IELTS Writing Task 2: strong answer for agree/disagree
Foreign visitors should pay more than local visitors for cultural and historical attractions. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
I think it would become confusing if you tried to explain a balanced view for this question. The choice of opinion is simple: either foreign visitors should pay more, or they shouldn't.
I'll show you how I would write an essay for this question next week. For the moment, just compare the question above with the question here. Make sure you understand why I'm suggesting a strong answer for one and a balanced answer for the other.
IELTS Writing Task 2: strong opinion answer
Foreign visitors should pay more than local visitors for cultural and historical attractions. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Last week I said that we needed a 'strong opinion' answer to the question above. Here's my suggested outline for a 4-paragraph essay:
Introduction: make your opinion clear (e.g. I completely disagree)
First reason why you disagree
Second reason why you disagree
Conclusion: repeat / summarise your opinion
Note: It is possible to mention the opposite view in one of the main paragraphs, but you should make it very clear that you disagree with it. Here's an example:
IELTS Writing Task 2: 'foreign tourists' essay
Foreign visitors should pay more than local visitors for cultural and historical attractions. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
It is sometimes argued that tourists from overseas should be charged more than local residents to visit important sites and monuments. I completely disagree with this idea.
The argument in favour of higher prices for foreign tourists would be that cultural or historical attractions often depend on state subsidies to keep them going, which means that the resident population already pays money to these sites through the tax system. However, I believe this to be a very shortsighted view. Foreign tourists contribute to the economy of the host country with the money they spend on a wide range of goods and services, including food, souvenirs, accommodation and travel. The governments and inhabitants of every country should be happy to subsidise important tourist sites and encourage people from the rest of the world to visit them.
If travellers realised that they would have to pay more to visit historical and cultural attractions in a particular nation, they would perhaps decide not to go to that country on holiday. To take the UK as an example, the tourism industry and many related jobs rely on visitors coming to the country to see places like Windsor Castle or Saint Paul’s Cathedral. These two sites charge the same price regardless of nationality, and this helps to promote the nation’s cultural heritage. If overseas tourists stopped coming due to higher prices, there would be a risk of insufficient funding for the maintenance of these important buildings.
In conclusion, I believe that every effort should be made to attract tourists from overseas, and it would be counterproductive to make them pay more than local residents.
(269 words, band 9)
