The Tourist

In the Excerts for the Tourists by Dean MacCannell I really was able to relate to a lot of what he had to say. I completely agree that tourism has become increasingly materialized and all about making money. I truly feel that when you vacation to a special place it should be because you want to get something out of it. For me that means relaxing, but also it means that I am somehow getting in touch with the culture or history of where I am going. That is the beauty of visiting other locations, you can actually learn something new and add to your experience in life. MacCannell brings up a good point that some tourist attatractions popularity come in waves according to things that happen in society or from word of mouth. I also agree with him when he speaks about how things are so commercialized for instance McDonald's being all around the world. The amount of money that is spent on souvineirs and tours can get to be ridiculous. I was horrified at how often we had added charges, taxes, or just extra fee's when we traveled to Mexico last December. Having just been there 3 years ago I was surprised at home much more or a tourist attraction Mexico had become, and I later found that the prices in that area go up 30% simply because it is prime season when we were there. I think that is terrible, but once again you get out of your travels what you allow yourself to do. We found ways to see the beauty, experience the culture, and enjoy the weather without breaking our pocketbooks everytime we turned around.
I was very interested by his story of the African girl whom was taken back by vending machines in America and how they take the place of people standing there vending the product. Having her prospective can educate us on just how different things are in other places around the world. And how just by buying a soda we are taking for granted the technology we have at our fingertips. It must have been interesting to be there to experience that with her and to explain to her what it was, but also to get her feedback on it as well.
Although sometimes exploited I think tourism is a necessity in some areas. I just wish that sometimes it didn't take from the natural beauty of the locations, and history. Again I think that as a tourist you can get so much from visiting any locations, everywhere has history, culture, and interest in many ways. It is up to the individual themselves to learn from it and broaden your own mind. This essay helped again to see prospectives of others and to remember why we travel in the first place.