Krystal's KIVC Project - My Complaints

My name is Krystal Verdun. I am a seasoned researcher studying the effects that the hotel and tourism industry has on local cultures. recently, I put together Krystal's KIVC - Complaints about the hotel industry.

As you know, many of the best hotels and resorts worldwide are on located on a beach. This is no exception in Mexico and the Maldives, where I had the pleasure to study and live at each location.

During that time, I was able to witness the local ecology and economy of the local indigenous communities, and study the effect of the hotel industry on their fragile micro-system.

The Mexican tourism industry has had a boom in the past 20 years, while the Maldives experienced their boom within the past 4 -7 years. This has given me the opportunity to follow trends and patterns of the development of the tourism industry in relation to the indigenous peoples.

In each study group, I chose communities which were once untouched by civilization before the introduction of tourism to the area. I listened to the complaints of the elders, heard the concerns and fears they (rightfully) had with the introduction of our advanced, tech-reliant society on their villages.

Each elder I spoke to had the same concerns and complaints, and felt that the hotel industry has defrauded them in some way through broken promises and blatant lies.

This of course, is nothing new. History has plenty of fine examples of the (usually white) governments or government-backed corporations to exploit and frequently eradicate them all together. One only has to think of Shell backed mercenaries paroling pipelines in Uruguay on a shoot-first, ask-later policy to know that money talks.

It was during my years of studying in Mexico that I decided to document my findings and release Krystal's KIVC (Keep International Vacations Cultured) Project, a document following the trends of tourism.

Krystal's KIVC Project is a complaint about how the tourism industry has negatively affected the cultures, each a unique people, for tourist dollars that the governments can tax.

Krystal's KIVC Project intends to serve a notice to the hotel industry that their blatantly defiant stance towards the safeguards (some) governments hold in place to protect their indigenous identity is being actively documented. How much longer will hotels be given a green light to bulldoze protected environments.

The top photo shows sea turtles making their way towards the sea. These lucky turtles have a long, dangerous trip ahead of them. They're lucky because sea turtle eggs can fetch up to $200 USD per egg.

People in developing countries such as Mexico and the Maldives are known to sell the eggs on the black markets, as the asking price is sometimes more than their home's monthly rent. The buyers are off-the-map restaurants which serve the delicacy to tourists looking to brag about the experience on their Facebook or Twitter.

Follow my story and stay up-to-date on Krystal's KIVC Project - The complaints won't stop coming.

Stay strong

Krystal Verdun