IELTS Writing Task 2: tourism

Do the benefits of tourism outweigh the drawbacks?

Here are some ideas. I've organised the vocabulary according to different perspectives (different ways of looking at this issue).

Positives of tourism:

1. Personal perspective: Tourism is a popular leisure activity. Tourists can relax, have fun, 'recharge their batteries', experience different customs and cultures (sight-seeing, sunbathing, visiting monuments, tasting new cuisine). Travel opens our minds. It can broaden our horizons.
2. Economic perspective: The tourism industry is vital for some countries. People rely on tourism for their income. Tourism attracts investment from governments and companies. It creates employment due to demand for goods and services (hotels, entertainment etc.). It helps to improve the standard of living.

Negatives of tourism:

1. Environmental perspective: Tourism can have a negative impact on the environment. Excessive building (roads, hotels etc.) destroys natural habitats and spoils the landscape. Tourism creates pollution and waste. It puts pressure on local resources such as food, water and energy.
2. Economic perspective: Tourism may cause a rise in the cost of living. Prices of goods and services go up. Tourists buy second homes. All of this affects local people.
3. Cultural perspective: Local traditions may be lost. Traditional jobs and skills die out (e.g. farming, fishing). Local people are forced to work in the tourist industry.

Thinking about topics from different perspectives can help you to generate better ideas. This technique isn't perfect for every topic, but it can be really useful.

Comments

[Ayub Kharel]

Hi Simon
sorry for writing the same thing repeatedly.but I think you can understand me as i m becoming frustrated because i want to get 7 in each band but my score fluctuated substantially i have been practising too much and i have a problem to pay high amount of money for ielts class.so could you suggest me how can improve my level oof english myself to achive 7 in each band i got 7 overal band last exam but recently i got only 6 i dont understsnnd what to do.pls help me

[Simon]

Hi Ayub,

I understand your frustration, but I'm afraid there is nothing special I can say that will guarantee that you get a 7 in each band. The only thing you can do is keep practising.

Unfortunately, the one thing that could probably help you most is a teacher. You need someone who can check your written work and your speaking. A teacher could help you to improve in areas where you are weak - you need to find out what you are doing wrong before you can really improve.

Sorry I can't say anything more helpful than this.

All the best,

Simon

[Do Van Long]

Hi Simon,

I have a situation like the following:

In speaking part 2, I use 1 minute to prepare so many ideas to talk, but when I am speaking the examiner askes me to stop beause the time is up. ( Though I have not finished all the ideas that I want to say or the question card asks me to talk).

Could you please give me some advice about this situation?

Many thanks !

[Simon]

Hi Do Van Long,

It's great that you have a lot of ideas. However, your priority should be to answer all parts of the question on the card. Try to go through the bullet points on the card first, then add more ideas after that. If you want to return to an earlier point, just say "going back to what I was saying about x,..."

Hope this helps

[Goli]

hi dear Simon
in this topic"The cost of international travel are decreasing and tourism is growing. What are the advantages and disadvantages of increasing tourism activity in different countries?"
1- whether is it enough that we just explain advantages and disadvantages of tourism or must argue them in different countries?
2- my intoduction: "In today's competitive world, most governments tend to attract tourists. Therefore, international travel cost are declining. This decreasing lead to increase on tourism. While tourists growth have some benefits, we should not ignore its drawbacks."
-please tell me is this paragraph good?
Thanks so much
Goli

[Simon]

Hi Goli,

Just explain the advantages and disadvantages.

Your introduction looks fine.

[Goli]

Dear simon
I always learn alot of new useful information from your website ,and every time I appriciate you and pray for you. you really fantastic and great man.Hopefully, you and your family always be happy and health.
Thanks so much for everything
Goli

[Simon]

No problem Goli. Thanks!

[Sameh]

hey this is a good preparation site for ielts

[sachin]

great simon god bless you

[Abbas Azarmehr]

Dear Simon,

This is my essay about advantages and disadvantages of tourism.

Please tell, what might be my mark for that piece of my writing.

Nowadays, more and more people visit other countries. Although a group of people perceive that tourism has many disadvantages, I personally have a different thought in this.

Tourism has a great number of demerits which will be discussed in more details. The most important demerit is that tourist sites could be polluted because of a great deal of garbage produced and thrown away by tourists. This will likely to have a detrimental imapct on the animals and vegetation which live in that region. An interesting example is that the forest located in northern part of Iran damaged by loads of plastic rubbish ,which cannot be recycled by the nature for decades, thrown away intentionally or unintentionally by foreginers. Another important demerit is that foreigners could possibly be a menace to the national security of the host country.They, for example, can conduct deliberate terrorist actions in the target country’s earth. A good analogy is a bomb detonated by two Indians in London tube on the 12th of August,2013 which killed two people and injured thousands of inocent people.

