Tourism at the Grassroots: Villagers and Visitors in the Asia Pacific

Books begin in various ways. This one stemmed from the experiences of its editors. Two recent experiences in Fiji fascinated one. The first involved a three-day visit with 24 students to the small village on the Coral Coast, which involved payments of money to 'the village' for lodging and food. Near the end of that three-day period a chance conversation with a villager from the distant end of the village revealed that he had no idea who the visitors were, why they were there and what was involved. He was certainly gaining no monetary benefits from their presence. The outsiders had in fact been hosted by only one of the five landowning groups (mataqali) in the village and they were the only financial beneficiaries of their presence. A second experience involved an ecotourism tour of about ten people to a village on the island of Ovalau. Here the only financial beneficiaries were the extended family of the guide, though the visitors had travelled over the land of other mataqali and there was some resentment of their presence in the village. Although in both cases villagers were benefiting financially from these particular examples of small-scale tourism they were certainly not benefiting equally. Tourism was contributing to inequality and potentially enhancing divisions within the villages.