Reading

READING 1
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SANDS OF TIME
I do it, you do it, even the ancient Greeks did it.
A BIT OF TIME OFF WORK, A LITTLE TOO
Travelling for pleasure, travelling to experience
MUCH TO EAT, SOME RELAXING
new places and events, travelling to relax and get
ENTERTAINMENT, LOOSE COTTON CLOTHES,
away from it all - in other words, tourism. AND A PAIR OF SANDALS – THE TOURIST OF
Ever since man first emerged from his cave- TODAY ISN’T VERY DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF
NEARLY 3,000 YEARS AGO.
dwelling, it seems he felt the urge to travel. But
tourism had to wait for the civilization of ancient CHARLIE HOWARD TAKES A GENTLE LOOK
Greece before it really got moving. The Olympic AT THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST
Games of 776 BC were the first international INDUSTRY.
tourist event, with people travelling from many
countries to watch and take part.
Of course, if you want to travel from A to B, a good road is always an advantage, and we have a
lot to thank the Romans for here. During the heyday of the Roman Empire, they built thousands
of roads. Some of the first people to take advantage of these roads were religious travellers visiting
cathedrals, shrines, or holy sites – the word ‘holiday’, after all, originally comes from ‘holy day’.
Pilgrims like Geoffrey Chaucer would tell teach other stories to entertain themselves on the road.
Nowadays we have the in-flight movie – in medieval times they had the Canterbury Tales!
Gradually, more and more people caught the travel bug. At first, it was the nobility who set out in
the 17th and 18th centuries on their Grand Tours – an essential part of every young gentleman’s
education. At the same time, the upper classes were flocking to spa towns like Bath and
Cheltenham. They also enjoyed the healthy pleasures of sea-bathing at Brighton and other resorts.
But it was developments in transport that really opened up the tourist industry. First, there were
stagecoaches and coaching inns. Then came steam, and suddenly the world was a smaller place.
Steamboats crossed the English Channel, and railways stretched their iron webs across the
civilized world. No sooner had the first railways been built in the 1830s than enterprising men like
Thomas Cook in England began to exploit their potential by selling organized tours.
With excursions across continental Europe, the building of hotels and resorts to cater for the tastes
of the pleasure-seekers, and the introduction of hotel vouchers and traveler’s cheques, the tourist
industry in its modern form was born. By the end of the 19th century, the middle classes had joined
the tourist classes, and mass tourism was a reality.
If the 19th century saw the birth of mass tourism, then the post-war years have witnessed its coming
of age. Soon after the end of the Second World War, paid holidays became normal in Britain and
many other countries. People now had more disposable income to spend on leisure time, and travel
and tourism were available to the many rather than the elite few. Holiday camps sprang up, offering
the masses an affordable accommodation-and-entertainment package. Television sets were
appearing in more and more homes, bringing the attractions of distant lands into people's living
rooms. Package holidays abroad began to appear in the 1950s. But it wasn't until the introduction
of the 'first commercial jet airliners that the idea of foreign holidays really took off.
In recent decades, things have only got better for the tourist: faster and cheaper travel options, a
wider range of suitable accommodation, more time and money to spend on their holidays. Tourism
has come a long way from its distant, humble beginnings. So when you're next wandering along a
sun-kissed foreign beach, sipping your-cocktail, gazing at the sunset, and trying to forget your
worldly cares, remember-you maybe treading in the footprints of a 19th-century adventurer, a
gentleman on his Grand Tour, a pilgrim or a crusader, or even a Roman soldier or an ancient Greek!
Source: Harding K. (2001)

Read the article and answer the following questions.

Write No More Than FOUR Words.
1. What was the Olympic Games of 776 BC mentioned in the article?
2. What contribution did the Romans do to the tourism development?
3. Find the word that has the closest meaning to ‘the people who make a long journey to a
special place for religious reasons’.
4. What did Thomas Cook do?
5. Why were holiday camps so popular after World War Two?
6. What technical development helped the expansion of package holidays abroad?

ANSWER KEY
1. first international tourist event
2. good roads
3. pilgrims
4. selling (organized) tours/ sell (organized) tours
5. affordable (package)
6. (commercial) jet airliners
READING 2

TOURISM TODAY
Facts and challenges
Tourism is one of the biggest businesses in the world. There are nearly 800 million
international tourist arrivals every year. It employs, directly or indirectly, one in fifteen of
all workers worldwide, from A to Z, from airport cleaners to zookeepers, and includes bar
staff, flight attendants, tour guides, and resort reps. It is a huge part of the economy of many
countries - in countries such as the Bahamas, over 60% of the economy is based on tourism.
Tourism is a fast-growing business. When Thomas Cook organized his first excursion from
Leicester to Lough borough in 1841, he probably didn't know what he was starting. Key
developments in the last 150 years or so have led to the rise of mass tourism. There have
been technological developments in transport, in particular the appearance of air travel and
charter flights. There have been changes in working practices, with workers getting paid
holiday time and working shorter and more flexible hours.
In recent years, we have seen the growth of the Internet and globalization, making the
world seems a smaller but very fascinating place. The tourism industry grows faster and
faster each year. In 1950, there were 25 million international tourist arrivals. In 2004, the
figure was 760 million, and by 2020 it is predicted to be 1.6 billion.
But what are the challenges today? The tourism industry is affected by many different
things: international events, economic change, changes in fashion. New concerns and
worries appear every year, for example as people become more worried about security and
international terrorism, or as the value of their currency changes. But new destinations and
new sources of tourists also seem to emerge every year.
Tourism survives. It is a powerful and sometimes dangerous force in the modern world.
Tourism creates many good jobs and careers, but it also produces many poor and badly
paid jobs. Tourism can help to protect environments and animal life, but it can also damage
them. Tourism can save cultures and the local way of life, but it can also destroy them.
Tourism can change countries- and people for the better, but it can also change them for
the worse. Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world. It is perhaps also the most
important.
Source: Walker R. & Harding K. (2006)

Read the article about Tourism Today and decide whether these statements are TRUE or
FALSE.

1. One in fifty of all workers are employed in tourism related industries.

 2. The number of international tourism arrivals will more than double
between 2004 and 2020.
3. Tourists often worry about international security.
4. Tourism has only had a good influence on the modern world.

ANSWER KEY
1. FALSE
2. TRUE
3. TRUE
4. FALSE