The Effects of Tourist Photographic Practice on Host Communities
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Management and Law
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Scarles C
(2013)
The Ethics of Tourist Photography: Tourists' Experiences of Photographing Locals in Peru
in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
| Description | First, the notable contributions made to debates about tourism (in particular cross-cultural encounters, heritage, authenticity and commodification), geography and photography are: • Tourists' photographic encounters with locals are mediated and regulated by a complex web of agents (locals being photographed, tourists, tour guides, Government/municipality and the police), • The agency of locals constrained by larger forces and dominant Western mythologies of the exotic Other as they strive to realise the benefits of photography, • Performances of humanity and integrity are enacted by locals as they respond to undignified tourist performances and practices of exploitation and exclusion, • Photographic encounters create opportunities for: • Self-direction as locals to become active, knowing agents and co-performers, • Mobilising meaningful interaction between tourists and locals via mutuality and trust in fleeting moments of togetherness, • Mobilising and sharing cultural identity Secondly, the notable contributions that advance debates on ethics and photography are: • the complexities of the ethical struggles tourists confront in the moment of taking photographs of local communities and position tourist photography as emerging through multiple ethical possibilities rather than a singular, analytical ethical position, • contestations of agency performed between agents of tourist photography subsequent effects on intercommunity relations (i.e. disparities in work ethic, perceived work ethic, sense of shared identity and spaces of exclusion). • the provision of supporting rich, empirical evidence of the case-study. In relation to methods, a future output will provide contribution via an analysis of the challenges and complexities of building trust during when working with local communities during prolonged periods of fieldwork. |
| Exploitation Route | Through the dissemination of findings via a industry and government report and a set of guidelines and code of conduct, there has already been industry recognition of the importance of these findings. These have been incorporated into the training and development of several tour operators and Tourism Concern have embedded them within their ethical tourism guidelines. There is considerable potential for the findings to influence further operational processes by tour operators on a wider scale as the momentum for engaging in sustainable, responsible behaviour continues to rise. Likewise, Governments may also harness this information to realise the effects of such practice within their own destinations in order to rethink the stereotypical understanding that can, at times, position photographing solely as a negative activity. NGOs, such as Tourism Concern, can utilise the findings to support the continued development of ethical practice within tourism, providing direct support and advice to not only tourists, but tour operators, DMOs, Governments and other such stakeholders to ensure greater detail and comprehensive depth to tourism policy development. In addition to industry and Government, the findings from this research project have, and will continue to, directly impacted current academic thinking regarding ethics of photography, community engagement and empowerment within tourism, and the role of industry and government within these relationships. It has furthered thinking regarding the relationships between brokers within such photographic encounters and the politics within these environments. There has been notable engagement with the key publications of this project that have been published in internationally ranked, peer-reviewed journals. |
| Sectors | Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism |
| Description | There are two key non-academic deliverables that have emerged from this research. First, a 30-page Industry and Government Report and secondly, a set of guidelines in the form of a code of conduct. The report outlines the research findings which are presented in two sections. Section 1 entitled "The Effects of Being Photographed", presents the perspective of local residents who are photographed for commercial benefits. Section 2 entitled "Tourists' Ethical Consideration of Photographing Others", presents the complex ethical negotiations tourists' face when contemplating photographing locals as well as those faced during the immediacy of encounter. Finally, key conclusions and recommendations for future practice are outlined. The guidelines have been produced to facilitate tourists understanding of the potential effects of tourist photography and provide an outline of key steps that both facilitate positive encounters as tourists adopt behaviour that minimises potential negative effects of encounters, and in doing so, provides information that can serve to reassure tourists of their actions while photographing. The user guide is divided into four main sections that are entitled: Asking Permission, Golden Rules of Photographing, Paying for Photographs and When, Where and Who to Photograph? It is available in two formats. First, as a printable pamphlet and secondly as a single-page A4 document. The findings have been used to inform a range of audiences. First, a Tourism Society seminar on "Tourism and Photography" was held at the University of Surrey. Research findings provided the keynote presentation with additional contributions from: Adrian Phillips (Commissioning Director, Bradt Travel Guides), Dan Linstead (editor, Wanderlust Travel Magazine) and Fran Hughes (former Responsible Tourism Manager, Explore Worldwide (the UK's largest adventure travel tour operator operating in over 130 countries)). Over 60 academics and members of industry and the public attended and engaged in over 2 1/2 hours of presentations and discussion. This therefore facilitated knowledge transfer and increased awareness of the issues of photographing locals amongst academics, industry and members of the public. Of note, these