Indian urban tourism, an innovation in identity?

Abstract

Indigenous Urban Tourism is a singular phenomenon in Latin America. In this Continent's experience in cases such as México, Guatemala, Perú and Bolivia what is generally referred to as indigenous tourism is concentrated in rural and peasant areas and even in many cases it is not called Indigenous Tourism but simply Peasant Tourism. This article systemizes and theorizes about some experiences of Special Tourism developed in Santiago, Chile with a number of indigenous groups (Mapuche, Aymara and Rapa Nui) who are active in developing ceremonial centers preserving heritage and cultural indigenous identity within the Big City.

In recent years innovative initiatives have been designed to form networks of Indigenous Tourism in the Metropolitan Area of Santiago, which tend to forge a new paradigm of Urban Indigenous Tourism. These activities, although still emerging, are generally developed from the thinking, reflection and action of the indigenous communities themselves. They are the main actors who make proposals to participate in the construction of a new Urban Indigenous Tourism with ethnic identity.