Tourism(and(Colonialism:(The(Experience(of(the(Bahamas ...
Transcript of Tourism(and(Colonialism:(The(Experience(of(the(Bahamas ...
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Tourism and Colonialism: The Experience of the Bahamas
Published in Annals of Tourism Research
Catherine Palmer (University of Brighton, UK)
Full reference: Palmer, C. (1994). ‘Tourism & Colonialism: The Experience of the
Bahamas’. Annals of Tourism Research, Volume 21 (4): 792-‐812
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Abstract To complement the rich and varied body of literature concerning the impact of
tourism on the host community, this study concentrates on the legacy of the
Caribbean experience of colonialism. With specific reference to the Bahamas (and to
the capital city, Nassau) the discussion focuses on the relationship between tourism
and colonialism and on the implications this has for the development of a national
identity. By relying on the images of a colonial past, the tourism industry merely
perpetuates the ideology of colonialism and prevents the local people from defining
a national identity of their own.
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INTRODUCTION
Tourism, like most other industries, suffers from its share of stereotype
images. These images tucked deep into the recesses of the public's
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imagination, often have little to do with things as they actually are. (Insight
Bahamas Guide 1986:66) .
The theme of this article concerns the impact of colonialism on the
contemporary tourist’s image of Carinnean peoples and countries, particularly the
Bahamas. Lea (1988) argues that the majority of tourists emanate from the affluent,
industrialized countries, such as those in North America, Europe, Asia and the
Pacific (particularly Australia and Japan) and it is to these that the term
contemporary tourist applies. The discussion relates to the author's experiences of
living and working in the Bahamas in the late 1980's and to research undertaken in
1992 on the island of New Providence (the location of the capital city, Nassau). The
fieldwork involved a series of taped interviews with local residents, both black and
white, from a variety of different backgrounds and professions. The interviews
enabled Bahamians to comment personally on the influence of British colonial rule
and the impact of mass tourism. Some of these comments have been incorporated
into the overall discussion, so that the opinions of local Bahamians can be taken into
account.
The main argument put forward here concerns the way in which the historical
development of the Bahamas, with its legacy of British colonial rule, has affected the
image of the local people presented to the tourists. Mathews (1978:81) asserts that
the high visibility of tourism has a subtle but noticeable impact on local values,
intricately linking the self-‐identity of Bahamians to that of their tourist visitors:
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The cultural scenario that Caribbean youth have inherited...is characterised
by psychological, cultural and economic dependence, and has spawned a
crop of 'Afro-‐Saxons' who still rely on outside sources for defining and
legitimatizing their identity (James-‐Bryan 1986:150).
Consequently, this paper seeks to examine the basis upon which the tourist's
image of the Bahamas is constructed, taking into account the history of the country
as a former British colony. Furthermore, it will consider the extent to which these
touristic images affect the individual Bahamian's understanding of what being a
"Bahamian" actually means; in other words, how they perceive their national
identity.
Smith (1991) argues that an individual's national identity is a complex mix of
shared values, memories, myths and traditions that provide the individual with a
unique cultural heritage. A sense of national identity allows individuals to
"recognize" themselves and others and to understand their place within the
contemporary world order (Smith 1991:17). However, Clifford (1988) maintains
that perceptions of nationality are neither static nor unchanging and can be
modified on the basis of the situations and the people encountered by the individual,
specifically:
Twentieth-‐century identities no longer presuppose continuous cultures or
traditions ..... individuals and groups improvise local performances from
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(re)collected pasts, drawing on foreign media, symbols and language
(1988:14).
It is, therefore, important to consider whether the tourism industry “assists” in
this process of modification by “manipulating” the memories, myths and traditions
of the local people so as to attract the tourists to the destination.
The role played by intermediaries such as travel agents and advertisers, is
considered significant in this discussion, since the Bahamas is initially encountered
through the pictures and language of the travel brochure. It is these brochures that
promote the artifacts of a colonial past as being representative of the cultural
heritage of the Bahamas. The contemporary tourist visiting the Bahamas is not
merely visiting a country that is different culturally, socially and environmentally,
but also one that, in many instances, conjures up images of a colonial past, of a
country that was once part of a British Empire. Such images often have little to do
with the reality of today's Bahamian lifestyles; nonetheless they still provide the
basis for the touristic encounter.
TOURISM IN THE BAHAMAS
The Geography and Economy
Located east of Florida, the Bahamas is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean
rather than in the Caribbean Sea. In a sense, this location, on the periphery of
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mainstream Caribbean existence, has led one commentator to argue that "strictly
speaking the Bahamas is not a Caribbean country...." (McCaughey 1980:32).
Averaging 200 miles in width the island chain stretches for 600 miles in a
southeasterly direction from Florida down towards Haiti. The Bahamas is an
archipelago of around 700 islands and “cays”, of which approximately 30 are
actually inhabited. It sustains an estimated population of 250,000, 65% of whom
live on New Providence island (in and around Nassau), which is only 7 miles long by
22 miles wide (Collinwood 1989b:19). Those islands "outside" of New Providence
were originally referred to as the Out Islands, although they were renamed the
Family Islands in 1972 prior to Independence.
