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In
any society, there are people that are born to travel and
there are homebodies who are happy with where they are at,
with no desire to go anywhere else at all. Most people probably
fall somewhere in between the two extremes. As television
channels have become more numerous and computer connections
have become faster and more easily available, there is more
information on hand to the average person than ever before
in history. But rather than making tourism obsolete, the
Internet and television will spur more people to travel
to places that they otherwise would never have known.
In
years past, people could read about different places in
newspapers and magazines or possibly hear about them on
the radio. In the earlier days of television, an inability
to take television equipment to some of the more remote
spots of the world kept people from learning about many
places. Even when another country or continent was described
or televised, it would seem to be a far away, exotic place
that was unreachable to all but the hardiest and most adventurous
travelers. Airplanes were still thought of as more of a
novelty or for domestic travel only. Ships could take people
to far away places but weeks or months were needed to reach
the destination. Normal people did not have the time or
the money to spend on such foreign travel.
Incredible
changes in vehicles for transportation have made travel
not only safer but faster and more comfortable as well.
High-speed magnetic levitation (mag-lev) trains can transport
people safely at speeds of up to three hundred miles an
hour in parts of Europe and Japan. The Concorde jet can
transport people from New York to London in less than four
hours in luxurious comfort. Gigantic cruise ships that can
sail to almost any ocean ports have been built that rival
any five star land-based hotels anywhere in the world. There
have even been space tourists who have traveled into outer
space to the International Space Station and returned safely
to Earth. Not only have the transportation vehicles themselves
been greatly enhanced, but the highways and railways that
the vehicles use have also been tremendously improved. More
places than ever before are now accessible by rapid and
reliable transportation.
The
information technology age will likely also drive more people
to tourism through the sheer increase in information available
to the average person. Access to knowledge about any country
is as close as an individual's desktop computer. The more
countries and regions that an individual can become familiar
with, the greater the likelihood that he or she will find
a place that he or she would like to visit in person. Previously
unknown island paradises and countries are now making themselves
famous through the use of television and the World Wide
Web, trying to cash in on the billions of dollars that are
spent every year on tourism. Global incomes have also increased,
allowing more and more people in more countries to afford
traveling for a vacation.
While
it is likely that there are people that will do their traveling
"virtually" through television or the computer,
it is equally likely that even without the availability
of such a wealth of information, they would not have traveled
anyway. Hiking the Grand Canyon in the United States or
scuba diving around the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
is not the same as watching it on television or the Internet.
Snow skiing in the Swiss Alps or breathing in the fresh
air of the Scottish Highlands must be personally experienced
to be enjoyed. Shaking hands with a local Chinese villager
in his own home or tasting the cooking of a friendly tribesman
along the Amazon River simply cannot be done without traveling.
Technology only increases the knowledge that is easily available;
it cannot dampen the enthusiasm for tourism in those that
love to travel.
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