Is tourism harmful? 6 Minute English

Improve your English speaking and vocabulary with BBC Learning English! European cities such as Rome and Bruges have decided to impose restrictions on tourism to prevent overcrowding and make life easier for the local residents. Rob and Sam talk about it and teach you related vocabulary.

You'll find the transcript on our website:

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬:
The art of tipping

Do our political views change as we get older?

How can I help the environment?

The future of food

𝐕𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲
𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭
treat something or someone with care

𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 (𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧)
officially trying to stop or limit people doing something

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞
do something bad or inappropriate

𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞
a plan or aim to achieve something

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
turning something into an artificial, not real, commercial environment, similar to a Walt Disney theme park

𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐩
to restrict, to limit

[Cover: Getty Images]

#BBCLearningEnglish #6MinuteEnglish #LearnEnglish

[thaothu]

1. To respect= treat with care
2. Show disrespect to something
3. To Clamp down= to crack down
4. Misbehave= do sth bad or imappropriate
5. Wade in fountain = walk through water
6. Going bare-chested
7. With the objective of
8. Disneyfication
9. To cap= to restrict or limit

[raniaaydemir]

Big thank you BBC learning English team and please tell SAM that I like her soft voice soooo much, what a nice Voice and what a nice accent .

[rosmalinamalina]

Rob and Sam. From the clearest voices I've heard, thank you.

[ebrahimhamedi]

I love your english daily and weekly programs.keep up the good work. You are the best in teaching english.

[miltonfernandez]

the way you teach the vocabulary is mind blowing and we can easily relate the word

[nhungtran]

I know this channel by chance. I really like it. It's immensely helpful and meaningful. I learn about English also knowledge.

[Alyabushka.]

Thank you very much for this informative video!😍I like improving my English with BBC.👩🏽‍🎓Everything is clear, as all information is given on live examples.Thanks to this channel I develop the British pronunciation, try to repeat intonation.Thanks for your help 🤓

[katekpopstan]

transcript:

Sam
Hello! So what’s our interesting topic today, Rob?

Rob
Something close to our hearts, Sam – it's travel.

Sam
Great!

Rob
But more and more of us are travelling to explore the world – many of us have more leisure time, and the cost of travelling has become relatively cheaper.

Sam
But here lies the problem – the places we’re visiting are becoming more crowded, sometimes spoiling the atmosphere and the beauty – the things we came to see in the first place!

Rob
This is why we’re going to be discussing how some cities around the world are putting restrictions on the tourists who visit. But that’s after I challenge you to answer this question, Sam! Are you ready?

Sam
Bring it on, Rob!

Rob
According to Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index, what was the most visited city in 2018? Was it…
a) London
b) New York, or
c) Bangkok?

Sam
All great places to visit – but I think I’ll stay close to home and say a) London.

Rob
OK. Well, as always I will reveal the answer later in the programme.
Now, let’s start our journey in Italy’s capital city, Rome. Famous for its Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and many other things.

Sam
Lots of people are visiting, Rob – and locals and tourists have differing attitudes towards the way they respect these beautiful and historic sites. Respect here is a verb, to mean treat something with care.

Rob
Well, the authorities in the city fear that some tourists are showing disrespect to the city and have introduced laws to clampdown on certain behaviour. Clampdown means officially trying to stop or limit people doing something. Sabina Castelfranco is a journalist in the city. She told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme why new restrictions have been introduced…

Sabina Castelfranco, journalist
The new rules are really to make sure that tourists do not misbehave when they are visiting tourist attractions in Rome. Romans don't like to see tourists walking around bare-chested, they don't like to see them wading in their fountains - so really the objective is to improve the life of the city for residents and for tourists themselves.

Sam
So, the new rules are to stop tourists misbehaving – that’s doing bad or inappropriate things. I’m sure not all visitors misbehave – but those who have been, have been wading – that’s walking through water – in the famous fountains and men have not been covering up the top half of their bodies – so, going bare-chested.

Rob
Not any more, Sam! These new laws have banned this with the objective of improving the life for the people of Rome – the Romans. An objective is a plan or aim to achieve something.