Tourism is firmly entrenched as the leading industry, contributing 70% to the
gross national product (Collinwood and Dodge 1989:265) and accounting for 2/3 of
all employment (Cash, Gordon and Saunders 1991:311). Banking and offshore
investments generate the second largest revenue. Other industries include
agriculture (mainly pineapples and bananas), salt production, boat building, food
canning and fishing. Overall, the Bahamas relies heavily on imported consumer
goods and food items from the United States and Europe, to satisfy both the tourist
and the local population; a situation which Collinwood and Dodge (1989:107) have
referred to as selling "imported goods to imported people". Furthermore, Sealey
(1990:47) maintains that dependence on imported manufactured goods is a direct
result of colonialism and is a common occurrence among many former British and
European colonies.
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The development of mass tourism in the Bahamas began in earnest during the
1950's. Prior to that tourism had existed on a smaller scale as one of the main stays
of the economy, along with British investment and employment in the United States.
However, it was not until the “jet engine” days of the 1950's and the 1960's that
tourism began to dominate the economy. Initially, the Bahamas attracted what
many Bahamians refer to as wealthy "up-‐market" tourists. However, over the years,
the visitor profile has changed dramatically and mass tourism is now the order of
the day. As one local Bahamian states:
I mean years ago when I was growin' up here on the Island...the calibre of
tourist we had here was wonderful and...what they spent compared to what
the tourist spends nowadays, it's very hard to compare the two..we have
cheapened ourselves by allowing a lot of these cheap tourists to come
here...most people can't even afford the departure tax 'cause they came with
no money anyway....I don't think it helps us as a people or as an economy
(personal communication with J. Solomon in 1992).
In 1990 the Bahamas entertained over 3.5 million tourists either as stopover
visitors or cruise ship passengers, and tourist expenditure exceeded US$ 1.3 billion
(Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1990).
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Authors such as Bethel (1989) and Debbage (1991) have described Bahamian
tourism as “enclave tourism”, as illustrated by the Cable Beach “strip” of hotels and
casinos, with the best example being that of Paradise Island, home to some of the
largest hotels on New Providence.
Tourism so dominates the Bahamas that one is perhaps justified in
describing the Bahamas as a monoculture...the massive influx of tourists and
the concentration in Nassau...has put an almost unbearable strain on a very
delicate ecosystem, on utilities and essential services, and on a very
vulnerable culture.... (Bethel 1989:133, 135).
Many now believe that the tourism industry is not the economic panacea for all
the Bahamas' problems, since the majority of hotels are foreign owned most of the
profits are sent out of the country (Bethel 1989:137). Furthermore, the growth of
tourism has discouraged the development of agriculture (since more money can be
made working in the tourism industry) and encouraged a demographic movement
of people from the Family Islands to Nassau and to Freeport, the Bahamas' “second
city” (Collinwood and Dodge 1989:107).
Saunders (1990) argues that the early years of tourism development in the
Bahamas did not help to foster a better understanding between peoples. Instead, it
exacerbated racist attitudes as exposure to so many white visitors tended to
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emphasize the already deeply-‐entrenched feelings of inferiority amongst the
colored and the black population (Saunders 1990:102). Furthermore, the very
nature of enclave tourism discourages cross-‐cultural understanding by clearly
demarcating the tourist from the local, the hotels from the homes. The host-‐guest
relationship is bound to suffer therefore, since the historically founded rhetoric of
the guidebook becomes the means by which the local people can be encountered.
As a result, the Bahamas, like other tourism dependent countries, tends to “play
along” with the brochure images so as to keep the tourists coming back for more:
Ironically, it is to the temporary...advantage of the Bahamas not to let too
many people know that the Bahamas has become a bona fide nation...Tourists
prefer to believe the Bahamas is a paradise, just like it says in the slick vacation
brochures (Collinwood 1989b: 4-‐5).
The Colonial Experience
The colonial experience of the Bahamas and of much of the Caribbean is
comparable to that of many formerly colonized countries. Rostow (1971) argues
that the historical beginnings of colonialism are rooted in the competition for power
and trade, and for military advantage through the acquisition of overseas territories
and bases. From the Fifteenth Century onwards several European countries,
especially the British, French and Dutch competed for colonies in the Americas, Asia,
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Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, initially for economic gain through trade,
then for the power and prestige of possession. The majority of former colonial
territories (excluding North America) belong to today’s developing world or Third
World. Memmi (1990) argues that by subduing and exploiting the colonized, the
colonizers were able to effectively exclude them from the historical, social and
technical transformations that took place in the rest of the world:
….the colonized's culture, society and technology are seriously
damaged...Nonindustrialisation and the absence of technical development in
the country lead to a slow economic collapse of the colonized (Memmi
1990:180, 181).
Consequently, the foundations for the development of a tourism industry, based
on a tertiary rather than a manufacturing economy, were firmly established.
Furthermore, Britton (1982:347) maintains that the emergence of tourism, as a
means of achieving economic independence, is inextricably linked to the historical
process of colonialism; the legacy of which has firmly returned control of a country's
tourism development to just those who once exercised colonial possession. Those
destinations that once relied on their colonial rulers for their economic welfare now
rely on these same countries to provide both the tourists, and the multinational
corporations to supply and manage the tourist facilities. In the Bahamas, many of
these facilities are either owned or operated by companies from the United States of
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America, such as Carnival, Resorts International and Wyndham Hotels. Similarly,
many of the commodities needed to sustain the tourism industry have to be
imported from such outside sources as, the United States, the United Kingdom and
Western Europe, which leads Bethel to argue that, " the benefits of tourism continue
to accrue to non-‐nationals, who continue to own and/or control the lion's share of
the industry" (1989:136).
