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Should cities limit tourists?
B160 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.traveltourismcitiesculture
Video: Is tourism harmful? – 6 Minute English
About this lesson
A B1 lesson on tourism and busy cities, built on a BBC Learning English programme about new rules for visitors in Rome and Bruges. Students learn everyday phrases for talking about travel and tourist places, predict what the cities have done and why, and discuss whether cities should limit tourists.
- Learn eight phrases for talking about tourism and busy places.
- Predict the new rules in Rome, then watch and correct your answers.
- Guess the missing notes about Bruges, then watch and check.
- Discuss the good and bad sides of tourism for the people who live in a city.
- Act out a town meeting and sum up the lesson using the key phrases.
Target vocabulary
leisure timespoil somethingintroduce new rulestourist attractiondrop litterbe packed withstay overnightget a fine
Lesson activities
Let's get started with a warm-up
1
Famous places
Discuss the questions.
- What is the most beautiful town or city you have ever visited? What did you do there?
- On holiday, do you prefer famous places or quiet places? Why?
- Do many tourists come to your town or city? When is it busiest?
- Is there anything visitors sometimes do in your area that local people don't like?
Let's learn some vocabulary!
2
Talking about tourism
Read the sentences and match the phrases in bold with the correct meanings below.
a)Since she stopped working, my aunt spends most of her leisure time walking in the hills.
b)Big crowds can spoil a beautiful view, because you can't see anything.
c)Last year the town introduced new rules about where people can leave their bikes.
d)The old castle is the city's most popular tourist attraction.
e)If you drop litter in the park, someone else has to pick it up.
f)In August, the beaches are packed with families on holiday.
g)The trip to the islands takes two days, so you stay overnight on the boat.
h)My brother got a fine for parking his car outside the hospital.
MEANINGS:
- stay somewhere for the night
- leave rubbish on the ground in a public place
- free time when you can do things you enjoy
- have to pay money as a punishment
- a place that people visit for interest or enjoyment
- make something less good or less enjoyable
- be very full of people or things
- start using new rules for the first time
3
Travel questions
Complete the questions with the phrases from ex. 2. Then, ask a partner four of the questions.
You may need to change the form of the verb.
a)What do you usually do in your ?
b)What can a holiday for you: bad weather, crowds or something else?
c)If your town for visitors, what would they be?
d)What is the best in your country? Have you been there?
e)Is it ever OK to when there isn't a bin near you?
f)Which places in your town visitors in the summer?
g)When you visit a new city, do you prefer to or just go for the day?
h)Have you or has anyone you know ever ? What was it for?
Now, we'll put it into practice!
4
Busy places
Look at the four photos. Then, discuss the questions, using the phrases in the box.
A
B
C
Dbe packed withdrop litterget a fineintroduce new rulesleisure timespoil somethingstay overnighttourist attraction
- Which of these places would you like to visit in your leisure time? Why?
- Which places look packed with tourists? Would that spoil your visit?
- What problems could visitors cause in each place?
- What new rules could each place introduce? Should people get a fine if they break them?
5
Compare your answers
Look at the questions in ex. 3 again and discuss the points below with a new partner.
- Whose travel habits are most like yours?
- Which answer surprised you the most? Why?
- Did you and your partner have the same idea about new rules for your town?
6
Tourists in Rome
Watch to 03:25
Read the statements and decide if they are true or false. Then, watch the first part of a video [https://youtu.be/UhR-Bn4UII0] (to 03:25) and check your answers. Correct the false ones.
a)More people are travelling because they have more leisure time and travel is cheaper than before.
b)The presenters say that crowds make famous places more exciting to visit.
c)The journalist says the new rules in Rome are for the people who live there, not for tourists.
d)In Rome, walking through the water in the famous fountains is now against the rules.
e)People who drop litter in Rome can get a big fine.
f)Visitors can put small locks on the city's old monuments without any problem.
7
The problem in Bruges
Watch 03:25–04:52
Read the notes about Bruges, an old city in Belgium, and guess the missing words. Then, watch the second part of the video (from 03:25 to 04:52) and check your answers.
a)The problem: the old, narrow streets are often tourists.
b)The city doesn't want to become like a , an artificial place made for business.
c)A new rule: a limit on the number of that can stop there.
d)The reason: cruise visitors don't in the city.
e)The city's message to visitors: ' or don't come!'
Let's talk!
8
What do you think?
Discuss the questions.
- Would you like to visit Rome or Bruges? Why or why not?
- Do you think the new rules in Rome are fair to tourists? Which rule is the most useful?
- Bruges wants visitors to stay overnight. Is that fair, or should a city welcome day visitors too?
- Tourists bring money and jobs, but they can also make a place crowded. For the people who live there, are there more good sides or bad sides?
- Should cities limit the number of tourists who can visit? What is your view?
9
A town meeting
Read the role cards and choose a role. Then, discuss what your town should do about tourists, using the phrases in the box.
Student A
You live in the old town. In summer the streets are packed with visitors, some of them drop litter, and it's hard to sleep at night. You want the town to introduce new rules.
Student B
You run a small café next to a famous tourist attraction. Visitors are good for your business, and many local jobs depend on them. You're worried that new rules will stop people from coming.
be packed withdrop litterget a fineintroduce new rulesleisure timespoil somethingstay overnighttourist attraction
Example
- A: Every summer the streets are packed with visitors, and it spoils the town for the people who live here. I think we need to introduce new rules. / B: I understand, but tourists bring money to the town. If fewer people come, my café could close. / A: I'm not saying stop them. But people who drop litter should get a fine, and we could have fewer tour buses in the old town. / B: OK, that sounds fair. And if we ask visitors to stay overnight, they'll spend more money in local shops and cafés.
10
Sum it up
Summarise what you learned in the lesson using some of the points below and the phrases in the box.
be packed withdrop litterget a fineintroduce new rulesleisure timespoil somethingstay overnighttourist attraction
- why more people are travelling now
- the new rules in Rome and why the city introduced them
- the problem in Bruges and the city's message to visitors
- your own view: should cities limit tourists?
Spotted a mistake in this lesson?· tell us the exercise and item
Glossary
The 8 words and phrases this lesson teaches, in one set.
Tourism and busy places
- leisure time
- free time when you can do things you enjoy
- Many people spend their leisure time travelling.
- spoil something
- make something less good or less enjoyable
- The noise from the road spoiled our picnic.
- introduce new rules
- start using new rules for the first time
- The school introduced new rules about phones in class.
- tourist attraction
- a place that people visit for interest or enjoyment
- The old bridge is a popular tourist attraction.
- drop litter
- leave rubbish on the ground in a public place
- Please don't drop litter on the beach.
- be packed with
- be very full of people or things
- The station was packed with people going home.
- stay overnight
- stay somewhere for the night
- We stayed overnight in a small hotel by the sea.
- get a fine
- have to pay money as a punishment
- She got a fine for parking in the wrong place.
Also in the video
Other words and phrases you'll hear, to help you follow the video. The lesson doesn't practise them.
- put restrictions on something
- make rules that limit what people can do
- the authorities
- the people or organisations that control a city or country
- bare-chested
- not wearing anything on the top half of the body
- residents
- people who live in a particular place
- severe fines
- very large amounts of money that people must pay as a punishment
- love padlocks
- small locks that couples fix to bridges or monuments as a sign of love
- sightseers
- people who visit interesting places as tourists
- dock
- (of a ship) arrive at a port and stop there
- authentic
- real, not a copy