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90 colonisation
in 1996, aiming to increase competitiveness in the
long-range international tourism markets. The
decision on a positive national branding and
image concept is probably the most important
question to be addressed in the implementation of
the stated objectives of the tourism law.
Colombia has close ties with the United
States, and presence of international hotel
operators through management and franchise
agreements is visible in many main cities. The
efforts of these latter will certainly help to improve
image and promotional effectiveness. International
arrivals, most of whom were business visitors,
declined to 1,162,300 in 1997, from 1,400,000 in
1995. At the same time, tourism income increased
to $958 million from $822 million in 1995. In 1997
tourism represented 2.5 per cent of the gross
national product.
colonisation
LLUIS MESALLES, SPAIN
Colonialism prompted overseas travel and helped
provide the basis for modern tourism. Holiday
centres and second homes were established where
the climate was favourable, for example, the
Himalayan hill stations in British India. In many
colonies, rest centres, small hotels and guest houses
were built at and between administrative centres,
near border crossings or at ports. They were
normally operated by and for Europeans, as
colonised people lacked the required capital and
expertise.
The earliest establishments catered for traders
and settlers and were often somewhat disreputable.
However, networks of small, clean and functional
hotels emerged, providing administrators, business
travellers and �later) more intrepid tourists with a
respite from untarred roads or uncomfortable sea
crossings. Guidebooks to the colonies in the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, listing
available hotels and local attractions, including
hunting, were directed at settlers and tourists.
During this period, upper-class tourists often
obtained letters of introduction to settlers, who
willingly entertained them.
Much modern tourism reflects colonial patterns
and policies. Tourists from metropolitan `centres'
to less-developed countries tend to visit former
colonies, where communications are already established
and there are similarities in language and
culture. The prominence of transnational companies
in global hotel operations has led to
accusations of `cultural imperialism,' and some
commentators have deplored the sociocultural
effects of tourism on `host' societies. However,
much depends on the specific context and the
strength of local institutions. In the South Pacific,
much land in former British colonies is still
communally owned and has hindered large-scale
tourism development. The issue has been more
straightforward in islands under French jurisdiction,
where land commoditisation has been more
extensive. The type and growth of tourism has
been conditioned by colonialism, but its economic,
social and cultural impacts vary considerably
according to the local context.
See also: developing country; land tenure;
motivation; neo-colonialism
Further reading
Finney, B.R. and Watson, K.A. �eds) �1975) ANew
Kind of Sugar:Tourism in the Pacific, Honolulu, HA:
East-West Culture Learning Institute. �An early
collection of readings linking tourism to colonialism.)
Harrison, D. �1995 ) `Development of tourism in
Swaziland,' Annals of Tourism Research 22�1): 135±
56. �A historical study of tourism development in
a former British colony.)
Nash, D. �1989) `Tourism as a form of imperialism,'
in V. Smith �ed.), Hosts and Guests:The Anthropology
of Tourism, 2nd edn, Philadelphia, PA: University
of Pennsylvania Press, 37±52. �A provocative
article linking tourist systems to metropolitan
needs.)
commercialisation
DAVID HARRISON, UK
Commercialisation is the effect of modern and
postmodern socialisation on material things and
received ideas. It is the process by which `real'