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Nowadays, international tourism is the biggest industry in the world.
Unfortunately, international tourism creates tension rather than understanding
between people from different cultures. To what extent do you agree or
disagree?
Arguments
1. It is necessary to develop the tourist trade, for it contributes a lot
to increasing understanding between nations.
2. As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” Only a trip to an unfamiliar
land can help us understand the people and culture there.
3. Since tourism helps increase understanding between people, it will
finally wipe out prejudice against other nations, and make the world a more
peaceful one.
4. Tourism contributes significantly to many countries' GNP (Gross National
Product). The economy of some nations is based on the tourist industry.
5. Tourism helps develop a nation’s commerce because tourists are most
likely to buy souvenirs wherever they go.
6. Tourism provides jobs for many people and helps solve or ease the social
problem of unemployment.
7. Tourism helps accelerate a city's construction and its
embellishment.
8. Contact with tourists from afar widens the horizon of the local
people.
9. The tourist trade gives people a chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery
of the world and the wonders of mankind.
10. Tourism will help people learn about different cultures of the
world.
Counter-arguments
1. Tourism cannot increase understanding between nations because tourists
are often trapped in big hotels and only gaze at the natives from a
distance.
2. Tourism does not wipe out prejudice, but leads to the persistence of
national stereotypes because when travelling, you notice only characteristics
which confirm your preconceptions.
3. It is true that foreign friends can make people understand stereotypes
are absurd and harmful, but the tourist trade prevents people from making
foreign friends.
4. Since tourists do not have time to mix with the local people, they
cannot have a full view of the local culture.
5. Tourism makes some parts of the world too crowded a place to live
in.
6. Tourism creates pollution and has destroyed many beautiful scenic
spots.
7. Tourists cannot have a full enjoyment of the beautiful scenery because
the places they visit are restricted by organizers.
8. As the saying goes, “Travel makes a wise man better, but a fool
worse.”
9. Contact with and assimilation of other cultures will reduce the
uniqueness of one’s own culture and make the world less colourful than
before.
The booming tourist trade has brought about mass exchange of population
between different nations. At first glance, this bridges the understanding and
communication between different cultures. In my opinion, however, this
fast-growing industry has produced tension between people from different
cultural background.
The first barrier for curious tourists from all over the world is the
problem of language. The most attractive destinations of tourism are,
ironically, less developed areas where the world language --- English, has not
been prevalent. Therefore, the direct contact between tourists and local
residents has been cut down. The tour guide, normally interpreter too, becomes
the only link of communication. But unfortunately, as indicated in any
guide-training handbook, the responsibility of a tour guide is to arouse the
tourists’ interest and passion rather than present a lecture on cultural
difference. Thus, tourists, beyond their expectations, cannot fully understand
the cultures which appear to be exotic.
Another obstacle is from the local government. As I argue before, in most
of case, the ‘local’ refers to the less developed regions. In order to attract
foreign investment and maintain the local tourism industry, the officials,
deliberately or not, only hope to show outsiders the positive side of the area,
hence, the part of local living. As a result, conducted tours are carefully
censored. The tourists, or ‘prisoners’ to some extent, are allowed to see only
what the organizers want them to see and no more. A window-shop schedule gives
no opportunity to wander off on one’s own. In this way, even for a knowledgeable
traveler with practical experience can only ‘see’ the superficial of the local
culture. If so, an instant misunderstanding will be falsely shaped.
All things considered, the international tourism contributes absolutely
nothing to increasing understanding. Instead, in its way as it is today, a
hideous prejudice and misinterpretation will be established.
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发表于 2016-7-10 15:24:54