Camping is a very popular form of living outdoors. It gives people the opportunity of spending their free time in nature or in the wilderness. Camping may start by spending the night in a tent in your own back yard and end up by going on a trip that may last for several weeks.

Some campers stay in one place for days, a week or even longer. From there they visit tourist attractions, go fishing or hunting, play games and do active sports like mountain biking or just simply relax. Others prefer to tour areas and spend every night in a different place. They travel by car or motor homes.

Each year millions of people go camping. They can explore new surroundings and be close to nature at the same time.

Image: Creazilla , Open Source

Types of Camping

Most people drive to a campsite and set up a tent there. This is easy because you can take everything you need for your camping holiday in your car with you. In most cases you will choose a campsite that is near the road.

Travelling in recreational vehicles (RV) is more comfortable but also much more expensive. These RVs range from small trailers to large mobile homes. They have all the luxuries that you would also have at home, like refrigerators, showers, sinks or toilets.

Recreational vehicle
Image: KounG on Pixabay

Boat campers travel with a canoe, kayak or even a small houseboat. They spend days on lakes or rivers and usually camp on the water’s edge nearly every night. In Western Europe, especially Holland, Belgium or Ireland you can rent a boat and travel on one of the hundreds of canals and smaller rivers that crisscross these countries.

Houseboat in Amsterdam
Image: Heribert Bechen, 5 million visits – many thanks!, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Backpackers are hikers who carry their belongings on their backs. They usually go to places that you cannot reach by car. Special equipment is usually extremely light and can be carried on longer trips.

Campers who travel by bike usually can stay at normal campsites. On one side cyclists can get to places that you can’t get to by car and on the other side they travel longer distances than hikers do. They pack their things in waterproof saddlebags which they strap to the frame of the bike.

Bike set up for a camping holiday
Image: Htcltd, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Organized camping holidays usually take place during the summer and are attended by girls and boys. They combine outdoor activities with other kinds of training or with learning. Boy and girl scouts are groups of children who go on special camping trips.

Camping Equipment

If you go camping and want to spend the night in a tent you will need certain items.

Today’s tents are normally made of nylon, canvas or other light material. They are not so expensive and easy to fold together and carry around with you, especially if you are backpacking. The material has to be waterproof and is easy to put up

If you want to sleep in a tent you will need a sleeping bag. It protects you from the outside cold and is warmer than a blanket. Sleeping bags come in different sizes, colours and shapes.

Sleeping on the ground however is not always very comfortable. Some campers have foam pads or air mattresses which they lie on.

Clothing is an important aspect when you go on a camping holiday. Be sure to take clothes with you that will protect you from the sun, rain and insects. Take along some lightweight trousers, comfortable shoes and warm shirts or a jacket for cold evenings. Always carry a raincoat or poncho with you. Hiking boots are good if you walk a lot.

You will also need other everyday items such as a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap. Take along sunglasses, maps, and a compass or maybe even a GPS device.

Campers should also have waterproof matches, extra batteries, a knife and a lantern or torch with them.

Lightweight tent
Image: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Sleeping bag
Image:Smack, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

Campsite

Choosing the right place to set up a tent is not always an easy task. First choose a dry place. The open side of the tent should face away from windy and stormy directions. Remove stones and sticks from the ground. Sometimes it is necessary to dig a ditch around the tent so that water from rainfall can flow away.

If you camp in your RV make sure you have the necessary facilities you need. Many campgrounds supply you with energy and water connections. Sometimes, however, campsites require you to reserve a place in advance.

Organized campgrounds are areas that are mostly enclosed by a fence. They often provide picnic tables, grills and parking space for cars and offer extra activities for their guests.

Campsite in Japan
Image:663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Camping Safety

There are some safety precautions you must take when camping outdoors.

A campfire is one of the many enjoyable parts of a camping experience, but you should do it right. Never leave your fire unattended . Always have water nearby so that you can put out the fire if it gets out of control.

Safe drinking water is also something important. Public campgrounds usually provide good water but if you camp in the wilderness make sure you have fresh and clean water supplies with you. You can also buy tablets that purify water.

If you go hiking on your camping trip be aware of other dangers. Don’t touch poisonous plants like poison oak or poison ivy. If you get caught in a thunderstorm look for shelter. If you can’t find a house or another building sit under trees in a forest. Avoid tall trees that stand alone in open areas. Get out of the water if you are swimming.

Before you leave home tell someone where you are going and when you will probably be back. If you have never been to a place before don’t go there alone. Stay calm and remain in one place in case you get lost and wait until help arrives. Carry matches with you to light a fire and keep warm. Do not rely on cell phones to call someone. Chances are that you won’t have a good reception if you are in a remote area.

