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28-Mar-2024
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Tourism, an enticing trap.....

      According to St. Augustine “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” thus we can see that the world is always in a constant state of motion with people from many countries eager to discover other parts of the world. From time immemorial people have been travelling and today, in this century, tourism has undoubtedly become one of the biggest industries with most times of the year being tourist seasons. This industry brings in a lot of revenue and jobs for people. It has given an immense boost to subsidiary areas like the hospitality industry. For the travel bug bitten traveller, there are however, a large number of pitfalls that he needs to face irrespective of the country he may be visiting.  

       One of the first is the lure of the unique cultural experience. The tourist who is not well informed, knows little or nothing about the customs of the country he is visiting and is eager for a first-hand experience. Unfortunately, there are a large number of con people who trap such unknowing tourists. They promise a one to one experience of the country, charge exorbitant amounts of money and cheat the tourist, often stealing even belongings like the passport and important documents, leaving the tourist stranded in a strange country. This is often reported from Asian and African countries.
       Another is pickpocketing and stealing the belongings of tourists. Since tourists don’t know about the intricacies of travel in an unknown country, they may be often caught in crowded places, the general confusion around them makes them less alert, and before they know it, they would have lost either their purse or even their bags. There are many people who are professionals at identifying tourists and stealing from them and these people often work in groups. Once they identify a tourist, a few work at creating a confusion like a fight, or even a drunken man putting up a show, while the others in the group make away with the belongings as the tourist is engrossed otherwise. This kind of cheating takes place in most countries including those that belong to the European Union.

     Tourists who visit African countries often report being 

robbed at knife or gun point in their hotel rooms, showing  that stealing belongs to a very big nexus that operates with the support of a large number of people. In such situations there is almost nothing a foreigner can do in a country that is unknown. It is very important to be diligent about security but nothing is fool proof. Just ensuring basic things like whether the hotel door has a good lock etc. can go a long way towards safety. 

             Travelling around in a foreign country can be quite tricky. Most people get cheated through cunning taxi drivers who charge exorbitant sums for very short distances. Of course, with the introduction of information technology quite a lot has changed, as a large number of apps like Google Maps help in locating destinations and distances to these destinations. There are also many instances where tourists are harmed, sometimes even sexually molested and in some extreme cases even killed. Fortunately many countries have become greatly alert to such issues and most of them have an excellent pro tourist initiative organised by the government itself. Most of them also have tourist help centres that give a list of authorised hotels as well as guides so that safety can be ensured. Today, with the help of the internet tourists can plan their holidays down to the last detail, using these facilities and can also be safe. 

       On the other hand however, the lure of the unknown is always a factor that cannot be predetermined or judged in these cases. People are constantly on the lookout for adventure to break free from the monotony of their daily lives and it is this spirit that can sometimes get them into trouble. However safe a country may be, however developed, there are always people ready to take advantage of a less informed person and although tourism has developed so much, it has its own limitations when it comes to ensuring safety. So pack your clothes and slip on your shoes, ready for adventure but always be alert and informed so that safety is always the first priority.

                                                                    Lakshmi Prasannan