to sell the librarys original site to a corrupt Asian mogul who intends to establish tourism kiosks and boutiques for tourists visiting the land. Preferring individual income and money over the nations culture threatens the islands history and social stability. Consequently, the tourism sectors effect on the nations beaches, environment, and culture implies its adverse effects exceed the benefits. The situation proves the sectors similarity to colonialism and the two facets amalgamated impact in jeopardizing Antiguas sovereignty and sustainability.
Own position on tourism concerning Kincaid
Tourism remains an essential industry worth supporting for national and global economic stability. The industry forms the economic backbone of many tropical republics, such as the state of Antigua. According to Lewis et al. (385), countries located along large water bodies and those with conspicuous natural sceneries, such as wildlife, earn substantial foreign exchange through tourism. As such, tourism remains a highly lucrative sector globally, worth over 4.7 trillion U.S. dollars (Sharma, Thomas, and Paul, 1021). The industry offers nations more finances than those retrievable through primary activities, such as agriculture and mining (Sharma, Thomas, and Paul, 1064). Tourism contributes to a nations economy in more than one way. That is because the segment involves multiple players offering different services and products. For example, nations traveling, hospitality, and art sectors benefit significantly from tourism. Foreigners and locals visiting a republics tourist sites require vehicles to travel on (Biancone et al., 397). The demand creates job opportunities for driving professionals in a state, thus promoting per capita earnings (Biancone et al., 399). Moreover, the demand for tourism cabs boosts global cash flow through car importation and export, making the sector vital.
Many countries hospitality divisions can hardly survive without tourism activities. Tourists leaving their nations for various global destinations utilize accommodation services in the host nations, boosting the sectors survival and growth. The same aspect is evident in Kincaids description of white tourists utilizing Antiguan guest houses. The author also proves the transportation industrys dependence on tourism by describing the foreigners utilization of expensive tourist cars that many locals cannot afford. Nevertheless, tourism can lead to detriment despite its many advantages and proven economic potential (Moorhouse, DCruze, and Macdonald, 507). Cultural erosion among the locals is an example of such adverse effects of tourism. Hunter Jr et al. say that nations depending on tourism often experience rampant cultural revolutions due to the interaction between the locals and foreigners (90). Excessive disturbances among wildlife due to tourism activities also pose adverse environmental effects worth controlling. Hunter Jr et al. insist that countries with tourism potential can enjoy economic benefits without bearing the nasty effects (95). However, scholars reiterate the role of a countrys leadership in tourisms benefits maximization and harm control.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the above discussion uses Kincaids essay to depict the compounded effect of colonialism and tourism in Antigua. The North American island exhibits significantly high tourism activities due to its geographic location and closeness to the U.S. However, Antigua hardly benefits from tourism due to the leaderships corruption. Accordingly, this work utilizes statistics on the global tourism sector to differ from Kincaids argument. The paper maintains that Antiguas plights come from colonialism-related poor governance and not tourism per se.
Works Cited
Biancone, Paolo Pietro, et al. Halal tourism: An opportunity for the global tourism industry. Tourism Analysis 24.3 (2019): 395-404.
Hunter Jr, Malcolm L., et al. Conserving small natural features with large ecological roles: A synthetic overview. Biological Conservation 211 (2017): 88-95.
Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. University of South Carolina Press, 1988. Internet resource.
Lewis, Sara M., et al. Firefly tourism: Advancing a global phenomenon toward a brighter future. Conservation Science and Practice 3.5 (2021): 383-391.
Moorhouse, Tom, Neil C. DCruze, and David W. Macdonald. Unethical use of wildlife in tourism: Whats the problem, who is responsible, and what can be done? Journal of Sustainable Tourism 25.4 (2017): 505-516.
Sharma, Gagan Deep, Asha Thomas, and Justin Paul. Reviving tourism industry post-COVID-19: A resilience-based framework. Tourism management perspectives 37 (2021): 100786.
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