Despite current global unrest, wars, anticipated health pandemics and some significant natural disasters, tourism is still growing at an accelerated pace, and has been booming for the past couple of decades. In fact the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) forecasts that 1.6 billion people will travel as tourists by the year 2020 – a figure that adds up to nearly twice as many visitors than the 700 million registered in 2004.
According to noted travel writer, Arthur Frommer, “Travel is scarcely worth the effort unless it is associated with people, learning and ideas.” This lifestyle enriching aid is welcomed because it challenges us. It’s a bit like taking part in an Oprah Winfrey show – it seems never ending, but in the end is all about the greater good. Yes our preconceptions and views will get the overhaul; our very identity will be questioned; we will end up more broad-minded and understanding – and so become cultured. Hence, the increasing popularity of what theorists have come to label “cultural tourism”.