A more pervasive and perhaps least recognized aspect of colonialism is its
impact on the creation of stereotyped ethnic and cultural images, which form the
basis of the contemporary tourist's experience of the Caribbean and of the Third
World in general. Writers such as Said (1978), Kabbani (1986), Volkman (1990)
and Picard (1991) have highlighted the process by which the cultural heritage of the
host community was moulded and shaped, so as to reflect the attitudes and opinions
of the colonizers’ themselves. According to Picard (1991:2, 3), this transformation
was achieved because it resulted from developments “within” the host society and
was thus much more difficult to resist. Such a “cultural transformation” not only
affected the way the local people related to their national identity, but also served to
produce the stereotyped images that are currently being presented for the
consumption of the tourist.
Memmi (1990) elaborates these views by highlighting how the values and
attitudes of the governing class are adopted in large measure by the governed class.
All traces of the colony's past are erased so that the statues, street names, buildings
and even the education system reflect those of the colonizers' world. The heritage
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of the people that is handed down to the next generation is that of the colonizer's,
making it very difficult for the local people to develop an independent heritage of
their own. Therefore, it is ".....not a coincidence that colonized peoples are the last
to awaken to national consciousness" (Memmi 1990:162).
Colonialism in the Bahamas
The Bahama islands were discovered in 1492 when Columbus landed on the
island of San Salvador (which at that time was inhabited by the Lucayan people) on
his way to the East Indies. In the following brief period of Spanish colonization, the
entire Lucayan population were sold off as slaves. This left the islands isolated and
virtually uninhabited until 1629 when Great Britain laid formal claim to the
Bahamas. The majority of the early population were the slaves of predominantly
African descent and it was not until the American War of Independence that
significant numbers of settlers came to live in the Bahamas. These settlers,
“refugees” from the southern United States, were wealthy white landowners who
not only supported slavery, but also preferred to remain “loyal” to the United
Kingdom. As a result, they brought not only wealth to the islands but also slaves.
The racial divisions of those early years laid the foundation for the organization
of contemporary Bahamian society. The black population were either slaves with
no rights at all who could be bought and sold at their owners discretion, and free
blacks, who because of a rigid color bar were restricted from fully participating in
the society and economy of the Islands (Collinwood 1989a: 6-‐7). Many “loyalist”
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whites settled in the Out Islands where three types of settlement predominated -‐ all
white settlements, such as Spanish Wells, Man-‐O-‐War Cay and Abaco; all black
settlements, such as Long Cay, Rum Cay, Cat Island, Mayaguana and Andros; and bi-‐
racial settlements, such as Green Turtle Cay and Harbour Island. The Island of
Abaco, which still retains a white majority, is referred to by some Bahamians as the
"White Island". Slavery was widespread and all blacks, free or slaves, were subject
to discrimination and racial prejudice, even after Emancipation in 1838.
Though the blacks were no longer slaves, they were effectively barred from
important roles in the English colonial administration and from lucrative
economic pursuits. The blacks were denied full citizenship rights and were
exploited by the white autocracy (Collinwood and Dodge 1989: 27).
The Out Islands were renamed the "Family Islands" in 1972. However, they have
not always lived up to that name as indicated in a letter from a white American
resident of Abaco, recently published in a daily newspaper:
I have lived in Abaco for many years...I know many people there, I know my
way around, it is a community I know and understand...I have lived in many
states of my homeland, the United States of America. I have lived through
great depressions, post war America and even during the painful abuse of
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Blacks in America. But in all my travels.......I have never seen a place more
racially divided than Abaco...the white sector of the population controls
almost everything (Nassau Guardian 1992: 2A).
During the middle part of the 20th century, the whites who controlled the
Bahamas (still called "Bay Street Boys") were a clique of wealthy merchants and
lawyers with stores or offices on Bay Street, the main east-‐west thoroughfare in
Nassau. The years of colonial rule served to strengthen the control of this minority
white elite, as the members of the colonial administration were elected from this
group. The privileged status of the white population is aptly illustrated by the
following comment from a black Bahamian:
....at certain times the black Bahamians couldn't go certain places, specifically
in Nassau, because it was off limits to them....I've heard this said by a lot of
elderly people, that during the British rule right, a lot of the whites took
advantage in terms of gettin' favours...if you were white you could get land, you
could get a loan from banks, that's how most of the whites in this country really
got their money, because of favours... (personal communication with W. Rolle
1992).
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Saunders (1990:103) maintains that despite such humiliating and overtly racist
treatment the colored and the black classes lacked the political will to challenge the
power of the Bay Street clique. This weakness was aggrevated during the years of
slavery by differences among blacks who were slaves or free, rich or poor, black or
“colored”. Saunders (1990) argues that even the “coloreds” were a non-‐
homogeneous group – divided by degree of dark, or white skin, with near-‐white
Bahamians referred to (then and still today) as "Conchy Joes". To overcome racial
divisions in Bahamian society, a colored Bahamian could gain some respect and
acceptance in the white community by "imitating white values" whilst at the same
time distancing themselves from the black laboring classes; in other words money
“whitened” (Saunders 1990: 80-‐81, 96). Therefore, the years of slavery served to
divide, not unite, the black population and this further undermoned the formation of
an effective black opposition.
