esl travel and tourism lesson plans

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Travel & Holidays ESL Games, Worksheets | ESL Travel Activities

If you need some fresh, new ideas for the ESL travel and holiday unit that you can find in most textbooks, then you’re in the right place. We’ll share our top ideas for games and activities, along with travel vocabulary, worksheets and lesson plans. Let’s get to the best ESL holiday activities.

ESL holiday and travel-themed activities

Let’s get into everything you need to know for an ESL holiday lesson. Keep on reading!

ESL Travel and Holiday Activities

Here are the top ESL travel activities that you may want to try out with your students.

#1: Plan a Trip

Have your students plan a dream vacation in English! Instead of researching in their first language, use Google in English. In order to practice writing, keep notes only in English. Here’s an example of how you might plan your trip using English. You can have your students add as little, or as much detail as you’d like. However, the point of the activity is to practice writing in point form which is useful when writing outlines for tests or essays.

Day 1: Monday, January 1

Fly Seoul (3pm) —-> Vancouver (7am) Check in Hotel ABC, 123 Avenue Rest, relax

Day 2: Tuesday, January 2

Stay Hotel ABC Tour Stanley Park Eat Pub XYZ dinner

Day 3: Wednesday, January 3

Check out Hotel ABC Rent car Budget 123 Drive Whistler Rent skis shop ABC Go Skiing Lunch ski lodge Check in Hotel ABC Whistler Bed early

Procedure for one of my favourite ESL travel activities:

• Give students time to do some Internet research about a place they want to go. It’s helpful to specify the number of days. I generally make a rule that they must do this research in English. Suggest some helpful websites where they might like to start (Trip Advisor, Air BnB, etc.).
• Students can make a day-by-day itinerary of what they’re trip is going to look like.
• They can share about their trip with the class or turn it in for a graded assignment.

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 78 Pages - 03/22/2021 (Publication Date)

#2: A-Z Alphabet Game

If you know that your students already know a fair bit about holiday and travel, you may want to try this quick warm-up game. Or, you could consider using it as a review game at the end of a class.

The way it works is that students, in pairs or small groups write down the alphabet on a piece of paper. Then, they have to think of one travel related word for each letter. It doesn’t have to be done in order. For example:

P: Passport

The winner is the team with the most completed letters at the end of the allotted time. Do you want to find out more? Check this out: A-Z Alphabet Game ESL .

#3: Travel Word Association

This is nice ESL activity to do if you know that your students have studied about travel and holidays before. They can shout out vocabulary words related to this and you can make a mind map or sorts on the board. Group similar things together. For example, articles of clothing.

Find out more about this quick ESL warmer right here: ESL Vocabulary Word Association.

• 146 Pages - 06/18/2020 (Publication Date)

#4: Postcards ESOL Travel Activity

If you can get your hands on some cheap postcards or have some laying around your house or teacher’s office, try out this fun writing activity. It may just be the novelty factor, but students seem to love it. This activity is ideal for working on common greetings, the past tense (more ideas here: ESL past tense games ), and using descriptive words, as well as using synonyms to avoid repetition.

Distribute the postcards to the students. You can do one per student, or put the students into pairs. They have to look at the picture on the front of the postcard and imagine that they went on this vacation. Then, they can write about their trip to a friend or family member.

Next, the students trade postcards with another student or group. After reading them, they can write a response back of at least a few sentences. Finally, you may want to display them around the class as they’re colourful and fun and other students may enjoy reading them! Have some fun with this ESOL travel activity.

• Give each student or pair a postcard. They look at the picture and imagine what they did on that vacation, and then pretend that they’re writing to a friend or family member.
•  Exchange postcards and another student or group have to write a response to what they read.
• Display the postcards around your classroom (optional).

#5: Travel or Holiday Videos

I’m ALL about using videos with my ESL/EFL students. They’re fun, engaging and a nice way to grab student’s attention and introduce a topic. Of course, you can base an entire class around one too if you design the activities well.

If you want to find out more about using them in your classes and some activities and games to do with them, you’ll want to check this out: Using Videos for Teaching English .

#6: Dictogloss ESOL Travel Activity

This is a challenging activity that works on listening and writing skills. Find a short story related to holiday or travel. It could even be a description of your own vacation that you took recently.

Then, you read out the story to your students in a way that is a bit challenging for them to catch every word. Students have to take notes and then try to reconstruct what they heard based on their notes in small groups. You can read it again so that students have a chance to make some additions or corrections. Finally, students compare their version with the original.

Do you want to try it out with your students? You can learn more about one of the best ESL travel activities here: ESL Dictogloss Activity .

#7: Holidays ESL Lesson Plan

It’s easy to plan an ESL lesson about any topic, including holidays. Check out this video for the steps to follow:

#8: Yes/No Questions and Answers

If you think about it, holidays and travel lend themselves to a ton of yes/no questions. For example:

• Did you fly or drive?
• Did you eat some delicious things?
• Was the food good?
• Did you have nice weather?

If you want to see some activities or games to work on these kinds of questions, you’ll want to check this out: Yes/No Activities and Games.

• 279 Pages - 07/12/2020 (Publication Date)

#9: ESL Food Activities and Games

I’m not sure if it’s the same for you, but when I travel, it’s ALL about the food. I want to try all the delicious things where I’m staying! The good news is that I have a ton of fun, interactive games and activities for food. You can easily adapt most of them to focus on holidays.

You can find out more details here: ESL Food Activities.

#10: ESL Surveys

I love to use surveys in my classes because they lend themselves to just about any topic. In the case of travel, they’re ideal for working on the present perfect and simple past together.

For example:

Have you ever travelled to another country?

Where did you go?

If you want to know more about how to design and use surveys in your classes for an ESL travel lesson, then you’ll want to check this out: Surveys for ESL Students.

ESL Travel Games and Activities

I also love to use ESL surveys to get students to express an opinion in English.

#11: Present Perfect Activities Related to Travel

The present perfect is often used to talk about vacations, travel and holidays. For example:

• Have you ever been to another country?
• Have you travelled to ______ before?

In order to incorporate this grammatical construction into some of your lesson, you’ll want to check this out: Present Perfect ESL Activities.

#12: Brochure Scanning

This is an excellent travel activity! You’ll have to get your hands on some travel brochures first. The way it works is that students get tons of practice with a reading sub-skill (scanning) because they have to look quickly through the brochures to find specific bits of information. For example, cost or number or days.

Do you want to try out this reading activity? You can find out all the details here: Brochure Scanning Reading Activity for ESL .

#13: Odd One Out ESL Warmer

This is a quick English warm-up activity that you can try out with your students. The way it works is that you write words, in groups of 4 on the board. 3 are similar and 1 is the odd one out. Students have to choose this one and say why it doesn’t fit. For example:

Bathing suit, sunglasses, boots, flip-flops

Answers: Boots because it’s not for a beach vacation. I accept many different answers as long as students support it well.

You can learn more about this ESL warm-up here: Odd One Out for ESL .

• 87 Pages - 10/24/2019 (Publication Date)

#14: Would you Rather? 

I’m sure you’ve done this before with friends. You have to choose between two negative things, or two positive things. For example, how you want to die, or what you want to eat. In this case, students could choose between two types of vacation. For example:

Would you rather have a beach or forest vacation?

Would you rather stay in a big hotel, or an AirBNB?

Learn more about this nice activity for an ESL travel lesson here: ESL Would You Rather?

• 110 Pages - 06/22/2021 (Publication Date)

#15: Task Based Activity: Dream Vacation

I love to incorporate this style of teaching into my holiday lessons. It allows students more freedom to choose what they want to learn about and also builds opportunities for some serious teamwork.

In this case, I’ll have students work in groups of 2-3 to plan a dream vacation. They can do some research to find out all the details including how to get there, food, budget, where to stay, etc. Then, they either have to write a report and hand it in to me and/or do a short presentation to the class.

Need some more ideas for this style of a lesson? Check this out: Task-Based Learning .

#16: Travel Themed Charades

I love to play charades with my students. The way it works is that you can think of some travel-related phrases. For example:

• Flying on a plane
• Sleeping on a bus
• Eating noodles
• Buying souvenirs

Then, students have to act this out and their teammates have to guess what the phrase is. More details here: ESL Charades.

