Sociocultural Impacts
The concept of authenticity is a large issue in South East Asia, due to the enormous amount of souvenir knock-offs. The small amount of pure authenticity means there is a greater perception of everything being sold being of a contrived nature. The product is not authentic and is not perceived to be so. There is even an essence of denial, when a product is authentic but is not deemed to be by the tourist.
Many sociocultural impacts were evident during my travels. A boom in western tourists in South East Asia has lead to an erosion of local dialect and a disruption of local culture. It has however provided an improvement in infrastructure in some specific high-tourist areas, such as Siem Reap.
The concept of authenticity is a large issue in South East Asia, due to the enormous amount of souvenir knock-offs. The small amount of pure authenticity means there is a greater perception of everything being sold being of a contrived nature. The product is not authentic and is not perceived to be so. There is even an essence of denial, when a product is authentic but is not deemed to be by the tourist.
Many sociocultural impacts were evident during my travels. A boom in western tourists in South East Asia has lead to an erosion of local dialect and a disruption of local culture. It has however provided an improvement in infrastructure in some specific high-tourist areas, such as Siem Reap.