Tourism(and(Colonialism:(The(Experience(of(the(Bahamas

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Tourism and Colonialism: The Experience of the Bahamas

Published in Annals of Tourism Research

Catherine Palmer (University of Brighton, UK)

Full reference: Palmer, C. (1994). ‘Tourism & Colonialism: The Experience of the

Bahamas’. Annals of Tourism Research, Volume 21 (4): 792-‐812

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Abstract To complement the rich and varied body of literature concerning the impact of

tourism on the host community, this study concentrates on the legacy of the

Caribbean experience of colonialism. With specific reference to the Bahamas (and to

the capital city, Nassau) the discussion focuses on the relationship between tourism

and colonialism and on the implications this has for the development of a national

identity. By relying on the images of a colonial past, the tourism industry merely

perpetuates the ideology of colonialism and prevents the local people from defining

a national identity of their own.

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INTRODUCTION

Tourism, like most other industries, suffers from its share of stereotype

images. These images tucked deep into the recesses of the public's

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imagination, often have little to do with things as they actually are. (Insight

Bahamas Guide 1986:66) .

The theme of this article concerns the impact of colonialism on the

contemporary tourist’s image of Carinnean peoples and countries, particularly the

Bahamas. Lea (1988) argues that the majority of tourists emanate from the affluent,

industrialized countries, such as those in North America, Europe, Asia and the

Pacific (particularly Australia and Japan) and it is to these that the term

contemporary tourist applies. The discussion relates to the author's experiences of

living and working in the Bahamas in the late 1980's and to research undertaken in

1992 on the island of New Providence (the location of the capital city, Nassau). The

fieldwork involved a series of taped interviews with local residents, both black and

white, from a variety of different backgrounds and professions. The interviews

enabled Bahamians to comment personally on the influence of British colonial rule

and the impact of mass tourism. Some of these comments have been incorporated

into the overall discussion, so that the opinions of local Bahamians can be taken into

account.

The main argument put forward here concerns the way in which the historical

development of the Bahamas, with its legacy of British colonial rule, has affected the

image of the local people presented to the tourists. Mathews (1978:81) asserts that

the high visibility of tourism has a subtle but noticeable impact on local values,

intricately linking the self-‐identity of Bahamians to that of their tourist visitors:

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The cultural scenario that Caribbean youth have inherited...is characterised

by psychological, cultural and economic dependence, and has spawned a

crop of 'Afro-‐Saxons' who still rely on outside sources for defining and

legitimatizing their identity (James-‐Bryan 1986:150).

Consequently, this paper seeks to examine the basis upon which the tourist's

image of the Bahamas is constructed, taking into account the history of the country

as a former British colony. Furthermore, it will consider the extent to which these

touristic images affect the individual Bahamian's understanding of what being a

"Bahamian" actually means; in other words, how they perceive their national

identity.

Smith (1991) argues that an individual's national identity is a complex mix of

shared values, memories, myths and traditions that provide the individual with a

unique cultural heritage. A sense of national identity allows individuals to

"recognize" themselves and others and to understand their place within the

contemporary world order (Smith 1991:17). However, Clifford (1988) maintains

that perceptions of nationality are neither static nor unchanging and can be

modified on the basis of the situations and the people encountered by the individual,

specifically:

Twentieth-‐century identities no longer presuppose continuous cultures or

traditions ..... individuals and groups improvise local performances from

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(re)collected pasts, drawing on foreign media, symbols and language

(1988:14).

It is, therefore, important to consider whether the tourism industry “assists” in

this process of modification by “manipulating” the memories, myths and traditions

of the local people so as to attract the tourists to the destination.

The role played by intermediaries such as travel agents and advertisers, is

considered significant in this discussion, since the Bahamas is initially encountered

through the pictures and language of the travel brochure. It is these brochures that

promote the artifacts of a colonial past as being representative of the cultural

heritage of the Bahamas. The contemporary tourist visiting the Bahamas is not

merely visiting a country that is different culturally, socially and environmentally,

but also one that, in many instances, conjures up images of a colonial past, of a

country that was once part of a British Empire. Such images often have little to do

with the reality of today's Bahamian lifestyles; nonetheless they still provide the

basis for the touristic encounter.

TOURISM IN THE BAHAMAS

The Geography and Economy

Located east of Florida, the Bahamas is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean

rather than in the Caribbean Sea. In a sense, this location, on the periphery of

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mainstream Caribbean existence, has led one commentator to argue that "strictly

speaking the Bahamas is not a Caribbean country...." (McCaughey 1980:32).

Averaging 200 miles in width the island chain stretches for 600 miles in a

southeasterly direction from Florida down towards Haiti. The Bahamas is an

archipelago of around 700 islands and “cays”, of which approximately 30 are

actually inhabited. It sustains an estimated population of 250,000, 65% of whom

live on New Providence island (in and around Nassau), which is only 7 miles long by

22 miles wide (Collinwood 1989b:19). Those islands "outside" of New Providence

were originally referred to as the Out Islands, although they were renamed the

Family Islands in 1972 prior to Independence.

