Question
The tourism industry has grown enormously over the last fifty years, and there are few places which
are unaffected by it. However, tourism rarely benefits the countries which tourists visit.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Answer
Tourism has been around for millennia, but in the late twentieth century it exploded in popularity.
Nowadays, millions of people take off on holiday during their summer and winter vacations, often to
foreign countries. It generally considered a positive phenomenon, bringing the people of the world
closer together and boosting the economies of developing countries. However, there are some
drawbacks.
The benefits of tourism are obvious. For a start, it is a boon to the economy of the destination
receiving the tourists. Generally speaking, when tourists visit a region, they spend money that can go
into the pockets of the local people, improving their livelihoods. Tourism also brings cultures
together by fostering interactions between people from opposite sides of the globe, and this in
terms brings educational opportunities.
However, international tourism comes with some major drawbacks. For one thing, there are always
unknown factors that may limit the amount of money tourists spend, like natural disasters or
terrorist attacks. This means that having a tourism-based economy offers an unreliable and unstable
future. In addition, tourism is not always equitable, and money spent in the local economy doesn’t
necessarily benefit the country equally. For example, tourists visit North Korea but the money they
spend goes directly to corrupt government officials rather than the hard-working people who are
providing services to the tourists. Finally, tourism tends to cause environmental problems that may
negatively impact the lives of people (and wildlife) in the destination country.
In conclusion, tourism has many positive attributes and can certainly help bring people from
different cultures together; however, it also poses some problems, and for the places which receive
the tourists, there can be some disadvantages.
