International tourism creates tension rather than understanding between people from 

different cultures. 
Write an ​article​ as if for a general interest magazine (220 - 260 words). 

Culture isn’t that relevant, is it?

The tourist industry has grown incredibly in the last few decades allowing people to
travel further and cheaper. Our current jobs now enable us to have more free time and
money to spend on package tours. But it’s not all a bed of roses. Some countries,
specially from the eastern hemisphere, feel that international tourism is negatively
transforming their culture and causing tension.

One of the points causing tension between tourists and locals is the lack of respect
tourists have for local customs. This is a common problem with people from different
hemispheres since they do not share social codes. For example, women from Pakistan
have a dress code that clashes with that of the US. For locals to overcome these
problems
If governments were more interested in helping the locals overcome the cultural shock
than just gain money from tourism, a lot could be achieved. Tourists could be educated
by travel agencies before they arrive at their destination.

Economic exploitation from the part of international tourism is also an influencing factor.
Sightseeing hotspots with a high cultural value are surrounded with gift shops and photo
spots at every corner. Tourists often harass geishas to take a picture with them but they
do not realise that geishas aren’t in display. If you are looking at your picture with a
geisha, let me tell that you are not the only one.

Tourism’s growth cannot be overlooked. Having more free time and money, people feel
the urge to go out and explore more than just their backyards. Nonetheless, this
phenomenon has its negative side as well. Rather than creating reciprocal
understanding between cultures, international tourism divides travellers and locals.
Finally, the future of international tourism depends on each one of us.
Plan.

Title → Culture isn’t that relevant, is it?

1st paragraph → introduction

- acknowledge tourism’s growth over the past years.
- mention the fact that more people bc of economic and free time have the possibility
to travel farther and for longer periods of time.
- mention that, unfortunately, this rapid growth leads to an argument that this
phenomenon has produced differences of understanding between tourists and locals.
//// despite international tourism’s growth there have can sometimes resemble mass
tourism and has in this way disrupted certain aspects of a country’s cultural views.
- mention the three points I’m going to talk about. 1. cultural shock. 2. traditional
locations turned into a money machine. 3. cultural prejudices that locals may have
about tourists.

2nd paragraph →
- tourists are not sensitive towards the culture’s customs. They don’t respect their
traditions, like dress-code or certain mannerisms, for example at sacred temples
(india) or at restaurants.
- some tourists do not even bother searching for the culture’s.
- More could be done to educate tourists about local customs before they arrive.

3rd paragraph →
- international tourism economically exploits traditional and ancient locations without
caring about its cultural value. These places are filled with gift shops, photo spots,
themed restaurants and often local people dress up traditionally to catch the tourist’s
attention and gain some money.
- it takes respectability away from those cultures and customs.
- it makes this locations look like common places (like a rollercoaster in a park).

4rd paragraph →
- prejudices from both tourists and local sets them off.
- Connected to: historic background like wars, invasions, current issues between the
governments. A general and known label that some countries have: for example, the
argentinians are said to steal from hotels or the italians are said to be miserly. The
chinese are said to be...

5th paragraph →
 - conclusion: restate tourism’s growth and acknowledge that that growth has brought
with it some problems and also tension btw people.

Culture isn’t that relevant, is it?

The tourist industry has incredibly grown in the last few decades allowing people to travel
further and cheaper. Modern jobs now enable us to have more free time and money to
spend on package tours. But it’s not all a bed of roses. Some countries, specially from the
east, feel that international tourism is disrupting their culture and causing tension. Taking
selfies at tea shops without ordering anything and stealing shampoos from hotels are just
some examples of disrespectful behaviour.

One of the arguments often acknowledged by locals is the lack of respect that certain
tourists have towards local customs. This is a common problem with people from different
hemispheres since they do not share social codes. For example, women from Pakistan have
a dress code that clashes with that of the US. You may wonder how could this be solved? If
governments were more interested in helping the locals overcome the cultural shock than
just gain money from tourism, a lot could be achieved. Tourists could be educated by travel
agencies before they arrive at their destination.

Economic exploitation from the part of international tourism is also an influencing factor.
Sightseeing hotspots with a high cultural value are surrounded with gift shops and photo
spots at every corner. Tourists often harass geishas to take a picture with them but they do
not realise that geishas aren’t in display. If you are looking at your picture with a geisha, let
me tell that you are not the only one.

Tourism’s growth cannot be overlooked. Having more free time and money, people feel the
urge to go out and explore more than just their backyards. Nonetheless, this phenomenon
has its negative side as well. Rather than creating reciprocal understanding between
cultures, international tourism divides travellers and locals. Finally, the future of international
tourism depends on each one of us.

Finally, how much we contribute to generating understanding is a matter of personal choice.

Another disruptive behaviour is mannerism. Tourists do not bother to adapt their way of
expressing in front of the inhabitants and sometimes this creates inaccurate prejudices about
a certain nationality.

do not allow them to dress in any way, in short, it oppresses them) ​which obliges them to
follow it ​but we also have American women who dress freely in short skirts or tight jeans and
do not worry about offending other people.