“It Will Be Like a Town Here, Things Are Really Coming Up!”: Inequality in Village-Based Cruise Ship Tourism in the Trobriand Islands

Abstract

Cruise ship tourism is a major player in the international tourism industry. This article examines the sociocultural ramifications of large-scale cruise ship tourism in the context of the Trobriand Islands, where unequal access to both the benefits and problematic aspects of this kind of tourism have implications for the reciprocal relations that are embedded in Trobriand society. It considers the “wicked problems” inherent in the discourses and practice of tourism as development, addressing the paradoxes and complexities that arise, especially where inequalities (between Trobriand Islanders and visitors and among Trobrianders from across the archipelago) are most apparent and difficult to resolve.