Modern Tourism

Modern Tourism

by Sasha Yanchevskaya

1. Introduction
2. Reasons for and benefits of travelling
3. Choosing a trip
4. Types of travelling
5. Tourism industry
6. Conclusion

In my topic about modern tourism I’m going to start out with giving reasons for travelling then I want to introduce some types of destination and my dream destination. Also I will tell you about types of travelling and some that you may haven’t even heard of.  Then I will talk of the problems caused by the tourism industry and how they are solved. In the end I will conclude the whole topic.

Travelling is the best way of studying and learning about the world and history. While you travel you get firsthand experience of what life in other countries is like, other people’s culture, traditions values and behavior. You can compare it with your own and learn from them or maybe start to appreciate your homeland, depending on where your travel. Also travelling doesn’t necessarily means going out of country, you can roam your own country and you will probably find out many new interesting things about the history of it and get a better picture of how your ancestors lived. And of course while traveling you get a break from your everyday life and let your mind rest for some time so you can get strength to get back to your work or study.

Planet Earth offers thousands of places that you can visit and see, they all differ greatly. When you’re choosing where you go, there are so many things that you take into considerations because there are so many choices. You can choose to go to the beach and sunbathe your whole vacation; you can go to the forest hike, go horseback riding and camp out; you can go skiing to the mountains or you can visit a city has rich culture and a lot of museums and spend your time sightseeing or go off the tourist beaten track. This list can go on for a long time so everyone can choose what suits them. My dream destination is Rome, I’ve had the chance to go there a couple of years ago, but I was only there for one day and there was heavy rain, so I didn’t have enough to see all that the city has to offer. If I had the opportunity, I’d like to spend there a couple of weeks, walk around the narrow beautiful streets,  go to the museums, get in touch with the culture and meet some locals and find out more about their everyday life.

Not only you can choose where your travel and what you do on your vacation, now days you have a variety of choices when choosing how to travel. First of all I want to compare adventure holiday vs. package holiday. When going on an adventure holiday you have some thrills and excitements waiting for you and you get in touch with the real life of the country. Comparing with a package holiday which is quite dull in my opinion as there you know exactly what to expect from your holiday and you just stay in a big hotel, eat imported food and get entertainment from the hotel workers who are usually foreigners in the country themselves. Also there are so many new ways on travelling that many people have never even heard of. The once that interested me most are- voluntourism and couch surfing. Voluntourism is the best way of combining good deeds and your vacation, this way of traveling is for people who don’t just want to leave they place they travelled untouched, but also build something good there and help the people. Couch surfing is a very interesting thing, when people travel to other people’s homes and just sleep on their couch or whatever they can offer, usually this is mostly for the young as it is very cheap and fun at the same time.

Unfortunately in the modern time, travelling usually means coming to a bulky hotel that was built on the using environment unfriendly resources that ruined the nature and the beauty of the place. Also people usually eat imported food which doesn’t help the economy of the country. And mostly if you do get to see the locals it will be while they’re cleaning your room or carrying your luggage and your only interaction with them will be giving them a tip. All of this greatly influences the ecology, economy and culture of the country. So even though the development of tourism may help the country in some way, it also often has very bad side effects. On the other side, fortunately, this type of travelling is becoming less popular and there’s a new wave in ecotourism. This means travelling in the natural environment of the country and not ruining any of the nature during your stay.

To finish off I want to say that a person who travels has a much wider perspective of the world, broad mind and great imagination; it feels our life with unforgettable memories and scenes. Every day there is more and more that the tourism industry can offer to us and it gives us more opportunity and choices.