Tourism is firmly entrenched as the leading industry, contributing 70% to the

gross national product (Collinwood and Dodge 1989:265) and accounting for 2/3 of

all employment (Cash, Gordon and Saunders 1991:311). Banking and offshore

investments generate the second largest revenue. Other industries include

agriculture (mainly pineapples and bananas), salt production, boat building, food

canning and fishing. Overall, the Bahamas relies heavily on imported consumer

goods and food items from the United States and Europe, to satisfy both the tourist

and the local population; a situation which Collinwood and Dodge (1989:107) have

referred to as selling "imported goods to imported people". Furthermore, Sealey

(1990:47) maintains that dependence on imported manufactured goods is a direct

result of colonialism and is a common occurrence among many former British and

European colonies.

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The development of mass tourism in the Bahamas began in earnest during the

1950's. Prior to that tourism had existed on a smaller scale as one of the main stays

of the economy, along with British investment and employment in the United States.

However, it was not until the “jet engine” days of the 1950's and the 1960's that

tourism began to dominate the economy. Initially, the Bahamas attracted what

many Bahamians refer to as wealthy "up-‐market" tourists. However, over the years,

the visitor profile has changed dramatically and mass tourism is now the order of

the day. As one local Bahamian states:

I mean years ago when I was growin' up here on the Island...the calibre of

tourist we had here was wonderful and...what they spent compared to what

the tourist spends nowadays, it's very hard to compare the two..we have

cheapened ourselves by allowing a lot of these cheap tourists to come

here...most people can't even afford the departure tax 'cause they came with

no money anyway....I don't think it helps us as a people or as an economy

(personal communication with J. Solomon in 1992).

In 1990 the Bahamas entertained over 3.5 million tourists either as stopover

visitors or cruise ship passengers, and tourist expenditure exceeded US$ 1.3 billion

(Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1990).

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Authors such as Bethel (1989) and Debbage (1991) have described Bahamian

tourism as “enclave tourism”, as illustrated by the Cable Beach “strip” of hotels and

casinos, with the best example being that of Paradise Island, home to some of the

largest hotels on New Providence.

Tourism so dominates the Bahamas that one is perhaps justified in

describing the Bahamas as a monoculture...the massive influx of tourists and

the concentration in Nassau...has put an almost unbearable strain on a very

delicate ecosystem, on utilities and essential services, and on a very

vulnerable culture.... (Bethel 1989:133, 135).

Many now believe that the tourism industry is not the economic panacea for all

the Bahamas' problems, since the majority of hotels are foreign owned most of the

profits are sent out of the country (Bethel 1989:137). Furthermore, the growth of

tourism has discouraged the development of agriculture (since more money can be

made working in the tourism industry) and encouraged a demographic movement

of people from the Family Islands to Nassau and to Freeport, the Bahamas' “second

city” (Collinwood and Dodge 1989:107).

Saunders (1990) argues that the early years of tourism development in the

Bahamas did not help to foster a better understanding between peoples. Instead, it

exacerbated racist attitudes as exposure to so many white visitors tended to

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emphasize the already deeply-‐entrenched feelings of inferiority amongst the

colored and the black population (Saunders 1990:102). Furthermore, the very

nature of enclave tourism discourages cross-‐cultural understanding by clearly

demarcating the tourist from the local, the hotels from the homes. The host-‐guest

relationship is bound to suffer therefore, since the historically founded rhetoric of

the guidebook becomes the means by which the local people can be encountered.

As a result, the Bahamas, like other tourism dependent countries, tends to “play

along” with the brochure images so as to keep the tourists coming back for more:

Ironically, it is to the temporary...advantage of the Bahamas not to let too

many people know that the Bahamas has become a bona fide nation...Tourists

prefer to believe the Bahamas is a paradise, just like it says in the slick vacation

brochures (Collinwood 1989b: 4-‐5).

The Colonial Experience

The colonial experience of the Bahamas and of much of the Caribbean is

comparable to that of many formerly colonized countries. Rostow (1971) argues

that the historical beginnings of colonialism are rooted in the competition for power

and trade, and for military advantage through the acquisition of overseas territories

and bases. From the Fifteenth Century onwards several European countries,

especially the British, French and Dutch competed for colonies in the Americas, Asia,

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Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, initially for economic gain through trade,

then for the power and prestige of possession. The majority of former colonial

territories (excluding North America) belong to today’s developing world or Third

World. Memmi (1990) argues that by subduing and exploiting the colonized, the

colonizers were able to effectively exclude them from the historical, social and

technical transformations that took place in the rest of the world:

….the colonized's culture, society and technology are seriously

damaged...Nonindustrialisation and the absence of technical development in

the country lead to a slow economic collapse of the colonized (Memmi

1990:180, 181).

Consequently, the foundations for the development of a tourism industry, based

on a tertiary rather than a manufacturing economy, were firmly established.

Furthermore, Britton (1982:347) maintains that the emergence of tourism, as a

means of achieving economic independence, is inextricably linked to the historical

process of colonialism; the legacy of which has firmly returned control of a country's

tourism development to just those who once exercised colonial possession. Those

destinations that once relied on their colonial rulers for their economic welfare now

rely on these same countries to provide both the tourists, and the multinational

corporations to supply and manage the tourist facilities. In the Bahamas, many of

these facilities are either owned or operated by companies from the United States of

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America, such as Carnival, Resorts International and Wyndham Hotels. Similarly,

many of the commodities needed to sustain the tourism industry have to be

imported from such outside sources as, the United States, the United Kingdom and

Western Europe, which leads Bethel to argue that, " the benefits of tourism continue

to accrue to non-‐nationals, who continue to own and/or control the lion's share of

the industry" (1989:136).

