BANS-183 Solved Question Paper

Selected term: Jan 2025

Question 1: How did the anthropological study of tourism emerge and grow?

From “tourist stories” to a serious field

For a long time anthropologists hardly took tourism seriously. It was seen as something “too close” to what fieldworkers themselves did while travelling, so it did not look like a separate topic for research. Gradually, after the 1960s, scholars began to realise that mass travel was changing small communities, local economies and cultural practices, and therefore needed careful study.

Early phase (1960s–1980s)

• First anthropological writings on tourism appeared, asking how outsiders’ visits were affecting host societies, rituals and art.
• Researchers such as Valene Smith, Nelson Graburn, Dennison Nash and Erik Cohen analysed the “host–guest” relationship, motives of tourists and consequences for local people.
• Tourism began to be seen as a modern kind of ritual: people left routine life, entered a special time–space (holiday) and then returned with new experiences.

Consolidation as a sub-field

• Publication of books and journals dedicated to tourism gave academic legitimacy to the area. Tourism anthropology was now accepted as a recognised speciality.
• Themes such as authenticity, cultural change, identity, power relations, gender and environment were brought into tourism studies.

Recent directions

• Focus on globalisation, political economy, heritage, eco-tourism, migration, second homes, backpacking, film tourism and digital platforms.
• More applied work: advising governments and NGOs on community participation, sustainable tourism and impact assessment.

Practical angle for students

When you visit a hill station or a pilgrimage town and notice changes in local dress, food or housing because of tourists, you are seeing exactly what tourism anthropologists now document—how travel reshapes cultures, economies and everyday life.

Question 2: Describe faith-based tourism, giving suitable examples.

Religious tourism (or faith-based tourism) includes those journeys in which the central purpose is religious belief or spirituality – visiting holy cities, shrines, rivers, mountains or memorials linked with faith. People travel to pray, fulfil vows, perform life-cycle rituals or simply strengthen their inner convictions. Along with devotion, such trips usually involve ordinary tourist needs like travel, food and accommodation.

Anthropological view

• Durkheim showed that even very simple religions have collective rituals that renew social solidarity. On similar lines, later writers have argued that many forms of tourism work like modern rituals – people step out of daily routine, enter a special time and space, and then return with a changed mood or status.
• Van Gennep’s idea of a “rite of passage” helps to understand this process: first there is separation from everyday life, then a middle phase of being “in between”, and finally re-entry into normal roles. Turner used the term liminal phase for this “in-between” stage and applied it especially to large, society-wide religious events.
• In major pilgrimages, believers often prepare themselves through fasting, self-discipline or extra prayers, travel to a sacred centre, and on returning feel spiritually renewed. This fits well with the three-stage pattern above.

Sacred and cemetery tourism

Tourism anthropology also notes that “sacredness” is not limited to temples or mosques. Some places become meaningful because of political events, martyrdom or collective suffering. Memorials, war cemeteries or museums that document tragic histories attract visitors who wish to reflect on these events and pay respect to the dead. In such “cemetery tourism”, travellers try to understand another society’s ways of dealing with loss and remembrance.

Key features of religious tourism

• It creates strong links between faith, local economy and identity – priests, guides, transporters, shopkeepers and small hotels depend on visiting believers.
• It cuts across class, age and nationality, because people from many backgrounds share the same sacred space.
• It is relatively resilient in times of economic difficulty, since many families see pilgrimage and life-cycle rituals as essential duties.
• Tour operators and authorities need to be sensitive to religious rules, dress codes, timings and dietary practices while planning facilities.

In short, religious tourism is not just “sightseeing of holy places”. It is a complex social process in which belief, ritual, emotion, economy and travel are woven together, and which can be analysed effectively with anthropological concepts of ritual and liminality.

Pilgrimage examples

• Mecca (Hajj) – For Muslims who are able, Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation. It involves leaving ordinary routine, entering a disciplined period of prescribed dress and rituals, and then coming back home with a new sense of responsibility and status in the community.
• Large congregations and melas – Gatherings such as major bathing festivals on sacred rivers bring together huge numbers of devotees. People travel from distant regions, stay in temporary camps, perform set rituals and return with the feeling of having taken part in an event bigger than their individual lives.
• Life-cycle and faith-based visits – Families often travel to holy towns to perform ceremonies connected with birth, marriage or remembrance of the departed. Others travel for religious conventions, conferences or charitable work organised by faith communities. These too combine religious duty with elements of organised tourism.

Question 3: What do we mean by “commodification”, and how does it affect artistic traditions?

Simple meaning of commodification

In everyday words, commodification means turning something that earlier had mainly emotional, social or sacred value into a saleable product. In tourism this often happens with culture: songs, crafts, rituals or landscapes are packaged and priced for visitors.

