Some people like to travel outside their country. Others would rather travel to tourist spots in their own country first, before travelling abroad. Which do you prefer to do and why? Include specific details and examples to support your choice.

Over the past few decades, the international tourism industry has gone through a boom period. Cheap air

travel

,

in particular

, has allowed ordinary working-class people to

travel

to more international destinations than ever before. In

this

essay, I shall refer to a number of sociological studies to show why – contrary to popular opinion – domestic

travel

should

initially

take precedence over international

travel

.

To begin

with, people’s knowledge of their own countries and cultures has grown increasingly sketchy.

This

is largely because foreign brands, television shows and cultural objects flood local markets.

For example

, The Asian Cultural Society found that Japanese teenagers knew more about American television series than 19th-century Japanese woodcuts. It should

therefore

be clear that citizens need to know much more about their own countries, and that visits to local cultural centres should occur before visits to remote countries.

Secondly

, people reap high economic benefits if they are well-travelled in their country of birth.

This

is

due to

local

travel

,

in particular

, opening up business opportunities.

For instance

, the Korean Society for Entrepreneurship found that 40% of successful start-up companies were run by individuals who had travelled extensively in Korea and sniffed out small openings in developmentally neglected areas. Seen in

this

light, local

travel

can

also

be of vital economic significance

To conclude

,

although

few would argue outright against foreign

travel

, there are certainly reasons why domestic

travel

is

initially

preferable. In the future, as some of the hype surrounding foreign

travel

dies down, these reasons will no doubt appear more attractive and conspicuous.