The legacy of British colonial occupation is profound and pervasive. The extent
to which the colony was managed, organized and dominated by British, and in
particular white, interests is well documented by many authors, (Collinwood 1989a;
Collinwood and Dodge 1989; Craton 1962; Saunders 1990). An understanding of the
historical influence of Great Britain is especially important for New Providence
island, as 51% of tourists spend most of their time there in and around Nassau
(Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1990).
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During the years of colonial occupation, the British laid the foundations for much of
the island's political, legal and educational systems that over the years permeated
the Bahamian mind in diverse and pervasive ways. Schools and Colleges taught
British history and geography and the present-‐day examination system still reflects
that of Great Britain. Thus, for all Bahamians, black and white, their education
taught them more about Great Britain than it did about the Bahamas, "I say the
British have really done a thing on us...a lot of brainwashing...I was told the Bahamas
had no history" (personal communication with D. J. Johnson 1992).
Furthermore, the symbols that represent the modern, independent Bahamas
(and which are located in Nassau) are actually British in origin. The British
language, the Parliamentary system (with its symbol of authority the “Speaker's
Mace”) is organized along the lines of that in London and even holds elections
within the same time frame. The Churchill Building, housing the Prime Ministers
office and the Treasury is presided over by a statue of Queen Victoria, symbolizing a
British rather than Bahamian way of life. Similarly, the judicial system is based on
the English Common Law (although there is a large body of Bahamian Statute Law)
and incorporates bewigged barristers and Magistrates Courts also reminiscent of
Great Britain.
Place and street names constantly remind Bahamians and tourists of a British
presence; Parliament Street, Elizabeth Street, Elizabeth Estates, the Princess
Margaret Hospital, and the British Colonial Hotel. The Royal Victoria Hotel, now
derelict, stands opposite the post office as a decaying relic of the past. The newly
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renovated Woods Rogers Walk, with docking facilities for the cruise ships at Prince
George Wharf, commemorates the first British Governor of the Bahamas in 1718.
Moreover, many white Bahamians are interested in preserving their version of the
past as being that of the “real” Bahamas. The Bahamas Historical Society, which
operates the main Museum in Nassau, is composed of all white Bahamians from
some of the oldest families and the “past” on show in the museum is that of British
colonial rule. Almost all the artifacts, except for a replica Lucayan canoe and a
Junkanoo dance costume, relate to the various governors and to the “stewardship”
of the Duke of Windsor. Nearly all the pictures and photographs are of white
individuals, leaving the impression of a time-‐stood-‐still; to the days when the British
Empire ruled and each man understood his place in the scheme of things.
The tourist attractions in Nassau include the forts and the castles of the colonial
era and the legal and political institutions around Bay Street, the main area for
sightseeing and shopping. Thus, the tourist is presented with a country that is
apparently British in origin and whose African heritage is marginalized and only
encountered via the baskets, T-‐shirts and wooden carvings of the straw market.
Furthermore, the promotion and high visibility of actually British institutions
impedes the local people from forging an independent “Bahamian” identity”: "...our
British influenced personality...are what make us a particular type of people worth
visiting" (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1992a). Indeed, so severe was the impact of
colonialism on Bahamian nationality that in a speech to the United Nations in 1966
Lynden Pindling, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party stated:
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...”Bahamian” is not a legal term under the constitution; yet no one can say
with any degree of truth that we are British. As a people we are without
history, without culture, and without national identity. We study British
history, British civilisation and even British weather; but about ourselves, we
have no past -‐ and under colonialism, no future. (Cash, Gordon and Saunders
1991:175)
Today, many white Bahamians continue to identify themselves with Great Britain,
while many black Bahamians argue that their national identity only began to
develop after Independence in 1973. Prior to that "when Bahamians dig into the
past they uncover Africa, slavery and, as they see it, dishonor" (Collinwood 1989c:
226). The following comments illustrate these points, the first by a white Bahamian
and the second by a black Bahamian:
...I think we've lost our identity if we even had an identity originally of a
culture being Bahamian....'cause we've been so influenced by the
English....cultural heritage for me is basically English...I think a lot of
them..(black Bahamians)...are very lost to exactly who and what they are.....I
think to them it signifies that we're no longer under the British rule, the yoke
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has disappeared so we can do what the hell we want (personal
communication with Joey Solomon 1992).
I think if you want to be original you have to start from '73, till now from '73
goin' backwards it's all a British colony...since Independence right...you're
recognized as a nation and...not as a British colony….. (personal
communication with W. Rolle 1992).
The history of the Bahamas, the days of Empire and colonialism, have provided the
tourism industry with the necessary images for promoting the islands and the
people can be promoted as a tourist destination. Concomitantly, it has produced a
confusing array of symbols from which the present-‐day population must synthezise
a national identity. Because of tourism, the era of white colonial rule still defines the
local people since it promotes the image of a country whose historical associations
“label” it as more British than anything else.
