STRIVING FOR INSIGHTFUL TOURISM: MAORI ATTRACTIONS IN AOTEAROA

Like any form of tourism, coexistent costs and benefits characterize indigenous tourism. While its proponents argue for development on the basis of increased economic independence and cultural understanding, its critics raise the spectre of tourisms destructive tendencies. At the heart of these critiques are issues associated with commoditization- the "process by which things (and activities) [e.g. culture] come to be evaluated primarily.in terms of their exchange value, in a context.of trade, thereby becoming goods (and services) " (Cohen, 1988, p. 380). Urrys (1990) observations of growing dominance of the tourist gaze, characterized by its superficial nature, tend to support the view of commoditization as a destructive process. Yet, the counterpoint to this superficial gaze is "insightful " tourism (Mclntosh, 1999) which, while still based on the commercial consumption of cultural resources, recognizes the potential for tourism to function as a subjective experiential process undertaken as serious leisure in which achievement, endeavour, and knowledge acquisition are important. Attractions represent the focal points of the commoditization process in cultural tourism. These are the sites where cultural resources are refined into saleable products and where they are consumed. In the context of insightful tourism these attractions are in essence, experiential products facilitating feelings, emotions, imagination and knowledge: quite literally constructions for experience (Mclntosh & Prentice