Culture A1+ Unit

Tourist hot spots

1 Talk about the map and statistics with your 2a Read the texts about three of the most popular
partner. Answer the questions. places for tourists to visit. Does each person like
1 What information do the statistics give us? his or her city?
2 Which countries have a similar number of visitors? Artic Ocean Artic Ocean
3 Is there anything you find surprising?

Russia
TOP TEN TOURIST DESTINATIONS UK
Germany
Country International Country International US
France
Spain Italy Turkey
visitors visitors Atlantic
China
Pacific
(millions) (millions) Mexico
Ocean
Ocean

1 France 83.7 6 Turkey 39.8

2 the US 74.8 7 Germany 33.0 Pacific Indian
Ocean
3 Spain 65.0 8 UK 32.6 Ocean

4 China 55.6 9 Russia 29.8

5 Italy 48.6 10 Mexico 29.1 Southern Ocean

Top ten International tourism increased 4.3% last year with 1.133 billion of

cities
us travelling abroad for our holidays. But what’s it like living in the

tourist most popular places on the planet? Meet teenagers who live in three
of the top ten tourist cities.

Paris, France Paris is a beautiful city and it’s multicultural, too, with people from many
different countries. My mother is from Algeria and in my school, a lot of us
speak two languages. I have friends whose families are from Vietnam, the
Caribbean and Senegal. We live in an apartment on the edge of the city so
we don’t see many tourists in my neighbourhood. But I understand why they
want to come here! Paris is a small city and the most famous monuments
and museums are in the city centre, so you can walk a lot. And, of course,
the food is legendary!
Audrey, 13

Hong Kong, China Hong Kong is the number one tourist city in the world, and I’m not surprised!
It’s an amazing place – a city that never sleeps. Even at night, it’s always
noisy and full of people. For tourists, there are plenty of things to do, like visit
some monuments or go to a night market on Temple Street. You can also
take a boat trip and look at the skyscrapers along the amazing Hong Kong
skyline. We live in a small flat, and sometimes I want to escape and find clean
air and space, but Hong Kong is my home and I feel homesick whenever I’m
away.
Han, 13

Antalya, Turkey Antalya is on the Mediterranean, and its beautiful location has put it firmly
in the top ten tourist cities in the world. We couldn’t live here without the
tourists because both my parents work in a hotel. We live in a small house
in a central part of the city but my neighbourhood feels like a village, with a
baker, hairdresser, cafés and restaurants where everyone knows each other. I
think tourists should try to get away from the beach and see the parts of the
city where normal people live. In my opinion, Antalya has too many tourists,
but I don’t want to live anywhere else.
Mehtap, 12

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Culture A1+ Unit

2b Read the texts again and decide if the sentences are True (T) or False (F).
1 A lot of Audrey’s friends are from West Africa. T/F 4 Han wants to move out of Hong Kong
2 Audrey doesn’t live near the famous to a quieter place. T/F
monuments. T/F 5 Mehtap’s parents work in tourism. T/F
3 Hong Kong is a very crowded city. T/F 6 There are often lots of tourists in Mehtap’s
neighbourhood. T/F

2c Read the sentences and complete the table. Put a tick (3) in the city they refer to.

Paris Hong Kong Antalya

1 There are a lot of tall buildings.

2 It’s a small city.

3 People come here for a beach holiday.

4 Many of the monuments are in the city

centre.
5 A lot of people rely on tourism
for their income.

6 There’s a market that’s open at night.

Gateway to culture PROJECT

3a Work with a partner and answer the questions. 3b You are going to work on a presentation about
1 Which cities or places in your country are popular popular tourist destinations in different parts of
with tourists? the world. Read the questions and prepare your
2 Have you ever visited a big city in another country? project research.
Tell your partner about it. 1 Work in small groups. Choose a country in
3 Which of the three cities in the article would you like addition to your own country and do research
to visit? Why? on the Internet to find information about the
following:
■ a city or place in each country which is popular
with tourists
■ how many people visit it each year
■ what kinds of things tourists can do
■ what kinds of things tourists can see.
2 Work together and discuss what you found out.
Decide how to present your information to the
class. This can be a slideshow, a presentation or
a poster.
3c Present your information to the class. What
were the main similarities and differences
between your country and the country you
chose.

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