Hello. This is 6 Minute English and I’m Rob. |
This is the programme where in just six minutes we discuss an interesting topic and teach some related English vocabulary. |
Well, joining me to do this is Sam. |
Hello! |
So what’s our interesting topic today, Rob? |
Something close to our hearts, Sam – it’s travel. |
Great! |
But more and more of us are travelling to explore the world. |
Many of us have more leisure time, and the cost of travelling has become relatively cheaper. |
But here lies the problem. |
The places we’re visiting are becoming more crowded, sometimes spoiling the atmosphere and the beauty – the things we came to see in the first place! |
This is why we’re going to be discussing how some cities around the world are putting restrictions on the tourists who visit. |
But that’s after I challenge you to answer this question, Sam! Are you ready? |
Bring it on, Rob! |
According to Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index, what was the most visited city in 2018? |
Was it… a) London, b) New York, or c) Bangkok? |
All great places to visit – but I think I’ll stay close to home and say a) London. |
OK. Well, as always I will reveal the answer later in the programme. |
Now, let’s start our journey in Italy’s capital city, Rome. |
Famous for its Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and many other things. |
Lots of people are visiting, Rob – and locals and tourists have differing attitudes towards the way they respect these beautiful and historic sites. |
Respect here is a verb, to mean treat something with care. |
Well, the authorities in the city fear that some tourists are showing disrespect to the city and have introduced laws to clampdown on certain behaviour. |
Clampdown means officially trying to stop or limit people doing something. |
Sabina Castelfranco is a journalist in the city. |
She told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme why new restrictions have been introduced… |
The new rules are really to make sure that tourists do not misbehave when they are visiting tourist attractions in Rome. |
Romans don’t like to see tourists walking around bare-chested, they don’t like to see them wading in their fountains. |
So really the objective is to improve the life of the city for residents and for tourists themselves. |
So, the new rules are to stop tourists misbehaving – that’s doing bad or inappropriate things. |
I’m sure not all visitors misbehave |
– but those who have been, have been wading – that’s walking through water – in the famous fountains and men have not been covering up the top half of their bodies – so, going bare-chested. |
Not any more, Sam! |
These new laws have banned this with the objective of improving the life for the people of Rome – the Romans. |
An objective is a plan or aim to achieve something. |
Other laws introduced in Rome, with the objective of improving the city, |
include giving out severe fines to people who drop litter and to those who attach ‘love padlocks’ to historic monuments. |
Well, I guess if it makes the city a nicer place to visit for everyone, then it’s a good idea. |
Well, let’s talk about another historic old city – Bruges in Belgium. |
The old and narrow streets are often packed with sightseers – so restrictions have been introduced there. |
Helen Coffey, deputy travel editor for the Independent newspaper, also spoke to the You and Yours programme, to explain what is going on… |
Bruges was the latest city to say we’re going to introduce new regulations to crack down on what they called the Disneyfication of their city. |
A really key one is they’re going to cap the number of cruises that can dock, and actually this a big one that lots of cities do. |
They basically don’t like cruise visitors because cruise visitors don’t spend money. |
So Helen mentioned a crackdown – which like clampdown – means taking action to restrict or stop certain activities. |
And Bruges wants to crack down on the Disneyfication of the city. |
This term describes turning something into an artificial, not real, commercial environment, similar to a Walt Disney theme park. |
I’m not sure it’s that similar yet, but one way to maintain the authentic feel of the city is to cap the number of cruises that can dock. |
Cap means restrict or limit. |
It’s felt that visitors who come by cruise ship, don’t stay overnight and therefore don’t bring much money into the city. |
The message from the city authorities is ‘stay overnight or don’t come!’ |
Well, one city that has people visiting for the day or staying longer is the most visited city in the world – but where is that, Sam? |
Earlier I asked you what the most visited city in 2018 was? |
Was it… a) London b) New York, or c) Bangkok? |
And I said London. |
That was in second place. |
The most visited city last year was Bangkok, in Thailand. |
OK, Rob. Well, maybe what I can get right is a recap of today’s vocabulary. |
Starting with respect. If you respect something you treat it with care. |
We also discussed clampdown, which means officially trying to stop or limit people doing something. |
Crackdown is a similar phrase. |
To misbehave is to do something bad or inappropriate. |
And an objective is a plan or aim to achieve something. |
Our next word is Disneyfication - a term that describes turning something into an artificial, not real, commercial environment, similar to a Walt Disney theme park. |
And finally we had cap – which means restrict or limit. |
Well, we’ve had to cap this programme at 6 minutes – and we’re out of time. |
Goodbye! |
Bye bye! |