Monologue - Tourism

This is a monologue about tourism.

It features lots of high level vocabulary and grammar. It also is a great example of how to organize a monologue, or an essay.

For classes or transcripts go to https://realexamenglish.com/podcast/

Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast. This episode is about tourism. So, it’s a monologue. In different types of English exams, you are asked to speak alone and usually they give you some ideas to speak about. So in this case today the main question I am answering is How can tourism affect different aspects of society. And there are 3 areas to consider, the natural environment, local culture and traditions and the quality of life for local residents. It’s a useful topic to cover as this is something that features a lot in English exams and you will see and read, and hear, a lot about it too in the media. 

As with the previous monologue episode I did about marijuana, pay attention to the organisation of this piece, and how there are various points and counterpoints offered. Keep an eye out too for phrasal verbs and cleft sentences, and there’s quite a lot of figurative language used also. If you would like a detailed breakdown of all this fancy language then you can get that in the transcript, which can be purchased over on the Real Exam English website, realexamenglish.com

Alright then, here we go: 

I’m going to talk about [1]tourism and how it impacts society. 

First and foremost[2], I’d like to make the observation that tourism has exploded in the last couple of decades. There are far more people around the world with disposable income than there were in the past and on top of that [3]low-cost airlines and home sharing companies have revolutionized the market. As a result[4], societies all over the world are grappling with the impact of this [5]expansion in different ways. 

Firstly[6], if we look at how the quality of life for the locals is affected. At first glance, it may seem pretty beneficial, tourism provides jobs after all. Locals can get jobs in hotels, theme parks and other tourist attractions, as well as in ancillary services such as bars, restaurants, car parks and so on. That being said[7], it is often the case that the biggest profit goes to the huge multinational hotel chains and tour operators, rather than to the local population. Added to that[8], it’s the locals who [9]have to put up with [10]all of the negative ramifications of this increase in tourism. It is their towns and cities that [11]are now jam-packed [12]with tourists, to the point where there are some parts of their homeplaces that are just not worth visiting for them anymore. 

What’s more[13], tourists often don’t abide by the same cultural rules as the country they are visiting, nor do they [14]respect the local customs. For instance[15], here in Spain tourists often come here in their hordes to get drunk and have a good time, which[16] is fine, each to their own, but at the same time this leads to [17]problems with noise for the locals, people urinating in the streets, others dropping litter, or just a general feeling that they are treating these places as their playgrounds, without showing a modicum of respect to the locals and their towns and cities. Nevertheless[18], when it comes to [19]customs and traditions there is an upside to tourism too. There is a whole other cohort of tourists, not the getting drunk and fighting ones, that are keen to find out about the unique cultural offerings their holiday destination has. So, they [20]want to sample local cuisine, hear the traditional music, take in [21]a dance show, attend a craft workshop or whatever. This [22]can help to keep those customs alive and can even help the locals to re-evaluate and appreciate their own culture. 

Having said that[23], there is a potential downside too, which [24]is that you end up with[25] this disneyfied version of what your culture is, a simplified easily-consumable version that appeals to the masses, but lacks the complexity and dynamism of the real culture. A good example in my home country, Ireland, is [26]Temple Bar in Dublin, which is the biggest tourist nightlife area. The bars there [27]feel artificially Irish, Irish in a cheesy way, just for the tourists. In fact[28], you won’t even find any Irish people in these bars, I lived in Dublin for 3 years and could count on one hand the number of times I went out in Temple Bar. 

What also tends to happen in these tourist hotspots is [29]that you get this kind of globalised, standard tourist offering, like everywhere does brunch and cocktails, even though [30]the locals never do that, and instead of having a traditional bakery selling breads and local pastries you get some fancy new place selling avocados on sourdough at exorbitant prices. So, what you are left with is a theme park for tourists, where [31]locals no longer want to or can afford to live. 

Lastly[32], there is the question of the effect on the environment. Again, it’s pretty bleak I’m afraid. The first issue is with resources, like water for instance. I live in Spain, where droughts are becoming more and more frequent. Spain also has a massive tourist sector, which is economically vital. But the facilities that all of these tourists use need vast quantities of water, so somethings gotta give. This year there were protests on the island of Ibiza, where locals had water restrictions imposed[33], at the same time the hotels and luxury villas continued to fill their pools as if there was no tomorrow[34]. 

Another issue is with areas of natural beauty being flooded with [35]tourists, often on the back of [36]going viral on social media. It’s fair enough that people want to see these places, we are all guilty of it, but if the area isn’t prepared for the onslaught of tourists it leads to a destruction of the very nature that people go there to see in the first place. 

So I guess what is called for is [37]a more sustainable approach, limiting the number of visitors to these spaces, both the natural ones and the urban ones, where the issue of overtourism is most pressing. Nobody is saying to stop tourism, people love to travel, and it’s a great thing. I suppose we should try our best to keep in mind the needs of the locals and the natural environment and endeavour to create a form of tourism that is acceptable to everyone, locals and tourists alike.

Alright guys, that’s it, hopefully you found that useful and got some ideas to use in case you have to talk about, or write, about this topic in the future. Like I mentioned at the start too, this format and organisation is pretty universal too so you can use it for any monologue.

Ok cool, let me know what you think of the episode on social media or on your podcast player. And I’ll be back again soon!

All the best, 

Trevor