Recent years have witnessed a marked interest in international tourism and the traditional lifestyles of
people in the developing countries are acting as magnets to the tourists. However, I disagree that this is
deterring the local people to change their customs and traditions and adopt modern ways of life. A number
of arguments support my opinion.
The most convincing argument to support this view is that the local people that come in contact with these
tourists may develop a sort of copying behaviour, as they want to live and behave in the same way. This is
because many tourists come from societies with different consumption patterns and lifestyles, which may
seem more attractive to the locals especially in the less developed countries. To add to it, tourism can force
the local people to alter their cultures, such as religious rituals and festivals to conform to tourist
expectations, which may take them away from their traditional lifestyles.
Furthermore, tourists want souvenirs, arts, crafts, and cultural things, and in many tourist destinations,
craftsmen have responded to the growing demand, and have made changes in design of their products to
bring them more in line with the new customers' tastes. Another important reason why local people are
not interested in sticking to their traditional lifestyles is that they feel they are being exploited to attract
tourism, whereas the major chunk of profits goes to those who have the modern lifestyles. This is because,
in developing countries, many jobs occupied by local people in the tourist industry are at a lower level,
such as housemaids, waiters, gardeners and other practical work, while higher-paying and more prestigious
managerialjobs go to foreigners or urbanized nationals.
A final reason to disagree with the given statement is that most tourists just want a glimpse of new things,
and are mainly looking for familiar things in unfamiliar surroundings such as fast food outlets and wellknown hotel chains. When such places are made for the tourists, the local people also use them and
eventually a transition to the modern lifestyle occurs.
To summarise, ldisagree with the view that tourism is motivating people to retain their culture and
tradition. ln fact tourism thrusts traditional communities into the modern world, threatening their distinct
lifestyles
Recent years have witnessed a marked interest in international
tourism
and the
traditional
lifestyles
of
people
in the
developing countries
are acting as magnets to the
tourists
.
However
, I disagree that this is
deterring the
local
people
to
change
their customs and traditions and adopt
modern
ways of life. A number
of arguments support my opinion.
The most convincing argument to support this view is that the
local
people
that
come
in contact with these
tourists may develop a sort of copying
behaviour
, as they want to
live
and behave
in the same way
. This is
because
many
tourists
come
from societies with
different
consumption patterns and
lifestyles
, which may
seem more attractive to the
locals
especially
in the less
developed countries
. To
add
to it,
tourism
can force
the
local
people
to alter their cultures, such as religious rituals and festivals to conform to tourist
expectations, which may take them away from their
traditional
lifestyles.
Furthermore
,
tourists
want souvenirs, arts, crafts, and cultural things, and in
many
tourist
destinations,
craftsmen have responded to the growing demand, and have made
changes
in design of their products to
bring them more in line with the new customers' tastes. Another
important
reason why
local
people
are
not interested in sticking to their
traditional
lifestyles
is that they feel they are
being exploited
to attract
tourism, whereas the major chunk of profits goes to those who have the
modern
lifestyles
. This is
because
,
in
developing countries
,
many
jobs occupied by
local
people
in the
tourist
industry are at a lower level,
such as housemaids, waiters, gardeners and other practical work, while higher-paying and more prestigious
managerialjobs
go to foreigners or urbanized nationals.
A final reason to disagree with the
given
statement is that most
tourists
just
want a glimpse of new things,
and are
mainly
looking for familiar things in unfamiliar surroundings such as
fast
food outlets and
wellknown
hotel chains. When such places
are made
for the
tourists
, the
local
people
also
use
them and
eventually
a transition to the
modern
lifestyle
occurs.
To
summarise
,
ldisagree
with the view that
tourism
is motivating
people
to retain their culture and
tradition.
ln
fact
tourism
thrusts
traditional
communities into the
modern
world, threatening their distinct
lifestyles