#17: Travel Journal

Encourage students to keep a travel journal for a fictional trip. They can describe their experiences, sights, and sounds, using new vocabulary.

Travel and Holidays ESL

#18: Eliciting in an ESL Travel Lesson

Unless your students are absolute beginners, then it’s likely that they already know a good amount of travel and holiday vocabulary. That’s often why I like to start off my ESL traveling lesson by using some eliciting techniques. There are two main reasons for this.

The first reason is that it’s possible to find out what the students already know about this topic to avoid wasting class time covering these things. The second is that it helps students activate their prior knowledge about travel/holidays to make the new things they learn more memorable. Learn how to do this tactic for an ESL holiday lesson here:

ESL Eliciting Advice .

#19: Travel Listening Lesson

A nice way to talk about any topic is through a listening lesson. In this case, find a conversation between two people talking about an upcoming vacation plan. Or, someone talking about a favourite vacation from the past (it could even be you). Then, design an entire listening lesson around that. Find out how here:

#20: Idiom ESL Traveling Activity

There are lots of idioms related to holidays, travel and transportation. Here are just a few of them:

• All hands on deck
• To send flying
• Bump in the road
• Off the rails
• Train wreck
• Asleep at the wheel
• Fall off the wagon
• Hit the road

One of the best ways to make these idioms super memorable is to do this fun activity. Afterwards, your students will never forget! Learn more about this ESL activity:

Idiom Activity for Language Learners .

#21: Concentration ESL Traveling Vocabulary

One of the best ways to review new words during an ESL holiday or travel lesson is to play this memory game. Depending on the level of the students, make some matching pairs of cards with the following:

• Word/picture
• Word/definition
• Word/clue about the word

Then in small groups, students play the game to find the matches. Find out all the details about how to set it up and play:

ESL Concentration Game .

#22: Speaking Fluency Activity

To use this activity with a unit on holidays or travel, have students talk about a past, or upcoming vacation.

#23: Me Too!

Students have to make a true statement about themselves related to holidays and travelling. For example:

• I’ve been to Japan.
• I hate the beach.
• My family goes on a big vacation every summer.

If other students can agree, they stand up and say, “Me too!”

#24: Labour Day Guessing Game

#25: Holiday Interviews

Pair students and have them interview each other about their favorite holidays. They can then present their partner’s holiday to the class.

#26: Travel Bingo

Create bingo cards with images or words related to travel and holidays. Students mark off the squares as they learn new vocabulary.

#27: Travel-Themed Role-Plays

Set up role-plays where students act as travelers, airport staff, or hotel receptionists. This helps them practice common travel dialogues.

#28: Travel Vocabulary Pictionary

Play Pictionary using travel-related words. Students take turns drawing and guessing the vocabulary words.

#29: Travel Storytelling

Ask students to create and share short stories about a memorable travel experience they’ve had or wish to have in the future.

#30: Travel Debate

Have students debate the pros and cons of traveling. This encourages critical thinking and speaking skills.

Travel and Holiday Vocabulary

Here are some of the most common vocabulary words that you may want to teach your students related to traveling for an ESL holiday lesson.

• bathing suit
• boarding pass
• vaccination
• The months of the year in English

Do you have any ESL travelling vocabulary that you’d like us to add to the list? Leave a comment and let us know!

Travel Worksheets and Lesson Plans for ESL

If you’re looking for some worksheets or lesson plans related to holidays and travel, then you’ll want to check out some of our top resource recommendations:

ESOL Courses

ISL Collective

Lingua House

ESL Travel Vocabulary Worksheets

If you want students to get some practice with ESL travel vocab, here are a few recommendations:

English Club

Did you Like these Travel Games for ESL?

• 68 Pages - 11/12/2019 (Publication Date)

Yes? Thought so. Then you’re going to love this book: The Emergency English Teacher: No-Textbook, No-Prep, No-Materials ESL Activities.

If you’re always in need of last-minute activities and games for your classes, then this book is exactly what you might need. It’s English teaching made easy in a serious way.

You can get the book in digital or print formats. Take the e-version with you to your favourite coffee shop for lesson planning on the go. Or, keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office to use as a handy reference guide. But the best idea is to have it with you at all times for those English teaching emergencies.

Do you want to find out more? Head on over to Amazon to pick up your copy today:

FAQs about ESL Travel Lessons

There are a number of common questions that people have about teaching this unit. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

What is the purpose of teaching the travel and holiday unit to English learners?

The purpose is to help English learners develop vocabulary, grammar, and conversational skills related to travel and holidays.

What topics can be covered within the travel and holiday unit?

Topics can include modes of transportation, booking accommodations, tourist attractions, holiday activities, travel phrases, and cultural aspects of different destinations.

How can I introduce vocabulary related to travel and holidays?

You can introduce vocabulary through visual aids, realia (actual objects), flashcards, and interactive activities such as matching games or vocabulary quizzes.

What grammar structures can be taught in the travel and holiday unit?

Grammar structures such as present simple for schedules and timetables, past simple for recounting travel experiences, future tenses for making travel plans, and modal verbs for expressing preferences or asking for permission can be taught.

What speaking activities can be used to practice travel and holiday-related topics?

Role-plays, group discussions about dream destinations, travel itineraries, or describing holiday experiences are effective speaking activities. Additionally, pair work activities like “Find Someone Who” or “Guess the Destination” can engage learners in conversation.

ESL Travel Activities and Games: Join the Conversation

What are your thoughts about these Holiday ESL activities? Do you have another one that you’d like to recommend to us? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other busy English teachers, like yourself find this useful resource for ESOL travel lessons.

ESL Travel Lesson

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About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 60 books for English teachers and English learners, including Business English Vocabulary Builder and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

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Travel ESL Lesson Plans

•   A2 Pre-Intermediate
•   B1 Intermediate
•   B2 Upper Intermediate
•   C1 Advanced
•   C2 Proficiency

Lesson times:

•   30 min
•   45 min
•   60 min
•   75 min
•   90 min

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•   Free
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ESL Travel Lesson Plans

If you are looking for an ESL lesson plan on transportation and travel, look no more. You’re in the right place.  

The seven summits

This lesson plan is created for students at the Upper-Intermediate level,…

Why we travel

This Upper Intermediate lesson plan focuses on expanding travel vocabulary and…

Check out Vienna!

This A2 ESL lesson plan aims to enhance students’ understanding of…

How safe is flying?

This C1 lesson plan focuses on expanding aviation vocabulary …

The geography of small talk

In this Intermediate lesson plan, students will engage in discussions about the nuances…

Chillin’ in Svalbard

In this Upper-Intermediate lesson plan, students will learn about must vs. have to.  They will…

If you’re going to San Francisco…

In this Advanced ESL lesson, the students will learn about the culture of…

Paragliding to work

In this Intermediate lesson plan, students will talk about the most popular ways…

Exactly where are we now?

In this C2 lesson plan, students will practice vocabulary about travel and international borders. They…

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Here you can find ESL lesson plans on transportation and travel for all difficulty levels, both free and premium.

Our offer – Travel English

We are offering ESL lesson plans for you to use during lessons with your students. Lessons are currently available at A2 and  B1 levels , B2, C1 and C2. The duration of each lesson is between 30 and 90 minutes, depending on the plan you choose . This means that you can choose a lesson that suits your students’ level as well as your desired lesson length. The plans are designed to make your job as easy as possible and your teaching as effective as possible. Tired of “forcing” your students to speak? Try our lessons, they guarantee all kinds of discussions between students on topics they actually enjoy, since everyone travels sometimes.

Learn travel vocabulary

Our lesson plans focus on travelling, which gives your students a chance to learn language skills that they will most likely use in their lives. This can also make the lessons interesting – the students can share their experiences with travelling, stories about their travels, share their views on different countries, different cultures and various tourist attractions that they have seen. Lessons include current events, such as traveling during the pandemic, all kinds of situations that may occur at the airport, types of luggage you may bring and much more.

Lessons consist of content that should provoke discussion and prevent students from answering with a simple “yes” or “no”. This will help increase student confidence and also make the teacher’s job easier.

What else to expect

All our ESL Travel lesson plans comprise reading comprehensions, entertaining and inspirational videos, grammar rules and exercises, as well as various forms of discussion related to the topic.

Each week you can expect a new lesson to become available.

