Conte Burica: An indigenous people that listens to the Sea. Ngabe People. First approach.

This study is part of the regional process of understanding the importance of traditional knowledge in Latin America. The study identifies the key developments in indigenous peoples issues in Costa Rica, especially relating to fishing communities. It also documents the perceptions of the leaders of the Council of Elders in relation to fisheries issues, craft, access to land and sea, marine conservation and climate change and social aspects along with gender equality. The study is specific to the marine areas of the Conte Burica region

Tourism in Iran: central control and indigeneity

Iran has a long history and tradition of accommodating visitors and travellers, as well as having a great number of minority cultures within its borders, reflecting its geographic location astride some of the major trade routes in the Middle East. Despite what could be seen as great advantages in the competition for tourism, the present powers in Iran have downplayed the potential role of indigenous groups in tourism, just as they have downplayed the role that tourism could have in the country at large. By exercising strong central and religious power and control and putting forward a strong national image, Iran has discouraged tourism development among its indigenous communities. The dominant centralised power structure of the country is in sharp contrast to that in Nepal for example, described in the previous section, and community-based tourism is hard to find, although there are examples of good individual operations, normally at a small scale. Iran symbolises, perhaps, the dominance of a central uniform control over tourism compared to a local indigenous variety of developments

Tourism and culture in Mongolia: the case of Ulaanbaatar Naadam

The chapter discusses the different experiences of the two sets of visitors to the Ulaanbaala Naadan festival, based on a study conducted in 2005, and explores the challenges for this traditional cultural event posed by modern tourism and other forces. It commences with a brief overview of international and domestic tourism in Mongolia. The overview is followed by a review of the origins and history of Naadam as an indigenous cultural festival. The experiences of modern day visitors to the festival from overseas and from Mongolia are then examined and compared, with reference to similarities and differences between the two groups. Finally, the chapter considers issues and future challenges for the festival as a result of the increasing number of international visitors and their expectations of the festival

Challenges of the Truth Commissions to Deal with Injustice Against Indigenous Peoples

Truth commissions are still being created around the world in order to redress human rights violations, in accordance to the right of victims to an effective remedy and the right to know the truth to the fullest extent possible. As non-judicial official bodies, which investigate violent historical periods often silenced or denied, truth commissions recognize the dignity of the victims, and propose policies to prevent more violations from happening in the future. Further to that purpose, the recommendations of truth commissions generally seek to identify the causes of the violations, determining patterns of abuse and preventing recurrence.This paper examines some of the challenges that truth commissions face when addressing Indigenous Peoples’ issues, reflecting what measures have to be taken into account in order to establish truth commissions that respect the rights, perspectives and needs of Indigenous Peoples

Enhancing local community’s involvement and empowerment through practicing Cittaslow: experiences from Goolwa, South Australia

This study attempted to investigate how and the extent to which Cittaslow philosophy and practice enhanced local community’s involvement and empowerment in relation to tourism development from the sustainability’s perspective. As an empirical study, a series of in-depth interviews with key stakeholders including local government, local business, and local community’s members were conducted in Goolwa, the first Australian accredited Cittaslow town since 2007, located in South Australia. The results indicated that to a greater extent the accreditation and practice of Cittaslow philosophy in Goolwa increased a stronger and more effective collaboration amongst local community, business and residents as an essential element for achieving sustainability in tourism development. Not only did it encourage the local community’s participation in decision making process from the beginning of tourism development, but also revitalised the locality and sense of place of Goolwa through promoting local specialities and produces, in particular food and wine products. The results also suggested that psychological and social aspects of local community’s empowerment have been significantly enhanced after the establishment of Cittaslow. Yet, the economic empowerment of the local community was less experienced

Decommodifying grassroots struggle against a neoliberal tourism agenda: Imagining a local, just and sustainable ecotourism

© 2016 selection and editorial matter, Jan Mosedale; individual chapters, the contributors. It is not surprising that an advanced welfare state such as Sweden has significantly decommodified social policies and also demonstrates some of the community based ideals and best local practices of an ethical and socially just ecotourism. The areas covered by Swedish certification include animal welfare, waste and resource management, use of local goods and services and use of fuel-efficient and sustainable transport alternatives. There are also limitations on the capacities of local economies and communities to resist, challenge and in some cases robustly respond to the imperatives of neoliberalism. Alternative ecotourism development is not the same as alternative social development because the tourist/client is dependent on highly unregulated market forces to sustain tourism (Salole, 2007). The impact of market principles on small-scale tour operators and hosts cannot be ignored in the drive for profits. Nonetheless, global capitalism has a way of delivering paradoxical movements to the modes of profit making, competition amongst economic interest and production that reflect the neoliberal agenda. Our arguments here suggest that there is some dynamic for a countermovement from local operators and hosts to such economic globalization in order to drive forward decommodified agendas in ecotourism

Mongolian hospitality: intrepid travelling

Continuing the series on exploring diverse hospitality practices, Kevin O'Gorman and Karen Thompson explore the origins of Mongolian hospitality. They highlight the lack of commercial hospitality provision in Mongolia and reflect on some of the contemporary hospitality customs and practices centred on the 'home'

Human Security of the Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic. The Sami Case

For many years, indigenous peoples, their rights, culture and identity have been neglected. This depressing statement also refers to the Sami who reside in the Arctic. This paper presents the understanding of the term “indigenous peoples” and a number of their rights, including the right to selfdetermination. Their implementation is necessary for human security as they empower indigenous peoples to make decisions in matters that affect them. The author examines the concept of human security and the threats to this security in the Arctic in particular to the Sami as well as the most important provisions in international legal documents regarding the rights of indigenous peoples which include references to human security

Eskasoni Cultural Journeys: A community-led approach to sustainable tourism development

Abstract Eskasoni First Nation is the largest Mi’kmaq-speaking community in the world. With a population of more than 4300, Eskasoni is one of the five Mi’kmaq communities located on Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island), Canada. The community has been engaged in tourism development for decades, with varying degrees of success, until a new approach was considered – that being the community-led product of Eskasoni Cultural Journeys (ECJ). Eskasoni Cultural Journeys started at a grassroots level with Elder buy-in and initial Elder training in tourism. Today Eskasoni Cultural Journeys offers boat tours on the Bras d’Or Lake and authentic interpretive programming along the trails of Goat Island. This research examined the development of Eskasoni Cultural Journeys, now a successful and award-winning program, which developed through a gradual community-led process and highlights an example of a community-led Aboriginal tourism project that has been successful in its development stages. Successes and challenges of the project related to four aspects of sustainability (social, cultural, economic and environmental) are outlined and recommendations offered for future development as well as considerations to ensure the project continues well in to the future