Hans van der Broek in Hoi An
Hoi An is a beautiful town in Central Vietnam. Since it was recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO in 1999, it has become a major tourist destination for individual travelers and tour groups from all over the world.
When tourism started around 1993 there were only some handful basic hotels, one clothes shop in Le Loi Street and a few restaurants which were catering for locals and tourists. So far so good! After 1999, tourism has grown enormously. Hotels were built, streets were paved, the grit was extended and there were more clothes, souvenir shops and restaurants opening up their doors. However, the number of tourists was still in balance with the size of the town and the ‘mood’ of the residents. Most of people used bicycles, motorbike and cars were still rare.
Nowadays, tourists seem to be more than locals. Some families make a fortune while some still can’t earn a dollar a day. Local youth started to see how foreigners spend and they want to do the same.
What is the cause? The internet, television, foreign programs, different clothing, tourist behaviors? Sure it’s a sum of all that have made things change.
Hoi An now can earn big money from the arrival of big hotels, foreign investments in resorts, golf links and holiday villas. Locals who have been living long time in certain areas have to move. They receive little money and maybe some land to resettle. Fishermen hardly have any access to the beach they once used. Foreigners have started businesses and often become more successful thanks to their contacts with tour operators in the western world.
Views of Hoi An from the Light House restaurant (Photo: )
Jealousy is for sure a big thing in Asia and also greed has started to surface. Cars start filling the streets and the drivers are the new rich and gods of the society.
Be loud, fill your plates with loads of food. Show the world you are the man. The last quiet parts of Hoi An, Cua Dai Beach have got invaded by people who rent jet skis. Now we all can listen to the raging engines and inhale the fumes. Swimmers look carefully around if they are not run over by a ski.
Young tourists have started wearing clothes which sometimes offends the locals. People wearing bikini or being shirtless in Ancient Town are not a good signal in a conservative place like Hoi An. The first massage salons has popped up within the borders of Hoi An and motorbike taxi driver have started offering to take tourists there for extra money paid by owners of massages parlors. Some groups of teenagers have lost connection with this small rapidly changing society, getting into drugs and prostitution.
Now this story could fit many places around the world, where tourism gets out of control, where locals earn little, big investors and authorities get it all. The picturesque town is turning into a commercial shopping centre with artificial attractions like in Disneyland!
The authorities, investors and people in tourism industry are talking about quality, the environment, ecotourism, diversity and transparence. However, if there is no guidance, lack of rules and laws, corruption and greed from many involved, the above mentioned words are still very empty!
Be loud, fill your plates with loads of food. Show the world you are the man. The last quiet parts of Hoi An, Cua Dai Beach have got invaded by people who rent jet skis. Now we all can listen to the raging engines and inhale the fumes. Swimmers look carefully around if they are not run over by a ski.
Young tourists have started wearing clothes which sometimes offends the locals. People wearing bikini or being shirtless in Ancient Town are not a good signal in a conservative place like Hoi An. The first massage salons has popped up within the borders of Hoi An and motorbike taxi driver have started offering to take tourists there for extra money paid by owners of massages parlors. Some groups of teenagers have lost connection with this small rapidly changing society, getting into drugs and prostitution.
Now this story could fit many places around the world, where tourism gets out of control, where locals earn little, big investors and authorities get it all. The picturesque town is turning into a commercial shopping centre with artificial attractions like in Disneyland!
The authorities, investors and people in tourism industry are talking about quality, the environment, ecotourism, diversity and transparence. However, if there is no guidance, lack of rules and laws, corruption and greed from many involved, the above mentioned words are still very empty!
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