TOURISM AND TRAVELLING

Some people travel on business, others in search of health. But those aren't the ones who fill the Grand Hotels and the pockets of the proprietors. It is those who travel "for pleasure", as the phrase goes. Those who frequent the places where they resort most often find that tourists are, in the main, a gloomy-looking tribe. Only when they can band together and pretend, for a brief, precarious hour, that they are at home, do the majority of tourists really look happy. One wonders why they came abroad. The fact is that very few travellers really like travelling. If they go to the trouble and expense of travelling, it is not so much from curiosity, for fun or because they like to see things beautiful and strange, as out of a kind of snobbery. People travel for the same reason as they collect works of art: because the best people do it. To have been to certain spots on earth's surface is socially correct; and having been there, one is superior to those who have not. Moreover travelling gives one something to talk about when one gets home.

Vacations seem to be the ideal cure for all your ills. But they can also be a source of stress - and that can affect your health. So it is better to have a check-up at your family doctor's or at your practitioner. The traditional summer break is regarded as the highlight of the year, but it can undermine health and put pressure on your family relationship. So it is better to tackle the problems before you go away because a holiday won't work magic for you. Your holidays will be as good as you make them. So just relax because daily routine is waiting for you at home. To make your trip a success start preparing it early enough. Remember to cancel the milk, to boarder the pet, to arrange health and holiday insurance, to do the shopping, to arrange foreign currency, to work out how much money to take and to secure the home against burglars. And don't go on holiday when everybody goes; if possible travel outside the high season because crowded airports, delayed flights and packed hotels may cause stress too. Moreover, your body tells you when it is time to unwind. To avoid to end up compromising book a full-board hotel instead of a self-catering apartment. It is everybody's holiday. You ought make that clear before you leave. And if there is something you don't like - complain! Don't be a martyr.

Nature is at risk as the booming tourist trade threatens to turn it into an overcrowded adventure playground for foreign thrill-seekers. It has become a magnet for bungee jumpers, rafters, sky-divers and kayakers who do great harm to vegetation and fauna. Conservationists call for curbs on tourism to protect the rainforest and its fauna from the ravages of human encroachment. It suffers from trampled vegetation, soil erosion, litter and threat of fires, as well as the visual impact of so many tourists. The wild game is being squeezed out and even the local people are unable to lead their normal life. So the environmentalists want "no-go areas" to be introduced to protect wildlife, the environment and local people from unbridled tourism. Although a development masterplan is scheduled to begin this year, money is more important than conservation.