A more pervasive and perhaps least recognized aspect of colonialism is its

impact on the creation of stereotyped ethnic and cultural images, which form the

basis of the contemporary tourist's experience of the Caribbean and of the Third

World in general. Writers such as Said (1978), Kabbani (1986), Volkman (1990)

and Picard (1991) have highlighted the process by which the cultural heritage of the

host community was moulded and shaped, so as to reflect the attitudes and opinions

of the colonizers’ themselves. According to Picard (1991:2, 3), this transformation

was achieved because it resulted from developments “within” the host society and

was thus much more difficult to resist. Such a “cultural transformation” not only

affected the way the local people related to their national identity, but also served to

produce the stereotyped images that are currently being presented for the

consumption of the tourist.

Memmi (1990) elaborates these views by highlighting how the values and

attitudes of the governing class are adopted in large measure by the governed class.

All traces of the colony's past are erased so that the statues, street names, buildings

and even the education system reflect those of the colonizers' world. The heritage

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of the people that is handed down to the next generation is that of the colonizer's,

making it very difficult for the local people to develop an independent heritage of

their own. Therefore, it is ".....not a coincidence that colonized peoples are the last

to awaken to national consciousness" (Memmi 1990:162).

Colonialism in the Bahamas

The Bahama islands were discovered in 1492 when Columbus landed on the

island of San Salvador (which at that time was inhabited by the Lucayan people) on

his way to the East Indies. In the following brief period of Spanish colonization, the

entire Lucayan population were sold off as slaves. This left the islands isolated and

virtually uninhabited until 1629 when Great Britain laid formal claim to the

Bahamas. The majority of the early population were the slaves of predominantly

African descent and it was not until the American War of Independence that

significant numbers of settlers came to live in the Bahamas. These settlers,

“refugees” from the southern United States, were wealthy white landowners who

not only supported slavery, but also preferred to remain “loyal” to the United

Kingdom. As a result, they brought not only wealth to the islands but also slaves.

The racial divisions of those early years laid the foundation for the organization

of contemporary Bahamian society. The black population were either slaves with

no rights at all who could be bought and sold at their owners discretion, and free

blacks, who because of a rigid color bar were restricted from fully participating in

the society and economy of the Islands (Collinwood 1989a: 6-‐7). Many “loyalist”

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whites settled in the Out Islands where three types of settlement predominated -‐ all

white settlements, such as Spanish Wells, Man-‐O-‐War Cay and Abaco; all black

settlements, such as Long Cay, Rum Cay, Cat Island, Mayaguana and Andros; and bi-‐

racial settlements, such as Green Turtle Cay and Harbour Island. The Island of

Abaco, which still retains a white majority, is referred to by some Bahamians as the

"White Island". Slavery was widespread and all blacks, free or slaves, were subject

to discrimination and racial prejudice, even after Emancipation in 1838.

Though the blacks were no longer slaves, they were effectively barred from

important roles in the English colonial administration and from lucrative

economic pursuits. The blacks were denied full citizenship rights and were

exploited by the white autocracy (Collinwood and Dodge 1989: 27).

The Out Islands were renamed the "Family Islands" in 1972. However, they have

not always lived up to that name as indicated in a letter from a white American

resident of Abaco, recently published in a daily newspaper:

I have lived in Abaco for many years...I know many people there, I know my

way around, it is a community I know and understand...I have lived in many

states of my homeland, the United States of America. I have lived through

great depressions, post war America and even during the painful abuse of

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Blacks in America. But in all my travels.......I have never seen a place more

racially divided than Abaco...the white sector of the population controls

almost everything (Nassau Guardian 1992: 2A).

During the middle part of the 20th century, the whites who controlled the

Bahamas (still called "Bay Street Boys") were a clique of wealthy merchants and

lawyers with stores or offices on Bay Street, the main east-‐west thoroughfare in

Nassau. The years of colonial rule served to strengthen the control of this minority

white elite, as the members of the colonial administration were elected from this

group. The privileged status of the white population is aptly illustrated by the

following comment from a black Bahamian:

....at certain times the black Bahamians couldn't go certain places, specifically

in Nassau, because it was off limits to them....I've heard this said by a lot of

elderly people, that during the British rule right, a lot of the whites took

advantage in terms of gettin' favours...if you were white you could get land, you

could get a loan from banks, that's how most of the whites in this country really

got their money, because of favours... (personal communication with W. Rolle

1992).

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Saunders (1990:103) maintains that despite such humiliating and overtly racist

treatment the colored and the black classes lacked the political will to challenge the

power of the Bay Street clique. This weakness was aggrevated during the years of

slavery by differences among blacks who were slaves or free, rich or poor, black or

“colored”. Saunders (1990) argues that even the “coloreds” were a non-‐

homogeneous group – divided by degree of dark, or white skin, with near-‐white

Bahamians referred to (then and still today) as "Conchy Joes". To overcome racial

divisions in Bahamian society, a colored Bahamian could gain some respect and

acceptance in the white community by "imitating white values" whilst at the same

time distancing themselves from the black laboring classes; in other words money

“whitened” (Saunders 1990: 80-‐81, 96). Therefore, the years of slavery served to

divide, not unite, the black population and this further undermoned the formation of

an effective black opposition.