The Myths and Stereotypes of Colonialism
The extent to which colonialism was able to both create and encourage
stereotyped ethnic and cultural images is crucial for an understanding of the
relationship between tourism and colonialism; for the tourism industry often relies
upon these same images as a means of promoting destinations like the Bahamas.
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According to Crick (1988:58), the promotion of tourism, as a means of generating
foreign exchange and enhancing economic independence, has encouraged the
perpetuation and reinforcement of such stereotypes. As a result, the influence of
colonialism becomes even more problematical, for although the colonial era in its
more obvious form no longer exists, the prejudices and racial discrimination that
were part of its underlying ideology, may still have an impact on the tourists’ and
the locals’ perceptions of each other:
The tourist is invited in magazine advertisements and TV commercials to live
in the past and to experience the features of a "slave"-‐based past. What an
affront to the sensitivities of free peoples trying desperately to outlive the
past! (Hills and Lundgren 1977:262).
The following Jamaican Tourist Board advertisement aptly exemplifies what Hills
and Lundgren are referring to:
You can rent a lovely life in Jamaica by the week. It starts with a country
house or a beach cottage hilltop hideaway that comes equipped with gentle
people named Ivy or Maude or Malcolm who will cook, tend, mend, diaper
and launder for you. Who will "Mr. Peter, please" you all day long, pamper
you with homemade coconut pie, admire you when you look "soft"
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(handsome), giggle at your jokes and weep when you leave (Erisman
1983:358).
Crick (1988: 59) further maintains that in the West Indies, tourism is associated
with servility and reawakens memories of the colonial past, perpetuating
resentments and antagonisms that affect the touristic encounter. Similarly, Erisman
(1983) and English (1986) argue that the development of tourism within many
former colonies is inextricably linked to notions of slavery, racial discrimination and
inequality:
....by continually playing host/servant to white vacationers, the black West
Indian consciously or unconsciously comes to adopt or at least acquiesce to
this racially discriminatory scenario which relegates non-‐whites to an
inferior position....in other words, tourism is seen as a vehicle for
reimplanting the racial as well as other types of hegemony that existed in the
region's colonial past... (Erisman 1983: 358).
However, Farrell (1979), Manning (1979) and LaFlamme (1979) all stress that
racism existed before tourism, rather than as a consequence of tourism. Similarly,
Holder (1990:650) argues that tourism in the Caribbean has actually assisted in the
breakdown of racial segregation within the local population by exposing the black
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communities to a wider variety of white visitor. Nevertheless, attitudes of “black
servitude” may still bubble along beneath this halo of racial harmony, as some white
tourists may feel they have the right to treat "blacks in a haughty way.....because
they are paying for service (and deference)" (Erisman 1983:357-‐358).
The powerful and incisive ideas put forward by Said (1978) and Kabbani
(1986) provide perhaps the most interesting view of how the legacy of colonialism
has structured the relationship between the erstwhile colonizer and the colonized.
Both writers assert that colonialism not only dominated politically and economically
but also helped to create the myths, stereotypes and fantasies that have shaped the
West's view of the East; and thus impacted on the encounters between both peoples
-‐ creating what Said refers to as "Europe's collective day-‐dream of the Orient"
(1978:52). Moreover, as argued here, travel agents, tour operators, and even
national governments choose from a menu of such stereotypical misconceptions to
promote the tourism destination. This is illustrated by the following advertising
statements about the Bahamas:
There are whiffs of a past that is as romantic as it was precarious. There is a
free and easy British Colonial flavour. And there is the musical rhythm of
Africa.....There, generations of men learned to be brave when they had to and
not to worry about tomorrow (Hannau 1977:5-‐6).
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We invite you to share this special island with us. A peaceful, charming
island with warm-‐hearted inhabitants who still speak the colonial dialect of
their Tory ancestors (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1991:10).
Escape to the quaint 18th century tropic isle of colonial charm and casual
elegance where imagination becomes reality (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism
1992b).
The fundamental argument of Kabbani (1986) is that the Western image of the
Orient is founded on the writings of travelers and novelists who visited distant lands
in order to gather and record information about the peoples and places they
encountered. These “visitors” carried with them their own cultural and national
identities, images of their own political, economic and military ideals and as a result
their accounts were based on an understanding of their world, rather than that of
the countries they visited. Moreover, these “travelogues” often included invented
and exaggerated accounts designed to excite and please the reader and in so doing
served to confirm the myths and images already held by their own people back
home (Kabbani 1986:2). Indeed the artists and connoisseurs who settled in Bali
between the two world wars constructed just such fanciful accounts, providing the
tourism industry and the Indonesian government with the means by which the
country and the people could be identified; as illustrated by Picard:
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The accounts, paintings, photographs and films contributed to forging a
sensational image of Balinese society, an image which would be relayed in
due time through the promotional services of the nascent tourist industry
(1991:3).
The creation and maintenance of the myths and stereotypes to describe the local
population provided the colonizers with “legitimate' reasons for their actions. If it
could be suggested that the local people (in other words the “coloreds”) were lazy,
violent and incapable of government then the colonizers could feel justified in taking
control (Kabbani 1986:4, 6). Consequently, notions of power, dominance and
authority are fundamental to the relationship between colonialism and tourism,
with Nietzsche's (1969) concept of the “will to power” central to an understanding
of the whole process. Said discusses at length how colonialism placed the
Westerner in a state of "positional superiority" with the Easterner "without ever
losing him the relative upper hand" (1978:7); so the “will” of the West towered over
that of the East -‐ "..the West's great cultural strength, it's will to power... and will to
govern over the Orient..." (1978:94,95).