Clean up your campsite when you leave. Fill all the holes that you have dug. Save your waste until you can put it in waste bins.

Rules at a campsite
Image: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Exercises

Match the sentence parts
Words and Definitions
Too many words
Crossword

Jigsaw Puzzle

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Tourism is travelling for pleasure or to enjoy yourself away from the place you live. People do this for many different reasons – to have fun, visit other countries and learn about other cultures or just relax from stressful working life. Tourists go to various destinations – countries with great landmarks, places with lovely beaches or simply areas of wilderness and untouched nature.

In the last few decades tourism has grown very much, mostly because people’s lifestyles have changed. They don’t want to stay at home any more. They spend more money on travelling than previous generations did. Travelling has also become cheaper and more affordable. The rise of budget airlines has made it possible to afford trips to faraway countries.

Image:Pxhere, Public Domain

History of Tourism

People have been travelling for pleasure since ancient times. In ancient Egypt, religious festivals attracted people from the whole Nile Valley. Ancient Greeks travelled regularly to the site of their gods. Romans travelled to Greece, Sicily and other places in the empire. Wealthy Romans had second homes near the sea where they spent the summer.

During the Renaissance, educated Europeans embarked on what was called the Grand Tour , a trip to several European countries to enjoy art and architecture and get educated.

In the 19th century the invention of the steam engine made it possible for people to travel by boat and train. Regular passenger services from Europe to America started in the 20th century. The invention of the automobile made it possible to travel larger distances by car.

In the 1960s, going on holidays by plane became affordable for many. Jumbo jets of the early 1970s were capable of carrying over 400 passengers and reducing costs of travelling to other continents even further.

Promenade in Blackpool, UK at the end of the 19th century
Image: Detroit Publishing Co., under license from Photoglob Zürich,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tourists boarding a passenger jet
Image: Håkan Dahlström from Malmö, Sweden, CC BY 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Types of Tourism

Beach Tourism

Many tourists spend their holidays on beaches. They relax, go bathing or just enjoy the salty sea breeze and the ocean. Spending holidays on beaches has had a long tradition for over one and a half centuries.

Winter Tourism

Winter tourism started out in the middle of the 19th century when wealthy Europeans went to St. Moritz and other alpine resorts. In Europe and in the American Rockies skiing resorts attract millions of people every year. Various lifts bring skiers to altitudes of over 3,000 meters.

Winter park in Colorado
Image: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Medical Tourism

People go to other countries for medical treatment and operations. Irish women, for example, go to the UK because abortions are forbidden in their country. West Europeans go to Eastern Europe for dental treatment. Americans go to Mexico for plastic surgery and other operations.

Educational Tourism

Young people live as exchange students in other countries, where they go to school and study the language and culture of the host country.

Sports Tourism

An increasing number of sports fans travel to places where special events are being held. The Olympic Games and world championships attract visitors from around the world.

Package Holidays

Organized tours were started in the middle of the 19th century by a British businessman, Thomas Cook. Package tours are made up of travel to and accommodation at the destination. A tourist agency often provides everything from a plane flight to a rental car. Sometimes such package tours offer a combination of beach holidays and sightseeing trip.

Spa Tourism

Spas have been popular since Roman times. In 16th century Britain, Bath became the center of spa tourism for the rich population. During the 19th century spas emerged all over Europe. Today people go to spas for the healing effect of mineral waters as well as for wellness treatment, massages, steam baths and other services.

Spa in Budapest, Hungary
Image: me, CC BY 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Adventure Tourism

In the past few decades trips to faraway exotic places have become popular. Tourists looking for thrilling activities go mountaineering, rafting, trekking , or even to remote places in the rainforest.

Religious Tourism

Religious tourists go on pilgrimages to holy sites. Roman Catholics, for example, travel to Lourdes, Fatima or the Vatican in Europe. Muslims are required to go to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Varanasi , on the banks of the Ganges River, is the spiritual capital of the Hindus.

Pilgrims arriving in Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Image: Jules Verne Times Two / www.julesvernex2.com, CC BY-SA 4.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Ecotourism

Recently many people have chosen a type of tourism that does not damage the environment. They avoid travelling by plane or do not buy souvenirs that are made out of endangered plants and animals. Some holiday offers give tourists the chance to take part in environmental projects.

Importance of Tourism

Tourism is a worldwide industry. In many countries it is the most important largest source of income. Global tourism is growing at a rate of 4% a year.

