ABSTRACT
For tourists one of the key ‘selling’ points of Latin America and the Caribbean is the colour and diversity of its indigenous human life. From the amazingly colourful costumes of the Mayas in Central America to the bustling markets of the Otavalan Indians of Ecuador, the apparent mystique and exoticism of the many Amazonian groups and the seeming austerity of the Garífuna descendants of African and indigenous peoples on the island of St Vincent, many indigenous peoples are involved in the activity of tourism either as objects to be viewed or increasingly as active and willing participants in the exchange.
