Tourism
Intermediate+
Aims: Students discuss the advantages and disadvantages of tourism industry and ask questions from each other about tourism, as well as May holiday
Language:
Vocabulary about tourist activities:
sunbathing, scuba diving, taking snapshots, camel riding, windsurfing, mountain climbing
Skills: Speaking and debating skills
Preparation:
Collect some photos or postcards of tourists ( you may get them in www.yahoo.com ( search for clipart or www.tourism.com and search for tourism pictures) , doing typical touristy things such as; sunbathing, scuba diving, taking snapshots, riding camels, windsurfing, mountain climbing and etc.
Warm- up
Bring some pictures about tourism in the class, before showing the pictures ask the L-s to sit in pairs and brainstorm the kind of things that tourists do on holiday, or the things the students did on May holiday. Tell them to make a list of the activities they did on May holiday, or tourists do on holiday. Set a time limit (four minutes). Once they finish, show them pictures.
Ask how many pairs wrote down the things that they could see in the pictures.
Elicit what other activities they wrote, and write them on the board.
Talk about the activities shortly

Activity A
Distribute, or read aloud the new text and ask the L-s to note the tourist activities that arte mentioned.
Six days after one of the worst natural disasters in decades, foreign tourists were back on the beaches of Thailand last Saturday, frolicking in the waves, riding jet skis, posing for snapshots and sunbathing topless on the sand.
That was intolerable for the island resident, Swede who lives on the island with her Thai husband.
“I just think that, if everyone spends about an hour of their holiday time to clean up, this would help a lot for the locals,” she said, as she swept away debris.
But she agreed that the sooner the tourists return the sooner her husband’s sailing business will be able to start making money again. Tourists are the lifeblood of Phuket, and this is the peak tourist season.

Activity B
Read aloud, or dictate this sentence from the text, and ask the L-s to try and work out the context.
“I just think that, if everyone spends about an hour of their holiday time to clean up, this would help a lot for the locals,” she said, as she swept away debris.

Activity C
Organize the class into small groups – four students per group. Appoint a spokesperson in each group. Write the following on the board.
• the tourists
• the Swedish woman
• the Swedish woman’s Thai husband
Ask the students to work in groups and explain the point view of each person, the Swede woman is not happy about tourists, the husband is happy because he raises much money on his sailing business and tourists do not have much time to think about the country and pollution problems, and whose point of view they agree with.
Ask the spokespersons to summarize the views of each group and tell to the class. Have an open class discussion, exploiting any contrasting views and opinions, by asking questions.
• Shouldn’t tourists be made to help with clean up?
• Should tourists stop visiting historical places, because of some damages made by tourists, such as; touching the things and breaking them, littering or polluting the environment and etc?

Activity D
Have the L-s tell about tourist attractions and historical places in China and ask what problems and damages the students have heard, or witnessed during the last two years in tourism industry in China. Elicit the ideas of advantages and disadvantages of tourism in China.
Start a class discussion on tourism industry in China. Make questions and give to the class. Encourage the L-s to answer questions supporting each other.

• Are some countries not so much dependent on- but addicted to - tourism? Do you know any country?
• Does tourism do more harm than good, especially in the developing world like China, where the needs and traditions of the local people are ignored or trivialized ( little importance)
• Has a tourist imagery such as; Great Wall of China, palm-lined beaches, sunbathers, etc distorted western ideas of developing countries and blinded tourists to the reality behind the façade (false appearance)?
• Do the recent natural disasters such as floods, devastating wind in Hainan Island, and some diseases such as; SARS, Bird Flu, plus terrorist attacks affect tourism industry in the country? Please answer with some details.
• Could you tell what good and bad influences of foreign tourists on the nation in China?
• If you travel to another country as a tourist, what would be your aim except seeing the new places and historical places?
• What environmental problems may tourism cause?
• Should you have a tourist license to be a tourist?
• How much do you spend on traveling annually?
• The tourism industry is one of the main sources of destroying the cultural relics in China and some other countries. What is your opinion about this statement?