Living with tourism – B2 English Reading Test

Which person

1   misses a place they used to go to as a child?

2   states that tourism provides a considerable number of jobs for local people?

3   wishes local people had opposed the construction of certain holiday homes?

4   claims that tourism has destroyed a traditional industry?

5   blames the tourist industry for spoiling the local countryside?

6   feels that the presence of people from other cultures benefits the local community?

7   criticises the behaviour of tourists in their town?

8   says the town is wealthier than it was before it became a tourist resort?

9   believes that most of the profits from the local tourist industry go abroad?

10   is not convinced that so-called green tourism actually benefits the environment?

Living with tourism

Five people describe how tourism has affected their home town.

A   Leonor Sousa

It can’t be denied that tourism has attracted investment, which has certainly raised living standards here, but the cost in other respects has been extremely high. Take the effect on the environment, for instance. When my parents were young this used to be an area of fields and woods, but now everything is covered in concrete. The tourists themselves aren’t responsible for this; it’s the construction companies, property developers and estate agents who are to blame because they’re the ones making all the money. They’re all based in the big cities and bring in their own people, so they hardly create any employment at all for local residents.

B   Yusuf Demir

When I was growing up in my home town there was a path I used to walk along to go to school, and last summer I went to see if it was still there. It was, but the view from it had changed completely. Now there is a vast shopping mall, with a cinema and cafés alongside. I don’t actually mind that, because it means there are lots more things to do, and I also like the fact that it has a really international atmosphere. It’s good for local people to meet visitors from other parts of the world, try new kinds of food and hear about different ways of living.

C   Matt Walker

Tourism has changed this town so much, even in the years since I was at junior school. In those days there was a football pitch near the harbour where we would kick a ball around, but it’s gone now, which is a pity. In the harbour itself luxury yachts owned by people from richer parts of the country have replaced the fishing boats, to the extent that there is now no sign of what used to be the main source of income and employment locally. In the evenings the town is certainly a lot livelier, but sometimes people start doing things they would never think of doing back in their own home towns, and then the police have to be called.

D   Trisha Chandra

I was just a child when tourism first took off here and those incredibly ugly houses were built for summer visitors. The residents really should have protested about that. It was all the fault of the town council, who only ever thought in the short term and seemed to give planning permission to anyone who applied to build anything. Nowadays there’s talk of ecological tourism, but that’s just a way of making people feel less guilty about the harm they are doing by making a few insignificant changes, such as re-using towels in their hotel rooms.

E   Daniela Navarro

I know some of the new hotels and holiday apartment blocks are unattractive, and that the bars, restaurants and nightclubs that cater for tourists have changed the nature of the town, but without them unemployment – particularly among the young – would be far worse than it currently is. That, though, is as far as the economic benefits to the town go, as the only ones making any real money out of all this are the big tour operators and the owners of hotel chains, none of whom are actually based in this country. Also, very few tourists learn our language. I know it must be difficult for them because most of them are quite old, but it means there’s little communication between us and them.