Currently we have lessons on travel related topics, such as:

• travelling abroad,
• travelling by planes,
• types of luggage,
• different types of travels and vacations,
• tourist attraction and different tourist destinations,
• life-on-the-road experience.

Our lessons in a few words

You can browse through our lessons to find the ones that suit your needs best. There is an overview for each lesson, so you know exactly what kind of vocabulary you will be teaching and what methods you will use.

Lessons include warm up discussions, videos for your students to watch, reading sections and grammar exercises. All of these elements add up to a complete lesson plan that will ensure your students go home with valuable new skills.

Travel destinations

Level B1 / B2

Topic Lifestyle

Type General English

Lesson plan overview

This intermediate lesson plan is dedicated to the topic of travelling and travel destinations . It is packed with useful vocabulary and speaking activities and is sure to get your students talking! You can combine this lesson with “Phrasal verbs: travel” , “idioms: holidays”, “Dark tourism”, “ Accessible tourism “, “ Unusual hotels “, “ Winter festivals “, “ Solar eclipses and other natural phenomena “,  and “ Tourist traps ”

Speaking: the lesson starts with a few conversation questions about travelling, which students dicuss in pairs or small groups.

Vocabulary: The next few activities introduce useful vocabulary. First, students learn a few advanced adjectives and collocations used to describe places ( rich history, breathtaking views, bustling city) . There are photos provided to make it easier to complete the activity. Next, students take a look at a few photos of different typical holiday activities ( sightseeing, scuba diving, chilling out, hiking etc. ) and they match the activities to the definitions given. To practise the target vocabulary, students complete a gap-fill exercise. Then students give examples of different places that correspond to the descriptions given (e.g. a place where you are expected to haggle).

Functional language: Students learn phrases that are used when evaluating our experiences ( e.g. “I had a blast”, “it sucked”, “It didn’t live up to my expectations”). Students need to place each phrase on a line depending on whether it is positive or negative. Then they practise asking each other about different experiences and responding with a phrase they have just learned.

Video: Students watch a promotional video: “3 incredible places to visit in 2022” . First, then match a few characteristics given to one of the 3 locations and then they watch the video to check their answers. The second task is a gap fill exercise, introducing 7 travel phrasal verbs. After completing the activity, students match the phrasal verbs to their definitions. The listening part of the lesson concludes with a short discussion about the places shown in the video.

Speaking: The last activity is a speaking activity: Students are asked to create a promotional campaign for their town/city, similar to what they watched. They are encouraged to use and practise the vocabulary from this lesson.

The printable conversation cards could be used for additional speaking practise either in the same class or in the next class, to revise the target vocabulary or to replace an activity from the worksheet. This lesson works well in combination with the lesson plans “ Should you take a gap year ” (FREE) as well as  “ Idioms: the summer “.

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Teacher’s lesson plan

Student’s worksheet

Student’s interactive PDF

Conversation cards PDF

Pre-class activities

All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.

The pre-class activities are optional : if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:

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• Teaching secondary
• Lesson plans
• Secondary lesson plans - Intermediate B1

Round-the-world travellers

This lesson offers a variety of activities based on British round-the-world travellers; a cyclist, a running granny and a teenage sailor.

Students will firstly review country names, and then there is an activity to pre-teach vocabulary for a jigsaw reading task, where students will explain their texts to each other. There follows a role play in which students play the part of a traveller or a journalist, and this is followed by a task where students compare ideas on advice to world travellers. Finally there is a more open discussion task about young people, travel and world records.

Aims: • To learn vocabulary related to travel and adventure • To develop reading skills • To practise speaking skills Age group: 12- adult

Level: B1 / B2

Time: 60 minutes

Materials: Around-the-world travellers student worksheet, jigsaw reading texts, and lesson plan

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All the materials on these pages are free and available for you to download and copy for educational use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place these materials on any other web site without written permission from the BBC and British Council. If you have any questions about the use of these materials, please e-mail [email protected]  

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Breaking News English Lesson on Tourism

Home     |     help this site, dutch towns tell tourists how to behave    (14th april, 2017).

• 26-page lesson  (40 exercises)
• 2-page MINI lesson
• North American & British English
• 20 questions
• Listen & spell
• 4-speed reading
• Text jumble
• The / An / A
• Prepositions
• Missing letters
• Initals only
• Missing words

The Reading / Listening - Tourism - Level 6

It's great being a tourist and leisurely wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites, but is it such a thrill for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local tour companies to create rules of conduct for tourists. The rules include not photographing residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens and not dropping litter. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists is expected to rise by 50 per cent in the next decade.

Old Holland is an idyllic area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone age. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved, traditional wooden houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an open-air museum. He said: "I talked to one resident who opened his curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if it is real wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest nuisance.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

     Tourism - Level 4   or  Tourism - Level 5

• http://www. dutchnews.nl /news/archives/2017/03/tourists-told-to-behave-in-old-holland-as-popularity-surges/
• http://www. bbc.com /news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-39281245
• http://www. parool.nl /amsterdam/gedragsregels-moeten-overlast-in-old-holland-tegengaan~a4474122/

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

"Much has been said and written on the utility of newspapers; but one principal advantage which might be derived from these publications has been neglected; we mean that of reading them in schools." The Portland Eastern Herald (June 8, 1795)

"News is history in its first and best form, its vivid and fascinating form, and...history is the pale and tranquil reflection of it." Mark Twain, in his autobiography (1906)

"Current events provide authentic learning experiences for students at all grade levels.... In studying current events, students are required to use a range of cognitive, affective, critical thinking and research skills." Haas, M. and Laughlin, M. (2000) Teaching Current Events: It's Status in Social Studies Today.

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--> 1. TOURISM: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about tourism. Change partners often and share your findings. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?        leisurely / old towns / villages / thrill / tour guides / tourists / litter / popularity /        idyllic / windmills / preserved / traditional / museum / photographers / nuisance Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently. 3. RULES: Students A strongly believe there should be strict rules for tourists when they visit places; Students B strongly believe otherwise.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations. 4. CODE OF CONDUCT: Make some rules for tourists for these things? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.   Rules Why? Clothes     Groups     Photos     Food     Local people     Souvenirs     MY e-BOOK See a sample 5. VISITOR: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "visitor". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. 6. SITES: Rank these with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings. The Amazon Machu Picchu Masai Mara Mount Fuji The Pyramids The Statue of Liberty The Great Wall of China Sydney Opera House   Before reading / listening 1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F). The article said receiving tourists is a thrill for local people.      T / F 'Old Holland' is a part of central Amsterdam.      T / F New rules for tourists say there is to be no photography in villages.      T / F The number of tourists may increase by 50% in the next 10 years.      T / F 'Old Holland' does not fit people's idea of life in Holland in the past.      T / F A resident said one village was like an open-air museum.     T / F One resident opened his curtains to find 9 photographers outside.      T / F A resident said busloads of tourists were the most annoying thing.      T / F 2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article. leisurely thrill disturbing permission booming idyllic preserved resident real nuisance picturesque annoyance relaxed mushrooming local interrupting authentic excitement maintained say-so 3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.) leisurely wandering tour guides with megaphones deal with the growing popularity the number of tourists is expected to in the next an idyllic life from a slower, like an open- amateur busloads of tourists were the biggest nuisance rise by 50 per cent area bygone age around old towns photographers disturbing their peace decade air museum of the region Gap fill Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below. conduct litter leisurely decade enough permission thrill popularity

It's great being a tourist and (1) ____________ wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites, but is it such a (2) ____________ for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had (3) ____________ of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local tour companies to create rules of (4) ____________ for tourists. The rules include not photographing residents without (5) ____________, not strolling into their gardens and not dropping (6) ____________. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing (7) ____________ of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists is expected to rise by 50 percent in the next (8) ____________.

air age real nuisance preserved pleasant idyllic resident

Old Holland is an (9) ____________ area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone (10) ____________. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully (11) ____________, traditional wooden houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an open- (12) ____________ museum. He said: "I talked to one (13) ____________ who opened his curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if it is (14) ____________ wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not (15) ____________, of course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest (16) ____________.

