The anthropological analysis of tourism: Indirect tourism and political economy in the case of the mamainde of Mato Grosso,Brazil

Aspelin, Paul, “The Anthropological Analysis of Tourism: Indirect Tourism and Political Economy in the Case of the Mamainde of Mato Grosso, Brazil,” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. IV, No. 3, January/February, 1977, pp. 135–160 --Tourists do not always directly descend upon a host culture but, in some cases, may only indirectly contact a people or an area. A particular example of this is presented as the type case of “Indirect tourism,” defined as a situation wherein indirect contact between tourists and host is maximized at the expense of direct contacts. Data for the Mamainde Indians (a dialect group of the Nambicuara of Mato Grosso, Brazil), studied in 1968–1971, illustrate that tourists could show they “visited the Indians” without directly bothering them at all, simply by purchasing Mamainde artifacts from Indian agencies located in the provincial capitals. This field data is analyzed in terms of cultural, economic, and political factors. Some models of cultural contact, provided by the Brazilian anthropologists Robert Cardoso de Oliveira and Darcy Ribeiro, are discussed and modified in the light of this field data, resulting in a generalized model of cultural contact now also suitable for the anthropological analysis of tourism. Tourism, as one form of cultural contact, is placed clearly within the general domain of political economy and the ethics of decision-making regarding the tourist industry are discussed for these types of cases.