New dimensions of health tourism – The rise of Ayahuasca tourism

Kovács Bianka Boglárka (2023) New dimensions of health tourism – The rise of Ayahuasca tourism. Kereskedelmi, Vendéglátóipari és Idegenforgalmi Kar.

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Absztrakt (kivonat)

Although I have already drawn some conclusions during the secondary research, I tried to be objective. There has been also reoccurring information during the research, which was not investigated, but it is worth mentioning. The aim of the research was, as stated before, to define and draw attention to a new emerging tourism trend. After spending hours scrolling on TripAdvisor pages and seeing how many people suffer from mental health issues, a thought came to my mind. Why is it still so taboo to talk about these things As seen in the first chapter, when Ayahuasca’s history was discussed, a whole picture could be seen of traditional medicine. These retreat centers can help people, and tourists can help them since Peru’s economy is one of the lowest in Latin America. I see it as a win-win situation. As a European citizen, I have the privilege to write about this topic, and maybe one day, somebody will see its enormous potential.4.1 RecommendationsThe idea of an organization that monitors every Ayahuasca retreat center is not new. As mentioned before, it has been talked about, but real progress has not been made. It would be essential to have an official organization that has the power to open or close retreat centers with fake shamans. Unfortunately, the Amazonian region is familiar with corruption. Maybe a non-party organization would be the best. Ayahuasca in many countries is seen as a very controversial substance, but I believe that since it is part of a culture, this will change in the future. Many women travel alone to Peru to participate in a ceremony. During the research, I saw with my own eyes that most of the comments were from young women who participated in treatment alone in Peru because of their pain. It should be a concern of everybody: government, locals, and every human who gains economic benefits from them to provide safe retreat centers for women, who clearly are exposed to danger. If not every center could be monitored, then it would be understandable, but there should be an official website for safe retreat centers. I see potential in this tourism segment since the centers are primarily located in the jungle or the hills, not that frequently places. Mass tourism and sustainable tourism are not new in 2022. Peru is exposed to mass tourism since only popular sites are visited. The government needs to conserve the culture and provide cultural sites that are most authentic. Still, we cannot talk about cultural conservation without acknowledging and respecting indigenous medicine. Imposing tourists with knowledge about Ayahuasca and providing information centers in bigger cities could provide more tourism opportunities. For example, since these centers are mostly hardly reachable, the center could offer transportation services. They could employ the neighboring locals, creating job opportunities in exchange for tax reduction or a similar government benefit.Education is the most powerful tool in modern society, and we should use it for our benefit. I was amazed that the Temple of the Way of Light Ayahuasca center works with healthcare professionals to educate them about the importance of mental health. Dr. Maté Gabor has collaborated with the retreat center and has co-led special workshops for medical practitioners. The program aims to provide academic knowledge on integrating indigenous wisdom with conventional healthcare systems. The program is not only for healthcare providers to gain education about the implementation of Ayahuasca, but at the same time, they have the chance to process the very emotionally hard experiences they have to go through daily at work. This is a fantastic idea to show educated people how Ayahuasca works. They have the chance to try it, and if in the future they have a patient with some illness where there is a chance it can be treated naturally, they might advise them. These retreat programs should be advertised and supported.There are many unanswered questions on the subject to be answered. A more spectacular result could be witnessed if interviews could be made by participants. The feedback on TripAdvisor can be extreme. Most people share their very good or very bad experiences. Neutral feedbacks are not ordinary. This could be investigated in the future.Another in-depth research could be made about returning visitors. During the research phase, no useful data was found about why those participants returned to the center. It would be interesting to investigate the motivation behind them. 4.2 Summary and ConclusionIn my dissertation, I examined the potential of Ayahuasca as a tourism trend in Peru. I collected and reviewed the existing data from studies and tried to find the missing information needed to write this thesis. I collected my thoughts, wrote them down, and sent them to retreat centers to answer some sensitive, but important questions which could not have been found on the internet. The thesis topic required more research, which is the reason why not only the qualitative research method was implemented, but quantitative at the same time. I came to the conclusion that Ayahuasca tourism needs more research and more fieldwork should be done to be able to express every aspect of it perfectly. The reviewed literature and the interviews only confirmed this conclusion.

Intézmény

Budapesti Gazdasági Egyetem

Kar

Kereskedelmi, Vendéglátóipari és Idegenforgalmi Kar

Tanszék

Turizmus Tanszék

Tudományterület/tudományág

NEM RÉSZLETEZETT

Szak

Turizmus-vendéglátás

Konzulens(ek)

Mű típusa:	diplomadolgozat (NEM RÉSZLETEZETT)
Kulcsszavak:	ayahuasca, ayahuasca tourism, new tourism trend, Peru, trend
SWORD Depositor:	Archive User
Felhasználói azonosító szám (ID):	Archive User
Rekord készítés dátuma:	2023. Már. 18. 15:38
Utolsó módosítás:	2023. Már. 18. 15:38

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