In this post, I’m going to look at some of the changes that tourism has brought to Ireland and look at whether it has been a culprit in commodifying the culture and traditions.
In terms of the impacts, let’s look first at the economic impacts of tourism. On average, a visitor to Ireland spends about 454 Euros per visit and with 7.6 million visitors arriving in 2009; this does have its significant economic contributions. Tourism being one of the key economic sectors does provide income for many people giving them a chance to increase their standard of living.
When it comes to the political aspect, I think tourism has had a really positive influence on the country. The government has recognized that there are many sites that need to be preserved as they are large tourist attractions. Some of these sites include the ancient castles and churches built centuries ago. Because the government recognises this, they do provide some money, albeit a very small sum, to help conserve these sites. Because of this, a lot of the cultural and religious sites have become conservation sites and are now protected.
I have mixed feelings about the social impacts because to an extent, I can see that tourism has helped the Irish revive their culture because they understand that the reason many people go to Ireland is to experience their culture but at the same time, it has led to things like the disneyfication of St. Patrick’s Day and even the Puck Fair. To a certain extent, it has eroded the culture but I think the benefits really do outweigh the harms. It is rare that you find someone who is truly ashamed to say they are Irish and most of the Irish people living in the rural areas remain unaffected by tourism and I believe that because of this, they will manage to retain their true traditions and culture even if the urban dwellers become more globalized and disneyified.
Lastly, I do think that tourism has a part to play in commodifying a culture, any culture. I don’t believe any country can except people into their country and not try and sell them souvenirs or little things that they can take home with them. One of the perfect forms of cultural commodification in Ireland would be the selling of shamrocks. These are a religious symbol to many Irish as they symbolize the holy trinity but to tourists, they are a symbol of Ireland and therefore the perfect souvenir to take home to friends and family. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing though because in the case of Ireland, where this commodification of their culture does not really affect the locals except by bringing them money, I think it is pretty alright to allow this to happen.
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