COMMERCIAL TOURISM: An Agenda for Theological Curriculum Developmen

COMMERCIAL TOURISM:

An Agenda for Theological Curriculum Development

Dr. Wati Longchar,

Director SCEPTRE, Kolkata, India

Tourism Industry – An Ethico-Theological Issue

Group picture of paricipants

Tourism industry is spiraling and has gained a greater vogue with all its zeal and valor.  It is estimated that more than five million tourists, excluding domestic tourists, arrive in India alone, annually. Alongside oil, arms, pharmaceuticals and auto-industry, it is one of the largest industries in the world, and it is growing rapidly in a massive scale. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) projects 1.5 billion arrivals of tourists by 2020.  A rough estimate puts 1,005 tourist arrivals in 2010. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) share is 5.89 trillion which is higher than GDP of the most rich countries. Excluding unaccounted laborers, tourism absorbs about 300 million people. To intensify tourism industry Governments have relaxed tax on air fuel and the budget airlines are growing. With the introduction of cheap flights, tourism industry will continue to grow all over the world.

Book Release for PTCA Series No. 4

PTCA BOOK RELEASE

PTCA series no. 4: 

Returning to Mother Earth

by Dr. Wati Longchar

PTCA Theological Seminar on Commercial Tourism

Neo Liberal Globalization and Market Oriented Commercial Tourism:

A Theological Critique

PTCA International Theological Symposium

Jointly by NCCI, CJCU and SCEPTRE

Huang Po Ho,

Prof. and vice president of CJCU, Dean of PTCA

Dec. 6-9, 2012. Kolkata, India

Introduction



Theological Seminar on Tourism

Tourism has been defined differently among the concerned scholars, no consensus being reached for its definition.  However, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has its definition of the concept which is widely adopted, that states: “Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.”^[1]  General speaking, tourism involves industries of transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services.  There are attempts to distinguish tourism from travel; however no significant distinctions are reached. Semantically speaking, all tourists are travelers, but not all travelers are tourists. But travelers are seldom able to be exempted from taking part of tourism; therefore attempt to distinguish the two does not make much sense to the discourses.

It is nevertheless, following the neo-liberal market economic development, tourist activities has been commercially organized to become a collective business industry. This has launched strategic promotion to encourage and gather great quantity of tourist groups, and to increase their frequencies of trips, and thus altered the nature of tourism. This new trend of commercial tourist industry affected by the market orientation has created different side effects related to the exploitation of nature (creation) and distortion of human relationship. It is this sort of commercial tourism industries that invite our attention to reflect upon theologically and to call for repentance and transformation.

PTCA Series no. 4

Though has suspended the JTCA Journal, with the hard works of Dr. Wati Longchar, our PTCA Colleague, the PTCA Series has been succesfully piling up all the important books to continue PTCA's contributions to Asian Theological Movement. Here is the new one from Dr. Wati Longchar -- Po Ho (Dean of PTCA)

PTCA International Theology Symposium

For Chang Jung Christian University and Serampore University

Theme: Commercial Tourism and Marginal Communities: Missiological and Theological Challenges
Date: 6-8 December, 2012 at SCEPTRE, Kolkata (Arrival 5th Dec, Dep. 8 Dec after dinner)

Objectives
a) Uncover the interconnection between environmental degradation through massive commercial tourism with
b) Unmask the interconnection between commercial tourism and its impact marginal communities such as women, children and indigenous communities
c) Evolve a prophetic missiological and theological education response on the issue

Activities: It will be a theological symposium – all the participants will be required to present a paper or make a panel presentation centered on the proposed theme with the view to evolve a missiological and theological response.

Partner Institute -- PERSETIA

PERSETIA -- Association for Theological Education in Indonesia

Sign MOU with Dr. Robert Setio, President of PERSETIA


 

Witnessed by Drs. Wati Longchar, Lal Tin Hre and H. Ongirwalu

 

 

 



PTCA Partner Institute - ATEM

ATEM - Association of Theological Education in Myanmar

Signing MOU with Dr. Lal Tin Hre, General Secretary of ATEM

Dr. Wati Longchar witnessed the process

 

Text of MOU signed with ATEM