Lesson video

Hello and welcome to our next lesson in this geography unit, which is all about coasts.

We are investigating what happens when the land meets the sea.

Today we are going to be thinking about tourism at the coast, and we're going to be investigating some particular types of tourism, finding out where it happens, and what impacts it has there.

The aim of this lesson is for you to be able to do some research and then present some information about a coastal place, using geographical inquiry and a variety of sources of information.

Let's have a look at some keywords that are going to be very useful for you to be able to understand and use yourself in this lesson.

There are four keywords that I think are going to be particularly helpful.

The first word is tourist.

I wonder if you have ever been a tourist.

I know I have.

A tourist is a person.

It's someone who travels to a different place from where they live to go on holiday there.

The next important word is a dock.

A dock is a human-built feature that can be found at the coast.

A dock is an area within a harbour or in a port, and it's the place where ships go, and they are loaded and unloaded, or they can stay there in the dock to be repaired.

The next word I have chosen is lagoon.

A lagoon is a calm, shallow area of water that is protected from the ocean.

It's cut off from it by a landform such as a sandbar or even a coral reef.

Finally, I would like to mention national monuments.

A national monument is a very special or important place or a building that is looked after or preserved by a government because it has some specific historic, scenic, or even scientific importance.

Lots of countries have a variety of national monuments, and these are often visited by tourists.

There are going to be three parts to the lesson today.

In the first part of the lesson, we're gonna look at a type of tourism called cruising.

You're gonna find out all about what a cruise is.

Then, we're going think more widely about what tourists do when they visit the coast, and then later, we're going to be investigating a specific location called Venice, which is in Italy, and an issue that has been happening in Venice.

So let's begin then by asking the question and discovering, what is a cruise? There are a range of boats and ships that sail on our seas and oceans, and they all have different purposes.

For example, fishing boats, which are very small, larger vessels like ferries that people use for transport, and even much larger vessels like this container ship, which is taking cargo from one place to another.

A container ship like this one can contain over 24,000 containers.

That's a lot of items that can be stored on one ship.

Some ships are absolutely huge.

Some ships look like this.

Now what do you think this kind of ship might be used for? This is, in fact, a cruise ship.

A cruise ship is a very large ship that can carry thousands, I mean thousands of people on voyages for pleasure.

So people go on ships like this for a holiday, and that is called cruising.

Usually, cruises start in one place, and they travel around, so people get to see many different locations on their holiday, which is one reason why cruising is so popular.

So before we look any further into cruising, let's check our understanding so far.

Can you identify which of these three vessels is a cruise ship? Have you chosen? It's B, well done.

Picture A there is a ferry, and picture C is a container ship.

So over 16 million people all around the world go on cruises every year.

They are found all around the world in so many different places.

Have you ever been on one? Some cruises will take passengers to a specific area and then stay within that area for the cruise.

For example, cruises that go around the Caribbean islands.

Other cruises can last a much longer time, for example, several weeks or even months, and they can travel all around the world.

One of the world's biggest providers of cruise holidays is a company called Cunard.

The arrows on this map show the route that their around the world cruise takes.

That particular cruise route lasts for 100 days and stops at over 30 destinations around the world.

Cruising, especially a world cruise like this one, is a very expensive way to travel.

Whilst it's very important to make stops at the destinations that are popular for the tourists, the routes that cruise ships take are also planned very carefully for lots of other reasons.

Here are three specific points or places that are very important for cruise ships.

This area here is called the Panama Canal.

Then here, we have the Strait of Gibraltar, and here we have the Suez Canal.

These are important places because they are locations that allow ships to pass through channels of water, between land masses in between continents.

If these places like the Panama Canal, Strait of Gibraltar, or the Suez Canal were not there, cruise ships would have to take a much longer route.

They would have to travel all the way around the large continental land masses.

That would take a very long time and would be so much more expensive.

Along the way, the cruise ships decide on specific destinations to stop for the tourists.

Each destination that they choose must be a place that has a dock.

It's got to be somewhere that has a port.

The destinations chosen are places that the tourists would enjoy visiting, so they are able to disembark, that means to get off the ship, and go for a day out exploring the sites.

Cruise ships don't spend very long in dock at port.

Usually they're there maybe for about eight or nine hours, so the tourists can go and have a nice day out and they can restock on essential things like foods.

So have you been listening to all that information about cruises so far? I would like you to consider this question and come up with some useful points as an answer.

When planning a cruise route that will appeal to tourists, what must a cruise company consider? Pause the video now and jot down some notes about the important things that you think cruise companies should consider.

Ready? Here are some ideas.

I wonder if you thought of any of these.

They need to make sure that each destination has a port, preferably one with deep water.

That's where the ship can dock and the tourists can disembark or get off and go and explore the area.

They also need to make sure that they aren't spending too much time having to travel around big land masses, which would waste time for the tourists and cut down the number of destinations they could visit.

The destinations must be attractive to the tourists.

They've got to be places that the tourists would like to explore.

