Travel and Tourism Essay IELTS (Structure + Sample)
Prepared by Svarna Training Institute Academic Team
This sample essay was written by a well-experienced IELTS Trainer. The score is equivalent to IELTS Band 8.0+, and the essay has 300 words. Tourism essays usually come in 3 forms. Advantages & Disadvantages, Opinion or Discussion, Problem or Solution.
“Tourism has become one of the fastest growing industries globally, with millions of people travelling abroad each year. While this trend brings undeniable benefits to societies and individuals, it also raises serious concerns. This essay will outline both perspectives.
On the one hand, tourism generates significant economic benefits. It creates jobs, stimulates local businesses, and contributes to national income through taxes and foreign exchange. For example, countries such as Thailand and the UAE depend heavily on tourism as a pillar of their GDP. Moreover, tourism encourages cultural exchange, allowing people from different nations to share traditions, language, and ideas, which fosters global understanding.
On the other hand, uncontrolled tourism often harms the environment. Popular destinations such as Venice or Bali suffer from overcrowding, waste management issues, and damage to fragile ecosystems. In addition, local cultures can become commercialized, with traditional practices altered to meet tourists’ expectations rather than preserved authentically. Finally, reliance on seasonal visitors makes economies unstable; a sudden drop in tourism, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, left many workers unemployed.
In conclusion, tourism provides valuable income and cultural connections but also risks damaging the environment and local communities if not managed responsibly. In my view, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages only when governments and businesses enforce sustainable practices.”
This is the outline an IELTS trainer used for this specific sample essay.
✅ Introduction – Paraphrase + roadmap. (tourism as a growing industry)
✅ Body 1 – Advantage or Discussion about benefits of Tourism
✅ Body 2 – Disadvantage or Discussion about down side of Tourism
✅ Conclusion – Summaries both sides
This is the checklist our IELTS Trainer used to score this sample essay as an IELTS band 8.0+.
✅ Trainer completed essay with 250 to 300 words, all Introduction, benefits, disadvantages, conclusion covered.
✅ Trainer has written clear sentences & provided good examples with great paragraph breaks.
✅ Trainer has included varied grammar like complex, relative clauses, conditionals, etc.
✅ Accurate article / preposition used in the article.
✅ No informal chatty phrases have been used. no bullet points in the essay itself.
This is the timing guide our IELTS Trainer used for this sample essay
✅ For Planning the essay (8-10 min)
✅ For Writing the essay (25-28 min)
✅ For Final Check (2-4 min)
Here is a challenge for you! Using the same techniques our IELTS Trainer used, write your own 300 word IELTS essay on the following topics,
- Do the advantages of international tourism outweigh the disadvantages?
- Some people think tourism causes cultural damage. Do you agree or disagree?
- How can governments reduce the negative impact of mass tourism?