In some cities, the numbers of tourists seem to be overwhelming. Why is this happening? What are the effects of this on individuals and society?
Sample Response
With the rise of cheaper airlines and with technology and affluence allowing people to travel more easily, tourism is an industry that has experienced a significant increase. This caused the numbers of tourists in some popular cities to become greater than desirable and created some effects on both individuals and society.
People are influenced by the positive experiences of othersPeople feed on the positive experiences of others, and vivid images on social media, shared by happy holiday-makers, attract more and more visitors to iconic cities. This creates a snowball effect where increasing numbers of people cause an even bigger influx of touriststourism by sharing their experiences online. Affordable airfares and modern websites that make finding accommodation easier also play a significant role in making certain cities extremely attractive to tourists.
One positive effect of this phenomenon for both individuals and society is that it is evidence that people are travelling internationallyan indicator that people are travelling to different countries. Travel is a great way to broaden the mind and develop a greater understandingdevelop more understanding and acceptance of other cultures and beliefs. Individuals will become more tolerant and society can become more integratedsociety should be more integrated and peaceful. Another positive effect is that jobs and businesses are created and supported by the tourism industry, thus generating taxes to help support public infrastructuregovernment infrastructures.
There are negative effects, howeverThere are negative effects though, especially for the residents of the cities with high numbers of tourists. It is well known that excessive tourism dilutes the authentic culture of the destination, the prices go up and the quality of products and services goes down. The historic centres of many popular citiestoo many popular cities now seem to only feature the same chain stores and services, and food tends to become more internationalised rather than offering the authentic national and regional cuisineauthentic food of the country and region. The centres of very busy tourist towns become overly geared towards providing accommodation for rent, including hotels, hostels, or private apartmentswhether it is hotels, hostels or private apartments. This reduces the amount of housing for locals, as well as driving up rental and purchase prices.
To sum up, tourism has many positive effects, but when the numbers of tourists get so high, it can spoil the authenticity of a destination, which is negative for residents and visitorslocal and visiting individuals and society as a whole.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The response fully addresses the causes and effects of excessive tourism through a clear progression of well-developed, relevant ideas, and its strongest feature is the precise explanation of impacts on residents, culture, housing, and the economy. Minor tense, punctuation, and collocation lapses slightly reduce polish. Prioritise a final edit for grammatical consistency and sharper phrasing in the few less precise claims.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both questions are answered directly with well-developed explanations of multiple causes and varied effects on individuals and society.
Refine the few broad claims, particularly about social integration, by adding more precise qualification or support.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response is logically sequenced, effectively paragraphled, and cohesive without excessive or mechanical linking.
Make the transition from positive to negative effects slightly more explicit to sharpen the overall argumentative progression.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide, flexible, and generally precise, with natural topic-specific language and only occasional imprecise collocation.
Replace less natural phrases such as “government infrastructures” and refine vague wording such as “an indicator that people are travelling.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled accurately, with only minor tense and punctuation lapses that do not impede meaning.
Check tense consistency in the introduction and avoid comma splices when listing several consequences in one sentence.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
In some cities, the numbers of tourists seem to be overwhelming. Why is this happening? What are the effects of this on individuals and society?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.