However, tourism has its own plus points as well which cannot go unseen. The most important plus point is tourists spends a significant amount of money purchasing foods, reserving flight tickets and luxurios hotels so that it would stimulate economic growth of host country. Retailers, for example,could sell their commodities to foreigners, and travel agencies can arrange compound trips to many exotic places in host countries, so these professions can make a lot of money through tourism. Again, tourists might experience a new tradition which can be totally different from their own countries’ cultures. A good example is foreign tourists who come to Iran would probably be surprised by dress code in this country, but they learn about Iranian culture and respect Islamic laws, though it might cotradict with their beliefs.

To sum up, I personally reckon that advantages of tourism are far more than its demerits. Travelling itself broadens minds and opens new horizons into human kind.

[real]

Hi, Abbas Azarmehr
I didn't find in introduction para where is your thesis sentence which should includes the topic sentences of your supporting paras.

[real]

sorry....introductory

[Yasin]

overall, it is doubtless to say that Tourism industry leads improvements in economic prosperity, but government role is vital in this procedure.

Is this an efficient conclusion?

[Hasnain]

hi simon
as you mentioned perspective technique is very helpful in some topic ..but how we decide that this technique is helpful in which topic..

[Trantuan Hinh]

great Simon,thanks a lot

[Madhavi]

Hi simon ,

I know i am very weak in writing task ,please find my essay and suggest me

In a past couple of days tourism is touted that never sage in size, Decreasing in the fare and in turn increasing the tourism to a country, which has both advantage and disadvantage ,As increasing in tourism in a India like growing country leads to income /revenue for the local vendor as well as economic level of the India will grow
To illustrate this, Tourist spot hotel, restaurants, and local vendors, Broking agent are gaining a lot by charging the extra money, Many countries open the door for the trade in nation and global level selling of the product which increasing the economic of the country, Tourism also increasing the understanding of intercultural and global harmony
Decreasing the price fare opening the door for the other country people, increasing the Rif of theft, maimed beggars and prostitution which leads to the bad impression on the company, some of the country accepting the people without immigration so chance of terrorism attack and bio-weapon attack, leads the country to unsafe condition .
In conclusion tourism has more prons than cons ,”Let it call by day” for terrorist by implementing the strict immigration check-up as well as encourage the more number tourist to develop the country as economically grown country,

[Mehdi Sufi]

Hi Simon

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Thanks for help for others

Mehdi Sufi

[pan]

this is the real ielts writing part 2 topic，in Newzealand

[Manjinder Singh]

What can be done to improve writing the introduction passage for task 2!!
Please suggest!!

[Frankie Han]

very trendy, Simon.
http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/venice-too-many-tourists/index.html

[chimmy]

hi simon, what is the best way to help someone improve their spoken English or get ready for spoken ielts test. what is the best way to practice and keep it fun

[sonia]

hi simon,
please tell me how much band will be given on this essay.
Spending holidays, exploring different parts of the world has become a trend these days and promoted by many countries. There is a boom observed in the tourism industry since last decade, which is one way of uplifting the economic condition of the country but at the same time brings a negative impact to the native population. However, I believe it has more benefits than drawbacks which will be discussed below.
To begin with, tourism is among one of the best leisure activities if a person has good financial resources. Firstly, from a personal perspective, tourist can relax from the rat race daily routine by visiting and enjoying a sightseeing new place. It can broaden the horizon and open minds of the tourists by experiencing new customs and cultures. Secondly, tourism industry plays a pivotal role in many countries. It creates many job opportunities in many services like hotels, restaurants, travel industry and so forth. Let me quote my experience here. I went on a Europe tour of 7 days with my family. On our behalf travel guide did all the bookings of hotel, restaurant, food, traveling to different scenic locations. It was an amazing experience which re-energized me.
Apart from that, the rising influx of tourists is also associated with increased risk of law and order situation, healthcare and incidence of crime might increase such as violence, anti-social activities like drugs and so forth. In addition, tourism and international tourism also cause pollution and wastage. For example, Mount Everest is one of the top destinations for tourists where the amount of garbage produced by the tourists has increased in the past few years. Moreover, damages to infrastructure have also been reported.
To sum up, despite all the negative facts, if the government would make clear regulations and implement them tourism will bring more benefits to the country.

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[mohammed]

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