II. Main Cultural products 3. Ethnography

Section 3.2: From The Resource To The Final Product

Important changes can be detected in tourism markets. They involve demographic changes, continuous innovation in technology, higher level of previous experiences as tourist, new visitors from emerging source markets. All this is causing a different form of tourism, with more variety, but also more changes.

In order to be attractive, a tourism product must generate a benefit to the customer such as relaxation, change in routine, or new experiences. But the touristic attraction of a rural area also depends on the activities proposed to tourists and their originality (product differentiation) compared to the competing destinations. Keep this in mind when trying to plan and promote ethnographic activities.

Natural Parks, leisure installations, hiking, excursions, and in many cases bars and restaurants tend to be the basic complements that are introduced to enhance the value of an accommodation property and its benefits. But do not forget that we also may have a set of movable and immovable property (agricultural landscapes, tools, water mills, flour milling, salt, wine, etc.) and intangibles (customs, traditions, festivals, etc.) that represent the footprint of our society and may attract visitors.

Consumers are interested in a product based on the satisfaction they get or expect from it. As we will see below, authenticity stands high in these expectations, at least in rural tourism. We can take advantage here of our rich cultural heritage. Ethnography is concerned about existing or recent societies, and the ethnographic heritage constitutes knowledge that explains today’s reality. However, it is not synonymous with past, but rather with persistence and continuity, as it incorporates the past into living reality.

From this we infer the dynamic and flexible concept of heritage, with characteristics of fragility and non-renewability. Therefore, two actions in relation to ethnographic heritage should be combined wherever possible:: the development of tourism, and the search for heritage conservation.

That is why tourism development must integrate within a sustainable framework that is compatible with the local economy, society, identity, and a respect to the environment. This can also relate back to urban societies, especially in countries where urban development is recent and still much related with personal roots in rural areas. In that sense, actions have to be taken to promote investigation, documentation, or support recovery of rural heritage also among urban population.

Other aspects to consider are the risks of losing the ethnographic heritage, both the material and immaterial (oral and written), if they are not conveniently defined and research is not done specifically on them. If such heritage is just seen as component of other cultural areas such as archaeology, architecture, crafts, etc., it will be difficult to maintain the context of its relation to human society and development.

Finally, it is necessary to mention the concern regarding the collection, documentation, and knowledge of cognitive (immaterial) ethnographic heritage (oral traditions, music, dances, etc.) because they are threatened by the old age of the individuals that are the only „human carriers” of such knowledge, which will die with them.

As can be seen, actions related to ethnography do not only impact positively on tourism, but also help to preserve heritage and local „roots” for the whole local community.

The following objectives should be pursued when creating a product:

1.  Stable and sustainable installations that allow recovering and classifying all heritage relating to the area and its people.
2. Generate knowledge about the characteristics and living conditions in the past and present.
3. Remember the names of local characters and their life.
4. Document and present the work of people who have been shaping the village's memory through their life.
5. Follow the change of local life in the social, economic and ideological aspects.
6. Facilitate access to results and documents to all residents, stakeholders and researchers wishing to consult them.
7. Serve as a catalyst for boosting cultural activities in town.
8. Complement the local tourism offer.
9. Encourage participation and awareness of locals about the conservation and improvement of their historic heritage.
10. Survey and interpretation of the village's historical, architectural and ethnographic heritage.
11. Integrate the whole village and its surroundings into the project (not only one specific location), e.g. by thematic itineraries and routes that refer to a specific ethnographic asset (architecture, landscape, irrigation, mills, wells and springs, etc.), competitions, „photo safari” and others.

Gathering material for documentation and exposition is sometimes difficult, especially in villages or at places where strong economic development and modernization took place in the years 1970-2000 when little awareness existed about the need to preserve this kind of resources. However, the following usually provide some results:

1. Municipal Archives, with significant and extensive documentation from past centuries.
2. Municipal Photo Funds, in many countries they are already catalogued and available in digital format.
3. Written Materials Archive, frequently located together with the local school or in ecclesiastical archives and composed by letters, postcards, newspapers, school books, etc. Also contacts with the local teachers and other representatives of the local society can be very useful.
4. Regional archival documents and newspaper funds that refer to the village and its habitants. In Spain, surprisingly good and exhaustive documentation can be found sometimes in the archives of the former Ministry of Culture (now usually transferred to the regional governments), and in the Diputaciones Provinciales (province governments).
5. Ask the local elders about their youth. Visiting their homes may sometimes allow rescuing household items and tools that are in disuse by modern society.
6. Ask in your own family about items from their youth. Once you set up an exhibition, ask other locals to contribute.
7. Inspect abandoned buildings, especially outside the villages. They were frequently left by their last inhabitants leaving all kind of tools and equipment behind. Of course, it is necessary to ask actual owners for permission!

Summary

Section 3.3: What Is The Customer Interested In?