Essay on Travel and Tourism

1038 Words5 Pages
Essay on Travel and Tourism Until recently, the gigantic tourism industry has been doing well, very well. In the year 2001, a recorded 688 million people were traveling internationally. As the tourism industry’s popularity grows, the image of travel and tourism begins to evolve. With a simple click of the button, your entire nine-day itinary to India could be planned, booked and paid for. No long distance calls to New Delhi. No two-hour busy lines on the United Airlines reservation lines. Traveling is as easy as ordering a pizza. At the same time as countries start to evolve and cater to the tourism industry, authenticity is lost. A distinction must be made between what is the tourist and the traveler. The essence of traveling is to experience something completely different from what is at home. Now, tourism is molded into what is familiar to us. It is no longer the culture of a society, rather one of tourism. When a trip is organized with online tour groups or packages, it produces a view of the country that is for the consumption of the tourist. They display a faзade to foreigners of what they see as attractive or interesting. Tourism has become too much of a service. It is geared towards what the tourist would find familiar or comfortable. It takes away from the true mission of travel. Tour groups and itineraries are structured to offer the most efficiency throughout your travel. But travel in large groups, walking from bus to bus, hotel to hotel provides a very narrow experience of the country. I searched online, to find travel agencies and tour group advertisements for travel in India. On a National Geographic site, called iExplore, I found made-to-order exclusive with gold or silver package deals. The package houses the group at a Hyatt hotel in New Delhi. The site boasts that across the ocean, tourists can enjoy the comforts of HBO and mini-fridges. American
Open Document