TPO-16 - Independent Writing Task Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

With the rapid growth of bourgeoisie, a trend of traveling has emerged among people all over the world, even from some underdeveloped countries. In order to satisfy the requirements of different populations, travel agencies provide with various ways to travel. One option is to take a trip with a group and a tour guide, which is favored by a throng of people for its convenience. In my opinion, despite its advantage, this option is less sufficient to be the best way and I will explain my idea with the following arguments.

Admittedly, traveling led by a professional guide is convenient. It is because every detail during the tour has already been scheduled before the trip by the experienced tour guide. People are not obliged to book their tickets for scenic spots, determine their route, and find a hotel – these have been done by the guide. The convenience makes it possible for people to just enjoy their vacations. It is not difficult to imagine that people favor this way to reduce their stress accumulated from all the aspects in their lives. Besides, it is widely believed that a group trip is more economic because tourists can share things, like cameras and food, with each other. More importantly, a large travel agency is usually able to book tickets or rooms at a lower price. Undoubtedly, people love the way with lower expenditures. However, to claim that this is the best way to travel is still an overstatement.

To begin with, on account of their profit and other factors, travel agencies and tour guides will not design a perfect route for you. First, they will take you to some places that are not renowned but have cooperation with them. These spots with fewer scenes offer many benefits to travel agencies to attract visitors, and agencies will put these sites in their schedules. Both spots and agencies are winners, but the losers are the customers – they have to waste time in somewhere meaningless. Second, tourists are unable to deeply experience the exotic cultures during the trip. As known to all, the time that a visitor can spend in a place is limited if they have a tour guide. Although this rule is originally designed for control the time, it imposes restrictions for people to have detailed observations because things like taking photos occupy too much their time. Therefore, having your route determined by a tour guide is disadvantageous.

Compared with this way, what I prefer is to travel alone or with familiar people only. The first advantage is that I have the full right to determine my schedule, therefore I can have a more comprehensive understanding of where I visit. Furthermore, traveling without a tour guide can reduce my financial burden since hiring a guide is not a small overhead, which indicates that I have to save money from other expenditures to afford this cost. The significance of a travel agency or a tour guide is further weakened by the development of transportation technology, which enables people can visit any corner in a metropolis. Besides, a rural landscape is more accessible with the assistance of an advanced network of buses. So transportation is no longer a problem.

To sum up, the benefits of traveling with a tour guide cannot outweigh its disadvantages, such as a waste of time and the increase in expenditures. From my perspective, it is not the best way to travel.