📘 Part 3: Travelling and tourism

This episode's vocabulary

Dependent (adj.) - needing the support of something or someone in order to continue existing or operating.

Service-based (adj.) - used to describe an activity that is based on services (= doing things for customers) rather than on manufacturing.

Vital (adj.) - necessary for the success or continued existence of something; extremely important.

To preserve (verb) - to keep something as it is, especially in order to prevent it from decaying or being damaged or destroyed.

To export (verb) - to send goods to another country for sale.

Pedantic (adj.) - giving too much attention to formal rules or small details.

To channel (verb) - to direct something into a particular place or situation.

To refine (verb) - to improve an idea, method, system, etc. by making small changes.

Comprehensible (adj.) - able to be understood; intelligible.

Be-all and end-all - the most important thing.

To hold a candle to (idiom) - to compare favourably with (usually used in the negative).

Interactivity (noun) - the involvement of users in the exchange of information with computers and the degree to which this happens.

Double-edged sword (noun) - something that acts in two ways, often with one negative and one positive effect.

Сohesion (noun) - the situation when the members of a group or society are united.

In-group (noun) - a social group whose members are very loyal to each other and share a lot of interests, and who usually try to keep other people out of the group.

By default - happening or existing unless some action is taken.

Out-group (noun) - those people who do not belong to a specific in-group.

The sky is the limit (idiom) - there is no limit.

To consolidate (verb) - to become, or cause something to become, stronger, and more certain.

To dictate (verb) - to influence something or make it necessary.

Questions and Answers

M: What's the importance of the travel and tourism industry?

R: Oh, wow. I mean, that's highly dependent on the country, I suppose. If your economy is largely service-based and focused on selling the history and culture of where you live, then it will be vital to have a well-developed tourist sector. It's not only about money, though. People... Tourism could also be crucial for preserving and exporting your culture, since the more people you get to see it, the more aware people are, or people become of it, and so they might be more likely to take an interest.

M: What do you think is the function of tourist guides?

R: Well, literally, to guide tourists, but to be less pedantic about it, they should ideally channel the culture and refine the experience for guests in a country to make things more comprehensible and highlight features they've never considered. For example, in my country, there are many obscure cultural practices and places that only someone with in-depth knowledge of those places might know about and be able to bring to light.

M: Is reading a good way to get to know other countries?

R: Well, it's a good start, at least, but it's not the be-all and end-all. You can learn facts, understand stories and national myths, and of course, look at the pictures of the places there. But it's important to remember these are real living places, and almost nothing holds a candle to standing in the place and experiencing the atmosphere for yourself, if you can. I think that adds a whole other layer of reality on top of all those supporting aspects that you get from reading.

M: How do people get information about other countries?

R: Well, we already talked about reading, but there's also talking and listening to consider. Being able to get knowledge of a place from people who have been there or who live there can make the information more tangible. Plus you can ask people questions. You can't really do that with the book, although maybe in the age of AI, that will change as the potential for interactivity grows.

M: How does travelling abroad affect young people?

R: Well, I mean, the romantic ideal is that it gives them perspective on how other people live and other ways of living. But obviously, not all young people are in possession of the ability or desire to do that. It could at least give them some experience of independence and planning their lives, though, which could be useful for the future.

M: What do you think of national identity?

R: Well, that's kind of a double-edged sword, really. Since, on the one hand, it can be used to generate national cohesion through a common set of values and ideals, but on the other hand, it creates this in-group and then, by default, out-group concept, and that sort of thinking can lead you down a very dark path when it comes to deciding who the heroes and villains are in a national story.

M: Is it important to have a national identity?

R: Well, on a practical level, yes, because how are you supposed to travel without documentation that proves that you're someone coming from the outside into a country? So it works from that practical and I suppose, administrative perspective as well.

M: And how can people develop national identity?

R: Oh, gosh, well, the sky is pretty much the limit, isn't it? Because there's this idea of the national story or struggle where it struggles to emerge. So war tends to play a factor in this development of a national identity. And then once that's been established, it's consolidated further by the creation or highlighting of various figures and texts. So national poets are a big feature. National authors as well are also used in this manner. That's just a few examples, though, because of course, all the people that live in a country contribute to the national identity in some way, even if it's just by living the values that have been dictated by the wider culture.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: Well, that's okay. Talking about nationalism is fun, isn't it?