The legacy of British colonial occupation is profound and pervasive. The extent

to which the colony was managed, organized and dominated by British, and in

particular white, interests is well documented by many authors, (Collinwood 1989a;

Collinwood and Dodge 1989; Craton 1962; Saunders 1990). An understanding of the

historical influence of Great Britain is especially important for New Providence

island, as 51% of tourists spend most of their time there in and around Nassau

(Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1990).

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During the years of colonial occupation, the British laid the foundations for much of

the island's political, legal and educational systems that over the years permeated

the Bahamian mind in diverse and pervasive ways. Schools and Colleges taught

British history and geography and the present-‐day examination system still reflects

that of Great Britain. Thus, for all Bahamians, black and white, their education

taught them more about Great Britain than it did about the Bahamas, "I say the

British have really done a thing on us...a lot of brainwashing...I was told the Bahamas

had no history" (personal communication with D. J. Johnson 1992).

Furthermore, the symbols that represent the modern, independent Bahamas

(and which are located in Nassau) are actually British in origin. The British

language, the Parliamentary system (with its symbol of authority the “Speaker's

Mace”) is organized along the lines of that in London and even holds elections

within the same time frame. The Churchill Building, housing the Prime Ministers

office and the Treasury is presided over by a statue of Queen Victoria, symbolizing a

British rather than Bahamian way of life. Similarly, the judicial system is based on

the English Common Law (although there is a large body of Bahamian Statute Law)

and incorporates bewigged barristers and Magistrates Courts also reminiscent of

Great Britain.

Place and street names constantly remind Bahamians and tourists of a British

presence; Parliament Street, Elizabeth Street, Elizabeth Estates, the Princess

Margaret Hospital, and the British Colonial Hotel. The Royal Victoria Hotel, now

derelict, stands opposite the post office as a decaying relic of the past. The newly

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renovated Woods Rogers Walk, with docking facilities for the cruise ships at Prince

George Wharf, commemorates the first British Governor of the Bahamas in 1718.

Moreover, many white Bahamians are interested in preserving their version of the

past as being that of the “real” Bahamas. The Bahamas Historical Society, which

operates the main Museum in Nassau, is composed of all white Bahamians from

some of the oldest families and the “past” on show in the museum is that of British

colonial rule. Almost all the artifacts, except for a replica Lucayan canoe and a

Junkanoo dance costume, relate to the various governors and to the “stewardship”

of the Duke of Windsor. Nearly all the pictures and photographs are of white

individuals, leaving the impression of a time-‐stood-‐still; to the days when the British

Empire ruled and each man understood his place in the scheme of things.

The tourist attractions in Nassau include the forts and the castles of the colonial

era and the legal and political institutions around Bay Street, the main area for

sightseeing and shopping. Thus, the tourist is presented with a country that is

apparently British in origin and whose African heritage is marginalized and only

encountered via the baskets, T-‐shirts and wooden carvings of the straw market.

Furthermore, the promotion and high visibility of actually British institutions

impedes the local people from forging an independent “Bahamian” identity”: "...our

British influenced personality...are what make us a particular type of people worth

visiting" (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1992a). Indeed, so severe was the impact of

colonialism on Bahamian nationality that in a speech to the United Nations in 1966

Lynden Pindling, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party stated:

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...”Bahamian” is not a legal term under the constitution; yet no one can say

with any degree of truth that we are British. As a people we are without

history, without culture, and without national identity. We study British

history, British civilisation and even British weather; but about ourselves, we

have no past -‐ and under colonialism, no future. (Cash, Gordon and Saunders

1991:175)

Today, many white Bahamians continue to identify themselves with Great Britain,

while many black Bahamians argue that their national identity only began to

develop after Independence in 1973. Prior to that "when Bahamians dig into the

past they uncover Africa, slavery and, as they see it, dishonor" (Collinwood 1989c:

226). The following comments illustrate these points, the first by a white Bahamian

and the second by a black Bahamian:

...I think we've lost our identity if we even had an identity originally of a

culture being Bahamian....'cause we've been so influenced by the

English....cultural heritage for me is basically English...I think a lot of

them..(black Bahamians)...are very lost to exactly who and what they are.....I

think to them it signifies that we're no longer under the British rule, the yoke

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has disappeared so we can do what the hell we want (personal

communication with Joey Solomon 1992).

I think if you want to be original you have to start from '73, till now from '73

goin' backwards it's all a British colony...since Independence right...you're

recognized as a nation and...not as a British colony….. (personal

communication with W. Rolle 1992).

The history of the Bahamas, the days of Empire and colonialism, have provided the

tourism industry with the necessary images for promoting the islands and the

people can be promoted as a tourist destination. Concomitantly, it has produced a

confusing array of symbols from which the present-‐day population must synthezise

a national identity. Because of tourism, the era of white colonial rule still defines the

local people since it promotes the image of a country whose historical associations

“label” it as more British than anything else.

