Since our time in Tulum the idea of exploitive tourism and essentially neocolonialism has been heavy on my mind. How can we visit these beautiful places without pushing locals out of their homes and stamping out their culture? My guest Mila Muchinski experienced this first hand when she lived in Caraíva, a village on the coast of Brazil. In a few short years, it went from being a small fishing village with no electricity and a strong local culture to being a hotspot for yoga retreats and music festivals.
Exploitative tourism is the kind of tourism that doesn’t benefit locals. It happens when foreign or national investors with little connection to the area decide to build resorts, retreats and other all-inclusive experiences there with no regard for the locals, the nature and the culture.
I experienced this in Tulum. I had heard Tulum was a very spiritual, jungle location and was so excited to spend some time there. What I hadn’t heard is that the so-called “Eco Hotels” are run on diesel generators, the “spirituality” disregards most local cultures and rituals and is a totally imported, Americanised version of spirituality and the jungle is aggressively being cleared to build more and more “eco-resorts”.
To make matters worse, there is a huge area in the town where locals live in makeshift houses, some of whom were forcibly removed from their houses to clear land for the developments.
Mila’s experience is more personal. She saw this happen in her own country. She saw people being coerced into selling their land to developers for an amount they thought would be life-changing, not realising that their whole way of life was at stake. Now, these people can’t afford to live in their beloved Caraíva because it has been so built up.
Visitors to the town often don’t want to interact with the local community, don’t bother to learn about the culture or language and just pretty much see locals as insignificant.
We discuss how to travel consciously and responsibly. Mila says simple things like interacting with the local community make a huge difference. In her experience, locals want to welcome visitors but they don’t get the chance when people stick to their resorts or retreats. She says learning some words in the language really helps with this.
Do your research too. Is your hotel or retreat owned by an international corporation? Do they hire locals, support local performers and tradespeople etc? If they claim to be an eco-hotel do their claims hold up?
Go out and about and spend your money with locals. Visit markets instead of shopping at Walmart or other international supermarket chains. Go to local restaurants and coffee shops instead of going to international chains.
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