Conclusion
9
Conclusions
Fijian culture and customs can be preserved by ecotourism, because Fijians would perform these ceremonies when there are tourists. So by having ecotourism, the ceremonies and customs would be done more often. Also, if more people around the world visit Fiji and learn about their culture, the culture will be preserved because more people will know about it.
A lot of times, locals do not perform these traditions on their own, and do them much more frequently when there are tourists around. So although it seems like the Fijians are practicing their traditions more as a result of ecotourism, they put it on as a show and so some say that it is not really genuine. As they don’t do those traditions in everyday life, ecotourism is affecting them in that they deliberately do the ceremonies for the tourists.
Ecotourism has undoubtedly brought financial growth to Fiji, and is also helping preserve the country’s environment, living creatures and local culture. In comparison to tourism organized by big tour companies and hotels, ecotourism definitely proves to be a much better alternative. Not only does it ensure that the local can be respected and supported economically, it also protects the earth as a whole. We believe ecotourism has great benefit to the country’s economy, while also providing a more realistic experience of Fijian culture and people’s daily lives for visitors around the world.
However, tourism in general has also brought difficulties to Fiji, and has also caused many changes in nature and biodiversity, like coral reefs and forests for example. Tourist areas tend to cause many problems because of its need of space and comfort for the visitors. Trees would be cut down to build the wide spaces needed for the resort; and leisure such a diving and fishing would cause the living organisms in the sea to decrease, etc. But on the bright side, these problems only occur occasionally, as the people in charge of resorts try their best to protect the environment as they build the resort. At the end of the day, ecotourism still played a big part in assisting Fiji with its economy and also provided more employment for the local people, so it should be greatly encouraged.