Band 7.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 7.0 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-08-02

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries and contributes a great deal to economies around the world. However, the damage tourism can cause to local cultures and the environment is often ignored.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 7.0)

In recent years, tourism has become one of the most rapidly growing industrial sectors in the world, contributing substantially to the GDP of a country. However, the fact that this trend is causing some detrimental effects to the environment and local cultures is undeniable and must be addressed.

Tourists, undoubtedly, add a significant value to the economy their destination country. Currency conversion, buying local items, renting hotels- these events add up to a country's overall revenue. Survival of some countries like Cabo Verde, Maldives solely depends on the cash that is generated through tourism. On top of that, cultural exchange often helps a country's economy passively.

Nevertheless, there are numerous harmful effects of tourism which must be tackled. From my point of view, drug trafficking is one of the major concerns related to tourism. Travellers often carry drugs with them in all sorts of cunning way and more often than not they are successful in avoiding customs officers. This event carries a risk of downstream pathways which enables youths of a nation to get addicted. Moreover, tourists most of the time are ignorant of the cultures and norms of their destination country, which potentially leads to dissatisfaction amongst the locals. Local authorities also allege that travellers are careless when it comes to proper disposal of trash and garbage when can negatively affect marine and land lives.

In conclusion, it is true that in modern economy, tourism is a blessing. Still, the aforementioned adverse effects can be counterproductive in the long run and must be mitigated through thorough plannings.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 7.0

You have addressed all parts of the prompt, acknowledging both the economic benefits and the negative impacts of tourism. Your position is clear throughout the essay. However, the development of your ideas is somewhat uneven. While the economic benefits are mentioned, the discussion on 'drug trafficking' as a primary negative impact of tourism feels slightly tangential and less relevant than more common environmental or cultural degradation issues. To reach a higher band, ensure your supporting points are more directly linked to the core themes of cultural and environmental damage mentioned in the prompt. Overall, the response is relevant and maintains a consistent focus on the topic.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 7.5

The essay is logically organized with a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You use cohesive devices such as 'Nevertheless', 'On top of that', and 'In conclusion' to guide the reader. However, some transitions are slightly mechanical, and the referencing in the third paragraph (e.g., 'This event carries a risk...') is a bit vague. Paragraphing is used appropriately to separate distinct ideas. To improve, focus on creating smoother transitions between sentences to ensure the flow of ideas feels more natural and less like a list of points.

Lexical Resource — Band 7.0

You demonstrate a sufficient range of vocabulary to discuss the topic with some precision, using terms like 'detrimental effects', 'mitigated', and 'counterproductive'. There are some minor collocation issues, such as 'cunning way' (should be 'cunning ways') and 'marine and land lives' (should be 'marine and terrestrial ecosystems'). While you attempt to use less common vocabulary, some word choices are slightly awkward or imprecise. Expanding your range of topic-specific collocations and ensuring more natural phrasing will help you achieve a higher score in this criterion.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 6.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentence structures. There are several grammatical errors that occasionally distract the reader, such as 'economy their destination country' (missing preposition), 'when can negatively affect' (should be 'which can'), and 'thorough plannings' (planning is an uncountable noun). While these errors do not impede communication, they occur frequently enough to prevent a higher band score. To improve, focus on subject-verb agreement, the correct use of relative pronouns, and ensuring that complex sentences are constructed with greater accuracy.

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