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commodification — English
The conversion of existing natural features or human-made, socio-cultural events into profitable resources. In Geography this concept is mainly relevant to existing phenomena being converted into lucrative tourism attractions. In a joint public-private enterprise the old, more or less deserted and moribund small town of Pilgrims’ Rest was converted into a profitable tourism commodity by restoring some buildings, upgrading hospitality facilities, revitalising existing but derelict gold panning sites where tourists could try their hand at finding gold, assisting entrepreneurs to establish arts and crafts enterprises, establishing walking trails in the scenic countryside, and generally publicising the town as an irresistible tourist destination. Much the same thing was done in the case of the Cradle of Humankind world heritage site (see “complementarity”). Cultural events such as the Grahamstown Festival, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, the Kultuvaria in Paarl and the Oppikoppie pop music festival can also be regarded as commodification, but officialdom has no involvement in them. Apart from the opportunities and outlets these events offer all kinds of artists, the local communities can also make a handsome profit from providing accommodation and/or catering to the masses of visitors. These events also provide sellers of arts and crafts the opportunity to do good business; manufacturers of cultural items like ethnic beadwork and carved wood items also find a lucrative outlet at these events. All in all, these socio-cultural events become an opportunity for people to make a living, mostly without any involvement of the government. From an economic as well as a socio-cultural perspective, these commodified opportunities (events) are highly desirable since they are grassroots, self-generated developments which are usually more sustainable than short-term government-driven schemes.