Listening — Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)  enough of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with megaphones ______      a.  disturbing their piece      b.  disturbing there peace      c.  disturb in their peace      d.  disturbing their peace

2)  They have got together with local tour companies to create ______      a.  rules off conned duck      b.  rules of contract      c.  rules of conduct      d.  rules off conduit

3) photographing residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens and ______      a.  not drooping litter      b.  not dropping litter      c.  not dropping letter      d.  not drooping letter

4)  The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity ______      a.  of the region      b.  of the regional      c.  of the regions      d.  of the legion

5)  the number of tourists is expected to rise by 50 per cent in ______      a.  the next decades      b.  a next decadence      c.  the next decade      d.  the next decadent

6)  matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, ______      a.  bygone age      b.  be gone age      c.  bye gone age      d.  beginning age

7)  told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an ______      a.  open-airy museum      b.  open-air museum      c.  open-aired museum      d.  open-airs museum

8) The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if ______      a.  it is real wood      b.  it is real wooden      c.  it is real woods      d.  it is real woody

9)  If you are the resident of that house, that ______      a.  is not pleasing      b.  is not pleasantry      c.  is not pheasant      d.  is not pleasant

10)  He said the busloads of tourists were the ______      a.  biggest nuance      b.  biggest nonsense      c.  biggest nuisance      d.  biggest nascence

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

It's great (1) ___________________ and leisurely wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites, (2) ___________________ thrill for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing (3) ___________________ guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local tour companies to create (4) ___________________ tourists. The rules include not photographing residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens (5) ___________________ litter. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists (6) ___________________ rise by 50 percent in the next decade.

Old Holland (7) ___________________ area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone age. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved, (8) ___________________ houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is (9) ___________________ museum. He said: "I talked to one resident (10) ___________________ curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors seem (11) ___________________ the wooden houses to see if it is real wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the (12) ___________________ were the biggest nuisance.

Comprehension questions

• What did the article question tourism might not be for local residents?
• What do tour guides have that disturb locals' peace?
• What do tourists need permission to take photos of under the new rules?
• What did the article say was booming?
• By when is the number of tourists expected to rise by 50%?
• What kind of area did the article say Old Holland was?
• What are the houses made from that the locals live in?
• How many photographers did a resident find outside his window?
• What do some tourists knock on?
• What did a resident say was the biggest nuisance?

Multiple choice quiz

1) What did the article question tourism might not be for local residents? a) profitable b) a thrill c) the dream life d) touristy

2) What do tour guides have that disturb locals' peace? a) giant loud speakers b) mobile phones c) fights d) megaphones

3) What do tourists need permission to take photos of under the new rules? a) the inside of churches b) the houses c) the local residents d) windmills

4) What did the article say was booming? a) tourism b) the voices of tour guides c) a 12th-century cannon d) fireworks

5) By when is the number of tourists expected to rise by 50%? a) 2050 b) in the next decade c) 2020 d) the end of next year

6) What kind of area did the article say Old Holland was? a) idyllic b) age c) matchless d) slow

7) What are the houses made from that the locals live in? a) steel b) brick c) wood d) rocks

8) How many photographers did a resident find outside his window? a) 9 b) 8 c) 7 d) 6

9) What do some tourists knock on? a) trees b) windows c) buses d) the wooden houses

10) What did a resident say was the biggest nuisance? a) tourists breaking flowers b) rush hour c) busloads of tourists d) litter

Role A — The Pyramids

You think The Pyramids is the world's best site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their site is not as good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): the Statue of Liberty, the Amazon or Mount Fuji.

Role B — The Statue of Liberty

You think the Statue of Liberty is the world's best site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their site is not as good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): The Pyramids, the Amazon or Mount Fuji.

Role C — The Amazon

You think the Amazon is the world's best site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their site is not as good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): the Statue of Liberty, The Pyramids or Mount Fuji.

Role D — Mount Fuji

You think Mount Fuji is the world's best site. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their site is not as good. Also, tell the others which is the least interesting of these (and why): the Statue of Liberty, the Amazon or The Pyramids.

After reading / listening

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words...

'code' ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ and 'conduct' . ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.

• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

area traditional open camera real biggest great outside peace include attempt next

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion - Dutch towns tell tourists how to behave

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

• What did you think when you read the headline?
• What springs to mind when you hear the word 'tourism'?
• What kind of tourist are you?
• What kind of tourism is there in your town?
• What responsibilities do tourists have?
• What are the bad things about tourism?
• Why is tourism such a big industry?
• What rules for tourists would you add?
• What should happen to tourists who break these rules?
• What benefits do tourists bring to a town or area?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

• Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
• What do you think of when you hear the word 'tourist'?
• What do you think about what you read?
• What kind of bad behaviour can tourists have?
• Should people have culture lessons before going to other countries?
• What image do people from your country have overseas?
• Do you like being a tourist?
• Do you prefer solo travel or being part of a tour group?
• Would you be a good tour guide? Why?
• What questions would you like to ask the villagers?

Discussion — Write your own questions

(a) ________________ (b) ________________ (c) ________________ (d) ________________ (e) ________________

(f) ________________ (g) ________________ (h) ________________ (i) ________________ (j) ________________

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

It's great being a tourist and (1) ______ wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites, but is it such a (2) ______ for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing around and (3) ______ tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local tour companies to create rules of conduct for tourists. The rules include not (4) ______ residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens and not dropping (5) ______. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists is expected to (6) ______ by 50 percent in the next decade.

Old Holland is an (7) ______ area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone (8) ______. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved, traditional wooden houses. Local resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like an open-(9) ______ museum. He said: "I talked to one resident who opened his curtains in (10) ______ morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to (11) ______ if it is real wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest (12) ______.

Which of these words go in the above text?

• (a)     leisurely     (b)     leisure     (c)     leisured     (d)     leisureliness    
• (a)     trill     (b)     till     (c)     thrill     (d)     thriller    
• (a)     have     (b)     by     (c)     of     (d)     to    
• (a)     photographed     (b)     photo     (c)     photograph     (d)     photographing    
• (a)     litter     (b)     kittens     (c)     mittens     (d)     smitten    
• (a)     risen     (b)     rise     (c)     arise     (d)     raise    
• (a)     metalic     (b)     alcoholic     (c)     acrylic     (d)     idyllic    
• (a)     old     (b)     age     (c)     history     (d)     before    
• (a)     oxygen     (b)     wind     (c)     air     (d)     breeze    
• (a)     a     (b)     that     (c)     one     (d)     the    
• (a)     watch     (b)     look     (c)     view     (d)     see    
• (a)     nuance     (b)     nuisance     (c)     nascence     (d)     nonsense

Paragraph 1

• llueyisre wandering around old towns
• the local esnretsdi
• tour guides with aengmehsop
• without emssopinri
• the growing popularity of the iergon
• rise by 50 per cent in the next ddeeca

Paragraph 2

• Old Holland is an llydcii area
• beautifully sevperrde , traditional wooden houses
• like an open-air summue
• nine rteaaum photographers
• that is not natelaps
• tourists were the biggest ianucnes

Put the text back together

(    )     thrill for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough

(    )     of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together

(    )     age. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved, traditional wooden houses. Local

(    )     resident Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is like

(    )     seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if it is real wood. If you are the resident of that

(    )     with local tour companies to create rules of conduct for tourists. The rules include not

(    )     house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest nuisance.

(  1   )     It's great being a tourist and leisurely wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites, but is it such a

(    )     litter. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and

(    )     curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers." He added: "The visitors

(    )     the number of tourists is expected to rise by 50 per cent in the next decade.

(    )     photographing residents without permission, not strolling into their gardens and not dropping

(    )     Old Holland is an idyllic area that matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone

(    )     an open-air museum. He said: "I talked to one resident who opened his

Put the words in the right order

• old   and   towns   leisurely   Being   wandering   a   around   tourist   .
• megaphones   their   Tour   with   disturbing   peace   guides   .
• photographing  not  include  rules  The  permission  without  residents  .
• with  the  growing  popularity  of   the  region  An  attempt   to   deal   .  
• 50   by   rise   to   expected   is  tourists   of   number  The  cent  per   .
• preserved  Locals  ,  live   traditional   in  wooden  beautifully  houses   .
• resident   in   who   the   opened   morning   his   One   curtains   .
• nine  the  amateur   camera  photographers  lenses  Looked  of   into   .
• to   the   The   happy   on   houses   seem   knock   wooden   visitors   .
• the   nuisance   of   were   biggest   Busloads   tourists   .