The Myths and Stereotypes of Colonialism

The extent to which colonialism was able to both create and encourage

stereotyped ethnic and cultural images is crucial for an understanding of the

relationship between tourism and colonialism; for the tourism industry often relies

upon these same images as a means of promoting destinations like the Bahamas.

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According to Crick (1988:58), the promotion of tourism, as a means of generating

foreign exchange and enhancing economic independence, has encouraged the

perpetuation and reinforcement of such stereotypes. As a result, the influence of

colonialism becomes even more problematical, for although the colonial era in its

more obvious form no longer exists, the prejudices and racial discrimination that

were part of its underlying ideology, may still have an impact on the tourists’ and

the locals’ perceptions of each other:

The tourist is invited in magazine advertisements and TV commercials to live

in the past and to experience the features of a "slave"-‐based past. What an

affront to the sensitivities of free peoples trying desperately to outlive the

past! (Hills and Lundgren 1977:262).

The following Jamaican Tourist Board advertisement aptly exemplifies what Hills

and Lundgren are referring to:

You can rent a lovely life in Jamaica by the week. It starts with a country

house or a beach cottage hilltop hideaway that comes equipped with gentle

people named Ivy or Maude or Malcolm who will cook, tend, mend, diaper

and launder for you. Who will "Mr. Peter, please" you all day long, pamper

you with homemade coconut pie, admire you when you look "soft"

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(handsome), giggle at your jokes and weep when you leave (Erisman

1983:358).

Crick (1988: 59) further maintains that in the West Indies, tourism is associated

with servility and reawakens memories of the colonial past, perpetuating

resentments and antagonisms that affect the touristic encounter. Similarly, Erisman

(1983) and English (1986) argue that the development of tourism within many

former colonies is inextricably linked to notions of slavery, racial discrimination and

inequality:

....by continually playing host/servant to white vacationers, the black West

Indian consciously or unconsciously comes to adopt or at least acquiesce to

this racially discriminatory scenario which relegates non-‐whites to an

inferior position....in other words, tourism is seen as a vehicle for

reimplanting the racial as well as other types of hegemony that existed in the

region's colonial past... (Erisman 1983: 358).

However, Farrell (1979), Manning (1979) and LaFlamme (1979) all stress that

racism existed before tourism, rather than as a consequence of tourism. Similarly,

Holder (1990:650) argues that tourism in the Caribbean has actually assisted in the

breakdown of racial segregation within the local population by exposing the black

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communities to a wider variety of white visitor. Nevertheless, attitudes of “black

servitude” may still bubble along beneath this halo of racial harmony, as some white

tourists may feel they have the right to treat "blacks in a haughty way.....because

they are paying for service (and deference)" (Erisman 1983:357-‐358).

The powerful and incisive ideas put forward by Said (1978) and Kabbani

(1986) provide perhaps the most interesting view of how the legacy of colonialism

has structured the relationship between the erstwhile colonizer and the colonized.

Both writers assert that colonialism not only dominated politically and economically

but also helped to create the myths, stereotypes and fantasies that have shaped the

West's view of the East; and thus impacted on the encounters between both peoples

-‐ creating what Said refers to as "Europe's collective day-‐dream of the Orient"

(1978:52). Moreover, as argued here, travel agents, tour operators, and even

national governments choose from a menu of such stereotypical misconceptions to

promote the tourism destination. This is illustrated by the following advertising

statements about the Bahamas:

There are whiffs of a past that is as romantic as it was precarious. There is a

free and easy British Colonial flavour. And there is the musical rhythm of

Africa.....There, generations of men learned to be brave when they had to and

not to worry about tomorrow (Hannau 1977:5-‐6).

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We invite you to share this special island with us. A peaceful, charming

island with warm-‐hearted inhabitants who still speak the colonial dialect of

their Tory ancestors (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism 1991:10).

Escape to the quaint 18th century tropic isle of colonial charm and casual

elegance where imagination becomes reality (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism

1992b).

The fundamental argument of Kabbani (1986) is that the Western image of the

Orient is founded on the writings of travelers and novelists who visited distant lands

in order to gather and record information about the peoples and places they

encountered. These “visitors” carried with them their own cultural and national

identities, images of their own political, economic and military ideals and as a result

their accounts were based on an understanding of their world, rather than that of

the countries they visited. Moreover, these “travelogues” often included invented

and exaggerated accounts designed to excite and please the reader and in so doing

served to confirm the myths and images already held by their own people back

home (Kabbani 1986:2). Indeed the artists and connoisseurs who settled in Bali

between the two world wars constructed just such fanciful accounts, providing the

tourism industry and the Indonesian government with the means by which the

country and the people could be identified; as illustrated by Picard:

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The accounts, paintings, photographs and films contributed to forging a

sensational image of Balinese society, an image which would be relayed in

due time through the promotional services of the nascent tourist industry

(1991:3).

The creation and maintenance of the myths and stereotypes to describe the local

population provided the colonizers with “legitimate' reasons for their actions. If it

could be suggested that the local people (in other words the “coloreds”) were lazy,

violent and incapable of government then the colonizers could feel justified in taking

control (Kabbani 1986:4, 6). Consequently, notions of power, dominance and

authority are fundamental to the relationship between colonialism and tourism,

with Nietzsche's (1969) concept of the “will to power” central to an understanding

of the whole process. Said discusses at length how colonialism placed the

Westerner in a state of "positional superiority" with the Easterner "without ever

losing him the relative upper hand" (1978:7); so the “will” of the West towered over

that of the East -‐ "..the West's great cultural strength, it's will to power... and will to

govern over the Orient..." (1978:94,95).