Sam
Other laws introduced in Rome, with the objective of improving the city, include giving out severe fines to people who drop litter and to those who attach ‘love padlocks’ to historic monuments.

Rob
Well, I guess if it makes the city a nicer place to visit for everyone, then it’s a good idea. Well, let’s talk about another historic old city – Bruges in Belgium. The old and narrow streets are often packed with sightseers – so restrictions have been introduced there. Helen Coffey, deputy travel editor for the Independent newspaper, also spoke to the You and Yours programme, to explain what is going on…

Helen Coffey, Deputy Travel Editor, The Independent
Bruges was the latest city to say we're going to introduce new regulations to crack down on what they called the Disneyfication of their city. A really key one is they're going to cap the number of cruises that can dock, and actually this a big one that lots of cities do. They basically don't like cruise visitors because cruise visitors don't spend money.

Sam
So Helen mentioned a crackdown – which like clampdown – means taking action to restrict or stop certain activities. And Bruges wants to crack down on the Disneyfication of the city.

Rob
This term describes turning something into an artificial, not real, commercial environment, similar to a Walt Disney theme park. I’m not sure it’s that similar yet, but one way to maintain the authentic feel of the city is to cap the number of cruises that can dock.

Sam
Cap means restrict or limit. It’s felt that visitors who come by cruise ship, don’t stay overnight and therefore don’t bring much money into the city. The message from the city authorities is ‘stay overnight or don’t come!’

Rob
Well, one city that has people visiting for the day or staying longer is the most visited city in the world – but where is that, Sam? Earlier I asked you what the most visited city in 2018 was? Was it…
a) London
b) New York, or
c) Bangkok?

Sam
And I said London.

Rob
That was in second place. The most visited city last year was Bangkok, in Thailand.

Sam
OK, Rob. Well, maybe what I can get right is a recap of today’s vocabulary. Starting with respect. If you respect something you treat it with care.

Rob
We also discussed clampdown, which means officially trying to stop or limit people doing something. Crackdown is a similar phrase.

Sam
To misbehave is to do something bad or inappropriate. And an objective is a plan or aim to achieve something.

Rob
Our next word is Disneyfication - a term that describes turning something into an artificial, not real, commercial environment, similar to a Walt Disney theme park.

Sam
And finally we had cap – which means restrict or limit.

Rob
Well, we’ve had to cap this programme at 6 minutes – and we’re out of time. Goodbye!

Sam

Bye bye!


(hope this helps:))<33

[isabelrobi]

I really love your channel, Thanks for teaching,

[adamseid]

Your questions at the beginning of each lesson help me to watch the Whole video. It is great way of teaching a language. BBC.

[eloypaloosorio]

I was in Rome last year and it was extremely crowded!!! I could barely watch Fontana di Trevi in a proper way!

[hanumanbali]

Hey plz tell us how you improved your clarity of voice
You guys are very clear...

[irenefang]

thanks BBC❤
My note when listening
Traveling has become easier for people around the world as the rates of income have increased while the costs of traveling is getting cheaper. However, this brings certain negative impacts such as visitors spoils the beauty of tourists attraction

Many cities are afraid when tourists don’t show respect to their beautiful and historic sites.

New rules are introduced to stop tourists misbehaving such as walking bare chested or wading in the famous fountain. The objective is to improve the life quality of local citizens.

[secretsuperstar]

Best practices for listening as well as vocabulary...it provides numerous of information which is make strong.

[hanakurd]

Could you please write down the new vocabulary you're teaching on the screen with their meaning, so we can see them. Responding to my concern is much appreciated.

[nguyenminhthao]

I like 6 minutes so much. I am going to take the IELTS test soon and this program really helps me improve my vocabularies. Thanks so much <3

[thaizahonorato]

Great job on producing this video, guys. The topic is absolutely captivating as a former tourism worker I loved it hahaha.

[genta_b]

Thanks​ you​ verymuch ❤️💟❤️💟 From​ Thailand​

[julioabbadie]

Interesting topic and useful vocab.Julio retired teacher.

[jenisham]

Extremely good you tube learning channel. Can u pls suggest how I can improve my English speaking that u without paying hefty fees to institution. Pls advice. Awaiting for it.