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unit-2-b2-reading-travel-and-culture

Reading · CEFR B2 · Unit 2

Loving Places to Death

More of us are travelling than ever before — and some of the world's most beautiful cities are asking us to slow down. Welcome to the age of overtourism.

Reading time: ~5 min Level B2 Self-grading quiz below

Before you read

Talk or think about these questions first:

  • What's the most crowded place you've ever visited? How did it feel?
  • Should cities be allowed to limit how many tourists visit? Why or why not?
  • Guess: how many people travelled internationally in one recent year? Check as you read.

Travel has never been easier or more popular. In 2025, around 1.5 billion people took an international trip — about 60 million more than the year before. For most of us, that's wonderful news: we have seen more of the world than any generation in history. But in a handful of famous cities, locals have started to push back. The problem even has a name: overtourism.

Crowded street
When a city has more visitors than it can hold, everyone loses.

When a city has too many guests

Take Barcelona. The Spanish city welcomes around 55 million visitors a year — in a city of just 1.6 million residents. Locals say the crowds have changed daily life: rents have risen, small shops have become souvenir stores, and some neighborhoods feel more like theme parks than homes. In 2024 and 2025, thousands of residents marched through the streets asking for change.

Cities fight back

Many destinations have responded with tourist taxes and limits. Barcelona doubled its tax on holiday rentals, and a quarter of that money now goes toward affordable housing. Venice went further: it introduced an entry fee for day-trippers, who pay five or ten euros to enter the historic center on the busiest days. The goal isn't to stop tourism — it's to manage it, and to make sure visitors give something back.

55 million

visitors come to Barcelona each year — a city home to only 1.6 million people.

Quiet village square
The best experiences are often off the beaten path.

The rise of slow travel

There is a better way, and more travelers are choosing it. It's called slow travel: instead of racing through five cities in a week, you stay longer in one place, eat the local cuisine, learn a few words of the language, and get off the beaten path. Slow travelers visit in the quieter seasons, spend their money in family-run businesses, and treat a place as a home, not just a photo.

A good traveler leaves a place better — or at least no worse — than they found it.

How to be a better traveler

You don't have to stop exploring; you just have to travel with a little more care. Visit popular cities in the off-season. Choose smaller towns that welcome visitors. Support local shops and guides. And remember the golden rule: the people who live there have to wake up in that city long after your trip has ended. Travel can protect places and cultures — or slowly wear them away. The difference is us.

Local market
Spending locally keeps the benefits of tourism in the community.

Key vocabulary

overtourism
— when too many tourists harm a place and the people who live there.
a tourist tax
— a fee visitors pay, often per night, that helps the local area.
slow travel
— travelling less but staying longer and more thoughtfully.
off the beaten path
— away from the popular, crowded tourist spots.
local cuisine
— the traditional food of a particular place.
a day-tripper
— a visitor who comes for one day and does not stay overnight.
a resident
— a person who lives in a place permanently.

Based on 2025 reporting on international travel numbers, Barcelona's tourist-tax increases and resident protests, and Venice's day-tripper access fee.

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Now check your understanding

Read, Sort & Review

Answer the questions, sort the actions, and study the flashcards. Tap Check Answers as you go, then Show My Score.

1
Comprehension

Did You Understand?

What to do: Answer using the article. Then tap Check Answers.
1. About how many people travelled internationally in 2025?
2. How many visitors does Barcelona welcome each year?
3. What did Barcelona do to its tax on holiday rentals? It ______ it.
4. What is the name for travelling less but staying longer and more thoughtfully?
5. Why did Venice introduce an entry fee?
6. What is the article's main message?
2
Helps / Harms

Sort the Travel Habits

What to do: Does each habit help local communities or harm them? Tap a card to move it into a box, then tap Check Answers.
Helps communities
Harms communities
3
Talk About It

Discussion

What to do: Discuss with a partner or write your own answers. There is no score — share your real opinions.

Questions

  • Which fact in the article surprised you the most?
  • Have you ever felt a place was "too touristy"? Where, and what happened?
  • Is a tourist tax a fair idea? Who should pay it?
  • Use the present perfect: "I've always wanted to visit…, but I've never…"
4
Vocabulary

Flashcards

What to do: Tap a card to reveal the meaning and an example. These are the key words for this unit.
an itinerarynountap to reveal
a detailed plan of a trip"Our itinerary included three cities."
a landmarknountap to reveal
a famous building or place"The tower is a famous landmark."
to go sightseeingphrasetap to reveal
to visit interesting places as a tourist"We went sightseeing all day."
off the beaten pathidiomtap to reveal
away from popular tourist places"We found a village off the beaten path."
to hit the roadidiomtap to reveal
to start a journey"Let's hit the road early tomorrow."
culture shocknountap to reveal
the surprise of a very different culture"I felt culture shock at first."
local cuisinenountap to reveal
the traditional food of a place"I love trying the local cuisine."
a getawaynountap to reveal
a short holiday"We booked a weekend getaway."
to soak up the atmospherephrasetap to reveal
to relax and enjoy the feeling of a place"We soaked up the atmosphere in the square."
a tourist trapnountap to reveal
a place that overcharges tourists"That restaurant is a tourist trap."

Tap to see your score on the comprehension and sorting tasks, then show your teacher.

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