Circle the correct word (20 pairs)

It's great being a tourist and leisurely / leisure wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites, but is it such a thrilling / thrill for the local residents? Villagers living in the area known / knowing as 'Old Holland' outside of Amsterdam have had enough for / of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with / within megaphones disturbing their peace. They have got together with local / locally tour companies to create rules of conduct for tourists. The rules include not photographs / photographing residents without permission / persimmon , not strolling into their gardens and not dropping litter. The new code of conduct is an attempt to deal by / with the growing popularity of the region. Tourism is booming and the number of tourists is expected to raise / rise by 50 percent in the next decade.

Old Holland is an idyllic area that match / matches people's image of Dutch life from a slower, bygone / begin age. There are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved / preservative , traditional wooden houses. Local resident / residence Peter-Jan van Steenbergen told Holland's Het Parool newspaper that the village of Zaanse Schans is similar / like an open-air museum. He said: "I talked to one / once resident who opened his curtains in / on the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers / photographs ." He added: "The visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see / view if it is real wood. If you are the resident of that house, that is not pleasant, of course." He said the busloads of tourists were the biggest nuance / nuisance .

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

Insert the vowels (a, e, i, o, u)

_t's gr__t b__ng _ t__r_st _nd l__s_r_ly w_nd_r_ng _r__nd _ld t_wns _nd v_ll_g_s s___ng th_ s_t_s, b_t _s _t s_ch _ thr_ll f_r th_ l_c_l r_s_d_nts? V_ll_g_rs l_v_ng _n th_ _r__ kn_wn _s '_ld H_ll_nd' __ts_d_ _f _mst_rd_m h_v_ h_d _n__gh _f v_s_t_rs tr__ps_ng _r__nd _nd _f t__r g__d_s w_th m_g_ph_n_s d_st_rb_ng th__r p__c_. Th_y h_v_ g_t t_g_th_r w_th l_c_l t__r c_mp_n__s t_ cr__t_ r_l_s _f c_nd_ct f_r t__r_sts. Th_ r_l_s _ncl_d_ n_t ph_t_gr_ph_ng r_s_d_nts w_th__t p_rm_ss__n, n_t str_ll_ng _nt_ th__r g_rd_ns _nd n_t dr_pp_ng l_tt_r. Th_ n_w c_d_ _f c_nd_ct _s _n _tt_mpt t_ d__l w_th th_ gr_w_ng p_p_l_r_ty _f th_ r_g__n. T__r_sm _s b__m_ng _nd th_ n_mb_r _f t__r_sts _s _xp_ct_d t_ r_s_ by 50 p_rc_nt _n th_ n_xt d_c_d_.

_ld H_ll_nd _s _n _dyll_c _r__ th_t m_tch_s p__pl_'s _m_g_ _f D_tch l_f_ fr_m _ sl_w_r, byg_n_ _g_. Th_r_ _r_ w_ndm_lls _v_rywh_r_ _nd l_c_ls l_v_ _n b___t_f_lly pr_s_rv_d, tr_d_t__n_l w__d_n h__s_s. L_c_l r_s_d_nt P_t_r-J_n v_n St__nb_rg_n t_ld H_ll_nd's H_t P_r__l n_wsp_p_r th_t th_ v_ll_g_ _f Z__ns_ Sch_ns _s l_k_ _n _p_n-__r m_s__m. H_ s__d: "_ t_lk_d t_ _n_ r_s_d_nt wh_ _p_n_d h_s c_rt__ns _n th_ m_rn_ng _nd l__k_d _nt_ th_ c_m_r_ l_ns_s _f n_n_ _m_t__r ph_t_gr_ph_rs." H_ _dd_d: "Th_ v_s_t_rs s__m h_ppy t_ kn_ck _n th_ w__d_n h__s_s t_ s__ _f _t _s r__l w__d. _f y__ _r_ th_ r_s_d_nt _f th_t h__s_, th_t _s n_t pl__s_nt, _f c__rs_." H_ s__d th_ b_sl__ds _f t__r_sts w_r_ th_ b_gg_st n__s_nc_.

Punctuate the text and add capitals

it's great being a tourist and leisurely wandering around old towns and villages seeing the sites but is it such a thrill for the local residents villagers living in the area known as 'old holland' outside of amsterdam have had enough of visitors traipsing around and of tour guides with megaphones disturbing their peace they have got together with local tour companies to create rules of conduct for tourists the rules include not photographing residents without permission not strolling into their gardens and not dropping litter the new code of conduct is an attempt to deal with the growing popularity of the region tourism is booming and the number of tourists is expected to rise by 50 percent in the next decade

old holland is an idyllic area that matches people's image of dutch life from a slower bygone age there are windmills everywhere and locals live in beautifully preserved traditional wooden houses local resident peter-jan van steenbergen told holland's het parool newspaper that the village of zaanse schans is like an open-air museum he said "i talked to one resident who opened his curtains in the morning and looked into the camera lenses of nine amateur photographers" he added "the visitors seem happy to knock on the wooden houses to see if it is real wood if you are the resident of that house that is not pleasant of course" he said the busloads of tourists were the biggest nuisance

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

It'sgreatbeingatouristandleisurelywanderingaroundoldtownsandvill agesseeingthesites,butisitsuchathrillforthelocalresidents?Villagersli vingintheareaknownas'OldHolland'outsideofAmsterdamhavehaden oughofvisitorstraipsingaroundandoftourguideswithmegaphonesdis turbingtheirpeace.Theyhavegottogetherwithlocaltourcompaniestoc reaterulesofconductfortourists.Therulesincludenotphotographingre sidentswithoutpermission,notstrollingintotheirgardensandnotdrop pinglitter.Thenewcodeofconductisanattempttodealwiththegrowing popularityoftheregion.Tourismisboomingandthenumberoftouristsis expectedtoriseby50percentinthenextdecade.OldHollandisanidyllica reathatmatchespeople'simageofDutchlifefromaslower,bygoneage. Therearewindmillseverywhereandlocalsliveinbeautifullypreserved,t raditionalwoodenhouses.LocalresidentPeter-JanvanSteenbergent oldHolland'sHetParoolnewspaperthatthevillageofZaanseSchansislik eanopen-airmuseum.Hesaid:"Italkedtooneresidentwhoopenedhi scurtainsinthemorningandlookedintothecameralensesofnineamate urphotographers."Headded:"Thevisitorsseemhappytoknockonthew oodenhousestoseeifitisrealwood.Ifyouaretheresidentofthathouse,t hatisnotpleasant,ofcourse."Hesaidthebusloadsoftouristswerethebi ggestnuisance.

Free writing

Write about tourism for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Academic writing

What are the pros and cons of tourism for a town? How should tourists behave?

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about 'Old Holland'. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. TOURISM: Make a poster about tourism. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. RULES: Write a magazine article about tourists having to follow the rules of conduct in a town. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on tourism. Ask him/her three questions about it. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to boost tourism in your town. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

• Pre-reading / Post-reading
• Using headlines
• Working with words
• While-reading / While-listening
• Moving from text to speech
• Post-reading / Post-listening
• Discussions
• Using opinions
• Using lists
• Using quotes
• Task-based activities
• Using the central characters in the article
• Using themes from the news

Buy my book

(Please look at page 26 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

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ESL Lesson Plan: Travel Plans

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• Resources for Teachers
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• TESOL Diploma, Trinity College London
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This English lesson plan helps reinforce  vocabulary related to traveling  by asking students to plan trips and excursions based on the profile of different groups of travelers. It is helpful to use local newspapers, especially newspapers that provide local events, to give students ideas of real places to visit. Most large cities have specialty newspapers that focus on local events and attractions available for free throughout the city.

Instructions for Teachers

The lesson begins with students deciding which types of groups are going to take a trip. Based on which group of travelers are going, students then use resources to plan out a short stay in a specific city or area of the country. Of course, you can choose to have students focus on distant locations. If you are teaching English in another country, it's probably best to vary this and focus on traveling abroad to allow the use of English place names.