How tourism turns art into “products”

• Handicrafts – Traditional items like baskets, masks or textiles may be redesigned to suit tourist taste, made quickly in large numbers and sold in markets or hotel lobbies.
• Performing arts – Folk theatre or ritual dance that earlier lasted many hours may be shortened into 20-minute stage shows with fixed timings and tickets.
• Rituals and ceremonies – Weddings, initiation rites or temple processions can be repeated “on demand” for camera-holding visitors, sometimes losing their earlier intimacy.
• Built heritage – Old houses or palaces are converted into heritage hotels, where architecture becomes part of the tourist “package”.

Positive and negative sides

• Benefits – Extra income for artists and artisans, new jobs for guides and managers, funds for repairing monuments, more visibility for local culture.
• Risks – Art may be simplified, copied in cheaper material or presented without context; younger people might focus only on what “sells”, ignoring other parts of the tradition.

Real-life illustration

In many craft villages near big cities, visitors are taken on short tours where they watch a quick demonstration and then shop in a showroom. Artisans do earn money, but they also complain that designs must constantly be changed according to customer demand, leaving less time for experimental or ritual pieces they personally value. This tension between livelihood and cultural meaning is at the heart of commodification.

Question 4: Write short explanatory notes on any two of the following – (1) tourism and migration, (2) culture and tourism, (3) semiotic approaches to tourism.

1- Tourism and migration – connections and contrasts

Tourists and migrants both cross borders, but with different aims and time frames. Tourists move temporarily for leisure, business or pilgrimage and then return; migrants shift their main place of living and working.

• Overlap – Sometimes tourism becomes a path towards migration. Students or workers may first arrive as visitors, then apply for education or jobs and settle for longer periods.
• Economic link – Tourism generates jobs in hotels, restaurants, transport, guiding, construction and informal services. These often attract migrants from rural to urban areas or from one region to another.
• Social impact – In tourist towns, you often see a mix of local residents, seasonal workers and long-term migrants. This creates new cultural combinations but can also cause tensions over housing, wages and access to resources.

For example, many hill stations and beach towns in India depend heavily on seasonal workers who arrive before the tourist season and go back after it ends. Their presence shows that tourism and migration are closely tied in practice.

2- Culture and tourism – mutual influence

Tourism is not only about landscapes; it is deeply linked with culture—food, language, architecture, festivals, rituals and everyday ways of living.

• Culture as attraction – Visitors choose destinations because of cultural appeal: old cities, forts, temples, craft markets, local cuisine or performing arts.
• Intercultural contact – When tourists and hosts interact, both sides observe and sometimes adopt each other’s habits, dress styles or tastes. This can broaden horizons but may also create misunderstandings.
• Cultural change – Tourism may encourage revival of forgotten traditions, but it can also introduce new values such as consumerism or change gender roles, especially where many women enter tourism jobs.

Students who have stayed in homestays know that even small things—like learning to eat with hands, or teaching hosts to use online booking apps—show the two-way relationship between culture and tourism.

3- Semiotic approaches to tourism – reading signs and symbols

Semiotics is the study of signs and meanings. In tourism, semiotic analysis looks at how places are presented through images, slogans, maps and performances, and how tourists interpret these signs.

• Destinations as “texts” – Guidebooks, websites and brochures do not just give information; they create particular images, such as “exotic village”, “untouched nature” or “heritage city”. Tourists arrive with these ideas in mind.
• Signs on the ground – Welcome arches, costume of guides, design of hotels and even menus in restaurants send messages about what kind of experience is offered—luxury, adventure, spirituality or nostalgia.
• Tourist gaze – Visitors often take photographs of specific “must-see” objects, such as a famous statue or viewpoint. These become symbols of the trip and are shared on social media, repeating the same signs for future tourists.

Semiotic thinking helps future tourism professionals realise that every board, poster, selfie point or souvenir is part of a meaning system. Small changes in signage or storytelling can change how respectfully visitors relate to local people and their environment.

Question 5: In what ways has the tourism industry changed under free-market economic policies?

Opening of markets and global competition

With liberalisation and free-market reforms, many countries reduced state control and encouraged private investment in tourism. Airlines, hotels, travel agencies and online platforms now compete across borders. Large international chains enter new destinations, and domestic companies try to match global quality.

Expansion of private and foreign investment

• International hotel groups set up properties using local land and labour but global brand standards.
• Foreign tour operators sell package tours that combine flights, accommodation and sightseeing at discounted rates.
• Public–private partnerships are used for airports, convention centres, ropeways and other infrastructure.

Role of technology

Free-market conditions, along with digital technology, have changed how tourists plan and buy trips. Online booking sites, mobile apps and digital wallets allow customers to compare prices instantly. Small homestays in remote villages can list their rooms on global platforms and reach visitors directly, without big intermediaries.

New opportunities and new pressures

• Opportunities – More jobs in transport, food, guiding, event management; growth of niche areas like eco-tourism, adventure tourism and heritage walks.
• Pressures – Intense competition can push wages down, encourage cost-cutting on safety or environment, and increase dependence on volatile global markets.

