Tourism

Today our discussion focused on tourism. We had to read two articles by Hawaiian authors who were quite passionately against tourism. I don’t know that I would agree with everything they said, but having been to Hawaii and seen Waikiki I can’t help but sympathize with some of their points. Over six million people swarm the Hawaiian Islands every year, far in excess of the total population of the islands. They create such a drain on resources and have had quite a devastating effect on the cultural. I know that I personally had not thought much of the cultural heritage of Hawaiians before this semester.

The discussion of Hawaiian tourism led into a discussion on Samoan tourism. Samoan tourism is much smaller. There were slightly over 100,000 visitors last year, with 40% of them being returning Samoans. Samoa is also one of the few Pacific Islands nations with an almost 100% locally owned and operated tourism industry. I personally think its better that way. If control of the industry remains in the hands of locals it will develop at a sustainable pace and not come into such intense conflict with local culture.

I really liked staying in the tourist hotels in Savaii, especially the beach fales. There was no hot water. We slept on mattresses on the floor. There were no real walls, no fans, no TV, and only communal bathrooms. But there was a sense of community. We met the family who owned the fales. We ate dinner as a group with the other tourists. It was a very different environment and one which I feel a big foreign-owned hotel would not be able to duplicate.