outputs have facilitated changes to company sustainability policy and tour leader training policies within tour operators, further clarifying the key issues and areas of confusion/concern when tourists photograph local people. Research findings provided a thoroughly evidenced insight into the complex relationships of tourist photography that until now had remained uncertain. Each were disseminated to 45 tour operators in the UK, including the 13 operators who facilitated access to tourist respondents during research. The impact these outputs have had is evident as both Explore (the UK's leading adventure travel company specialising in sustainable travel) and Journey Latin America have subsequently integrated the guide into their Responsible Tourism policy and made it available on the open access Responsible Travel pages of their websites (see: http://www.explore.co.uk/images/stories/files/Photography_Guide.pdf and ). Journey Latin America have also added the user guide to the client documentation pack. Both tour operators have also integrated research findings into the training of all tour leaders working on over 500 tours in over 130 countries. The user guide is also now distributed to Explore Worldwide tour leaders as standard. This has directly benefited tour operators, which in turn has impacted upon tour leaders as well as potential and actual tour operator clients as they are exposed to the user guide either first-hand through its relevant web-presence, or alternatively via personal interaction with and advice from tour leaders on their individual holidays since its introduction in 2010. Wider impact beyond tour operators is also evident as Tourism Concern, the leading international non-Governmental organisation campaigning for human rights across the tourism industry, have incorporated research findings into their own research programme, in particular in the work on best practice guidelines that are currently being developed on poverty tourism and engaging with indigenous communities. Tourism Concern have also made the user guide available via their open access website on the responsible tourism section. This is free for existing and potential Tourism Concern members, industry representatives and tourists to access and download. Tourism Concern has partners in over 20 countries and has 15,000 individual supporters, an academic network and facilitates the Ethical Tour Operator Group. Likewise, ABTA have also disseminated the findings to members of their Sustainable Tourism group with approximately 120 members at the time of distribution. Additionally, wider impact of findings has been realised through the publication of an article in Wanderlust (the UK's leading traveller magazine), which has a readership of over 40,000. This is supported by an online presence with open access to all web-users in addition to paid subscribers. The article entitled: "Photo Tips: Is Shooting People Painless?" appeared in the February 2010 edition of Wanderlust magazine, thus widening public reflection of the effects of photographing on host communities. An online version of is also available at: http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/advice/is-it-wrong-to-take-photos-of-people-on-your-travels?page=all. An article has also been published in the Tourism Concern monthly e-newsletter. This is distributed to over 10,000 people and the Tourism Concern website attracts over 20,000 visits each month. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2008 |
| Sector | Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Conference Presentation - Photographing Locals: The Effects of Tourist Photography on Host Communities. Association of American Geographers, Las Vegas, 22nd - 27th march 2009 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation stimulated many questions and engaging discussion around the effects of photographing locals and the new findings that the research uncovered regarding the opportunities for empowerment and social mobility as a result of this. stimulated further discussion and questions on the issue both during and after the conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Conference Presentation - Photographing Locals: The Effects of Tourist Photography on Host Communities. CAUTHE, Freemantle, Australia, 10th - 13th February 2009. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | stimulated lively discussion regarding community engagement and participation in such activities as well as opportunities for social and economic mobility within such photographing contexts. stimulated further enquiries from academics regarding project findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Conference Presentation. Confusion of Ethics and Ethical Confusion: Understanding Tourists' Photographic Behaviours at Destinations. BEST EN Annual Think Tank, Singapore, 14th - 18th June 2009. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | stimulated discussion around this topic and particularly highlighting the issues related to sustainable tourism regarding commodification, authenticity, social mobility, empowerment, community engagement and economic opportunity. stimulated subsequent conversations and enquiries for further information |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Conference Presentation. Managing and Regulating Tourist Photography. Association of American Geographers Annual Conference, Washington DC, 12th-18th April 2010 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Prompted discussion and critique of ethical practice in photography. This is an area that has received very limited attention within tourism and academia more widely to date. stimulated further questions on the topic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Tourism Society Seminar. Tourism and Photography |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | further developed network of effects of photography with individuals in industry who are working in this area. Included representatives from travel media and travel writers, industry representatives (former Responsible Tourism Manager for Explore Worldwide) as well as academics and students. Published article in Wanderlust magazine on effects of photographing local people at destinations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |