Disneyization is beginning to influence and reshape the true historical and geographical images of destinations all around the world, which makes it hard for people to determine what part of their cultural vacation experience is real and what is not, with Taiwan being no exception.
Taiwan have many amusement parks which have strong theming tied to its various cultures, such as Atayal Resort , Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village , Leofoo Village Theme Park , Meinung Folk Village etc, which are symbols and showcases for Taiwan’s pride and culture. Taiwan's cultural theme parks have been adopting different approaches to stay competitive in the amusement park market.
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village in Yuchi Township, Nantou County, will be used as the case study. In the park's aboriginal area, each of Taiwan's indigenous peoples has its own "territory," where the houses and other structures are either transplanted from tribal areas or modeled after authentic buildings. Inside the constructions, daily utensils, tools and weapons are placed where they are supposed to be, and there are also waxwork figurines of aborigines performing ceremonies or daily routines. Some of the structures have become the sole survivors of their kinds in Taiwan as modern building materials and techniques have replaced traditional ones in tribal areas.
In addition to the constructions and displays, the village's planners also organize live shows featuring aboriginal dance, songs and rituals at the Naruwan Theater and the Formosan Aborigines Square. Each of the tribes also has its own "live museum" in its territory in the park. For example, in front of a long open cabinet filled with skulls, which the Paiwan people believe to have the power of scaring away their enemies and blessing their descendants, visitors are welcome to participate in a Paiwan blessing ceremony and bring home a whole year's good luck. Visitors can also try their hand at making aboriginal crafts like glass beads or beverages such as millet wine, before they head to the Culture Square for the aboriginal farewell dance.
While preserving aboriginal culture, they also tried to provide a spacious venue for people to enjoy their leisure time. In addition to the aboriginal scenes, the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village also has a European Palace Garden where tourists can enjoy Roman fountains and a Gothic bell tower, or ride the garden train among the trees and flowers there.
The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village had its grand opening in 1986 and immediately became one of the must-see destinations in central Taiwan. The success was due to the growing economy and people starting to have a little money and time to spare.
The well-planned aboriginal village and European garden kept business satisfactory for several years, but things began to change in the 1990s. New amusement parks like Janfusun Fancyworld in Yunlin County introduced visitors to large facilities offering more thrilling rides such as roller coasters and free-falls, and older parks like Window on China in Taoyuan County soon followed suit. It started to become a diversified market where different people have different expectations for theme parks, where park owners have to invest new stuff to catch up or watch business go down staying with what they have. Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village made its choice in 1992, when it started to invest in indoor and outdoor amusement facilities.
The strategy managed to bring Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village as many as 1.2 million visitors a year. However, not long after, all Taiwan's theme parks--were seriously damaged by the massive earthquake that shook the island on September 21, 1999. The park re-opened about a month after the earthquake but, as expected, attracted very few guests. There were 10 visitors at most on a weekday and 50 on weekends and holidays during that period.
Through various marketing strategies such as working with travel agencies on a "sending love to help the disaster areas" campaign and coordinating with the Sakura Festival since 2002, the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village has gradually regained visitors.
Statistics from the Tourism Bureau show that since 2001, the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village has attracted between 500,000 and nearly 1 million visitors annually. The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, though never the first, has always been among the top five of Taiwan's theme parks in terms of visitor numbers.
Spotting concepts of Disneyization
Before opening, the park has a European Palace Garden where tourists can enjoy Roman fountains and a Gothic bell tower, or ride the garden train among the trees and flowers there, providing a venue for people to enjoy their leisure time. After opening when new amusement parks like Janfusun Fancyworld in Yunlin County introduced visitors to large facilities offering more thrilling rides such as roller coasters and free-falls, and older parks like Window on China in Taoyuan County following suit, the park has to invest new stuff to catch up; invested in indoor and outdoor amusement facilities. After the earthquake, the park used various marketing strategies such as working with travel agencies on a "sending love to help the disaster areas" campaign and coordinating with the Sakura Festival since 2002, gradually regaining visitors.
With added enhancements at different periods and not presenting purely authentic culture so as to increase their level of appealing-ness, the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village shows hints of Disneyization’s theming.
So, presenting true authentic culture while attracting few visitors versus presenting “non-authentic” culture with enhancements which ruins the authentic-ness but attracts many visitors, which is better?
In my personal view, I feel that a theme park’s prime objective is entertainment; the “sugar” that makes the learning and culture pill work. The parks have to expanding their 'themes' to meet different market demands.Even though it is not as authentic, it still attracts visitors. By being too serious about cultural tourism; presenting true authentic culture with no added enhancements such as entertainment, the parks can cease to be fun. This will in turn lead to no visitors to the parks, which is worse than not showing authentic culture, as visitors will not even have a chance to experience the culture by not stepping inside. The most important thing would be to get visitors attracted first, by providing what they want to see, to a reasonable extent. By “luring” them inside first, then only will there be a chance to showcase the culture. If in the first place, they do not visit the parks because they are not attractive or appealing enough to them, then the cultures will be left undiscovered, even though they are real and authentic as can be.
Ironically, the parks are built, with the purpose of attracting visitors, how authentic are they when they are man-made? Also, the indigenous people and communities dress in their traditional clothing, do aboriginal dance, songs and perform ritual for the sake of the tourists, in which they would only wear the costumes for ceremonies and festivals, perform those activities and rituals only when it is truly required, when the tourists are not visiting. The false image that these indigenous cultures present to the tourist is misleading and does not give the tourist a true cultural experience, but just what the tourist wants to see.
Hybrid consumption can be seen in the part that there are not only structures and displays, but also live shows featuring aboriginal dance, songs and rituals, with each tribe having their own "live museum" in its territory in the park, indoor & outdoor amusement facilities and souvenir shops. With blending of services and products in an effort to provide more and retain customers longer, rather than just looking at the displays, visitors get to participate in ceremonies, make aboriginal crafts, participate in dances, take rides and buy souvenirs.
This leads on to merchandising, which is the marketing what would typically be rather indistinguishable items with the logo or creative property of a particular cultural construct. This can be seen through the park having souvenir shops. It is now no longer just a cultural park; through 'synergy' it is the launching point of merchandises, as the souvenirs, items, food, etc. sold at Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village are only available at the park itself, there is no product substitution outside of the park that can be rationalized.
The shows, souvenir shops and other facilities in the tribal area of Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village are maintained by its 100-some aboriginal employees, who constitute about a third of the theme park's total workers. Indigenous people who apply to work at the village are required to take courses and undergo training to perform on stage. Besides performing, they also have to learn more about their tribal culture and do research before eventually becoming guides. Senior aboriginal employees work at the village houses, demonstrating their skill at carving, weaving and pottery.
Signs of Disneyization’s performative labour are shown where the aboriginal employees are required to take courses and undergo training to perform on stage, learn more about their tribal culture and do research before eventually becoming guides. Also, senior aboriginal employees work at the village houses, demonstrating their skill at carving, weaving and pottery. The frontline service work are viewed as performance; they are expected to deliberate display a certain mood or atmosphere; a certain factor that visitors would want to see. They are not simply staff anymore, but castmembers and part of the cultural show. Companies recognise that this theatre, like theming, can separate them from the competitors and establish a reputation for service and experience, by being assured of the standards they desire so as to attract more visitors.
The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village offers about a dozen aboriginal shows every day to entertain its guests. (Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
Finally, control & surveillance is the element which binds the others together. It refers not only to the business themselves, but also to their customers. However, not much signs of control & surveillance could be found in the guests’ aspects. Unlike Disney, there is no dress code imposed on its visitors, it does not prohibits certain items from its park, does not filter the type of guests as their admission fees are not too high. However, the business itself has controls, such as adopting the ISO 9002 system of quality standards so as to underscore the Village’s commitment to quality and safety. Their aboriginal employees are also required to take courses and undergo training to perform on stage, learn more about their tribal culture and do research before eventually becoming guides . The controls are managed so as to create the desired response.
Pros and Cons of Disneyization
☑ Preserves traditional culture
☑ Renews cultural image & values
☑ Provides expected experience
☑ Spreads knowledge
☒ Encourages stereotypes
☒ Disrespects cultural values
☒ Misguides search for meaning
☒ Sanitizes destination image
Conclusion
From my perspective, disneyization in Taiwan is not too bad; still, we should not move along the way of Disneyization. To avoid Disneyization, everyone should be aware of the cultural history and traditional practices of indigenous peoples and communities. This can be accomplished by tour companies and all other related corporations involving indigenous cultures in the development process of a destination and respecting the rights and values of the indigenous peoples. Also, as tourists, we should know what type of tourism experience we are looking for and make sure that the tour company is offering what we want.
Information Sources:
http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0000248&t=l3&lid=75
http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=64220&CtNode=1361
http://www.unbc.ca/assets/ortm/new_courses/disneyization.pdf
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