Tourism follows cue cards about a place, a city or a journey. It is a very convenient topic for Uzbekistan: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva give you ready-made facts, and visa-free entry is a concrete answer to the policy question.
Part 3 questions on this topic
Why has tourism grown so much in recent years?
What are the benefits of tourism for a country?
Can tourism damage local culture?
Should foreign tourists pay more to visit famous sites?
How can a country attract more tourists?
Is it better to travel independently or on a package tour?
Model answers (aimed at band 7+)
What are the benefits of tourism for a country?
The most obvious ones are money and jobs. In Samarkand and Bukhara, a huge number of families now earn a living from guest houses, restaurants and crafts. Tourism also pushes the government to improve roads, airports and public facilities, which helps local people as well.
Can tourism damage local culture?
It can, if traditions turn into performances. When a craft is only produced for visitors, it can lose its meaning, and in some old city centres residents have moved out because their houses are more profitable as hotels. So I think tourism needs limits, especially in historic areas.
Should foreign tourists pay more to visit famous sites?
I think it's fair for foreign visitors to pay a higher price at major sites, as long as the money is used to maintain them, and quite a few countries already do this. Local people, on the other hand, should be able to visit their own heritage cheaply, because it belongs to them.
How can a country attract more tourists?
Making entry easy is the first step, and Uzbekistan has already done that by introducing visa-free travel for citizens of many countries. After that it's about infrastructure and reputation: affordable flights, clean and safe places to stay, and good reviews online, because most travellers now choose where to go based on what they see on social media.
Useful words and phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| earn a living from | earn a living from |
| guest houses | guest houses |
| crafts | crafts |
| turn into a performance | turn into a performance |
| profitable | profitable |
| heritage | heritage |
| maintain | maintain |
| visa-free travel | visa-free travel |
How to answer
- Open with a position, then add a reason, an example and the other side.
- Hedge instead of making absolute claims: "I'd say", "to some extent", "it's likely that".
- Use Uzbek examples: Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, guest houses, visa-free entry.
- Add a condition on fairness questions: "as long as the money is used to...".
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The Part 3 answer shape and hedging language: the Part 3 guide. Useful phrases: 40 phrases.
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