Eco-holiday of your dreams!

Introduction

"Imagine the scene. You're sitting in the hot sunshine beside the swimming pool of your international luxury hotel, drinking your imported gin and tonic. In front of you is the beach, reserved for hotel guests with motor boats for hire. Behind you is an 18-hole golf course, which was cleared from the native forest and is kept green by hundreds of water sprinklers. Around the hotel are familiar international restaurant chains and the same shops that you have at home. You've seen some local people - some of them sell local handicrafts outside the hotel. You bought a small wooden statue and after arguing for half an hour you only paid a quarter of what the man was asking. Really cheap!" (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine/ecotourism)

Is this your idea of heaven or would you prefer something different?

Everyone has a place in the world that they have always wanted to see. Now you'll have the chance to make this dream come true - at least plant it to come true :) You and your two partners are going to plan a dream vacation that will last for 5 to 7 days.

Nepal trekking

However, as you have learnt about eco-tourism, you want to be a "good tourist", which means that you want to keep in mind all the principles of eco-tourism (e.g. respect the local culture and choose non-polluting forms of transport). 

Task

In this project you will do reserach and plan your holiday. Then, you will prepare a Power Point or Prezi (prezi.com) presentation and present your holiday for the class. 

You will work in groups of 3 and plan your holiday. First of all, please agree on a destination (place that you would like to visit) - it should be a real place, as you will do real research. Then look for information about the following:

  • Way of travelling

  • Accommodation

  • Length of stay

  • Sights & programmes

  • Research on culture

  • Budget

 

Time to get started and get ready to go!  Now you must make important decisions regarding your vacation.

First, you will use resources (websites - not only Wikipedia!) that will help you gather information to help you plan and organize your holiday. Then, you will use this information to create a presentation (Power Point, Prezi or Microsoft Sway) that tells about your plans. The presentation will include;

  1. a coverpage,
  2. a map showing your destination,
  3. an itinerary telling how you are going to travel and what you are going to do,
  4. at least 5 pictures with captions showing the sights that you are going to visit or the programmes you are going to have,
  5. some interesting pieces of information about the culture of the place - which you have learnt during your research,
  6. a sheet showing how you will spend your money (budget)
  7. a bibliography to cite all of your sources (Remember to keep track of all websites you consult or quote from in your Bibliography!)

Let's get down to work!

Process

Step 1: Make groups of 3 and decide on your destination. Plan your work: as you will have to work at home, you have to decide in advance who is going to what exactly. Use the OneNote space in the Microsoft Classroom to keep track of your tasks and the responsibilities. 

Step 2: Do your research! Collect and share links of useful websites, pictures, information, etc. - you will work with these in the next class, so please take this step very seriously!

Step 3: Revise all your materials and decide what you will use in your final project. Prepare a presentation (using Power Point, prezi.com or Microsoft Sway) to show your plan. Remember, you have to include at least the following:

  • a coverpage,
  • a map showing your destination,
  • an itinerary telling how you are going to travel and what you are going to do,
  • at least 5 pictures with captions showing the sights that you are going to visit or the programmes you are going to have,
  • some interesting pieces of information about the culture of the place - which you have learnt during your research,
  • a sheet showing how you will spend your money (budget)
  • a bibliography to cite all of your sources (Remember to keep track of all websites you consult or quote from in your Bibliography!)

Step 4: Present your plan to the class. Please divide your speech in a way that everyone in the group has a chance to speak.

Step 5: Imagine that you are on your dream holiday. Write a postcard to your parents or friend in which you describe the place, write about the programmes, local culture and your experience!