Furthermore, Issawi argues that the colonized eventually come to believe in the

superiority of the colonizer, precisely because, "..men are always inclined to

attribute perfection to those who have defeated and subjugated them" (1950:53).

As such, Nietzsche's (1969:138) assertion that "the will of the weaker persuades it

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to serve the stronger" explains the seemingly submissive “silence” of the colonized

in the entire process. As illustrated by the Bahamas, where the native Bahamian

was encouraged to aspire to the deep-‐rooted British -‐ and hence white -‐ oriented

value system, rather than the African heritage that was inherent in the majority of

the population:

…..the economic stranglehold on them by the white oligarchy and the

psychological bad image of the Bahamian black, created a seemingly powerless,

passive and somewhat pathetic individual! (Insight Bahamas Guide 1986:61).

For Bahamians, black or white, to become like the British was the single most

important prerequisite for attaining self-‐esteem and status. Nowadays, however,

the whites are in the minority and most of the discriminatory barriers have been

broken down as a result of the black majority rule that has existed since 1967.

Moreover, the white population has been increasingly marginalized: "...now the

country's more or less for the Bahamians, for the black person here and that's what

this government has created..." (personal communication with J. Solomon 1992).

Nevertheless, the images of the past continue to influence the images of the present:

the 'brochure Bahamas' becomes, for the tourist, an important indicator of how to

define, encounter and relate to the local Bahamian population. The picture and

language of the travel guides are a powerful force in the creation and maintenance

25

of the myths of identity, confirming the stereotypes of the past as being

representative of the present.

The Power of the “Textual Attitude”

According to Said (1978), the colonially inspired images of native peoples were

accepted as accurate by the so called “civilised world” because of the power of the

written word; which he refers to as a “textual attitude”. He argues that people often

prefer the “schematic authority” of a text to the actual encounter. Once accepted as

“fact” these textual stereotypes are employed by the tourism industry to promote

particular destinations. Moreover, as Leed (1991:280) argues such cultural

stereotypes are specifically generated so that particular cultures can be observed

and identified by others, in this instance the tourists. An example of this is Picard's

discussion of how the tourism industry “manipulated” the myths and stereotypes of

Balinese history so as to package the country as a tourist destination:

....an island which had long been known in the West for its "plunderous

salvage" of shipwrecks and "barbarous sacrifice" of widows on the funeral

pyre had to be turned into an object for Westerners in search of the

exotic...And indeed, the island of Bali has consistently been described ever

since as the last paradise (1991:2, 3).

26

The traveler reading a guidebook will use the images portrayed in the text as

the basis on which to construct his/her opinions, behavior and expectations,

offering as they do a sense of security in an unknown land:

And of course many writers of travel books or guide books compose them in

order to say that a country is like this, or better, that it is colorful, expensive,

interesting...so much so that the book (or text) acquires a greater authority,

and use, even than the actuality that it describes (Said 1978:93).

For Said the guide books create a sense of false reality that confuses the traveller.

"Many travelers find themselves saying of an experience in a new country that it

wasn't what they expected, meaning that it wasn't what a book said it would be"

(1978:93). Thus, echoing the words of Raleigh: "it is not truth but opinion that can

travel the world without a passport" (Lowenthal 1961: 260). Similarly, the guide

book descriptions of the Tana Toraja as an exotic, wild and “untouched” land have

led some tourists to be disappointed by the “reality”:

A San Francisco tourist, having read one of the most popular guidebooks on

Indonesia, admitted that he had expected Toraja to be "really stone

age....grass skirts and grass huts and people fighting with clubs". His

daughter agreed, "skulls and bones everywhere". The first person they had

27

seen in Toraja had been wearing a California Highway Patrol hat and jeans;

their first 'event' had been a Protestant funeral. But the themes persist

(Volkman 1990:94).

The travel guides discussed by Said (1978) and the travelogues analyzed

Kabbani (1986) have provided the tourism promoters almost “ready made” images

to relay to tourists through the language and pictures of the travel brochures.

However, selective use of these images has often disadvantaged the destination

country. As is the case with the Bahamas:

For decades destinations like the Bahamas have been saddled with images of

smiling natives, often shirtless, shuffling under limbo bars with frothy fruit

and rum drinks to the delight of the world's jet setters. How far from the

truth this is! (Insight Bahamas Guide 1986:66).

Both Crick (1988) and Urry (1990a; 1990b) further emphasize the fact that tourism

is essentially an exercise in fantasy and that the tourist buys to seek in “reality” the

pleasurable dramas experienced in the imagination. Consequently, the colonial

inspired stereotypes and images become the means by which the tourist is

introduced to the destination and the local people. Urry further asserts that under

the impact of “international tourism”, different countries are beginning to specialize

28

in particular types of “objects” to be gazed upon. For example Britain specializes in

holidays concerned with the historical heritage and the quaint, while Thailand

caters for the “exotic” (Urry 1990a:48, 108). Such “specialization” must inevitably

affect how tourists are presented with and behave in, particular destinations, as a

result of the “images” chosen to “sell” them through the brochures. Those countries

associated with past colonial occupation, slavery and racial differentiation may find

these images still lurking at the back of some tourist's minds; particularly since this

process of “labeling'” assumes there is a universally accepted national stereotype

that everyone understands and agrees upon. The difficulty then becomes how to

separate those images that conjure up “negative” stereotypes of past, or indeed

present racial practices, from more positive ones that present the local population

as they are today, not hundreds of years ago. There is nothing essentially wrong

with the idea of holidays as “lived fantasies”, just as long as the tourist understands

where the fantasy ends and reality begins.

