Band 6.5 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 6.5 · IELTS Summit Mastery · 2026-11-01

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 6.5)

Tourism being one of the fastest growing industries contributes significantly to economy around the world. This growth of tourism has also increased the damage it causes to local cultures and the environment, which is often ignored by the people. I completely agree with this statement and I believe that tourism does cause damage to local cultures and the environment.

Tourism is the movement of people from one place to another with the purpose of recreation and enjoyment. Tourists from another location has almost no attachment to the place they are visiting to and the vast majority of the tourists can be careless and ignorant about the importance of a tourist site. Since they are driven by the sense of enjoyment and recreation, in absence of supervision and strict rules and regulations, many tourist tend to pollute the environment and damage the local cultures present there. Some people don't show any respect to the local cultures and they modify it according to their convenience and their needs, damaging its originality. This has happened with me and with my own culture as well. There is a traditional dance called Deuda in my hometown. Some tourists visiting my hometown couldn't perform Deuda well, so they played their own music and started performing their own kind of dance while drinking beer. The elderly residents were annoyed but the younger generation started to copy it. Now, the original form of the dance Deuda is only performed by elderly people and younger generations has been modified to a point that it has lost it historical significance. Although the tourist do spend money in the tourist place and help with the economy of that place, it can cause irreversible damage to the local cultures and the environment.

However, this doesn't mean that tourism should be banned and the cultures should be isolated from each other. The damage being caused by tourism can be minimized greatly if strict rules and regulations are made and implemented. The presence of CCTV camaras reduce the damage caused to the environment by a great margin. Apart from that, the tourists should be made aware about the significance of local cultures and strictly warned against the modifications. Tourism not only helps with the economy of a place but also spreads the awareness and importance of local cultures to different parts of the world. One portion of the earnings made from tourism should be seperated and invested in protecting the environment. So, in my opinion, although tourism can cause damage to local cultures and the environment but it should be promoted and efforts should be made to protect the local cultures and environment.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 7.0

Your position is clear throughout: you agree that tourism can harm local cultures and the environment, while arguing that it should be managed rather than banned. The Deuda example gives your cultural argument specific, personal support, and you also acknowledge tourism’s economic and educational benefits before proposing safeguards. This addresses the task and develops relevant ideas. Some claims, however, are broad or less fully supported: for example, tourists are described as generally careless, and CCTV is said to reduce environmental damage “by a great margin” without explaining how or giving an example. Develop the environmental impact with a concrete case, and qualify generalisations. This would make the support more consistently precise and fully developed.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 7.0

The essay has a clear overall progression: an introduction states your view, the first body paragraph explains cultural and environmental harms, and the final paragraph considers ways to limit them while retaining tourism’s benefits. Linking expressions such as “However,” “Apart from that,” and “So” help signal shifts in the argument, and the Deuda example is placed where it supports your point. At times, though, the first body paragraph moves quickly from a definition of tourism to tourists’ attitudes, then to cultural change and environmental harm; clearer separation or a more explicit link between these ideas would improve flow. Some transitions, especially “So, in my opinion,” repeat the conclusion rather than adding a new step. Use references and transitions more selectively.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use an adequate range to discuss the topic, including phrases such as “irreversible damage,” “historical significance,” and “strict rules and regulations.” The personal example also allows you to use relevant cultural vocabulary, and your meaning remains clear. However, some word choices and collocations are imprecise or repetitive: “tourist place” is used where “destination” or “tourist site” would sound more natural, and “the damage it causes” recurs without much variation. There are also spelling errors, including “camaras” and “seperated,” which reduce accuracy. Aim for more precise topic vocabulary and check spelling carefully; use alternatives such as “cultural heritage” and “environmental degradation” where they fit the meaning.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You use a mix of simple and complex structures, including conditional phrasing (“if strict rules and regulations are made and implemented”) and clauses beginning with “Since” and “Although.” These help express causes, contrasts, and qualifications, and errors generally do not prevent understanding. Some grammatical inaccuracies remain, particularly with agreement and articles: “Tourists from another location has” should be “have,” “many tourist tend” should be “many tourists tend,” and “younger generations has been modified” needs a plural subject and a clearer construction. There are also awkward sentence patterns, such as “visiting to,” and some long sentences would benefit from clearer punctuation. Review subject–verb agreement, plural forms, and sentence boundaries to improve control.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.