Tourism development and the dynamics of cultural hybridity: Community insights

Abstract

This study examines the dynamics of cultural hybridity in the context of tourism development, with a particular focus on community perspectives in ethnic minority regions. Previous research has examined the impact of tourism development on local culture. Furthermore, in many ethnic minority regions, cultural hybridity has emerged in the context of tourism development. However, there has been limited attention to the stakeholders driving this hybridity, how they contribute to it, and how residents perceive these cultural transformations. Based on Homi Bhabha’s theory of “hybridity,” this study employed multiple methods including participant observations, interviews, interpretivism, and qualitative analysis. The results indicate that tourism development has led investors, tourism management departments or agencies, entrepreneurs, migrant workers, and even residents to actively or passively participate in the creation of a “hybrid culture” or mixed culture. Residents’ attitudes toward this development are not necessarily those of pride; instead, they may experience complex emotions such as a sense of cultural loss and reconstruction. Therefore, hybridity offers many insights into the impact of tourism development in minority areas, but it does not imply that residents are aware of the need to identify with it. They still cling to their original identity, even though the culture associated with that identity has changed significantly.