I find my International Tourism course to be quite interesting. It deals with views on globalization, the South vs. North, etc. We've been having presentations since last week, and most of the topics that we cover are quite thought provoking.

My group's topic is on South vs. North. It's about the developed/powerful countries vs. the developing/weaker countries. (I'm not goin to talk about my topic exactly) It seems in this day and age, every country wants to feel as powerful as the developed countries...but the steps they take can be questionable. For instance, we've talked about how many of the developing countries want to have the same standards as the developed countries (ie. infrastructure, tech.,etc), BUT they do not have the necessary resources or monetary funds..so then they would turn to the IMF to borrow money. However, borrowing money isn't easy..there are certain things that need to be done(which might go against the country's wishes) before they would give the money. So right from the beginning, they'd have to give up some thing to gain the necessary monetary funds. However, if they cannot receive it, many turn to unconventional methods to gain access to wealth. This includes, sex tourism, drug trafficking n so forth. They do all this, just so they can be upto par(or even close to) the standards of the developed countries. But yet, they are infact lowering their standards, are they not...atleast in the ethical sense.

And when we talk about international tourists entering the developing countries..it seems they have a big impact on the locals. Whenever I visit Sri Lanka, I find myself amazed at how the locals there almost seem like foreigners themselves. Many of the people(particularly in urban areas) have all adopted the western culture (ie. music, language, clothing,technology) and this is due to the demonstration effect(or so it would seem). Demonstration effect is when locals(especially young people) see tourists' behaviour and dress and want to emulate that. But I don't think that's the only reason. I think it's also the media that shows what people do around the world. Sri Lanka's technology is increasing and with that, so is the intake of foreign info. This can be a good thing..but it can also be bad too. As said before, the western culture is pretty much taking over..and altho' it may include some good things, it can also bring about the bad side. More n more, I've seen stories on how there are tons of illegal ops, increased violence among the "elite" and such. Maybe it's me, but I never pictured Sri Lanka like that before. I honestly never even knew that underage kids went bar hopping or did drugs!! Maybe I was being ignorant or just blind. :(

Hmm..so I don't know what I was trying to prove..but I guess what I'm trying to say is that many of the developing countries are putting too much reliance on developed countries. When I was talking to a friend about the movie Hotel Rwanda..He(Adrian) asked me..if Sri Lanka was in need of assistance during the war..would they help? Would the developed countries help other developing nations, eventhough they have nothing to offer them? You give everything you've got to these developed nations..thinking that in your time of need, they will come..but do you really think so? That's something to think about...