Furthermore, Issawi argues that the colonized eventually come to believe in the
superiority of the colonizer, precisely because, "..men are always inclined to
attribute perfection to those who have defeated and subjugated them" (1950:53).
As such, Nietzsche's (1969:138) assertion that "the will of the weaker persuades it
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to serve the stronger" explains the seemingly submissive “silence” of the colonized
in the entire process. As illustrated by the Bahamas, where the native Bahamian
was encouraged to aspire to the deep-‐rooted British -‐ and hence white -‐ oriented
value system, rather than the African heritage that was inherent in the majority of
the population:
…..the economic stranglehold on them by the white oligarchy and the
psychological bad image of the Bahamian black, created a seemingly powerless,
passive and somewhat pathetic individual! (Insight Bahamas Guide 1986:61).
For Bahamians, black or white, to become like the British was the single most
important prerequisite for attaining self-‐esteem and status. Nowadays, however,
the whites are in the minority and most of the discriminatory barriers have been
broken down as a result of the black majority rule that has existed since 1967.
Moreover, the white population has been increasingly marginalized: "...now the
country's more or less for the Bahamians, for the black person here and that's what
this government has created..." (personal communication with J. Solomon 1992).
Nevertheless, the images of the past continue to influence the images of the present:
the 'brochure Bahamas' becomes, for the tourist, an important indicator of how to
define, encounter and relate to the local Bahamian population. The picture and
language of the travel guides are a powerful force in the creation and maintenance
25
of the myths of identity, confirming the stereotypes of the past as being
representative of the present.
The Power of the “Textual Attitude”
According to Said (1978), the colonially inspired images of native peoples were
accepted as accurate by the so called “civilised world” because of the power of the
written word; which he refers to as a “textual attitude”. He argues that people often
prefer the “schematic authority” of a text to the actual encounter. Once accepted as
“fact” these textual stereotypes are employed by the tourism industry to promote
particular destinations. Moreover, as Leed (1991:280) argues such cultural
stereotypes are specifically generated so that particular cultures can be observed
and identified by others, in this instance the tourists. An example of this is Picard's
discussion of how the tourism industry “manipulated” the myths and stereotypes of
Balinese history so as to package the country as a tourist destination:
....an island which had long been known in the West for its "plunderous
salvage" of shipwrecks and "barbarous sacrifice" of widows on the funeral
pyre had to be turned into an object for Westerners in search of the
exotic...And indeed, the island of Bali has consistently been described ever
since as the last paradise (1991:2, 3).
26
The traveler reading a guidebook will use the images portrayed in the text as
the basis on which to construct his/her opinions, behavior and expectations,
offering as they do a sense of security in an unknown land:
And of course many writers of travel books or guide books compose them in
order to say that a country is like this, or better, that it is colorful, expensive,
interesting...so much so that the book (or text) acquires a greater authority,
and use, even than the actuality that it describes (Said 1978:93).
For Said the guide books create a sense of false reality that confuses the traveller.
"Many travelers find themselves saying of an experience in a new country that it
wasn't what they expected, meaning that it wasn't what a book said it would be"
(1978:93). Thus, echoing the words of Raleigh: "it is not truth but opinion that can
travel the world without a passport" (Lowenthal 1961: 260). Similarly, the guide
book descriptions of the Tana Toraja as an exotic, wild and “untouched” land have
led some tourists to be disappointed by the “reality”:
A San Francisco tourist, having read one of the most popular guidebooks on
Indonesia, admitted that he had expected Toraja to be "really stone
age....grass skirts and grass huts and people fighting with clubs". His
daughter agreed, "skulls and bones everywhere". The first person they had
27
seen in Toraja had been wearing a California Highway Patrol hat and jeans;
their first 'event' had been a Protestant funeral. But the themes persist
(Volkman 1990:94).
The travel guides discussed by Said (1978) and the travelogues analyzed
Kabbani (1986) have provided the tourism promoters almost “ready made” images
to relay to tourists through the language and pictures of the travel brochures.
However, selective use of these images has often disadvantaged the destination
country. As is the case with the Bahamas:
For decades destinations like the Bahamas have been saddled with images of
smiling natives, often shirtless, shuffling under limbo bars with frothy fruit
and rum drinks to the delight of the world's jet setters. How far from the
truth this is! (Insight Bahamas Guide 1986:66).
