The Collision of Civilisations and Challenges for the Global Tourist Industry

Abstract

It is part of a travel agency’s job to arouse curiosity and interest for other countries and other cultures. Travelling affords the opportunity to come into contact with people of different nationalities, to exchange ideas and to get to know foreign ways of life. Tourism can help promote the dialogue between people and cultures, and so promote an opposite position to the widely upheld view of a clash of cultures. The notion of a “Clash of Civilizations” developed into the popular catchphrase that it is today due to the book of the same title, written by the American political scientist Samuel Huntington. After the awful terrorist attacks of 9/11, Huntington was soon hailed as a prophet of his time. Today, his arguments help to justify the war on terror.