Lesson Aims: Completing a small group task using the internet and other resources available in English, describing a travel destination and itinerary in detail

Activity: Planning a short trip to a specific location based on different traveler types

Level: Intermediate  

Lesson Plan

As a class, discuss what types of locations, travel plans, etc. might be suitable for these different types of travelers:

• A married couple on a honeymoon
• Two friends who are attending college
• Two business people 

As a class, discuss which resources students can use to make travel plans. There are many travel websites online that offer all the necessary tools for scheduling a trip. If available, use a projector and walk through the process of finding round trip flight tickets and hotels on a travel site. 

Using the worksheet below, break students up into pairs or small groups (maximum of 4) assigning a pair of travelers to each group. Have students come up with detailed plans for each travel group. After each group has finished, have them present their travel plans to the entire class.

Variation: To extend this activity, ask students to create a presentation using PowerPoint or another similar software application. Students should find photos and write up bullet points for each of the activities to include in the presentation . 

Plan a Trip to ___________ for the Following Travel Groups:

Honeymooners

Mary and Tim have just married and are in the mood for a great honeymoon to celebrate their eternal love for each other. Make sure to include lots of romantic options and some excellent meals to mark this happy event.

College Friends

Alan and Jeff are attending college together and are looking to have a wild week of fun and adventure. They love going to clubs and partying hard, but they don't have a lot of money to eat at fine restaurants. 

Cultured Couples

The Andersons and the Smiths are married couples that have been friends for years. Their children are grown up and have their own families. Now, they enjoy traveling together and place a great deal of emphasis on visiting sights of cultural significance. They also love going to concerts and eating fine food. 

Business People

These business people are interested in opening up a new company at your chosen location. They need to find out about the area, meet local business people, and discuss their proposal with local government.

Family with Children

The McCarthur family has three children aged 2, 5, and 10. They love spending time outdoors and have a limited budget for eating out. They aren't interested in entertainment, but the parents like to take the children to important museums to help with their cultural education. 

Peter and Dan

Peter and Dan married a few years ago. They love to explore gay hot spots in cities they travel to, as well as do traditional sight-seeing tours. They are also gourmets who spend up to $500 on good meals, so they'd like to go to at least one top rated restaurant. 

Travel Planning Sheet

Fill in the information to complete the vacation plans.

Dates / Times: Cost:

How many nights?: Cost:

Rental car yes/no? If yes, cost:

Trips / Sightseeing for the day: Cost:

Restaurants / Eating: Where?: Cost:

Evening entertainment: What / Where? Cost:

Add as many days as necessary to your travel planning sheet.

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Topics: How to use the lessons

• 1 Topics: How to use the lessons
• 2 Topics: Business
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• 19 Topics: Travel
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Topics: Travel

By Adrian Tennant

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Students are introduced to the topic of travel in this instalment of Adrian Tennant’s Topics series. The lesson is available at two language levels (Pre-intermediate and Intermediate) and gives students practice in reading, listening and speaking skills, as well as exercises focusing on grammar and vocabulary.

Topics: Travel: Pre-intermediate: Lesson plan

Topics: travel: intermediate +: lesson plan, topics: travel (pre-intermediate), topics: travel (intermediate +).

• everyday vocabulary
• Integrated Skills
• Intermediate
• Lesson Plan / Teacher's Notes
• Mixed Ability
• Pre-Intermediate
• Printable Worksheet
• Up to 60 mins
• Up to 90 mins
• Whole Class

Topics: Business

Topics: Christmas

Topics: crime.

Topics: Easter

Topics: Environment

Topics: Family

Topics: Food

Topics: Health

Topics: Hobbies

Topics: identity, topics: jobs.

Topics: Love

Topics: museums, topics: music, topics: phobias, topics: politics.

Topics: Sport

Topics: Weather

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In this lesson, students will learn the necessary vocabulary for checking in for a flight and navigating airport security.

Theme-based expressions: travel

Head out on  the open road  with Tim Bowen as he introduces some travel-themed expressions.

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Only registered users can comment on this article., more from topics.

Introduce your students to the topic of Easter while they practice reading, listening, and speaking.

Use this jolly instalment of Adrian Tennant’s popular series and get your students into the holiday spirit.

Students are introduced to the topic of museums in this instalment of Adrian Tennant’s Topics series. The lesson is available at two language levels (Pre-intermediate and Intermediate +) and gives students practice in reading, listening and speaking skills, as well as exercises focusing on grammar and vocabulary. 

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ESL Worksheets for Teachers

Check out our selection of worksheets filed under topic: travel and leisure. use the search filters on the left to refine your search..

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Customised lessons

Worksheet type

Intermediate (B1-B2)

The topic of this lesson is ethical travel. Students will listen to a radio programme about "voluntourism" and get the chance to discuss the pros and cons of combining volunteering and tourism. Students will learn level-appropriate language to talk about ethical travel with a focus on adjectives. They will read a blog about things to avoid on holiday if they want to be more ethical when they travel and take part in a roleplay with a travel agent. There is the chance to write a short essay on a topic connected to ethical travel and, in addition to this, students have the real-world task of planning an ethical holiday.

by Richard Moon

Upper-intermediate (B2-C1)

This lesson is based on information from the Visit Greece website. Students will learn about Greek landmarks, geography and history and get some ideas of what to see and do if they visit Greece. Listening and reading skills will also be tested, and students will have the opportunity to prepare a presentation.

by Gillian Smylie

This lesson is based on information from the Visit Mexico website. Students will learn about Mexican landmarks, geography and history and get some ideas of what to see and do if they visit Mexico. Listening and reading skills will also be tested, and students will have the opportunity to prepare a presentation.

This lesson is based on information from the Visit Australia website. Students will learn about Australian landmarks, geography and history and get some ideas of what to see and do if they visit Australia. Exercises will cover vocabulary specific to Australia and some phrasal verbs. Listening and reading skills will also be tested, and students will have the opportunity to prepare a presentation.

This lesson is based on information from the Discover Northern Ireland website. Students will learn about Northern Irish landmarks and history and get some ideas about what to do and see if they visit Northern Ireland. Exercises will test students’ listening and reading skills and students will have the opportunity to give a presentation.

This lesson is based on information from the Wales.com and Visit Wales websites. Students will learn about Welsh landmarks, language and culture, and get some ideas about what to do and see if they visit Wales. Exercises will test students’ listening and reading skills and the language point will give students practice in asking for clarification when they are unsure about something. There is also an opportunity for students to plan their own trip or do some more research into an aspect of Welsh culture.

This lesson is based on information from the English Heritage and Natural England websites. Students will learn factual information about England's, tourism, politics and history. Exercises will test students’ listening and reading skills and the language point will give students practice in asking for information during a trip to England. There is also an opportunity for students to do some research into planning their own trip.

In this lesson, students will learn some practical information about the geography, politics and history of Scotland, and will get some ideas about what to see and do when visiting Scotland. Exercises will test students’ listening and reading skills and the ability to work out vocabulary from context. The grammar point relates to advice and suggestions , and students will get an opportunity to practise making suggestions and giving advice in a role-play exercise. 

Note: this lesson can take 60-90mins.

This lesson is centred around the topic of swimming pools and helps students to describe and compare photographs for work, study, social and exam contexts. The target language includes describing main content, the use of present continuous, the use of the verb look and modals of speculation, and how to organise a spoken description. Students activate the language in a pair work speaking activity and there are two optional extension activities to choose from: a creative writing activity and a caption matching activity.

by Stephanie Hisrchman

This ESP worksheet presents a list of discussion questions designed to encourage hotel managers to talk at length about their profession.

This ESP worksheet presents a list of discussion questions designed to encourage tour operators  and agents to talk at length about their profession.

Pre-intermediate (A2-B1)

Students define some vocabulary related to cars and driving before reading an article about self-driving cars. The language point is making predictions about the future using will , might , may and could , as well as adverbs and likely / unlikely . Students activate the language in a discussion activity about self-driving cars and drones. There is also an optional extension activity about expressions with the word drive .

by Stephanie Hirshman 

Students share experiences of having a day out before listening to a three-way conversation about planning a day out. They are introduced to language for making suggestions ( shall , let’s and how about ), compare how will and be going to are used for making plans and offers, and review the use of will and be going to for predictions. Students plan their own day out in a pair work speaking activity. There is also an optional extension relating to snack foods.

by Stephanie Hirschman  

Students watch a short video about a location app called What3words . They then read an article to find out more about the app. The lesson includes vocabulary development and discussion, as well as a language point about adjective phrases with numbers and a pronunciation game with similar sounding words. There is an optional extension activity which provides extra practice with the vocabulary from the lesson.

by Stephanie Hirschman

Students consider what people do on a gap year and why, before listening to a dialogue about gap year plans. They then compare and contrast the forms for talking about future arrangements, plans or intentions and predictions. The language is activated in a speaking activity where students plan and describe a gap year. There is also an optional extension activity showing how gap year experiences could be described on a CV.

