Tourism and globalization

What are the effects of tourism on culture in a globalized world, one charactrized by increasingly intense levels of interaction between cultures? There exist many stereotypical images of tourism as a seach for primordial and exotic cultures understood and patronized as authentically different. Is the satisfaction of this need for the authentic difference consumed as lucrative toursim ultimately harmful to these cultures? Or, is it true that these societies and cultures are not passive victims but active participants in a global economy and who can transform tourism into economic and cultural opportunity? This proposed study will try to answer these questions through anthropological research intended to examine the practice of tourism in the field and to assess developments in Slovene tourism as it becomes more integrated into global processes.