Duolingo / PTE / IELTS writing task
Discuss the impact of international tourism on local cultures. Is it a positive or negative influence?
Model answer by Lifestyle Training Centre
International travel has become increasingly prevalent in our interconnected world, serving as a gateway for exploration, cultural exchange, and economic growth. While it offers a myriad of benefits, it also poses challenges and negative impacts on local cultures. This essay will explore both these contrasting aspects in detail.
On one hand, international tourism brings substantial economic benefits, significantly boosting the revenue of local societies and even entire nations. Tourists typically spend their money on a variety of goods and services, including accommodation, food, clothing, and local arts and crafts. This influx of spending stimulates trade and economic growth, particularly benefiting local businesses and entrepreneurs. A prime example of this phenomenon is Dubai, which has transformed from a desert into a global tourism hub, generating millions in revenue from tourism alone.
However, international travel can also have detrimental impacts on local cultures. While foreign visitors bring economic benefits and job opportunities, they can inadvertently undermine the cultural purity of local communities. The dominance of foreign languages often threatens the survival of local languages, leading to their gradual extinction. Moreover, the intrusion of foreign customs and lifestyles can disrupt traditional practices, beliefs, and social norms, potentially resulting in the dilution or even loss of indigenous cultural identities. Furthermore, the commercialisation of local cultures to cater to tourists can lead to the commodification and trivialisation of cultural heritage. Traditional rituals and artefacts may be transformed into mere spectacles for tourist consumption, stripping them of their original meaning and significance. This cultural commodification can erode the authenticity of local traditions, leaving communities struggling to preserve their unique cultural heritage.
In conclusion, while international tourism can significantly foster economic growth and uplift local businesses, it also poses a threat to the preservation of local cultures and languages. To strike a balance, it is crucial to promote responsible and sustainable tourism practices that respect and preserve cultural heritage. Governments and tourism authorities should implement policies that encourage tourists to engage with local cultures in a respectful and meaningful way, ensuring that the benefits of tourism are enjoyed without compromising cultural integrity.
List of vocabulary
- Prevalent: Widespread or commonly occurring.
- Interconnected: Having all parts linked or connected.
- Gateway: A means of achieving something or entering somewhere.
- Exploration: The action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area to learn about it.
- Foster: encourage the development of (something, especially something desirable).
- Cultural exchange: The sharing of ideas, traditions, and other aspects of culture among different groups of people.
- Economic growth: An increase in the production of goods and services in an economy.
- Myriad: A countless or extremely great number.
- Challenges: Difficulties or problems that need to be overcome.
- Contrasting: Differing strikingly.
- Substantial: Of considerable importance, size, or worth.
- Revenue: Income, especially when of a company or organization and of a substantial nature.
- Accommodation: A room, group of rooms, or building in which someone may live or stay.
- Inflow: The act of flowing in.
- Influx: an arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things
- Stimulates: Encourages interest or activity in something.
- Entrepreneurs: People who set up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.
- Phenomenon: A fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question.
- Inadvertently: Without intention; accidentally.
- Undermine: Damage or weaken (someone or something), especially gradually or insidiously.
- Cultural purity: The state of being free from outside influences in culture.
- Dominance: Power and influence over others.
- Gradual extinction: The slow process of dying out or disappearing.
- Intrusion: The act of intruding; entrance by force or without permission or welcome.
- Dilution: The action of making something weaker in force, content, or value.
- Indigenous: Originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
- Commodification: The action or process of treating something as a mere commodity.
- Trivialisation: The act of making something seem less important, significant, or complex than it really is.
- Artefacts: Objects made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.
- Spectacles: Visually striking performances or displays.
- Authenticity: The quality of being genuine or real.
- Heritage: Property that is or may be inherited; an inheritance.
- Sustainable: Able to be maintained at a certain rate or level; conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources.
- Preserve: Maintain (something) in its original or existing state.
- Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
- Mutually: In a mutual or shared manner.
- Mitigated: Made less severe, serious, or painful.
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