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer

• Writing Skills

Vocabulary - travelling

LESSON OVERVIEW

With this travel worksheet, pre-intermediate students can talk about how travelling changes them and learn some useful vocabulary. They also read a short text , watch a video about dream travel destinations and write an email.

VOCABULARY & READING

The first activity in this travel worksheet is a brainstorming activity in which students discuss if and how travelling can change people. Then, they do a vocabulary task in which they need to move some words (e.g. abroad, foreign, imagination ) from the wrong sentences to the correct ones. After that, students read the article about how travelling changes people. One person from a pair reads the first half of the article, and the other person reads the second half. Next, they share what they learned and discuss if they agree with the ideas mentioned in the article (e.g. travelling makes you trust people more, travelling makes you more creative ).

VIDEO & SPEAKING

The second part of the worksheet begins with a video lead-in activity. Students look at a list of countries and cities and discuss if they have been to those places and what they know about them. Then, they watch the video in which people talk about the places they would like to visit, and put the places from the list in the order they hear them . Before the second viewing, students read five gapped sentences from the video and think what words might be missing. After that, they watch the video and check the words they came up with. The teacher could decide to just play the audio during this activity. Having watched the video, students discuss several questions referring to travelling , e.g. their travel experiences, different cultures, foreign languages. When speaking, they try to use the words from the lesson. The last part of this travel worksheet for pre-intermediate students includes a writing task. Students have to write an email to a friend describing their dream holiday. There are some questions to guide them.

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Nice lesson and nice video – it”s manageable. But not a lesson that can be done easily in just 60 minutes…The writing activity alone takes a quarter of that. Perhaps it’s more a 90 minute class.

Thanks for your comment! We always gather feedback like that and then adapt the expected lesson time if we see that we miscalculated it.

Very interesting lesson

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Tag: tourism

C1/c2 reading & conversation: barcelona anti-tourism march.

Image credit:  Smart Meetings

Article credit: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/29/barcelona-residents-protest-high-rents-fuelled-by-tourism

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This is a lesson plan based around an article from the Guardian newspaper about an anti-tourism march that took place in Barcelona last year. Download the lesson plan, key and power point below:

warmer reading tourism

Barcelona tourism effect article + key

Warmer: Predict text topic from key words

Project the power point and have students try to guess what the text they’re going to read is about by flashing up the picture and the keywords 2 at a time. Students continue predicting until all the key words are visible.

Article: Reading comprehension, vocab focus and discussion

Go through the activities on the hand out, answer key for comprehension questions is at the bottom.

Barcelona marches to curb negative effects of tourism boom

Community groups join forces to protest over soaring level of rents fuelled by a big rise in visitor numbers

Behind banners reading “Barcelona is not for sale” and “We will not be driven out”, some 2,000 people staged an “occupation” of the Rambla, the city’s famed boulevard , on Saturday.

The protest was organised by a coalition of more than 40 resident and community groups from all over the city, not just the neighbourhoods most directly affected by mass tourism.

Visitor numbers have grown exponentially in recent years . In 2016 an estimated 9 million people stayed in hotels and a further 9 million in holiday apartments. In addition, the city received around 12 million day-trippers arriving by car and train or on cruise ships.

Tourists looked on bemused as the banners were unfurled at the top of the Rambla, beside the Canaletes fountain.

“I don’t understand. What do they mean, Barcelona is not for sale?” asked Qais from Kuwait. “It’s not what we were expecting, but I can see their point,” he said when it had been explained to him. He added: “Things are really bad in the Middle East,” which put things in perspective . “Does it mean they don’t want us here?” his wife asked. Birgid from Denmark was less sympathetic. “ Tourism brings in lots of money to the city, doesn’t it? I’m sure it’s changed the city, but that’s life, isn’t it?”

Roger from Wigan, here on his second visit, commented: “I can understand it, the place is very commercial. And if I understand what’s written on some of these placards, they are complaining that tourism is forcing their rents up. I can sympathise with that.”

This was one of the key issues behind the march, as the money to be made from holiday lets is forcing rents up and driving people out of the city .

Christine, an Englishwoman on the march who has lived in Barcelona for more than 20 years, said: “We’ve been renting our flat in the old town for 17 years. In that time I reckon we’ve paid around €150,000 in rent. Now they want to kick us out because they can make more money renting it out to tourists.”

The march coincides with a new law passed by Barcelona city council on Friday that, for the first time, seeks to curb tourism . The special urban plan for tourist accommodation aims to limit the number of beds on offer from hotels and apartments by imposing a moratorium on building new hotels. No new licences will be issued for tourist apartments.

There are currently 75,000 hotel beds in the city and around 100,000 beds in tourist flats, at least half of them unlicensed and illegal. The city is at loggerheads with Airbnb, the principal letting agency. Last year the council fined Airbnb and HomeAway €600,000 each for advertising unlicensed apartments.

Airbnb argues that the overwhelming majority of its clients in the city are people who are letting out rooms as a way of making ends meet during Spain’s prolonged financial crisis.

“ That may be true up to a point , but it masks the real problem, which is speculation,” says Daniel Pardo, a member of the Neighbourhood Assembly for Sustainable Tourism. Yet people are free to visit the city, so what’s to stop them?

“ One thing we could do is stop spending millions on promoting tourism,” says Pardo. “We’re subsidising tourism with public money, by exploiting workers in the service economy and exploiting the infrastructure of the city, which we citizens pay for. Furthermore, tourism is distorting the economy and there is little support for anyone who wants to establish non-tourist enterprises.”

The good-humoured march moved to the seaward end of the Rambla, where one of the organisers read out a manifesto calling for more local shops, more homes, rather than businesses, and control of the pollution caused by private cars and cruise ships. “ It’s a great turnout ,” one of the marchers quipped. “There are more people here than at Trump’s inauguration. The citizens have never been consulted about this, although they’re the ones who suffer the consequences and aren’t enjoying the benefits . [We’re asking for] the debate to be opened to everyone and that we reach some other resolution of the problem, instead of the present one based on continuous growth.”

Comprehension Questions

• Who organised the march?
• How many tourists did Barcelona receive in total last year?
• How did tourists feel about the march?
• What is the main detrimental effect that tourism is having on the city’s residents?
• How has the council responded to the rising number of tourists?
• How does airbnb defend itself?
• What suggestions does Daniel Pardo make?
• The march was very serious and angry true/false

Language Focus

Work with a partner, look at the underlined expressions in the text, what do you think they mean?

Now try to complete the expressions from memory:

• This was one of the k____ issues behind the march,
• The protest was organised by a c____________ of more than 40 resident and community groups.
• Visitor numbers have grown e_______________ in recent years.
• Now they want to k_______ us out because they can make more money renting it o_______ to tourists.”
• The money to be made from h_______ lets is f_______ rents up and d________ people out of the city.
• They are complaining that tourism is forcing their rents up. I can s________ with that.
• The city is at l____________ with Airbnb.
• A new law p_________ by Barcelona city council on Friday that, for the first time, s_________ to c___________ tourism.
• The special urban plan for tourist accommodation a______ to limit the number of beds ____ offer from hotels and apartments by i__________ a m__________ on building new hotels.
• Airbnb argues that the o___________ majority of its clients in the city are people who are l___________ out rooms as a way of m_______ ends m________ during Spain’s prolonged financial crisis.
• “That m_______ be true up to a p________, but it masks the real problem, which is speculation,”
• The citizens have never been c__________ about this, although they’re the ones who s_________ the consequences and aren’t e_________ the b___________.
• “It’s a great t____________,”

Language of opinion

Complete the sentences with one word to make expressions of opinion.

• F_____________ where I stand,
• In my h_____________ opinion,
• As f________ as I’m concerned,
• A_______ I see it,
• I don’t have very s___________ views on the matter but,…
• I t___________ to agree with people who say…
• If you a______ me, I’d say that…
• I’m co___________ that…
• From my p_______ of v__________,
• Speaking from p____________ ex______________,
• I’m a big s________________ of…
• I’m d_______ against…
• I’m a f__________ believer in….

