Some People Believe That Visitors To Other Countries Should Follow Local Customs And Behaviour | Band 8 IELTS Essay Sample
Some people believe that visitors to other countries should follow local customs and behaviour. Others disagree and think that the host country should welcome cultural differences. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Here is a band 8 IELTS essay on this topic written by one of our students. Need help with IELTS writing? Get your IELTS essays, letters and reports corrected by me.
Band 8 IELTS essay sample
Some people are of the opinion that foreigners visiting a country should respect / follow / adopt the local culture and their ways of interaction while others think that the receiving country should embrace the foreigners and their culture. I believe that respect should be mutual.
It is the responsibility of the host country and the visitors to embrace each other’s culture. It is advantageous for the visitor to respect the local culture of the place they are visiting. Being open minded and curious will help the visitor to absorb the new ways of life. This will help them to be at home in their new place and make local friends. It also reduces chances of conflicts with the local people. Most people are passionate about their culture and when visitors show disrespect to it, they may react. Unfortunately, conflicts with the local people will kill the joy of traveling for the visitors.
On the other hand, the host country also benefits when they make their visitors feel welcome. When the local people help the visitors to integrate themselves into their society by accepting the foreign culture more foreigners would want to visit that country. This will boost the economy of that country. In addition, when the local culture embraces the new cultures, it only makes the local culture even richer. In my opinion, both the visitors and the locals should understand that differences are normal and showing respect to each other’s culture will only strengthen the bonding between people. Cultural exchange will benefit both parties. When I visited Japan, I learnt the language and tried to discover the things that are important in Japanese culture like ikebana, origami and tea ceremony. This helped me to make local friends. Japanese people, for their part, made me feel welcome and they wanted to know about my tradition and practices. This exchange of culture made my experience a memorable one.
In conclusion, both the host nation and the visitors benefit when they respect each other’s cultures and lifestyles. For the hosts, it is an opportunity to attract more visitors and for the visitor, respecting the local culture makes the journey more enjoyable and less stressful.
