Tourism: Advantages and Disadvantages — Band 8 Model Answer

Tourism is a paradoxical industry: it is motivated by the desire to experience places that are different, authentic and unspoiled, while systematically threatening the very qualities that generate that desire.Examiner noteParadox as an analytical frame — immediately sets a sophisticated intellectual tone. Band 8 TA and LR. Understanding this tension is essential to designing policies that capture tourism's benefits without surrendering to its pathologies.

The economic case is genuinely strong and often underappreciated by critics who focus on cultural and environmental costs.Examiner notePrecise critique of the opposing view's analytical narrowness — Band 8 TA. In economies without significant natural resources or manufacturing capacity, tourism is often the most accessible route to foreign exchange and formal employment. The revenues from well-managed wildlife tourism in countries such as Rwanda and Botswana have funded conservation programmes that have demonstrably reversed species declineExaminer notePrecise, specific claim — Band 8 TA. .

The costs are real, but heterogeneous in their distributionExaminer notePrecise qualifier — "heterogeneous" is more accurate than just "different". Band 8 LR. . In mass-market beach destinations, commodification and environmental degradation are nearly inevitable absent regulatory interventionExaminer noteComplex conditional statement — Band 8 GRA. . In cultural heritage sites, overtourism has reached the point where the fabric of the places themselves is being physically degraded by visitor volume — Venice, Dubrovnik and Angkor Wat being the most cited examples.

The policy implication is a move from volume-maximising to value-optimising tourism strategiesExaminer notePrecise distinction using parallel nominalisation. Band 8 LR. : higher entry prices, caps on visitor numbers, strict zoning of sensitive ecosystemsExaminer notePrecise policy language. , and mechanisms that channel revenue directly to communities hosting the tourism rather than to international hotel chains. Tourism's future as a net positive depends entirely on the quality of its governance.