Foreign tourists must be charged higher fees than local people to visit cultural places and historical sites. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give your own opinion including relevant examples.
It is generally seen that tourist attractions such as monuments, historical sites and various cultural places impose higher entry charges on overseas travellers. I do agree with this notion and believe that similar access free shouldn’t be charged from everyone.
Many are in favor of this arrangement. When tourists are charged higher, this will help in boosting the economy of the host country and developing the tourism industry. As this access fees will help local governments generate money for the maintenance of the heritage sites. Otherwise, they will have to channelize funds from the public budget. From this perspective, having higher fees for foreign travellers has a better impact.
In addition to the above, imposing higher fees will also help in maintaining the novelty value that means when people pay for something, they value it more. For instance, the Louvre Museum in Paris costs a lot to enter, attracts a cluster of people every year while the Cathedral de Paris has no entrance fees thereby, doesn’t experience such an influx.
Similarly, the local people must be aware of their national cultures and the past associated with historical sites. The government should keep low access fees to encourage them to visit such places and imbibe the knowledge regarding their country. Furthermore, the residents cannot be charged higher since they pay taxes and are the true owners of such locations, along with being informal ambassadors of such locations.
To conclude, having the same ticket fee, both from local people as well as foreign travellers to visit various cultural and historical places like monuments, parks, regional fests and so on, will be unfair to the natives and unfavourable to the economy as well. Hence, I concur with the statement.
