The current trend in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to 'commodify cultures' for commercial markets is in tourism and large-scale marketing of 'souvenir' and clothing objects by a small number of companies, such as Balarindji and Desert Designs. The capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander commercial ventures to tap into the tourist and other markets is extremely limited, however, by the conveyor belt production, bulk buying, marketing and distribution capacity of non-indigenous commercial ventures. Indigenous cultural institutions face similar problems as the market for art and artifacts waxes and wanes.
Tourism has a high impact, socially and economically, on small-scale societies and communities.
While the advantages may be short-term economic ones, the disadvantages are of a social nature and usually long term. This need not be the case. The work of the Mingatjuta Consultants of Centrecorp in Central Australia, the Pajinka Wilderness Lodge in Cape York, the management plans of indigenous-owned national parks, most recently at Nitmiluk under the guidance of Jawoyn Association, or the fine art curators and collectors with a concern for the integrity of the arts and the culture from which they come, have demonstrated that tolerable, even fruitful, economic relationships can be developed. For indigenous communities who face a future of welfare dependency and a concomitant lack of self-esteem, the economic advantages which result from these commercial relationships based on commodifying aspects of indigenous social and cultural life offer more than a fistful of dollars. They offer opportunities for economic status, empowerment and dignity.