Alternativtourismus in Südostasien. Rucksackreisen als Speerspitze des Massentourismus?

Abstract

The goal of this paper is a discussion of alternative tourism within the region of Southeast Asia, the world's fastest growing economic and touristic area. A six-months field research was carried out in the long-established 'backpacker enclaves' of Thailand’s Bangkok (Kao San Road) and in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City (Pham Ngu Lao Road), which is still in statu nascendi at the beginning of the 90s. By means of narrative interviews with backpackers and local people, participant observation, guidebook analysis and cartographic representation, parallels and differences of development and western-style infrastructure are discussed against the background of Third World tourism criticism. However, alternative tourism turns out to be just another subcategory of criticized mass tourism, offering no better, socially responsible tourism whatsover and spearheading package toursim in the long run.