The fantasy includes also a commitment to total servility on the part of

everyone except the tourist. This practice has become so expected that

when it is denied, violent reaction can often be expected....The fantasies of

tourism are profitable. Corporate advertising not only helps to create the

dream but promises to make it all come true (Mathews 1978:82, 83).

29

This highlights the pervasive role of “power” underpinning even the promotion of

destinations, with the corporate advertising agencies having a vested financial stake

in maintaining the status quo, becoming in the process the “dominant classes” of

Thurot and Thurot who control "...the circulation of cultural products among the

masses" (1983:177-‐178). Uzzell goes on to argue that travel advertisers are not

attempting to attract tourists through the superficial attributes of the holiday

destinations, but "...by providing the reader with a range of cultural tools with

which fantasy, meaning and identity can be created and constructed" (1984:79).

The tourist is thus “encouraged” to create his own image of what to expect from the

information presented to him -‐ thus arriving with pre-‐conceived ideas of sights,

events and landscapes that often take precedence over the “reality of the people and

their daily lives” (Farrell 1979:124). Adams perhaps more directly condemns the

advertisers who, she argues, actively select, manipulate and maintain the ethnic

stereotypes and images such that they become "...veritable indexes of authenticity"

(1984:472).

Guidebooks inform the tourist where the exotic can be found, that the Bahamas

is the "playground of the Western world", and that South America is an "enchanted

forest", yet the images portrayed in the glossy brochures do not in fact exist (Crick

1988:59). The local people are portrayed as existing in the past not the present, as

though time for them has stood still. Thus, for the duration of the holiday, the local

people become the servile blacks of the former colonies by virtue of the images

“sold” through the brochures. The tourist wants to believe, even in the imagination

that such a world still exists, as illustrated by Levi-‐Strauss : "I can understand the

30

mad passion for travel books and their deceptiveness. They create the illusion of

something which no longer exists but still should exist..." (1989:43). The boundary

between fantasy and reality becomes blurred, with the tourist's “will to believe” the

fantasy as reality; "it seems to me that the possibility exists for fiction to function in

truth, for a fictional discourse to induce effects of truth" (Foucault 1980:193).

As has already been shown, the tourists’ image of a destination is a complex mix

of stereotypes, historical connotations, and guid book rhetoric. The tourist defines

and organizes his behavior and opinions on the basis of what he reads, “knows” or

imagines, rather than on the reality of what actually exists. Consequently, the

tourist looks for that which, for him, “represents” the identity or essence of the

people -‐ what Volkman (1990) calls a distinctive sort of gaze , or a search for what

Urry describes as "..the signs of Frenchness, typical Italian behaviour, exemplorary

Oriental scenes.." (1990b:27). Likewise, Segalen, the early 20th century poet,

archaeologist and travel writer, on a journey to China wrote, "in the end, I came here

looking for neither Europe nor China but for a vision of China" (Clifford 1988:155).

Admittedly, not all tourists are willing to accept what is “sold” in the brochures,

or are capable of being so misled; moreover, “the tourist” does not represent all

tourists. In fact many different types of tourists seek various forms of destination

experiences, many of which involve neither fantasy nor escapes from reality (see

Cohen 1972,1979; Redfoot 1984). Nevertheless, Mathews (1978) maintains that the

largest group of tourist “offenders” are in fact the mass tourists, those on low or

moderate incomes; precisely the “type” of tourists most actively “encouraged” to

31

visit the Bahamas. Furthermore, English (1986) argues that for most people a

holiday is seen as a time to be pampered and spoiled and empowers the visitor by

placing him/her in a position of superiority by virtue of having paid for the

privilege. The purchasing power of the tourist turns him into what Kabbani

(1986:9) claims is a “self-‐created hero” who pursues and enjoys the prestige of

control in order to exorcise the phantom of his own insignificance back home. This

echoes the rather derogatory tone of Fussell, who describes the tourist as a

"fantacist temporarily equipped with power" (1980:41).

Tourism and Bahamian Identity

The brochures that describe and depict the country and the people tend to

emphasize the colonial era rather than the contemporary achievements of an

independent nation state. The tourist reacts to the destination and the people on the

basis of the brochure images. As a result, the individual Bahamian is caught in a kind

of time-‐warp that hinders their ability to progress from, and out of, the myths and

stereotypes propagated under colonial rule. Culturally, the danger here is that the

local people must continually define their identity in contrast to, and in defiance of,

the reminders of British colonial rule: the systems of government and education, the

legal framework, the statues, the buildings and the street names.

32

The cultural heritage of the Bahamas described in the brochures centres around

the summer festival "Goombay", introduced specifically to appeal to the tourists,

and the now "bastardized" Junkanoo, which is continually featured and referred to.