Otherwise, cruising just wouldn't be so popular because the tourists wouldn't go.

Let's now have an activity about cruising.

Here is a world map.

I would like you to plan your own world cruise.

How exciting.

You can use an atlas or online maps to help you to plan a route.

I would like you to choose 10 locations please, and then plan your route around the world.

So identify each place on the map and then join them up just like you saw for the Cunard around the world cruise map earlier.

So pause the video now while you complete the activity and plan your own around the world cruise.

This is my cruise route here.

I'm starting my cruise in the UK because that's where I live, and I'm starting at Southampton.

That's one of the biggest ports in the UK that is frequently used by cruise liners.

The cruise is then going to travel around the coast of Spain, through the Strait of Gibraltar to reach the beautiful island of Mallorca.

After Mallorca, we're gonna pass through the Suez Canal towards Asia and our first port of call, our first stop, will be Kuala Lumpur.

I'm then, going to continue travelling around Asia, calling at Hanoi and Tokyo in Japan.

After Tokyo, I'm heading down to New Zealand, then to the beautiful island of Hawaii and the city of Honolulu, across to Vancouver in Canada, followed by San Francisco and then Miami, and then finally back across the ocean to Southampton.

I chose those places because they are places that I would love to visit.

I wonder if you would like to go on a cruise in the future.

I would.

Let's move along to the second part of our lesson and think about why coasts are so popular with tourists.

What do tourists do at the coast? Many coastlines have a port.

Ports are often chosen for their landscape and the range of activities that are available there to the tourists.

For example, places like New York and Aruba that you can see in these photographs.

Tourists often arrive at the port in New York and alight there because there are many sites to see, like the Statue of Liberty.

They can go to the shops or visit landmarks such as Central Park.

Tourists travelling on cruises and arriving in Aruba might like to go on those beautiful beaches which are nice for sunbathing.

They can also take part in water sports or go snorkelling and see some of the beautiful tropical wildlife that can be found there.

There are many activities that can only be done at the coast, which is another reason why they are so popular with tourists.

These activities often include sightseeing in the coastal area, sunbathing on the beautiful beaches, water sports.

There are often places that are culturally or historically significant in these areas.

There are often beautiful restaurants serving local food or local entertainment, and of course, coasts are a chance to enjoy nature itself, the beautiful landscapes that we can see there.

Tourists don't have to leave the cruise ship that they are on.

Sometimes they will stay there, because on the cruise ship, there are also lots of activities and attractions for the tourists to take part in.

Many cruise ships today have on board swimming pool, entertainment arcades, and activities for young and old alike.

Let's check on our understanding so far.

Can you remember any three things that tourists can do at the coast? Pause the video now.

Take a quick moment to jot down your three choices.

Go.

Are you ready? Okay, did you write down any of these things? Did you say sightseeing, sunbathing, water sports, visiting places of historical importance, local food, local entertainment, or watching the wildlife? Okay, there's an awful lot of things that can be done at the coast.

Let's have a look at task B now.

I would like you to choose one of the ports that you chose for your around the world cruise in task A.

I want you to design a poster or a flyer to advertise that location.

You can use the internet, books, or podcasts to do some research about activities the tourists can do in that location to make it appealing.

Lucas says that he is going to choose Honolulu in Hawaii because he's never been there before.

I would love to go to Honolulu.

I wonder what Lucas's poster is going to look like.

Pause the activity, pause the video now to complete your poster and when you return, Lucas is going to share his poster with us.

Ready? I hope you enjoyed that and had lots of fun finding out some amazing facts about all of those interesting places.

Here is Lucas's flyer about Honolulu.

It has some gorgeous photographs there of the beautiful clear waters and the stunning landscape.

He has listed some of the activities that tourists can do there, and he has opened with an invitation, "Come and visit." It certainly makes me want to visit.

Well done, Lucas.

Now we're going to travel from Honolulu back to Italy, to a place called Venice for this third section of our lesson.

Venice was a very, very popular destination and lots and lots of cruise ships used to dock there.

Let's find out what's been happening in Venice.

Cruise ships can bring lots of tourists to an area as we have seen, and this can be very good for the local economy in particular because tourists spend money.

They go to local cafes and restaurants and they take part in activities and classes and use local services while they are there.

But there are also disadvantages or negatives to lots of cruise ships visiting an area, and it was those negatives that started to play a very large role in Venice.

Cruise ships contribute a lot to pollution in an area.

Cruise ships are allowed to release their untreated sewage into the ocean, provided that the ship is more than 5.

6 kilometres from the coast.

This means that from cruise ships alone, nearly 4 billion litres of sewage is pumped into our oceans every single year.

This is causing our oceans to become more and more polluted, more and more unhealthy, and more and more dirty.

That pollution is spreading further and further towards our coasts every year.

Other damage is caused by things like the anchors.

Anchors are very large, heavy weights, usually made of metal, that help to keep cruise ships in place when they are in dock.

They're designed to hold the ship down.

