Tourism vs. Reality

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The word “travel” invokes images of exotic cultures and foreign destinations. The allure of travel comes from encountering the unknown and experiencing something completely new, be it new cultures or activities. Travel helps us temporarily live in a new “reality” that is different than our own. During the last fifty years, the demand for first world commodities in third world locations increased, the industry transitioned from being about culture shock to more about being pampered abroad. What used to be exploratory tourism is now recreational tourism. Tourist destinations in third world countries offer five-star resorts and spas on pristine white-sand beaches rather than focus on cultural notes. The essential question is: Does modern tourism closely represent reality? Does the industry, in order to attract more visitors, hide the unappealing parts of reality and only present the good things? This paper will explore what practices the tourism industry employs to make a place more appealing to visit, their repercussions on local culture and order, the reality of the situation, and the changing tastes of foreign tourists for more luxuries rather than experiences.
The tourism industry practices veiling stark realities behind shimmering illusions of luxury and comfort. It is especially evident in the tourism in Mexico, Sochi (the location of the 2014 Winter Olympics), and North Korea, where travel agencies and resort owners create carefully planned packages that will show tourists only the best of a region while segregating them from the locals and the realities of life. Most tourism plans and development are state sponsored and involve private investors that employ the locals as service staff. This involves a nation’s government, in...

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...cals and are shown only what is on the government-planned tour. They are treated like royalty and given wonderful rooms with wonderful meals while the Korean population suffers of famine. By reading travel blogs about North Korea or watching documentaries with first-hand experience, it will be possible to demonstrate how the North Korean government goes about covering up the reality of life in North Korea and presenting an ideal country to foreigners.
From personal accounts by tourists and researchers about tourism, it can be said that tourism has changed and become about profits and not really about the traveler experiencing a unique culture. The people who create these tourist destinations and the agencies that operate them do a thorough job of masking the reality and true culture of a region in order to accommodate the changing tastes of the traveler.

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