Come to Tana Toraja, 'Land of the Heavenly Kings': Travel Agents as Brokers of Ethnicity

This paper examines the role of tourist literature in the genesis of ethnic stereotypes. Considering the case of the Toraja of Sulawesi (Indonesia), it is suggested that travel agents are brokers in ethnicity, travel brochures being the tools of their trade. In the process of marketing images of exotic places and peoples, travel brochures draw upon a small set of indigenous ethnic markers, elaborating upon them to provide a mental grid through which the tourist filters his perceptions while abroad. These travel brochure images become indices of “authenticity” and the ethnic stereotypes generated by them become reified during the course of the tourist's visit abroad.