Conversation

• What do you think of the march? Are you in agreement with their message?
• Would you consider protesting on the issue?
• What are the pros and cons of tourism in your city?
• How does tourism affect your neighbourhood?
• What experiences do you have of the downsides of tourism?
• Do you think you have enjoyed the benefits of tourism? In what way?
• Do you think tourism should be curbed in any way? If so, how?

Language Development

Look at the language from the text, in what other contexts could you use it?

• The city’s famed boulevard – what other things could be famed?
• Stage an occupation – what other things can you stage?
• A coalition of resident and community groups – what other coalitions can you think of?
• Visitor numbers have grown exponentially in recent years. – What other things can grow exponentially?
• “Puts things in perspective” – In what other contexts could you use this expression?
• Tourism brings in a lot of money. – What other things bring in money for a government/company?
• “That’s life, isn’t it?” – In what other contexts could you use this expression?
• A new law passed by the council seeks to curb – What other things would the government pass laws to curb?
• Now they want to kick us out – what other things could you be kicked out of?
• The plan aims to limit the number of beds on offer. – What other things could be limited?
• A manifesto calling for more local shops – What other things could a manifesto or a protest call for?
• They’re the ones who are suffering the consequences and not enjoying the benefits ? – What other things could you suffer the consequences or enjoy the benefits of?

Comprehension Questions Key

• Who organised the march? A coalition of residents & community groups
• How many tourists did Barcelona receive in total last year? 9+9+12=30million
• How did tourists feel about the march? Mixed emotions, some understanding, some bemused
• What is the main detrimental effect that tourism is having on the city’s residents? Forcing rents up, driving people out
• How has the council responded to the rising number of tourists? Laws to curb tourism, limits on flats, moratorium on new hotels
• How does airbnb defend itself? Most hosts are just letting out spare rooms
• What suggestions does Daniel Pardo make? Stop subsidising tourism with public money, infrastructure of the city is being exploited by tourism
• The march was very serious and angry true/false. false, march was good-humoured

Ethical Tourism

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed." Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948), Indian anti-colonial activist

• January 10, 2022
• General English

Home » Ethical Tourism

Latest lesson plans

This free ESL lesson plan on ethical tourism has been designed for adults and young adults at an intermediate (B1/B2) to advanced (C1/C2) level and should last around 45 to 60 minutes for one student.

The rise of the ethical consumer has also started to have an effect on the travel industry. It is hard to escape the reality that tourism is one of the major contributing factors of climate change, and therefore, tourists are becoming increasingly conscious of the impact their own actions are having. As well as contributing to environmental problems, tourism also impacts on local communities. But tourism can also benefit these communities, and with ecotourism, your trip could actually help to protect the environment. Ethical tourism allows those who want to see the world and experience new cultures the opportunity to combine what they love with what they care about. In this ESL lesson plan on ethical tourism, students will have the opportunity to discuss and express their opinions on issues such as why ethical tourism has become popular, what it actually means and whether or not it is actually possible..

This lesson plan could also be used with your students to debate these issues for World Tourism Day , which takes place in September. For more lesson plans on international days and important holidays, see the  calendar of world days  to plan your classes for these special occasions.

For advice on how to use this English lesson plan and  other lesson plans  on this site, see the  guide for ESL teachers .

PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES

Reading activity Before the English class, send the following article to the students and ask them to read it while making a list of any new vocabulary or phrases they find (explain any the students don’t understand in the class):

Jetset Times | The Importance Of Ethical Tourism

The article gives a background on what ethical tourism is, along with some advice on how to be an ethical tourist, including supporting the local economy, being wary of volunteering, and avoiding plastic when possible. At the start of the class, hold a brief discussion about what the students thought about the article. What do they think about the issues raised in the article? Do they agree with what was said? Can they think of any ways they might disagree with the content of the article?

Video activity To save time in class for the conversation activities, the English teacher can ask the students to watch the video below and answer the listening questions in Section 3 of the lesson plan at home. There are intermediate listening questions and advanced listening questions so teachers can decide which would be more appropriate for their students. Check the answers in the class.

The video for this class is called “Can eco-tourism help save the ocean?” by The Economist which looks at a couple’s ecotourism project in Indonesia that helps to protect marine life from excessive fishing and illegal poaching.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

The focus in the class is on conversation in order to help improve students’ fluency and confidence when speaking in English as well as boosting their vocabulary.

This lesson opens with a short discussion about the article the students read before the class. Next, the students can give their opinion on the quote at the beginning of the lesson plan – what they think the quote means and if they agree with it. This is followed by an initial discussion on the topic including the environmental impact of tourism, how tourists can act responsibly, and how tourists can provide the most benefit to the local economies of where they visit.

After this, students will learn some vocabulary connected with ethical tourism such as overdevelopment , economic leakage and ecotourism . This vocabulary has been chosen to boost the students’ knowledge of less common vocabulary that could be useful for preparing for English exams like IELTS or TOEFL. The vocabulary is accompanied by a cloze activity and a speaking activity to test the students’ comprehension of these words.

If the students didn’t watch the video before the class, they can watch it after the vocabulary section and answer the listening questions. Before checking the answers, ask the students to give a brief summary of the video and what they thought about the content.

Finally, there is a more in-depth conversation about ethical tourism. In this speaking activity, students will talk about issues such as unethical practices encouraged by tourism, whether travel agents describe trips as ethical just for marketing purposes, and whether we should just stay home if we really wanted to be ethical tourists.

After the class, students will write about their opinion of ethical tourism. This could be a short paragraph or a longer piece of writing depending on what level the student is at. The writing activity is designed to allow students to practise and improve their grammar with the feedback from their teacher. For students who intend to take an international English exam such as IELTS or TOEFL, there is an alternative essay question to practise their essay-writing skills.

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2 thoughts on “Ethical Tourism”

Fabulous, just what I was looking for – many thanks

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Amsterdam plans to ban cruise ships from the city centre - what will it mean for tourists?

A msterdam is taking new steps to fight back against overtourism by launching plans to relocate its passenger cruise terminal to outside of the city centre.

​​By 2035, none of the boats will be able to dock in the iconic capital.

The announcement comes amid plans aiming to almost halve the number of cruise ships allowed to dock at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA).

Currently, the amount permitted is 190, but that’s slated to go down to a maximum of 100 from 2026.

It’s been agreed that Rotterdam in the south will take more than 40 ships not welcome in Amsterdam from 2026.

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Why have Amsterdam’s authorities made this decision?

By 2027, any boats in the Amsterdam terminal will be required to use shore power only to lessen their environmental impact.

“With these measures, the city is implementing the municipal council’s wish to put an end to the cruise terminal in Amsterdam,” a spokesperson for Amsterdam City Council said, “Banning cruise ships is also part of a broad package of measures to limit the growth of tourism and combat nuisance.”

The city’s deputy mayor Hester van Buren added: “Sea cruising is a polluting form of tourism and contributes to crowds and emissions in the city. By limiting sea cruises, requiring shore power and aiming for the cruise terminal [PTA] to move from its current location in 2035, the council is responsibly implementing the council’s proposal to stop sea cruises.”

What will the ban mean for Amsterdam as a tourism hub?

While the plans will no doubt help with improving the environmental conditions in Amsterdam , there are concerns that income generated by tourism will see a sharp drop-off.

It’s thought that, by lessening the number of cruise passengers and shipping companies in the city, museums, restaurants, shops and tour companies might lose out.

Amsterdam’s city council has acknowledged this potential issue.

“For the city this means less income because less tourist tax is collected, and because of a lower dividend payment as a shareholder of the port authority,” a spokesperson says. “The financial consequences of the decision will be included in the next budget memorandum. No consequences of this decision are yet expected in the 2025 budget.”

Currently, cruises bring around €105 million in economic benefits annually to the city and, despite the planned relocation, experts say that’s unlikely to change too much.

Amsterdam receives some 21 million visitors every year - and just one per cent of that number arrive by cruise ship.

Even if passengers aren’t dropped off right in the city centre, they’ll still be able to visit thanks to the Netherlands’ world-class public transport system.