Both Crick (1988) and Urry (1990a; 1990b) further emphasize the fact that tourism
is essentially an exercise in fantasy and that the tourist buys to seek in “reality” the
pleasurable dramas experienced in the imagination. Consequently, the colonial
inspired stereotypes and images become the means by which the tourist is
introduced to the destination and the local people. Urry further asserts that under
the impact of “international tourism”, different countries are beginning to specialize
28
in particular types of “objects” to be gazed upon. For example Britain specializes in
holidays concerned with the historical heritage and the quaint, while Thailand
caters for the “exotic” (Urry 1990a:48, 108). Such “specialization” must inevitably
affect how tourists are presented with and behave in, particular destinations, as a
result of the “images” chosen to “sell” them through the brochures. Those countries
associated with past colonial occupation, slavery and racial differentiation may find
these images still lurking at the back of some tourist's minds; particularly since this
process of “labeling'” assumes there is a universally accepted national stereotype
that everyone understands and agrees upon. The difficulty then becomes how to
separate those images that conjure up “negative” stereotypes of past, or indeed
present racial practices, from more positive ones that present the local population
as they are today, not hundreds of years ago. There is nothing essentially wrong
with the idea of holidays as “lived fantasies”, just as long as the tourist understands
where the fantasy ends and reality begins.
The fantasy includes also a commitment to total servility on the part of
everyone except the tourist. This practice has become so expected that
when it is denied, violent reaction can often be expected....The fantasies of
tourism are profitable. Corporate advertising not only helps to create the
dream but promises to make it all come true (Mathews 1978:82, 83).
29
This highlights the pervasive role of “power” underpinning even the promotion of
destinations, with the corporate advertising agencies having a vested financial stake
in maintaining the status quo, becoming in the process the “dominant classes” of
Thurot and Thurot who control "...the circulation of cultural products among the
masses" (1983:177-‐178). Uzzell goes on to argue that travel advertisers are not
attempting to attract tourists through the superficial attributes of the holiday
destinations, but "...by providing the reader with a range of cultural tools with
which fantasy, meaning and identity can be created and constructed" (1984:79).
The tourist is thus “encouraged” to create his own image of what to expect from the
information presented to him -‐ thus arriving with pre-‐conceived ideas of sights,
events and landscapes that often take precedence over the “reality of the people and
their daily lives” (Farrell 1979:124). Adams perhaps more directly condemns the
advertisers who, she argues, actively select, manipulate and maintain the ethnic
stereotypes and images such that they become "...veritable indexes of authenticity"
(1984:472).
Guidebooks inform the tourist where the exotic can be found, that the Bahamas
is the "playground of the Western world", and that South America is an "enchanted
forest", yet the images portrayed in the glossy brochures do not in fact exist (Crick
1988:59). The local people are portrayed as existing in the past not the present, as
though time for them has stood still. Thus, for the duration of the holiday, the local
people become the servile blacks of the former colonies by virtue of the images
“sold” through the brochures. The tourist wants to believe, even in the imagination
that such a world still exists, as illustrated by Levi-‐Strauss : "I can understand the
30
mad passion for travel books and their deceptiveness. They create the illusion of
something which no longer exists but still should exist..." (1989:43). The boundary
between fantasy and reality becomes blurred, with the tourist's “will to believe” the
fantasy as reality; "it seems to me that the possibility exists for fiction to function in
truth, for a fictional discourse to induce effects of truth" (Foucault 1980:193).
As has already been shown, the tourists’ image of a destination is a complex mix
of stereotypes, historical connotations, and guid book rhetoric. The tourist defines
and organizes his behavior and opinions on the basis of what he reads, “knows” or
imagines, rather than on the reality of what actually exists. Consequently, the
tourist looks for that which, for him, “represents” the identity or essence of the
people -‐ what Volkman (1990) calls a distinctive sort of gaze , or a search for what
Urry describes as "..the signs of Frenchness, typical Italian behaviour, exemplorary
Oriental scenes.." (1990b:27). Likewise, Segalen, the early 20th century poet,
archaeologist and travel writer, on a journey to China wrote, "in the end, I came here
looking for neither Europe nor China but for a vision of China" (Clifford 1988:155).
Admittedly, not all tourists are willing to accept what is “sold” in the brochures,
or are capable of being so misled; moreover, “the tourist” does not represent all
tourists. In fact many different types of tourists seek various forms of destination
experiences, many of which involve neither fantasy nor escapes from reality (see
Cohen 1972,1979; Redfoot 1984). Nevertheless, Mathews (1978) maintains that the
largest group of tourist “offenders” are in fact the mass tourists, those on low or
moderate incomes; precisely the “type” of tourists most actively “encouraged” to
31
visit the Bahamas. Furthermore, English (1986) argues that for most people a
holiday is seen as a time to be pampered and spoiled and empowers the visitor by
placing him/her in a position of superiority by virtue of having paid for the
privilege. The purchasing power of the tourist turns him into what Kabbani
(1986:9) claims is a “self-‐created hero” who pursues and enjoys the prestige of
control in order to exorcise the phantom of his own insignificance back home. This
echoes the rather derogatory tone of Fussell, who describes the tourist as a
"fantacist temporarily equipped with power" (1980:41).
Tourism and Bahamian Identity
The brochures that describe and depict the country and the people tend to
emphasize the colonial era rather than the contemporary achievements of an
independent nation state. The tourist reacts to the destination and the people on the
basis of the brochure images. As a result, the individual Bahamian is caught in a kind
of time-‐warp that hinders their ability to progress from, and out of, the myths and
stereotypes propagated under colonial rule. Culturally, the danger here is that the
local people must continually define their identity in contrast to, and in defiance of,
the reminders of British colonial rule: the systems of government and education, the
legal framework, the statues, the buildings and the street names.
