Writing Task 2 - Tourism

Task 2 requires to write at least 250 words. We should spend around 40 minutes on this task. This is my answer about the following topic:

Most of the world's poor live in countries where tourism is a growing industry. The issue that tourism does not benefit the poorest. How can the income generated by tourism benefit the poor? And how can we ensure that tourism does not destroy traditional cultures and way of life? What are your views?

Tourism has become one of the most profitable sectors which run well for most governments. However, there is a concern that their poor citizens do not benefit from the business of tourism, especially in an economic viewpoint. Furthermore, what some people worry about is that local cultures can be eroded due to tourisms. This essay will examine a numbers of solutions that could alleviate these side effects of tourism.

There are two good ideas for providing greater opportunities in taking part of this business to the poor. Firstly, inspite of allowing foreign firms to run business in tourism area, the government should strictly limit this number of businesses, such as hotels, shops, and restaurants. The government should open widely these business opportunities to the local communities. By limiting the number of foreign businesses, the local people could develop their businesses, such as ethnic shops, restaurants, and accommodation which in turn can raise their income too. Another vital role of the government might be by providing soft-loans for running a business by the poor. This would be a good idea as soft loans have low interest and long term payment. Unfortunately, some countries could not easily afford adequate funds to execute this solution.

In terms of preserving traditional cultures and ways of life, it would be useful to increase the pride and 'sense of belonging' of the local people. It could be done by the help of education. In Indonesia, there are a number of subjects in elementary to high school which relate to our cultures, for instance 'bahasa daerah' (language of certain area, e.g. Javanese and Balinese language) and arts. In addition, the business doers in tourism, such as travel agencies , tourist bureau, and also tourist guide could inform foreigners to understand better and respect the native cultures.

For all of these viewpoints, the government should limit the number of foreign cooperations and stimulate the poor to actively engage in the tourism businesses.
[324 words]