Essay Practice 5: Tourism's impact on local communities
Essay Practice 5 of a set220-260 words. Semi-formal discursive essay.
Four paragraphs: introduction → body on bullet A → body on bullet B → conclusion with a clear verdict. Two bullets developed in depth. Your opinion lives in how you evaluate each bullet (concession, comparison, qualifier) and is stated cleanly at the end. The structure card below has the word counts.
In your English class you have been discussing the effects of mass tourism on local communities. Now your teacher has asked you to write an essay on this topic.
Write an essay discussing TWO of the impacts below. Explain which one you think is most damaging to local communities, giving reasons in support of your answer.
Some opinions expressed in the discussion:
Write your essay in 220-260 words in an appropriate style.
This is the structure Cambridge expects. Four paragraphs, two bullets developed in depth, opinion delivered through evaluation and verdict — not through a fourth invented idea.
Paraphrase the topic + name the two bullets you'll discuss + hint at your verdict.
Topic sentence + advantages + concession (limits/qualifier) + example. Develop in depth.
Topic sentence + evaluation + explicit comparison with Body 1 + your evaluative angle.
Clear verdict — which of the two bullets matters more, and why. No new arguments.
Which two of the three given bullets will you discuss? (The model below uses housing pressure and cultural erosion.)
What OTHER impact does mass tourism have on local communities, that isn't in the three bullets? Some examples (but come up with your own):
From memory — no notes, no dictionary — brainstorm arguments for the two bullets you picked AND your own third impact.
Read carefully. Notice how the writer (1) discusses two of the three bullets, (2) adds a fresh impact of their own, and (3) delivers a clear verdict. Highlighted phrases are the advanced structures examiners reward.
Total: 254 words ✓ (within 220-260)
Participle clause opener (intro): "As global travel rebounds to record levels..." — sets the scene economically
Litotes / understatement (Body 1): "It is hard to overstate the pressure..." — a Band 5 register marker that signals serious analysis
Tricolon with em-dashes (Body 1): "teachers, nurses, bus drivers" — concrete people make abstract displacement vivid
Adverbial fronting (Body 2): "Equally damaging, by contrast, is the slow hollowing-out of..." — inverts the natural order for emphasis
Compound noun phrasing (Body 2): "the texture that made them distinctive" — precise, evaluative, uniquely C1
Specific case study (Body 2): "Cities such as Venice... theme parks rather than living communities" — turns analysis into vivid image
Own-point signal (Body 3): "A further impact that deserves attention is..." — examiner IMMEDIATELY recognises independent thinking
Embedded tricolon (Body 3): "water supply, waste collection, public transport" — packs three services into one phrase
Adversative emphasis (Body 3): "shortages that residents, not visitors, are left to endure" — contrast pinned exactly where it matters
Conditional inversion (Conclusion): "Were authorities to regulate..." — instead of "If authorities regulated..."
Cleft-pattern (Conclusion): "it is the housing crisis — worsened by overstretched services — that hits residents hardest" — emphasis lands on the winner.
Discuss TWO of: environmental damage / housing pressure / cultural erosion. Add your own point. Explain which is most damaging.
As global travel rebounds to record levels, popular destinations are once again grappling with the costs of their own success. This essay will examine the rising cost of housing for residents and the erosion of authentic local culture before turning to a further impact often overlooked in these debates.
49 words
Evaluate it — show the impact AND who exactly bears the cost. Band 5 essays make abstract harm concrete.
It is hard to overstate the pressure that mass tourism places on local housing. In Lisbon and Barcelona, the spread of short-term holiday rentals has driven rents to levels at which ordinary workers — teachers, nurses, bus drivers — can no longer afford to live in the centres they serve. The economic gains, in short, mask a quieter form of displacement.
59 words
Less scaffolding — you lead. Your job: contrast this bullet with Body 1, name the loss precisely, and end on a vivid image.
Equally damaging, by contrast, is the slow hollowing-out of the culture that drew visitors in the first place. As family-run shops and traditional cafés are replaced by souvenir stalls and identical chain restaurants, neighbourhoods lose the texture that made them distinctive. Cities such as Venice now describe themselves, with painful accuracy, as theme parks rather than living communities.
58 words
This paragraph is not required by Cambridge. Most candidates score better by developing the two bullets in depth and skipping this tab. Add a fourth body paragraph only if you (1) write naturally short and need help reaching 220 words, or (2) are confidently aiming for Band 5 and have spare word-count budget. If you add it, keep it to 45-55 words so the two main bullets still get full treatment.
This is the paragraph that lifts the essay to top-band territory. You add an impact NOT in the three bullets — showing independent thinking. Keep it slightly shorter (45-55 words).
Any genuine impact that isn't "environmental damage", "housing pressure" or "cultural erosion". Strong options include: strain on everyday public services, overcrowding and noise, seasonal/insecure work for residents, loss of traditional skills, dependence on a single fragile industry, or damaged social trust between residents and visitors.
A further impact that deserves attention is the strain on everyday public services — water supply, waste collection, public transport — when populations triple in summer. Beach towns across Greece and Croatia regularly face shortages that residents, not visitors, are left to endure long after the tourists have flown home.
48 words
Short and decisive. Name the worst impact — and weave in your own point from Body 3. No new arguments.
In conclusion, although cultural erosion is more visible, it is the housing crisis — worsened by overstretched services — that hits residents hardest. Were authorities to regulate short-term rentals strictly, local communities would survive tourism rather than be hollowed out by it.
40 words
Read it as one piece. Do the five sections flow? Is your own impact distinct from the two given bullets? Is the verdict clear?