32
The cultural heritage of the Bahamas described in the brochures centres around
the summer festival "Goombay", introduced specifically to appeal to the tourists,
and the now "bastardized" Junkanoo, which is continually featured and referred to.
What else is “sold” to the tourist? Bahamian literature, drama, dance and art are
there but very few tourists are even aware of them. The majority of cruise ship
visitors spend most, if not all, of their limited time in Bay Street with its
international shops and promises of “duty-‐free” discounts. The straw market (also
in Bay Street) is the closest the tourist comes to an “indigenous” African heritage.
The wealth of African inspired culture, to counterbalance that of Great Britain, is
not presented as forcefully or as successfully to either the local people or the
tourists. As Hawkins (1976:73) asserts, it is "...the lack of local interest and the
absence of a large enough market for local literature and arts of all sorts, rather than
of talent and originality..." that form the main obstacles to the promotion of
indigenous cultural products. As a result, the individual Bahamian's sense of
identity is tied to those symbols of everyday life that are not only the most visible,
but also the most constantly referred to, by internal as well as external sources.
The tourist is presented with colonial stereotypes wrapped in a blanket of sun,
sea and sand "our crystal clear waters, sun and sand, our British influenced
personality...are what make us a particular type of people worth visiting" (Bahamas
Ministry of Tourism 1992a). The British connection is, therefore, seen as one of the
factors attracting tourists to the Bahamas. However, the reinforcement of such a
connection may, in the long term, disadvantage the local people and indeed, become
33
largely irrelevant to their present-‐day existence -‐ as illustrated in the following
comment:
…….we have some history, yes...but unfortunately it's the pirates and the
various governors and there's some forts...but maybe because they didn't
build them the black people are not interested in preserving them (personal
communication with John Saunders 1992).
Collinwood (1989c:239) describes the Bahamian psychic identity as being in a
state of flux; neither altogether unhappy with the European connection not
altogether sure of the African one. Dependence on an industry geared to promote
peoples and places as “objects” to be gazed upon, rather than encountered, does not
help the individual to come to terms with such an ancestry. This is particularly true
in view of the tourism industry's reliance on outdated (and mainly British inspired)
images as the means by which the tourists identify and relate to the local people.
Perhaps those Bahamians responsible for the promotion of tourism need to have a
greater say in selecting the images used to represent the country. This thereby may
ensure that the “Brochure Bahamas” will portrays the people as they want to be
seen and not as others wish to portray them. In this way the Bahamas may be able
to step out of the colonial time-‐warp and into the 20th century; for as one black
Bahamian states, "to say we all descended from the British maybe, there were ties
34
there, but maybe some of us just don't get it" (personal communication with D. J.
Johnson 1992).
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, it can be argued that the impact of colonialism is just as widespread,
long lasting and pervasive as the economic and political ramifications that provide
the usual focus for discussion. Colonialism was concerned with power, domination
and control, and with the superiority of one group over another through the
perpetuation of inequality. These are all criticisms that at some time or another
have been levelled at tourism, "the claim is that one travels to learn, but really, one
travels to exercise power over land... (and) ....peoples" (Kabbani 1986:10). The
history of the Bahamas highlights the power of the past to re-‐present the present, to
reinforce the myths of the past through the symbols of the present. These for the
tourist, are presented in the guidebooks and form the basis from which the tourist
comes to perceive, conceive and experience the local Bahamian population.
According to Clifford, "self-‐other relations are matters of power and rhetoric
rather than of essence" (1988:14). As such, the encounter between individuals (as
Bahamians and as tourists) occurs within a country whose guidebook rhetoric
promotes the people as they were hundreds of years ago and not as they are today.
The difficulty here is that this country’s dependence on tourism serves to reinforce
the historically implanted identity, based on the artifacts of colonial occupation,
rather than the contemporary achievements of the people themselves. The tourism
35
industry is therefore in danger of perpetuating colonialism through the images
portrayed in the glossy travel brochures; or, as Cohen argues, “….the easy-‐going
tourist of our era might well complete the work of his predecessors, also travellers
from the west – the conqueror and the colonialist” (1972: 182).
The impact of colonial rule on the development of national identity has resulted
in a situation where some sections of the white population still feel tied to Great
Britain. Black Bahamians, for their part, feel that their nationality is firmly tied to
the process of Independence that replaced white minority rule with a
democratically elected black government. However, the political, legal and
educational systems, the major institutions upon which a society is built, continue to
reinforce the British connection.
Perhaps a way forward involves a greater degree of control over how the
Bahamas is promoted as a tourist destination. This, however, merely serves to
highlight the crux of the problem, the extent to which the tourist facilities are owned
and operated by outside sources. Furthermore, control of tourist numbers is not
solely in the hands of the Bahamian government even though tourism is the most
important industry in the Bahamas. There is a need therefore, for a national
development plan that addresses issues of local participation, ownership and
control and that actively attempts to indigenize the industry (see Bethel 1989;
Wilson 1989). Only in this way will Bahamians be able to control the image of their
country presented to the tourists and be able, finally, to present a coherent national
identity -‐ of their own choosing, -‐ both to each other and to the rest of the world.
36
For as Fanon (1967:229) asserts "I am not a prisoner of history. I should not look
there for the meaning of my destiny", and neither should the Bahamas.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
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