Band 5+: The traditional life style of local people in developing countries is attracting and increasing the number of tourists to the countries which has the effect of preventing local people changing to modern ways. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

In modern era, traditional lifestyle of local individual in developing countries are creating enthusiasms of Overseas visitors to explore the places. I firmly believed that this is deterring the local people to change their customs and traditions and adopt them modern way of life.

The main reason why local people retain their traditional lifestyle is that when visitors praise their culture, it gives them pride and makes them believe that their culture is glorious. This realization removes any possibility in the people’s mind that their lifestyle is in any way inferior to that of advanced nations, and plays an important role in retaining their lifestyle in general. For example, when tribal people of Rajasthan, India are appreciated for their clothing style and their dances, such as the ‘Snake Charmer’s Dance’, they put even more effort to practice those art forms and present them to the tourists.

Secondly, the poverty of the tribal people is alleviated when the tourists visit them for what they are. They come to realize and accept the fact that their bread and butter will be lost if they change to modern lifestyles and therefore they stick to their culture and traditions. An interesting example where people are retaining to their old ways of life even in the developed country such as the USA can be seen in the Amish village Philadelphia. It is a very popular tourist destination and people go there to see how those people are living without what are considered the basic necessities of modern life.

The final reason for people retaining their traditional lifestyle is that the facilities developed for tourists benefits them eventually and they know very well that if the inflow of tourists stops then government will not invest in those areas and they will be the losers in the long run. Benefits can include upgraded infrastructure, health and transport improvements, new sport and recreational facilities, restaurants, and public spaces as well as an influx of better-quality commodities and food.

To sum up , I side with the view that tourism is motivating people to retain their culture and tradition and not be lured into following the modern ways of life.