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shop postcards consisting of photographs of bull
dogs, men with bowler hats waving umbrellas, of
London `bobbies', and of people �who often seem to
be placed on bridges over the river Thames) with
either breasts or beer bellies adorned with Union
Flags. All of this paraphernalia makes the tourist
appear as a sort of voyeur specialising in what are
imagined to be nationalist totems. Indeed, there are
schools of thought amongst tourism advertisers and
compilers of brochures that using the `nationalist'
card can yield dividends, especially in the case of a
destination such as the UK, whose weather patterns
disqualify it from playing the `sun, sea and sand'
card too boldly.
To tinge a site with nationalist connotations may,
as in the British case for example, amount to little
more than to add a touch of frothy glamour to tourist
products. In contexts of real nationalist rivalries in
shared or neighbouring territories, on the other
hand, some `heritage' sites �national memorials,
religious buildings, relics of past conflicts, museums,
for example), used by the tourist industry as tourist
attractions can and do take part in altogether more
serious nationalist struggles for hearts and minds. In
this sense the economics and politics of contemporary
tourism are, in various parts of the world, giving
nationalist sentiments a new sort of fillip.
References
Anderson, B. �1983) Imagined Communities:Reflections on
the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London: Verso.
Gellner, E. �1983) Nations and Nationalism, Oxford:
Blackwell.
Hobsbawm, E. and Ranger, T. �1983) The Invention
of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
natives
TOM SELWYN, UK
In the past, people who were objects of the tourist
gaze were considered as natives. The term now
has derogatory connotations, implying that these
indigenous people have a lower culture, while the
tourists from the West have political power and
superior knowledge. But, today, in a transnational
global era, the distinction is less clear since former
natives now travel as tourists in turn to the centres
of Western power.
See also: ethnic group; minorities; professional
native
nature
nature 409
EDWARD M. BRUNER, USA
Nature is undeveloped resources including water,
vegetation soil and wildlife that support and attract
tourism activities. These resources in nature
influence tourism activities as attraction features,
settings or pristine areas. As attraction features such
as waterfalls, the resources themselves bring in
tourism because people enjoy experiencing natural
wonders. In settings such as the rain forests, the
organisation and arrangement of resources brings in
tourists because it is ideal for certain activities like
hiking or bird watching. The undisturbed condition
of areas such as uninhabited tropical islands,
jungles and inland waters, has a special appeal to
tourists, hence has the potential to generate income
from them, increasing the incentive for the host
community to protect its resources.
The value of nature as it relates to tourism
includes aesthetic, ecological and ethical components.
Aesthetically, the value of nature is a collection
of resources that creates visual, auditory and other
sensory effects which can be experienced by tourists.
They visit areas to witness these effects first hand in
an authentic �see authenticity) experience that
permits them to explore the mystery and unknown
elements of nature. Ecologically, the value of nature
is for its own sake, where it is seen as more than a
collection of resources and involves an interrelated,
interconnected set of functions and processes
composing a greater ecosystem. Ethically, the value
of nature is in protecting the natural resources and
processes, and in preventing impacts that tourist
activities may cause. Protecting nature and avoiding
negative impacts is a common element of many
ecotourism and nature tourism definitions.
The difference between these definitions is in part
due to how this environment is interpreted. This in
nature-based tourism represents an aesthetic value
of using the resources of the non-manmade
environment to support tourism activities whereas
the nature in ecotourism represents ecological values
of ecosystem protection, and ethical values of