What else is “sold” to the tourist? Bahamian literature, drama, dance and art are

there but very few tourists are even aware of them. The majority of cruise ship

visitors spend most, if not all, of their limited time in Bay Street with its

international shops and promises of “duty-‐free” discounts. The straw market (also

in Bay Street) is the closest the tourist comes to an “indigenous” African heritage.

The wealth of African inspired culture, to counterbalance that of Great Britain, is

not presented as forcefully or as successfully to either the local people or the

tourists. As Hawkins (1976:73) asserts, it is "...the lack of local interest and the

absence of a large enough market for local literature and arts of all sorts, rather than

of talent and originality..." that form the main obstacles to the promotion of

indigenous cultural products. As a result, the individual Bahamian's sense of

identity is tied to those symbols of everyday life that are not only the most visible,

but also the most constantly referred to, by internal as well as external sources.

The tourist is presented with colonial stereotypes wrapped in a blanket of sun,

sea and sand "our crystal clear waters, sun and sand, our British influenced

personality...are what make us a particular type of people worth visiting" (Bahamas

Ministry of Tourism 1992a). The British connection is, therefore, seen as one of the

factors attracting tourists to the Bahamas. However, the reinforcement of such a

connection may, in the long term, disadvantage the local people and indeed, become

33

largely irrelevant to their present-‐day existence -‐ as illustrated in the following

comment:

…….we have some history, yes...but unfortunately it's the pirates and the

various governors and there's some forts...but maybe because they didn't

build them the black people are not interested in preserving them (personal

communication with John Saunders 1992).

Collinwood (1989c:239) describes the Bahamian psychic identity as being in a

state of flux; neither altogether unhappy with the European connection not

altogether sure of the African one. Dependence on an industry geared to promote

peoples and places as “objects” to be gazed upon, rather than encountered, does not

help the individual to come to terms with such an ancestry. This is particularly true

in view of the tourism industry's reliance on outdated (and mainly British inspired)

images as the means by which the tourists identify and relate to the local people.

Perhaps those Bahamians responsible for the promotion of tourism need to have a

greater say in selecting the images used to represent the country. This thereby may

ensure that the “Brochure Bahamas” will portrays the people as they want to be

seen and not as others wish to portray them. In this way the Bahamas may be able

to step out of the colonial time-‐warp and into the 20th century; for as one black

Bahamian states, "to say we all descended from the British maybe, there were ties

34

there, but maybe some of us just don't get it" (personal communication with D. J.

Johnson 1992).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, it can be argued that the impact of colonialism is just as widespread,

long lasting and pervasive as the economic and political ramifications that provide

the usual focus for discussion. Colonialism was concerned with power, domination

and control, and with the superiority of one group over another through the

perpetuation of inequality. These are all criticisms that at some time or another

have been levelled at tourism, "the claim is that one travels to learn, but really, one

travels to exercise power over land... (and) ....peoples" (Kabbani 1986:10). The

history of the Bahamas highlights the power of the past to re-‐present the present, to

reinforce the myths of the past through the symbols of the present. These for the

tourist, are presented in the guidebooks and form the basis from which the tourist

comes to perceive, conceive and experience the local Bahamian population.

According to Clifford, "self-‐other relations are matters of power and rhetoric

rather than of essence" (1988:14). As such, the encounter between individuals (as

Bahamians and as tourists) occurs within a country whose guidebook rhetoric

promotes the people as they were hundreds of years ago and not as they are today.

The difficulty here is that this country’s dependence on tourism serves to reinforce

the historically implanted identity, based on the artifacts of colonial occupation,

rather than the contemporary achievements of the people themselves. The tourism

35

industry is therefore in danger of perpetuating colonialism through the images

portrayed in the glossy travel brochures; or, as Cohen argues, “….the easy-‐going

tourist of our era might well complete the work of his predecessors, also travellers

from the west – the conqueror and the colonialist” (1972: 182).

The impact of colonial rule on the development of national identity has resulted

in a situation where some sections of the white population still feel tied to Great

Britain. Black Bahamians, for their part, feel that their nationality is firmly tied to

the process of Independence that replaced white minority rule with a

democratically elected black government. However, the political, legal and

educational systems, the major institutions upon which a society is built, continue to

reinforce the British connection.

Perhaps a way forward involves a greater degree of control over how the

Bahamas is promoted as a tourist destination. This, however, merely serves to

highlight the crux of the problem, the extent to which the tourist facilities are owned

and operated by outside sources. Furthermore, control of tourist numbers is not

solely in the hands of the Bahamian government even though tourism is the most

important industry in the Bahamas. There is a need therefore, for a national

development plan that addresses issues of local participation, ownership and

control and that actively attempts to indigenize the industry (see Bethel 1989;

Wilson 1989). Only in this way will Bahamians be able to control the image of their

country presented to the tourists and be able, finally, to present a coherent national

identity -‐ of their own choosing, -‐ both to each other and to the rest of the world.

36

For as Fanon (1967:229) asserts "I am not a prisoner of history. I should not look

there for the meaning of my destiny", and neither should the Bahamas.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Documents

Tourism(and(Colonialism:(The(Experience(of(the(Bahamas