Is Luxury Hospitality Guilty of Cultural Appropriation?
Skift Take
Education delivered directly from local communities, and informed by tradition, is what distinguishes immersion from appropriation. It's the job of luxury professionals to facilitate the experience without adding the influence of their own lens.
We have to at least ask.
Luxury hospitality companies can make hundreds or thousands of dollars off their culturally immersive experiences but how much of that is going back to the communities and cultures they are honoring—or appropriating based on who you talk to—is harder to measure.
For example, when Belmond Maroma Resort & Spa introduces Slow Beauty’ wellness retreats, including a workshop on the health benefits of Mayan-inspired rituals and a Shaman ceremony on the beach, does the luxury hospitality brand owe something to the culture or the people that these new and expensive wellness offerings originate from?
It is a paradox that presents itself again and again in the spas, dining rooms and meticulously decorated guest rooms at luxury properties worldwide – especially in today's age of immersive travel.
With travelers' insatiable and growing appetite for local and insider experiences, operators and hoteliers are eager to provide experiences that appear authentic and connect visitors with the local community.
“What I find hard to run through my critical algorithms, though, is the idea of a meal devoted to local traditions and ingredients that is being prepared and consumed mostly by people from somewhere else,” New York Times food critic Pete Wells wrote about his decision to not visit Noma Tulum.
“This ‘