Experience from the field

In many Indian hill states, local youth now work as trekking guides, homestay hosts or taxi operators connected through apps and social media. They appreciate the new income but also report worries: rising land prices, seasonal earnings and crowding of fragile landscapes. These mixed outcomes capture the real face of tourism under a free-market system.

Question 6: What do we mean by heritage tourism? Discuss with examples.

Understanding heritage tourism

Heritage tourism refers to travel motivated by interest in a place’s historical, cultural or natural inheritance—its monuments, old neighbourhoods, sacred sites, traditional lifestyles and landscapes. Visitors come not only to relax but to learn, remember and connect with the past.

Types of heritage involved

• Built heritage – Forts, palaces, stepwells, temples, mosques, churches, colonial buildings, historic bridges.
• Natural heritage – National parks, sacred groves, lakes, mountains, deserts that have ecological as well as cultural value.
• Living traditions – Crafts, festivals, food habits, storytelling and everyday architecture in old towns or villages.

Illustrative examples

• Old cities with heritage walks where guides explain the history of lanes, shrines and markets while visitors taste local snacks.
• Historic forts or palaces converted into museums or heritage hotels, where guests experience traditional décor and stories of past rulers.
• Riverfronts or ghats where rituals, boat rides and evening ceremonies together create a strong sense of continuity with earlier generations.

Benefits and challenges

• Benefits – Generates funds for conservation, creates pride among residents, provides livelihoods for guides, artisans and small businesses.
• Challenges – Over-crowding, insensitive renovation, displacement of local communities, “stage-managed” culture and environmental stress.

Student perspective

For learners of tourism anthropology, participating in a heritage walk or volunteering with a monument-conservation group is an effective way to see how history, livelihood and visitor experience come together in heritage tourism.

Question 7: “Food is part of cultural heritage.” Explain this statement with examples.

Food as a marker of identity

Every region has typical ingredients, cooking methods and meal customs. These are learned in families and passed down generations, just like stories or songs. When people move away from their birthplace, they often keep their food habits as a way of remembering “home”.

Layers of meaning in food

• Everyday dishes – Simple meals eaten daily still carry history of climate, crops and trade (for example, the use of coconut on the coast or millets in dry areas).
• Festival foods – Special sweets or savouries prepared only on certain occasions signal religious beliefs and seasonal cycles.
• Rules and taboos – What is considered pure or impure, who cooks for whom, and how food is shared reflect ideas of caste, class, gender and hospitality.

Food in tourism

• Tourists now travel specifically for food—street-food tours, regional thalis, coffee or tea trails.
• Many cities promote traditional dishes as symbols of the destination, helping small eateries and home-based cooks gain recognition.
• Some recipes receive legal protection (geographical indications), highlighting them as heritage products of a particular region.

Real-life observation

When visitors sit in a family-run eatery in an old market and the owner explains how a particular recipe came from grandparents or from another community through marriage, they are not just consuming calories; they are tasting history and relationships. This is why food cannot be separated from cultural heritage—it condenses memory, environment and social values into something we literally take inside our bodies.

Question 8: Write short notes on (1) underdevelopment theory, (2) UNESCO World Heritage Sites, (3) eco-tourism.

1- Underdevelopment theory (dependency perspective)

Underdevelopment theory, often called the dependency approach, argues that poverty in many countries is not simply due to internal laziness or lack of modern values. Instead, it is linked to a long history of unequal economic relationships between powerful “centre” nations and weaker “peripheral” regions. Raw materials and cheap labour move from the periphery to the centre; profits mainly stay in the centre. In tourism this can be seen when foreign companies control airlines, big hotels and tour packages. Much of the money paid by tourists leaks out to these external players, while local workers get only low wages and fragile jobs. The theory helps us ask tough questions: who owns the tourism facilities, who takes decisions, and how much real benefit reaches local communities?

2- UNESCO World Heritage Sites

UNESCO’s World Heritage list identifies cultural and natural places that are considered to have “outstanding universal value” for humanity—such as historic cities, monuments, forests, mountains or reefs. When a site is listed, the country accepts responsibility to protect it for future generations, and in return gains international recognition and some technical support. For tourism this label works like a strong brand: visitors are attracted by the promise of uniqueness and global importance. However, listing alone does not guarantee good management. Without careful planning, sudden increase in tourist numbers can harm the very heritage that is being promoted. Students visiting any World Heritage Site can observe whether information boards, crowd control, waste management and local community participation are actually in place.

3- Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism refers to nature-based travel that aims to minimise environmental damage, respect local culture and support conservation and community welfare. Typical activities include trekking, bird-watching, staying in eco-lodges, visiting wildlife sanctuaries or exploring villages near forests and coasts. Key principles are small group size, low-impact infrastructure, local employment and a share of income going to conservation or village projects. In practice, some tours only use the “eco” label for marketing while continuing with noisy vehicles, plastic waste and insensitive behaviour. Serious eco-tourism projects, on the other hand, train local youth as guides, involve village councils in decision-making and set clear rules for visitors. For students, volunteering in such projects is a good way to see how environmental ethics and livelihood concerns can be balanced in tourism.