Tourism as a Threat?

Few days after I arrived, I had the pleasure to have dinner with one of my assistant’s friends. His English is really good and the great intelligence he had been granted with was immediately obvious to me. He also has a lot of experience taking tourists around, therefore my mental and cultural instincts did not surprise him at all and he could easily cope with them.

During the dinner, the conversation rapidly became most fluent, interesting and frank. Maybe it was also certain that sooner or later we would have talked about tourism and its impact on the island, but I could have not ever expected that it would imply many aspects that are maybe not so obvious.

Socotra is an island of very peaceful people who stick to their traditions and way of life. Actually, even if the population of the island is small, the Socotri People managed to preserve its own language. The island is also a place that immediately makes you feel comfortable: I am sure that its beauty plays an important role in that, but the tranquillity of the people is indeed an important component of this little heaven on hearth. If it is not sufficient evidence that this is what I see and feel since the day I arrived, I also talked to some tourists: they agree that smiles here never seem to be a hypocrite part of the all-included package tour operators sell.

We all know that tourism has become part of the “Western people’s lifestyle”, their income would only determine how far, and for how many days, they would tour. Other cultures are also starting to be costumers of the industry, which is moving an enormous amount of money, and part of it also falls in the pocket of those who receive the tourists.

Tourism is also an important resource of this island. Apparently, the personal quality of tourists coming here is quite high, as they normally have good salaries and education. They are aware of the environmental fragility of this place; the young man I was having dinner with said that tourists are generally very clean and do not leave garbage behind them when camping in the countryside, something the local population does not always do. I must admit I was very surprised about this.

You would legitimately think by now that foreigners are most welcome: people here are aware that tourists come to leave behind them for a few days the “difficult living conditions in their cities”, and the efforts Socotri people do to make them feel comfortable are considerable (including an enormous tolerance towards behaviours and manners that sometimes can even insult the local costumes). If not camping in some nice spots, tourists are housed in small, basic hotels or even in people’s own houses (“eco-tourism”).

So I simplistically thought that maybe Yemenia Airways should put more than two planes a week connecting the island to the mainland. I did not find the young man too sure about this point. He sadly confirmed the existence of some plans for big investements from abroad are already being made and he was not sure that any law or international organisation would be able to stop this trend.

His statement was crystal clear: “We do not want any mass tourism here!” His concern was not only about the threat it would imply to the environment, but also to his People: he is afraid of the impact a big number of tourists would suddenly have on the local costumes and every day life.

I thought about my previous adventures among people who had suffered from violent colonisation, which did not bring many good things to them. Rather, such long lasting economic exploitation also involved their tremendous cultural impoverishment. We had not only stolen their resources, but also their principles, their history and, at the end of the day, their soul. And most of the things we left behind are our vices.

I think this is what the young man had in mind, and many others here agree with this. Tourism is welcome as long as its impact (in terms of number of foreigners and facilities to house them) is under control (“sustainable development”). Just think of this simple example: I picked up a beautiful shell from the beach, and a Socotri said: “You can have it as long as you keep it in your house, but if you want to take it abroad, you may have problems at Socotra airport if they find it in you luggage”. What if each tourist picks up a shell? How many beautiful shells would be left? Not that many, I am afraid… And I leave to your imagination what other nasty things we would leave here instead.

Mass tourism does not automatically imply more money to the local population, but could imply a great threat to the environmental (I read that the importance of Socotra is comparable to the Galapagos!) and cultural conservation of the island. It is the responsibility of the foreigner not only to avoid leaving garbage behind him in the places he goes to, but also not to dump his cultural garbage. Would it be too rhetorical to call it “cultural ecology awareness”?

Barcelona is a city that may soon die out of its mass-tourism industry. Socotra refuses the same destiny. The people of the island still welcome their guests and they are, for the time being, unable of any bitter or hypocrite smile. Let us all make sure that they keep their authentic smile: otherwise the day would have come for the beginning Socotra’s agony.