Band 7.5 essay sample | Visitors should follow local customs
Essay topic
Some people believe that visitors to other countries should follow local customs and traditions. Others disagree and say that the host country should welcome cultural differences.
The following is an essay submitted by one of our students. It seems to be a band 7.5 essay.
With the growth of technology in the travel industry, travelling to other countries has increased at rapid speed. Countries have disparate set of customs and interpretation of behaviour. The visitors should be allowed to follow their own customs and behaviour but they must be wary of offending local customs and beliefs. In my opinion, we should develop world as global village to create unity in diversity.
The focal point of humanity should be moral values which are common in all regions rather than customs and behaviors which are diverse in different regions. If a host country cannot entertain the culture of visitors then its participation with other countries in economic, financial and other activities will be hampered. South Asian country India is the best example of unity in diversity. There people from all the religions live peacefully and even visitors from other countries can follow their own culture. In my opinion, it is the moral responsibility of visitors to respect important beliefs and customs of their host country.
Different countries could have different interpretation of the same practice. It is very much important for the visitors to know some practices the places they visit so that they don’t hurt sentiments or misinterpret behaviour of local people. A good example of cultural differences is the eating habits in India. In India people always prefer to eat with their hands which is considered as inferior in some western countries. Therefore, if a western person is visiting India, he must be aware of this and not feel offended.
In conclusion, we can say that culture is basically a set of rules followed by people which may vary in different countries. Furthermore cultural practices can’t be used as a tool to measure morality or character of a person. In my opinion, host nations should understand that visitors may have different cultures. Visitors too must be wary of offending local customs and traditions.
