How Is Tourism Affecting Ethnic Minority Women?

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Digital Traveler ~ Asia Pacific eNewsletter, July 2005 www.ecotourism.org

How is Tourism Affecting Ethnic Minority Women? The Case of Bai and Mosuo Women in Yunnan Province, PRC By Duarte B. Morais

Tourism has become increasingly recognized as a global force of change, particularly in developing countries. In the Asia Pacific region, tourism development is often seen as a tool for socio-economic revitalization of communities that have remained isolated from the mainstream society and economy. Despite the claims for the potential benefits of tourism, there have been limited empirical examinations of tourism impacts in peripheral areas in the Asia Pacific, and little insight into the impacts tourism has on ethnic minority women. Although tourism offers opportunities for income generation and economic independence, which helps enhance women’s social and economic status, women typically hold tourism jobs that are an extension of their traditional home duties (e.g., home stay providers, cleaners, and craft makers) and rarely attain leadership positions, perpetuating the cycle of women’s invisibility and lack of appreciation by society. In order to examine to what extent socio-cultural characteristics of the host community may influence the way tourism impacts women, we conducted a controlled comparison of impacts in two ethnic tourism destinations in Yunnan Province, PRC; Dali and Lugu-Hu, and their predominant ethnic groups – the Bai and the Mosuo respectively. These two groups are similar in terms of their geographical and economic situations, but have one critical difference: the Bai people are patriarchal and the Mosuo matriarchal. Table 1 and 2 below summarize the results of the interviews with Bai and Mosuo women, which included questions regarding the impacts tourism has had on them, their family and their children. Table 1. Positive impacts Impacts Economic

Cultural

Ecological

Dali Increases family income (4) More income sources for women/unskilled (3) Part-time jobs for children (3) Living standards improved (2) More availability of goods We can learn about outside world (2) Local snacks promoted Women’s knowledge increased Women learn new languages People want to modernize their towns Ethnic culture is protected Wives and husbands share economic burden Infrastructure improves (2) Green vegetables are produced & consumed (2)

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Lugu-Hu Living standards improved (4) Increased income

We learn new languages (2) People became open minded (2) We do not need to do heavy farm work Hygienic practices improved Children realize learning is important Educational level improved Clothing is more diverse Houses and facilities improved

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Digital Traveler ~ Asia Pacific eNewsletter, July 2005 www.ecotourism.org

Table 2. Negative impacts Impacts Economic

Cultural

Ecological

Dali Prices increased Families’ expenditures increased Outsiders dominate tourism business Public expenditures to protect environment increased Profits from tourists souvenirs are low Prices of agricultural products are too high Children distracted from their studies (2) Family time and free time has decreased (2) Time for guiding children has decreased Prostitutes have come from poor villages

Noise pollution More vehicles are dangerous to locals Rivers are polluted White pollution (paper/plastic)

Lugu-Hu Outsiders dominate tourism business

Falling in love with outsiders hurts family harmony (2) Mothers become very busy (2) Children become lazy Criminal cases have increased Outsiders misrepresent local culture We forget how to do farm work Lake pollution has become serious

The data collected from the study provides much insight into the ways in which tourism affects Bai and Mosuo women. Namely, •

While Bai women emphasized that tourism brings economic opportunities, Mosuo women, who were already economically independent, only noted moderate improvements to their standard of living.

•

Informants mentioned numerous positive and negative impacts that had no evident relationship with access to income, e.g. exposure to other languages, cultures and the concept of modernization.

•

Mosuo women showed particular concern over the preservation of their traditions by noting how tourism brought crime, cultural misrepresentation, and temptations to Mosuo girls.

In conclusion, this study affirms that tourism development brings much needed economic relieve to peripheral regions despite the fact that the hosts only retain a small fraction of the revenues due to national tour agencies’ control over transportation and lodging and immigrant merchants dominating the retail of souvenirs. It also suggests that increased access to income only benefits women’s social standing in communities where they have been traditionally alienated from the local economy, whereas in communities where women have been commercially active, tourism only provides an alternative source of income. Lastly, an important implication for tourism-related research in China and the broader Asia Pacific region, where traditional socio-cultural factors play an important role in determining gender relations, is that since tourism affects women in many ways not related to economic benefits, any examinations of tourism impacts on women should encompass both economic and socio-cultural factors.

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The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Digital Traveler ~ Asia Pacific eNewsletter, July 2005 www.ecotourism.org

Note: This article has been adapted from a full feature article published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. Morais, D. B., Yarnal, C., Dong, E., and Dowler, L. (2005). The Impact of Ethnic tourism on Bai and Mosuo women in Yunnan province, PRC. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 10(3). If you wish to obtain a copy of the full article, please contact the author: Duarte B. Morais Assistant Professor of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management The Pennsylvania State University 228 Mateer Building University Park, PA 16802-1307 (814) 865-5614 Fax (814) 863-4257 [email protected] Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research is the official journal of the Asia Pacific Tourism Association (Founded September 1995) and seeks to publish both empirically and theoretically based articles which advance and foster tourism education, research, and professionalism in the Asia Pacific region. The Journal welcomes submissions of full length articles, research notes, critical reviews on major issues, and reviews of books and conferences with relevance to the Asia Pacific region. More information on Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research is available at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/10941665.asp

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