[originaltext] The tourist trade is growing rapidly. With all this coming an

The tourist trade is growing rapidly. With all this coming and going, you’d expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! Excellent systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other’s countries at a moderate cost. What was once "grand tour", reserved for only the rich, is now within everybody’s grasp. Modem travelers enjoy a level of comfort, which the lords and ladies on grand tours in the old days couldn’t have dreamed of. Many tourist organizations set out on purpose to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population. The modem tourist stays at international hotels, where he has his international food and drink while he gazes at the natives from a distance. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully examined. The tourist is allowed to see what the organizers want him to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own; and anyway, language is always a problem, so he is only the happy to be protected in this way. Moreover, he doesn’t see the people of other nations as they really are, but as he has been brought up to believe they are. So the sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of national roles, which can be certainly dangerous.