Tourism Thoughts

It is always fascinating when cultures confront. Be it different nations, people in different positions and situations, or different personalities. Think about this from the viewpoint of tourism: born from the interest that people have towards discovering new matters and from the possibilities and market that are seen being related to that interest.

To plan and organise tourism so that it would be sustainable and responsible is not easy, or self- evident. Some places have lost their identity and local, special features when they have started to serve tourism to the extreme, and some left totally abandoned and empty when the tourist masses have lost their interest and moved to another place. But luckily there are also different stories!

Have you heard of the Road of Onions –Sibulatee (www.sibulatee.ee )? It is a non- governmental organisation and a network of different enterprises that can offer services to tourists around the area of Lake Peipus. Using the network instead of looking for services one by one is attractive in the eyes of the tourists, and promoting such a network also brings tourists to the area that might otherwise be more forgotten. This is what I mean by a different story: tourism can also lead to a survival of a culture, maintaining employment and possibilities to live where you were born –and creating cultural awareness. 

Travelling on Sibulatee allows you to participate and get involved with the local culture. In my opinion this is sustainable tourism. Instead of just consuming the culture and leaving it for good when you’ve had enough you start to appreciate the culture and want to make sure that it will bloom on with its specialities, which you have once become a part of. Genuine, real experiences are more memorable, and the local community benefits from your experience at the same time.

When cultures confront, cultural exchange is also always involved. So it is not only the tourists visiting different places and experiencing the cultures, it is also the local people experiencing and learning from the tourists. So we observe and adapt, sense and develop.  That is a good motive for one to travel, for one to welcome visitors, and a mutual reason for both to support and enrich the daily life of each other.