You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
International travel has many advantages to both travellers and the country that they visited. Do advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer
It is true that the growth of the international travel industry has brought many benefits to both travellers and the host nations which receive them. While there are serious negative consequences of this development, I would argue that these are outweighed by the advantages.
On the one hand, there are some aspects of international travel – principally the tourist trade – which raise cause for concern. In terms of the tourists themselves, they often arrive at an overseas destination only to find that the prices of everything are grossly inflated. They may be overcharged for everything from a taxi, a meal in a restaurant or buying a souvenir. In terms of the host country, the problems of waste disposal, pollution and unregulated construction of hotels and tourist attractions often result in permanent damage to the environment. Many beach resorts in Thailand and Malaysia, for example, have become ‘concrete jungles’ of high-rise hotels and apartments to accommodate mass tourism from Europe.
On the other hand, despite such grave issues, these are not insurmountable and must be considered against the advantages of the growing international travel industry. Firstly, there is ever- greater competition among tour operators to provide value for money holidays, so that holiday-makers can enjoy their experience of a foreign country and culture to the full. Secondly, the influx of foreign tourists brings money to the host country through the provision of jobs and services for the developing hotel and construction industries. Employees in these sectors generally benefit from higher wages and improved living standards.
In conclusion, I believe that the advantages of international travel for both travellers and host countries are greater than the drawbacks, serious though these are.
277 words
Vocab Highlights
host nation [noun]: a country to which a visitor or immigrant has come.
grossly [adverb]: extremely – used to describe something unpleasant or untrue.
inflated [adjective]: higher than is reasonable or acceptable.
overcharge [verb]: make somebody pay too much for something.
unregulated [adjective]: not controlled by laws or rules.
concrete jungle [noun]: an area that is unpleasant because it has large modern buildings and no trees or natural beauty.
high-rise [adjective]: very tall, used to describe a building.
accommodate [verb]: change a policy or idea in order to deal with a new situation.
grave [adjective]: serious
insurmountable [adjective]: that cannot be dealt with successfully.
to the full [expression]: fully, to the greatest possible degree.
influx [noun]: the fact of a lot of people, things or money arriving somewhere.