Monday, 7 January 2008

The impact of tourism

The tourism strand in the Geography curriculum provides good opportunities to discuss the impact of tourism on an area studied. There is a BBC Schools programme about the Alps which contrasts the life of a farm and ski resort, and would be a good introduction. This is the link to the listings page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078kn1

It would be good to introduce the idea of what an area might have been like if people didn't visit it; how different the economy might be, or what sort of jobs people have. Photographs of a tourist spot before and after renovation would be ideal here.

There are also links here to environmental issues; for example, you could have a class debate about whether to build hotels on a beach, and what impact this would have on the area.

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