cultural traditions may be destroyed

No one can deny that a trip to a remote destination away from one’s everyday life and culture is an exciting experience for the traveller, but its negative impact on the local culture and traditions cannot be ignored.

In many places, cultural traditions are destroyed because they are being commercialized for profits. For example, the moment a tourist sets foot on a place of attraction, he is always first welcomed by a crowd of peddlers or a line of shops selling souvenirs and handicrafts that are often fake and overpriced. What is more, in the peak tourist seasons, there are just so many visitors that even the remotest island turns into a noisy market. Those who are expecting a quiet cultural journey may finally end up seeing the same hustle and bustle in a modern city.

There are, however, arguments for setting up money-making attractions in a tourist area. We cannot afford to renovate historical buildings if they were not visited at a price. If traditional skills and lifestyles were not presented to visitors in an impressive way, they might soon be forgotten. For many parts of the world, tourism becomes a major source of income and helps to save the local culture from dying out.

We should find the right balance between tourism development and cultural protection, and I believe the government has a very important role to play here. In my own country, for example, many tourist cities have made effective development plans to successfully attract large numbers of visitors while still preserving their distinct cultural traditions. (259 words)