A host society’s perception of changes in its young peoples’ cultural identity due to tourism: A case study in Bagan, Myanmar

Abstract

After the democratising steps following the 2010 election, Myanmar has evolved from a highly isolated country to an emerging tourist destination. As tourism’s impacts are more extreme in previously isolated countries, severe influences of tourism – both positive and negative -­ on the local population were expected. This paper evaluates how the population of Bagan, the most frequented tourist destination in Myanmar, perceives the changes in their young peoples’ cultural identity due to tourism. How the local population makes sense of these changes has been captured through twenty semi-­structured interviews with adolescents and adults as well as observations in the field. It has been found that the population generally has a positive view of the effects of tourism that might emerge from the country’s post-­conflict status. Tourism is being embraced as a sign of opening-­up and negative influences are being neglected. Interviewees described both direct and indirect changes on young peoples’ cultural identity due to tourism, wherein globalisation is often described as Koreanisation, instead of Westernisation. Various signs of glocalisation, such as the fusion of dressing and make­‐up styles, support the standing that global and local transfuse. Even though culture is increasingly commodified it has not yet lost meaning for the locals and is even argued as a support for their identity stabilisation. Changes occurring are often classified, especially by adult interviewees, as superficial. Nevertheless there is a general understanding that tourism is about to bring more changes, some of which are negative and endanger the feeling of cultural belonging.