Chhabra, Healy, And Sills

Chhabra, Healy, and Sills also provide an interesting argument in which they had uncovered that some local people were reluctant to embrace CHT, particularly the recreation of cultural events. Chhabra, Healy, and Sills claim, “At the same time, they do not want to embrace it because they know that what is beautiful is just a mirage and behind its display lies intense labor, poverty, and suffering” (Chhabra, Healy, & Sills 14). In other words, these events may be perceived as a façade that distracts individuals from seeing underlying socio-political issues that are rooted in the region that they’re visiting. It should go without saying that different regions will undergo dissimilar socio-political issues that aren’t necessarily a direct result or impact from tourism. However, the point is more so that in many cases in lesser developed regions, socio-political issues go unseen when culture is staged. Additionally, Kithiia and Reilly cite further evidence of cultural issues that may result from CHT …show more content…
Kithiia and Reilly recapitulate, “Consequently, the authenticity of cultural tourism comes into question as touristic activities become associated with economic and social power, with tourists and local people’s cultural identity, expectations and experiences becoming intertwined in complex relationships that blur boundaries and autonomy” (Kithiia & Reilly 3). Tourists have formed their ideas of culture based on the experiences that they have perceived as being authentic. These unauthentic experiences then play into a cycle in which cultural education becomes a distorted expectation for future tourists, disallowing for local communities to break away from staged