Some people say it is not necessary to travel to other places to learn about their cultures. We can learn just as much from books, films or internet. To what extend do you agree or disagree?
Traditionally people travel around to know about the cultures of different societies. This can be seen in the steps that are taken by many governments for enhancing the facilities for tourists. It is not agreed that internet, books and films can replace the travelling. This will be argued on the basis of the perspective of a person and the experience that one get through travelling.
Firstly, the genuine perspective that one get through travelling can not be achieved through movies, books or internet. For example, many documentaries of Michael Moore, particularly Farenhite 9/11 and Sicko, are based on his own point of view. Hence movies, books and material found on the internet are from the perspective of their creator and they may be different from the facts. Realities can only be found through travelling to the actual place. Therefore benefits of travelling can not be achieved by the internet, movies or books.
Secondly, the amount of experience that one have through travelling and living the culture can not be achieved through books, movies or internet. For instance, many education scholarships offered by different countries, in particular Fulbright scholarship and Erasmus Mundus scholarship, focus on travelling and living in the host country. In this way students can learn about the culture of their destination country. Therefore, it is obvious from the above example that to learn about any culture travelling is necessary and this can not be replaced by any other medium.
To conclude, travelling is necessary since it gives the genuine perspective as well as profound experience of the culture. It is not agreed that anything other than travel is helpful in learning about a culture. It is predicted that more people will travel for learning about different cultures.