Sunday, December 5, 2010

Conclusion

In conclusion, tourism bring about many positive impacts which benefits the country by a large amount. Without tourism, many countries will still be underdeveloped whereby many people suffer from unemployment and only engage in activities like agriculture.

However, tourism also brings about the issue of deterioration of culture whereby it is no longer authentic anymore in some countries. Everything may be 'disneyfied' similar to theme parks, altered to meet the needs of tourists. If nothing is done, the future of authentic culture and traditions may only be found in books from the past.

This assignment has brought me into an in-depth study of Portugal and also allowed me to link what I have read in books and Internet about Portugal to the lectures and tutorials that were taught. Before I took this module, my mindset of tourism was to Disneyland, Bali and places that allowed me to experience the sun-sand-sea. After learning more about the culture of other countries, I began to become curious and want to visit these places instead of the common scene that I always see like the beaches or theme parks. However, I felt that even if I were to travel to places where many rituals or festivals are held, I may start to question myself if it was really authentic or altered just for me, a tourist to see.