Turystyka etniczna w Peru w opinii polskich turystów
Ethnic tourism in Peru in the eyes of the polish tourists

Summary/Abstract: Ethno-tourism is one of those types of travel that have recently become increasingly popular among tourists coming from all over the world. Peru, on the other hand, is a country where it is developing extremely fast, thanks to its great cultural and ethnic diversity. Although ethnic tourism is commonly identified as an alternative form of recreation based on the idea of sustainable development, there is no denying that, apart from its many undoubted benefits, it also causes a lot of damage, mainly due to the so-called mass tourism, which often does not treat the visited groups with due respect, reducing them to the level of a mere “tourist attraction”. Based on the available source materials and statistical data, both positive andnegative effects of ethno-tourism on Peruvian Indian communities have been analysed, such as cultural assimilation, commercialisation, McDonaldization, development of the so-called wilderness marketing, various types of pathologies and social inequalities, or consolidation of false and harmful stereotypes about Indians. It turns out that it is not possible to unambiguously classify ethnic tourism as “good” or “bad” in relation to the reception population. The perception of this issue is relatively subjective and may depend on many factors. Therefore, it was decided to ask Polish travellers what they think about it. It was also checked whether they have knowledge about the negative and positive influence of ethno-tourism on the localpopulation. It was determined whether they were aware of the risks and advantages arising from the development of this type of tourism in Peru and whether they perceived its negative or positive impact on the local population. The analysis of the relationship between the respondents’ degree of awareness and their opinion allowed general conclusions to be drawnabout the actual situation caused by the development of ethnic tourism in Peru.

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