Linking Culture and the Environment

R.E. Mitchell 175
Terrorism: several years of terrorism not only eliminated tourism as an
economic option for Chiquian and the Cordillera Huayhuash, it created difficulties
for residents in openly welcoming strangers. A sense of fear and
suspicion was evident at the time of field research in 1997, perhaps attributable
to the aftermath of a very traumatic period. Terrorism most certainly
affects tourism negatively – residents and visitors alike. The image of safety
is significant from a national or international perspective of tourists and
travel agencies, and also from a local perspective of residents. Safety is still a
concern in the Cordillera Huayhuash with some incidents of hikers being
robbed or assaulted in recent years.
Community Perspectives: a Comparative Analysis
Finding new models of sustainability is an inclusive process. All stakeholders
should be involved at the initiation of a project, including both the local
community and the private sector (Epler Wood, 1998b). This is not to suggest
that the path will be smooth going. Tourism development requires a slow
process of community building, particularly when conventional stakeholders
(residents, entrepreneurs, politicians and tourism advocates) do not view
it as a productive activity (Reed, 1997). Moreover, community building may
not be an easy process to initiate and maintain given the many pitfalls and
pathways along the way as illustrated throughout this book.
On Taquile Island, many years passed until most residents became convinced
of the economic advantages of tourism. Yet clearly greater individual
involvement and influence on the future of tourism existed compared to
Chiquian. Frequent discussions among islander residents occurred before
allowing tourism to occur. Several individuals did more than merely promote
the island and its unique culture to the outside world; they employed a
deliberate process of awareness raising or conscientization (Freire, 1970).
Taquile directed its own tourism development through self-awareness and
self-reliance. In contrast, the average resident in Chiquian demonstrates minimal
awareness of the local tourism industry and few opportunities to participate
in its management and potential benefits.
Since its beginnings in the 1970s, tourism planning on Taquile was a
participatory, albeit unstructured, process. As a process of empowerment,
‘participation helps local people to identify problems and become involved
in decision-making and implementation, all of which contribute to sustainable
development’ (France, 1997, p. 149). Rocha (1997) delineates five types
of ‘empowerment’ within planning, of which perhaps the most relevant to
Taquile is ‘socio-political empowerment’, defined as ‘the development of a
politicized link between individual circumstance and community conditions
through collective social action, challenging oppressive institutional
arrangements’ (Rocha, 1997, p. 34). Given their traditional sense of duty to
the community and their intrinsic participatory nature, a tourism ‘dialogue’
was conceived and established through public discussions and entrenched
by community laws.