Topic: Tourism today creates a variety of problems, such as pollution due to flights, traffic congestion and water pollution. Do you think that governments should impose extra taxes on flights or accommodation to restrict today’s tourism industry?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Model answer:

Nowadays, environmental issues caused both by tourists and tourism-related activities have become so grave that many people insist that governments should impose hefty taxes on air travels and hotels for the sake of restricting the tourist inflow. I, however, disagree with this notion and believe that the authority should find better measures rather than limiting the tourism industry.

The key reason why I believe that governments ought to avoid levying more taxes on flights and accommodations is that tourism creates employment for local people and makes economic movements in the region. It also brings significant foreign remittance to the country. Many countries, St. Lucia, Maldives and Thailand, for example, heavily depend on the steady earnings their tourism sector brings for them. It also makes people tolerant of different cultures and lets them learn about diverse cultures and traditions. If more taxes are imposed on the movement and accommodation of tourists, it would bring catastrophic results for many countries. Therefore, measures which would entail a decline in tourism should not be implemented.

To control pollution and excessive wastages, authorities can employ workers to clean their surroundings while instructing visitors not to pollute the environment. Policies to improve the manners of tourists while staying in a foreign country should be implemented. Improving public buses and dedicating transports for tourists can reduce traffic congestions to a great extent. Moreover, scientific research and engineering feats can reduce the pollution created by vehicles and aeroplanes to a great extent and money should be spent on such research works. These solutions would improve the situation on the one hand, and not deprive citizens of jobs and economic freedom on the other hand.

To conclude, extra levies on tourist transportation and accommodation will limit the inflow of tourists, putting local citizen’s livelihood at risk, especially in tourism-dependent countries. It is expected that the authorities would find better solutions that try to control tourists’ actions in travel destinations instead of reducing their number and employ more people and technology to solve the problem.

TỪ VỰNG CHỦ ĐỀ “TOURISM”:

• Unexpected expenses: chi phí phát sinh

• Traveling abroad opens one’s minds and broadens our horizon: Du lịch mở mang đầu óc và kiến thức

• Irreversible damage: hư hại không thể phục hồi

• Issues associated with tourism: các vấn đề liên quan đến du lịch

• Impair the local environment: làm suy yếu môi trường địa phương

• Tourism attracts investment: ngành du lịch thu hút đầu tư

• Prices of goods and services go up: giá dịch vụ và hàng hóa tăng

• Inflated prices in tourist hotspots: giá cả tăng cao ở các điểm nóng du lịch

• Excessive building destroys natural habitats and spoils the landscape: việc xây dựng các tòa nhà quá mức phá hủy môi trường sống tự nhiên và phong cảnh

• An unprecedented scale: quy mô chưa từng có

• Country is endowed with natural beauties and historic sites: đất nước được thiên nhiên ban tặng cho những cảnh đẹp và di tích lịch sử