Death by Tourism: Does Tourism Ruin Everything That It Touches?

The ruins of Petra temples in Jordan were discovered in 1810 by a Swiss explorer, and a recent report has just concluded that they are in great danger of being destroyed by a lot of tourists. More than 4,000 tourists a day go through Petra's rocky tombs. They wear away the soft red sandstone to powder and (occasionally!) scratch their names into the rock.

 

It is not just Petra that is under threat of destruction. More than 600 million tourists a year now travel the globe, and vast numbers of them want to visit the world's most treasured sites: the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, the national parks of Kenya.

 

The tourist industry will soon be the largest industry in the world, and it has hardly reached its 50^th birthday. Many places that once were remote are now part of package tours. Will nothing put a stop to the growth of tourism?

A brief history of tourism

The Romans probably started it with their holiday villas in the Bay of Naples. In the 19th century, the education of the rich and privileged was not complete without a Grand Tour of Europe's cultural sites.

Things started to change for ordinary people in 1845 when Thomas Cook, of Leicester, England, organized the first package tour.

 

It is in the last three decades of the 20th century that tourism has really taken off. Tourism has been industrialized: landscapes, cultures, cuisines, and religions are consumer goods displayed in travel brochures.

Tourism today

The effects of tourism since the 1960s have been incredible. Take just a few examples:

· The Mediterranean shores have a resident population of 130 million, but this increases to 230 million each summer because of the tourists. The United Nations projects that visitors to the region could number 760 million by the year 2025.

· In the Alps, the cable cars have climbed ever higher. More and more peaks have been conquered. It is now an old Swiss joke that the government will have to build new mountains because they have wired up all the old ones.

· American national parks have been operating permit systems for years. But even this is not enough for the most popular sites.

· 108 visitors enter Notre Dame in Paris each minute during opening hours. Thirty-five buses wait outside for their passengers and their fumes eat away at the stonework of the cathedral.

· Poor Venice with its unique, exquisite beauty. On one hot, historic day in 1987, the crowds were so great that the city had to be closed to all visitors.

Until recently, we all believed that travel broadened the mind, but now many believe the exact opposite: 'Modern travel narrows the mind'.

Notes: cable car - фунікулер

to wear away – зносити, стирати

to conquer a peak - здолати /взяти вершину

to operate a permit system - мати пропускну систему

to broaden/ to narrow the mind - розширювати /звужувати світогляд

 

Answer the following questions to the text.

1. What is happening to the ruined temples of Petra?

2. When and by whom were the ruins of Petra discovered?

3. What other tourist spots are under the threat of destruction?

4. Who started tourism?

5. What did Grand Tour mean in the 19^th century?

6. Who organized the first package tour?

7. How does tourism develop nowadays?

· speak about the Mediterranean;

· speak about the Alps;

· speak about American national parks;

· speak about Notre Dame in Paris;

· speak about Venice;

8. What is the future of tourism in the author’s opinion?

9. What do you understand by the title of the article?

10. Is the author optimistic or pessimistic about the future of tourism? What do you think about it?

__________

Pre-reading task

Answer the questions.

1. Have you been to the Crimea?

2. Have you visited many tourist spots there?

3. Did you like it there? What did you like in particular?

4. Do you know any Crimean legends?

 

Read the text about the Crimean Peninsula.

Text B

The Crimean Peninsula stretches southward into the Black Sea. The climate here is the mildest in Ukraine. Crowds of people come here to rest in summer and in early autumn. Rest-houses, sanatoria, tourist attractions, delightful surroundings, wonderful beaches along the southern coast, ancient cities famous for their unusual beauty, attract crowds of tourists.

 

It is especially interesting to visit Bakhchisaray, the former capital of the Tatar Khans. The narrow old-fashioned streets, small houses, the Khans' palace and the mosque (Muslim church) are really worth seeing. There is the famous Fountain of Tears in the Khans' palace. A very romantic legend is connected with it.

 

A Slavic girl Maria was captured by the Tatar hordes and brought to the palace. Khan Crym Hyrei fell in love with the girl and was ready to do whatever she wanted, except let her return home. Maria was desperate and died of sorrow and nostalgia.

The Khan was a cruel, brave and proud man, who did not know how to weep. But the suffering was too painful. So he asked an artist to carve a fountain of stone that would always weep for him.

 

The artist had once been taken from his home, too. He knew the Khan very well and, wondering over his feelings, he said, "If you are able to shed tears, then the stone will surely weep". And since then the fountain has been weeping for the beautiful girl, reminding all people of great love and sorrow and things lost in this cruel world.

 

There are some more very special places in the Crimea. They are the famous Swallow's nest, a magnificent castle on the rock in the sea, the Vorontsov palace with an absolutely splendid winter garden containing sculptures of exquisite beauty.

 

One more place should be mentioned here, that is the remnants of the ancient Greek city-colony Khersones, in the suburbs of Sevastopol. It is very quiet there, only the sea beats against the rocks of the cape, as it did hundreds of years ago. Many turbulent events have swept across this place. It is depicted on our One Hryvnia note, because it is connected with one of the most important events in the history of Kyivan Rus. They say that in that church Prince Volodymir the Great married the Greek princess Anna. The unity of the two powerful countries of those days was ensured.

 

The harbours of the Crimea are noted not only for their attractive sights, but they are very important for our country. The three Sevastopol bays house military and sometimes cargo ships. There are bays all along the coast with rocks sticking out of the sea. The water is clear here, and when the sea is calm, people come swimming and sun-bathing on the wonderful beaches.

But in winter the coast is quite abandoned. Even those, who have holidays in winter, postpone visiting the Crimea till summer.

Notes: cape - мис

аbandoned – покинутий, тут безлюдний

turbulent - бурхливий

swept across - пронеслися

Answer the questions.

1. Where is the Crimean Peninsula situated?

2. What attracts tourists to the Crimea?

3. What does Bakhchisaray look like?

4. What legend is connected with it?

5. What can you say about Vorontsov palace?

6. How is Khersones connected with the history of the Kyivan Rus?

7. Why is Khersones depicted on one Hryvnia note?

8.What can you say about the Crimean bays?

9. How does the summer Crimea differ from the winter one?

Put the words in brackets in the correct tense form.

Antarctica is an inhospitable place. There are no towns or cities. In fact, nobody (1).......(to live) there permanently, except for a few scientists. They (2) … (to work) on special bases, studying the climate and ecosystem.

However, things (3) …..(now, to begin) to change. Since the 1980s, polar tourism (4) …(to grow) rapidly. Recently, polar cruises (5) …(to become) popular because of the beauty of the polar landscape and the wildlife, such as penguins, whales and dolphins.

Cruises (6) … (to cost) a lot because the ships (7) …(to need) to be very strong to break the ice. However, more and more tourists (8) … (to go) on them. During the day, the tourists (9) …(to sail) in small boats between the icebergs and (10) …(to visit) beaches.

Unfortunately, this tourism (11) … (to start) to cause problems. Scientific studies (12) … (to show) that the tourists (13) … (now, to destroy) the ecosystem of the Antarctic. For example, the number of some species of wildlife (14) …(to go down) rapidly. Many ecologists now (15) …(feel) that we should leave this beautiful continent alone.