The next post will be about Dark Tourism. Wheres does tourism go, where is too much and how/if to stop?
Monday, April 12, 2010
OMG Reality Tourism - What Do You Think?
The next post will be about Dark Tourism. Wheres does tourism go, where is too much and how/if to stop?
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I think how this endeavor will be viewed by the general public, and subsequently how it will succeed, is based upon how it is marketed. To encourage people to walk the streets reading plaques on the doors of drug houses, or offering tours of single room occupancies that exploit those living within is tacky and in ill-taste and will be viewed as just that. However, including the truly historic buildings in a tour of San Francisco (such as the Cadillac where Ali trained or the studio where the Grateful Dead made music) is giving credit where credit is due and may be huge step in the right direction as far as revamping the community goes. The neighborhood should not be exploited or glorified for the illegal, dangerous activities it has come to be known for, but it should be highlighted for the good that has come from it. Neither ignoring the positives nor accentuating the negatives is the right answer and will not serve the betterment people of the community or the people who make their lives there.
ReplyDeleteI can absolutely understand why the city of San Francisco wants to bring focus to the Tenderloin as a prospective tourist sight. Just with the remarkable history alone is enough to highlight this frayed and discounted part of this popular city. But, honestly I believe this is a “catch 22” situation. As stated in the article, the most likely first and open response to this movement would be from the local tourists. Opening avenues and providing the resources to transport tourist through this area would bring more of an awareness and understanding of the resources needed for revitalization. With people aware, this could help raise the funds to jump start recovery of the Tenderloin. The contradiction kicks in when the plans are to expose the living conditions of the people of this area. I don’t think that revealing those extreme measures to tourists would further prove the “point” that this is place of distress and turmoil. I’m sure, from first sight its obvious of the conditions, and I know as tourist, I would not get much enjoyment out of my vacation seeing disheartening poverty.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the neighborhood benefits from this tourism development, I believe that it could be a viable option. The slums of of Mumbai that was made famous by the "Slumdog Millionaire" movie is now being considered a tourism destination and the slums has benfited from the exposure. However, I would suggest developing the Tenderloin in a smaller scale in order to prevent the disruption of the socioeconomic norm. Locations that are attracts tourist usually attracts more theives as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think their efforts mean well, I think they have quite a bit of work to do. If they can revamp the area like how they want to,
ReplyDeletethen I think this may be very beneficial for this area of San Francisco. When people who are staying in the area do not feel safe,
how do they expect tourists to visit there? They are going to need a great marketing team to help them launch their tourism.
Anytime a city is able to redevelop an area into something that can draw tourism says quite a bit about those who live there. I think it
shows that people have a sense of pride about where they live and that they truly believe that they have something to offer. It is often in places like this where you find some of the best kept secrets.
However, one thing that I think they need to consider is making their tourism sustainable. They talk about their history bringing in the
deadheads and babyboomers, but what happens when they have reached a good chunk of their potential tourists? Hopefully this idea of
tourism they have will eventually draw more tourism type activities into the area making the area more sustainable.
Well, that's like Cabrini Greens of Chicago South Side being a tourist attraction before they tore it down. I can't see it happening. I kind of agree that the locals and some of those that have historical roots in the place may find it fascinating to go and look things over and think back to the day, but as a tourist visiting San Francisco I don't think so. The one thing the city should be concerned about is people's safety not to say slums and drugs always equal high crime, but almost all the time. One person said they may go in the daytime and that might be an option. But I think maybe this is the city's way of peer pressuring that community into a better place. With new development around it and people moving in and out of that community it will be forced to get cleaned up.
ReplyDeleteDrug addicts tend not to want people nosing around them and they will move away from that area if it becomes too popular. This way the city will force them to another place and that land will be available and more socially acceptable for development.
Do they really think the gen xs and millenials will want to visit the Tenderloin? I'm a boomer and I grew up with Ali fighting, but they would really have to do some strong marketing to make that acceptable for me. And if they make the brochures too pretty and I get there and it's a real dump that makes me afraid, I would be very disappointed and would probably let them know about it. Not sure if this is a good plan or not.
Good comments all! But let me ask a few questions. How does this relate to the readings? Travel motives? Authenticity? How to promote and what message?
ReplyDeleteI have been working in East St. Louis for almost 15 years and if you do not know, it is one of the most depressed communities in the country. Sorry, but in my mind SF is heaven compared to ESL. Over that time we have been very sensitive to the issue of the locals as being the object of tours or tourism. How would they think about buses rolling down their pot-holed streets in search of African American reality poverty tourism? The economic benefits be damned.
This reality of life in parts of America needs to be told but is tourism the venue? I'm troubled.
You know you bring up great points. I'm very familiar with East St. Louis and other parts of the midwest. I have a picture of someone disadvantaged person looking at a tourist from other than ESL as if they were crazy at first. But then would that person become like the young people on streets of Mexico, India, and other countries, with their hands out or would they become entrepreneurs? They may become creative enough to sell their art, or jewelry, etc. Maybe a local business person will have them hocking their wares to the bus load of tourists. Then the bars would come and next thing you know it's the hottest tourist spot in San Fran. Not sure if this would happen, but I let my imagination get the best of me.
ReplyDelete