The tourist industry provides jobs and brings a country foreign currencies. Many groups profit from tourism: travel agencies, store owners ,airports and airlines, hotels, restaurants, etc..

However, mass tourism, can also lead to environmental problems. It can pollute beaches or create noise in otherwise quiet regions. Popular tourist attractions must be controlled by authorities.

International tourist arrivals in 2018

Recent Developments in Tourism

In the past years there has been a trend towards shorter holiday breaks during the year. People like to take a few days off to travel. The internet has changed the way people organize their holidays. Booking plane tickets online is easy and prices are often lower than with travel agents.

International tourism has suffered many drawbacks, like the 9/11 attacks, which made security at airports stricter and travelling more difficult. The tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004 killed over 250,000 people including thousands of tourists.

Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major setback in global tourism. People often spend their holidays in their home country because of travel restrictions abroad.

Security check at Berlin-Schönefeld airport
Image: Ralf Roletschek, GFDL,
via Wikimedia Commons

Ecotourism

Ecotourism is the opposite of mass tourism. People travel to remote areas and visit faraway places without destroying or ruining the environment. Ecotourism is intended for small groups of tourists who want to learn more about nature in a certain area and help people who live there. Eco-tourists travel to places where plant and animal life is the main attraction. They want to know more about how people live side by side in a natural habitat.

Ecotourism makes people aware of how beautiful the land and countryside is. Local tour guides show visitors how important our environment is. They know how the region has developed over time. Tourists stay in small local houses, as opposed to gigantic hotel complexes in mass tourism regions.

Other aims of ecotourism are

• helping conserve nature in a faraway place
• educating tourists about the place they are travelling to
• respecting the culture of people who live there
• the conservation of animal and plant species that are in danger of becoming extinct
• minimizing the impact of tourism in the area
• helping people who live there
• leaving a small carbon footprint

Among the most important destinations of ecotourism are

• the Galapagos Islands
• Costa Rica and other parts of Central America
• the Amazon rain forest
• East Africa

Ecotourism started out in the 1970s as an alternative to mass tourism. Today it is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry because more and more people are becoming aware of it. As a result, some countries are using ecotourism to gain money and profits. In some areas, it is operated by foreign investors who are only interested in their own profits. Bringing too many people to a remote place could, however, damage local culture.

Eco tourists can help preserve the local environment by

• walking instead of using motor vehicles
• using less water
• turning off electricity if they don’t need it
• eating locally produced food
• not throwing things away
• keeping to footpaths
• wearing clothes that do not offend the locals
• not scaring animals
• respecting the local customs and traditions

Ecotourism in Svalbard

Image: Ecotourism_Svalbard.JPG: Woodwalkerderivative work: IdLoveOne, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

The Hanging Bridge of Thenmala, Kerala, India
Image : Augustus Binu/ www.dreamsparrow.net/ facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Ecotour guide standing on a kayak around Lido Key

Image: Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0,
via Wikimedia Commons

Videos

Mass Tourism in Cities
Tourism in Costa Rica
Medical Tourism in India
Ecotourism in Thailand

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
Words and Definitions
Match the Sentence Parts
Missing Word Cloze
Mass Tourism Threatens Venice – One Word Too Many
The Galapagos Islands – Missing Sentence Parts
Crossword

Word Search

Jigsaw Puzzle

/

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key

Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London
Image : Citizen59, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

An airport is a place where airplanes take off and land. Passengers get on and off planes, cargo and other goods are loaded and unloaded at airports. Air travel has become the main type of transportation over long distances and modern airplanes belong to the safest means of travel. Every day millions of people fly on thousands of planes all over the world.

Currently , there are over 40,000 airports around the world. The largest of them are like small cities. They have hotels, restaurants, banks, post offices and other shops, as well as their own police force or fire department . Thousands of people work at an airport every day.

Types of Airports

• Commercial service airports serve the big national and international airlines. Planes from all over the world take off and land there.
• General aviation airports are smaller airports that handle private, business and charter planes as well as planes that carry people to and from bigger airports.
• Military airfields are operated by the army and sometimes share space with other airports.

Heathrow Airport, London, U.K.
Image :  Kenneth Iwelumo (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2), via Wikimedia Commons

American Military Airport on the Pacific island of Guam
Image: United States Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Terminal

The terminal is the largest building at an airport. All passengers must pass through it when they start or end their trip. At the ticket counter you receive your boarding card and your baggage is checked and weighed . Then the airline assistant will put a label with a three-letter code around your baggage .It shows the destination airport and makes sure the suitcases get on the correct airplane.

