The Role of Culture in Attracting Tourists: Preservation or Commodification?

The Role of Culture in Attracting Tourists: 

Preservation or Commodification?

Commodification refers to the process of turning cultural traditions, symbols, or practices into products or experiences that can be marketed and consumed by tourists. For example, a traditional dance, craft, or ceremony may become a tourist attraction.

Preservation refers to protecting and maintaining cultural traditions so they continue to exist and remain meaningful to the community. This includes supporting local practices, heritage, and passing culture on to future generations.

‎Culture has always been one of the main reasons people travel. Tourists are often attracted to destinations because of unique traditions, local lifestyles, food, music, art, and historical experiences. Beyond landscapes and attractions, culture gives a destination its identity and creates meaningful experiences for visitors.

‎However, as tourism continues to grow, an important question emerges: does tourism help preserve culture, or does it transform culture into something created mainly for visitors?

‎The relationship between tourism and culture is complex. Tourism does not simply observe culture; it interacts with it and influences how cultural practices are represented, maintained, and understood.

‎One of the major ideas used to explain this relationship is cultural commodification. Cultural commodification occurs when cultural practices, symbols, traditions, or objects become products or experiences that can be marketed and consumed. Critics argue that when culture becomes part of tourism, it may lose some of its original meaning. A ceremony, traditional craft, or cultural performance that once had social or spiritual importance may be changed to satisfy tourist expectations.

‎Robert Shepherd, in “Commodification, Culture and Tourism,” challenges the idea that tourism automatically destroys culture. He argues that cultures have never been completely fixed or unchanged. Communities have always adapted their traditions through migration, trade, social interactions, and changing environments. Therefore, cultural change does not always mean cultural loss.

‎Bai and Weng (2023), in their study “New Perspective of Cultural Sustainability: Exploring Tourism Commodification and Cultural Layers,” explain that culture exists in different layers. Some cultural elements are more visible, including clothing, souvenirs, rituals, performances, and crafts, while deeper layers include values, beliefs, and meanings attached to cultural practices.

‎Tourism often affects these visible layers first. Cultural symbols may become powerful images used to represent destinations. This can create economic opportunities and increase awareness of heritage, but it can also influence how cultures are understood by outsiders.

‎The Maasai example in Kenya demonstrates this complexity. Maasai clothing, beadwork, ceremonies, and traditional imagery have become strongly connected with Kenya’s tourism identity. These symbols appear in advertisements, souvenirs, fashion, and representations of the Kenyan safari experience.

‎In her study “The Authentic Kenyan: A Study on the Commoditization of Maasai Symbolism and Its Impact on the Construction of Cultural Identities of Periphery Indigenous Groups in Kenya,” Josephine Wambui Ngala (2021) explores how Maasai symbols have been transformed into marketable representations of Kenyan culture.

‎While this recognition has helped promote Maasai heritage and create tourism opportunities, it also raises concerns about representation. When one community’s symbols become the dominant image of a nation, other indigenous communities may become less visible. Kenya has many diverse cultures, each with unique histories and traditions, but tourism branding can sometimes simplify this diversity into one recognizable image.

‎The use of Maasai symbols also raises questions about cultural ownership and appropriation. When cultural symbols are used mainly for commercial purposes without understanding their deeper meanings or acknowledging their origins, culture risks becoming separated from the communities that created it.

‎However, tourism is not only a challenge. It can support cultural preservation by providing income for communities, supporting traditional crafts, creating employment, protecting heritage, and encouraging younger generations to value their traditions. The issue is not whether culture should be shared with tourists, but rather who controls its representation and who benefits from it.

‎Culture should not become only a product for visitors. It should remain a living part of the communities that create, protect, and continue to transform it.

‎Tourism changes the cultures it encounters, but culture also shapes the way tourism develops. Sustainable cultural tourism requires a balance between sharing heritage with the world and respecting the people whose identities and traditions are being represented.

‎

‎References

‎Shepherd, R. Commodification, Culture and Tourism.

‎Bai, L., & Weng, S. (2023). New Perspective of Cultural Sustainability: Exploring Tourism Commodification and Cultural Layers. Sustainability, 15(13), 9880.

‎Ngala, J. W. (2021). The Authentic Kenyan: A Study on the Commoditization of Maasai Symbolism and Its Impact on the Construction of Cultural Identities of Periphery Indigenous Groups in Kenya.

Published by Daniel Ndung'u Maina