Those anchors can destroy living organisms, and they can damage coral reefs.

As cruising became more popular, ports needed to become bigger and bigger, and this led to the clearance of more and more land in order to build ports.

This reduced habitats for wildlife at the coast.

Other problems caused by increased numbers of tourists include the overuse of local services and facilities and amenities.

Heavy amounts of tourism can actually lead areas to become very run down or spoiled, especially when there are large amounts of litter, like you can see in the photograph.

This is not only unsightly for people to look at, it's also very dangerous for animals and habitats can be lost and animals can even lose their lives.

Let's now look at Venice and see what was happening here as a real life example of these disadvantages.

Venice is a port city located on the east coast in the north of Italy.

Venice is very historically important and it's known all around the world because of its canals.

Rather than being connected as a network of street, the city of Venice is made up of more than 100 very small islands that are all connected by water.

This makes it an unusual and interesting place that was very popular with tourists.

The islands of Venice lie within a body of water called a lagoon, so the waters there are very, very calm.

The lagoon at Venice is on the edge of the Adriatic Sea.

A very interesting fact about Venice, is that every year, due to the fact that the city is built out of the water and on the mud, the city is actually starting to sink.

It sinks only a few millimetres every year, but this happens continuously, and eventually, the whole city could be underwater, but that would take a very, very long time.

In 2021, a decision was made that large cruise ships would be banned from the lagoon at Venice.

This is because the lagoon was becoming more and more damaged by the cruise ships, due to the pollution and things like the anchors when they were docking at Venice.

The lagoon is now protected because it has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

UNESCO is the United Nation's Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation.

This means that the lagoon at Venice is now a national monument, and as such, it must be protected.

One of the main reasons why the lagoon at Venice was made into a World Heritage Site, was because the experts said that the large boats were causing the pollution and eroding the foundations of the city itself.

The city already floods regularly.

The city is already sinking.

And the contribution of the damage caused by those large cruise ships was adding to those naturally occurring processes.

Look at the photograph, which shows a famous square in Venice.

Can you see all the people walking around? There are some canopies in the distance with people sitting down, relaxing, and having a coffee, looking at all of the beautiful architecture.

It doesn't always look like that.

Look at the photograph now.

This photograph shows the same square that has been inundated with water after a flood.

The damage from the cruise ships was contributing to the risk of flooding, which was a huge reason why cruise ships were banned from Venice.

Ships have to be a certain weight now to be able to enter the lagoon.

Any ships that are larger than that specified weight, now have to go and dock at other nearby ports.

Let's check our understanding now on the information we have just heard about Venice and about cruise ships.

Here is a multiple choice question.

I would like to know which of these statements are true.

So pause the video now and then make your choice.

Okay, have you chosen? Statement A is definitely true.

Venice was forced to ban cruise ships from its centre in 2021.

Is that the only true statement there? No, it certainly isn't.

C is also true.

The reason that Venice was forced to ban those cruise ships was because cruise ships were damaging the lagoon around Venice.

Time for task C now, the last activity of this lesson, and this is an opportunity for you with a group or with your entire class, to really get involved in thinking about the damage that tourism and in particular, cruising can do.

You are going to hold a debate.

The question that is to be debated is, should larger cruise ships be allowed back into Venice? You could take on the role.

You could either be a cruise ship tourist who might want ships to go back to Venice because you want to visit there.

You might be a local restaurant owner living in Venice, worried about how your business will be affected, or you could be working for UNESCO and worrying about protecting the beautiful city.

There are lots of different points of view to consider and people will have different arguments about why they have the opinion that they do.

Pause the video now and think about your opinion, and don't forget to give reasons to back up your thinking.

All done? Good job.

I'm going to show you some example arguments now for different points of view.

For example, a tourist may have argued, "I think cruise ship should be allowed back.

I want to visit Venice without having to travel there from another port." Somebody working for UNESCO may have said that they were concerned about protecting all of the beautiful buildings and the history of Venice.

"We don't want these huge ships damaging the lagoon and causing anymore flooding." A restaurant owner in Venice though may have said, "I'm not really sure.

Tourists come and eat at my restaurant, and that gives me an income.

But if the lagoon is damaged and Venice sinks and floods more often, then there won't be a restaurant." There are always many different points of view to consider.

You have done so well to listen to a lot of information about tourism today.

Let's look back now at everything we have learned in this lesson.

So we now know that coastal areas are what we could call tourist hotspots.

Lots of tourists visit there, and that's because they have beautiful landscapes and there are so many activities that we can do at the coast that we just can't do anywhere else.

Tourism can bring benefits to coastal regions, but it also can lead to problems. Cruising is a very popular type of tourism, and cruise ships carry tourists all around the world for weeks or even months.

Some places around the world though, like Venice, have actually banned cruise ships from their localities because of the damage that is being caused to the natural environment.

It's been so interesting thinking about all the places around the world and how something that humans enjoy doing, can be so damaging.

I'll see you again next time for another geography lesson about our amazing coasts.

Bye for now.