Nowadays, international tourism is the biggest industry in the world. Unfortunately, international tourism has created tension rather than understanding among people from different countries. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

The practice of international travel has made the industry the most lucrative business globally. There have been split opinions on the contributions of

this

activity to cross-cultural understanding among different circles. Whilst I do agree there are cases where conflicts arise, overseas tourism fosters relationships between nations involved. Obviously, cultural clashes are inevitable when two countries with distinctive customs and beliefs come into contact. The

first

reason for

this

is the visitors’ insufficient knowledge of the host country.

This

is mostly due to the

fact

that most of them have very short stays in the place to which they pay a visit.

Besides

, oftentimes, they do not bother to learn much about where they are going to come as sheer travellers. Another factor that may lead to friction between tourists and the locals is the

fact

that tourist brings their patterns of behaviour to the host cultures.

For example

, many Chinese holidaymakers have been reported notorious for their habit of annoyingly haggling over anything they buy. Coupled with

this

is the loud noise they make, whether be in public or private, which is, in

fact

, a real nuisance to people around. Having said that, albeit existing here and there, and to some extent annoying, these problems are overweighed by the

fact

that there is improved mutual understanding, which leads to the betterment of international cohesion.

This

argument is clearly postulated by the

fact

that many people from an alien country can come and reside in another with totally different traditions and customers.

For example

, a multitude of Americans now are not native Americans, but many of them are from Asian or African roots. Notwithstanding their different backgrounds, the majority of them live in harmony and respect others’ cultures and values; of course, there exist cases of discrimination and maltreatment towards Asian and African Americans, but they are not a considerable cause for concern. The example given above illustrates the social cohesion which can be achieved by means of interaction among nations, and obviously travelling abroad has a significant part to play. To conclude, conflicts between the locals from the host country and visitors are an unavoidable element of the idea of travelling overseas.

However

, the benefits of

such

cultural problems may result in societal integration and coherence.