What is the real cost of travel?

Everybody likes travelling. The excitement it brings about, the unforgettable moments of exploring the unexplored, a spellbinding sense of novelty. There are myriad of other nice expressions to describe how wonderful it is to travel ;) Yet, many of us tend to forget that the ideal tourist destinations we visit are home not only to other people, but also many unique animal and plant species. Probably you never ask yourself the question – what is the real cost of travel? Some people did, hence a short text under the very same title. Let’s help our students perceive travelling from a slightly different perspective, making them aware of the dangers to the environment our journeys may pose. 

 

 The real cost of travel

Source: National Geographic Life coursebook

Exercise 1

Work in pairs. Discuss the following questions.

1.       Do you like travelling?

2.       Are the travel destinations of your choice usually clean places?

Exercise 2

Read the following text about pollution of some tourist destinations and decide which of the following statements are true (T) or false (F).

1.       The worst thing about cruise ships is that they produce too much waste.                      T / F

2.       Magellanic penguins are becoming extinct due to the popularity of voyages.                  T / F

3.       Mount Everest is free of waste disposal.                                                                    T / F

4.       Tourists collect their rubbish in the Himalayas.                                                           T / F

5.       Tourist resorts constitute a considerable threat to the environment in Europe.                T / F

6.       A low-cost flight is an effective alternative to reduce air pollution.                                T / F

Exercise 3

Fill in the gaps with appropriate vocabulary items from the text.

long-haul         downsides          trekking          resorts          remote          cruises          ecotourism

1.       Recently, more and more people have been travelling to the most ……………………… places in the world.

2.      Although travelling has a lot of positive sides, it has got some ……………………… as well.

3.       Voyages have become extremely popular nowadays, and the fact that ……………………… tend to visit the same places over and over again causes concentrating the waste in specific places.

4.       Not everyone has the nerve to go climbing or ……………………… in the Himalayas.

5.       Natural habitats are under threat of beach ……………………… , which form an almost unbroken line from Gibraltar to Greece.

6.       Contrary to popular belief, short flights aren’t less harmful to the environment than ……………………… flights.

7.       Many places have been experimenting with low-impact tourism such as ………………………

Exercise 4

Think of the question posed at the end of the text: Have we, perhaps, been destroying the very places we value as holiday ‘escapes’? What can be done to raise people’s awareness of eco-friendly behaviour, even on holiday? Discuss with a partner and share your ideas with the class.