While you wait to board your plane you may spend your time at some of the many shops that are at the airport: newsstands , restaurants, gift shops or even banks. Many international airports have duty-free shops. If you are visiting a foreign country, you can buy things there without having to pay duty or import tax. Some airports have an observation lounge where you can look through large windows and watch planes take off and land.

Before you go to your gate you must pass a security area where your passport is checked and your bags are x-rayed and checked for weapons and other things that you are not allowed to take on board. The gate is the place where you leave the airport building to get on your plane. Gates may often be very far away from the centre of the terminal. Moving sidewalks take you to those that are far away. At larger airports you are taken there by bus or train. Big airports may have up to a hundred or more gates. Arriving passengers cannot leave the terminal at once. They first go to baggage claim , a place where you get your baggage after it is unloaded from the plane.

Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport
Image: TimBray at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Duty-free shop at Beijing international airport
Image: Zhanyanguange, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Self check-in at Dublin Airport
Image: Marek Slusarczyk, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

The Runway

Airplanes take off and land on runways. Big passenger planes need long runways that are up to 4 or 5 km in length . They may look like ordinary paved roads but are made of a special material so that they won’t crack when heavy planes land. Snow ploughs and machines that spread salt keep them snow- and ice-free in winter. Green, red and white lights mark runways so that pilots can see them at night and when visibility is bad. Airplanes use taxiways to move to the main runway or to hangars . Small trucks bring big planes out of the parking zone.

Runway at Ardabil Airport in northwestern Iran
Image: Shahram Sharifi (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2), via Wikimedia Commons

Gibraltar Airport’s runway crossed by a road between Gibraltar and Spain
Image: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Airport Facilities

Control Tower

The control tower is the centre of airport traffic control. Air controllers use radar, radio, signal lights and other electronic equipment to guide planes when they take off and land. They give pilots permission to take off or tell them which runway to use. At busier airports controllers handle up to 200 aircraft per hour.

Air traffic control tower at Birmingham Airport, U.K.
Image: Myself (Adrian Pingstone)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hangars

Hangars are buildings in which airplanes are repaired or serviced . Most airlines have their own hangars, in which they can park many jets at the same time. Most hangars are far away from terminals and runways so that they do not interfere with airport traffic .

Lufthansa Airbus in a hangar
Image :  C Mercieca at English WikipediaW,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Other Facilities

Airports have many other buildings. Food kitchens or catering companies prepare food that is brought onto planes. Large airlines often have their offices in their own buildings. All airports have big parking lots or houses and most airports are connected with the inner cities through trains or subways.

Originally , airports were built far away from city centers. They have not moved, but cities have grown a lot and today many suburbs lie near them. A lot is being done to make life more bearable for people who live in nosier airport areas. At some airports, traffic is forbidden during night hours. Airports today are getting bigger and bigger. As more and more people choose air travel as a convenient way of travelling, new terminals and other facilities must be built in order to cope with a growing number of passengers.

Airport Management

Commercial airports are mostly publicly owned but they must find their ways of making money. They rent space to airlines for check-in counters or baggage areas and charge them fees for landing.

Companies and firms must pay to open up shops and restaurants. In addition , the airports get lots of money from parking fees . The airport manager and his staff are in charge of running the entire airport. Various departments are responsible for finances, administration , safety , or engineering .

Parking lot at an airport
Image : Pixabay , CC0Public Domain

Problems of Airports

Originally , airports were built far away from city centers. They have not moved, but cities have grown a lot and today many suburbs lie near them. A lot is being done to make life more bearable for people who live in nosier airport areas. At some airports, traffic is forbidden during night hours. Airports today are getting bigger and bigger. As more and more people choose air travel as a convenient way of travelling, new terminals and other facilities must be built in order to cope with a growing number of passengers.

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson was the world’s busiest airport in 2018 (before the pandemic)

Image :Craig Butz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The World’s Largest Airports

List of the airports with the highest  number of passengers per year (2019 – before the pandemic)

Videos

At the Airport
The World’s Largest Airports

Exercises

Multiple Choice Test
TRUE or FALSE ?
Words and Definitions 1
Words and Definitions 2
Match the Sentence Parts
The Airport Terminal . Missing Word Cloze
JFK – World’s Busiest Airport – Multiple Choice Cloze
Crossword

Word search

Writing Task

Write about a recent trip to the airport and what you have seen there. (If you haven’t  been to an airport, you can use the information in this unito make up a report).

Write about 

• the shops and other facilities in the terminal
• a visit to the observation deck where you see planes take off and land
• the security measures at airports

Your report should be about 300 words long !

Image:Ralf Roletschek, GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

Printable Downloads (PDF)

Word List
End of Unit Test
Key