📝 Step 1: Read It Twice
Read the scenario once to get the general idea. Read it again to spot the key details place names, types of tourism, organisations mentioned and any problems or changes described.
Paper 1 - Key Terms and Concepts Preparation » Paper 1 Practice - Scenario-Based Question on Definitions and Concepts
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
- How to tackle scenario-based questions in Paper 1 using key definitions and concepts
- How to read a scenario carefully and pick out the right terms to use
- Core Travel & Tourism definitions you must know cold for the exam
- How to apply concepts to unfamiliar situations not just repeat them
- Worked examples showing how to turn a scenario into a strong answer
- Practice questions with model answers to check your understanding
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Unlock This Course📄 What is a Scenario-Based Question?
In Paper 1, you won't just be asked to write a definition in isolation. Instead, the examiner gives you a scenario a short description of a real or fictional situation and asks you to use your knowledge of key terms and concepts to answer questions about it.
Think of it like this: the scenario is the context and your job is to connect the right Travel & Tourism concepts to it. This tests whether you actually understand the terms, not just whether you've memorised them.
💡 Why Does This Matter?
Many students lose marks because they write a correct definition but don't link it to the scenario. The examiner wants to see that you can apply your knowledge. Always refer back to the scenario in your answer!
🔍 Reading the Scenario Step by Step
Before you write a single word, you need to read the scenario properly. Here's a simple method that works every time:
📌 Step 2: Underline Key Words
Underline or circle anything that links to a Travel & Tourism concept. For example, if it mentions "local people losing jobs," that links to economic impacts. If it mentions "new airport," think about infrastructure and accessibility.
🔎 Step 3: Spot the Command Word
Look at what the question is actually asking. "Define," "identify," "explain," and "suggest" all need different types of answers. Don't write an essay when the question just says "state."
✍️ Step 4: Plan Before You Write
Even for short answers, spend 30 seconds thinking: Which concept fits here? What's my definition? How does it connect to the scenario? This stops you from writing off-topic answers.
📚 Core Definitions You Must Know
These are the key terms that come up again and again in Paper 1 scenario questions. Learn the definition AND be ready to spot them in a scenario.
✈️ Tourism & Travel Basics
🌎 Tourism
The activities of people travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, or other purposes.
🚶 Tourist
A visitor who stays at least one night away from home. Day visitors (excursionists) do NOT count as tourists because they don't stay overnight.
🏠 Domestic Tourism
When people travel within their own country for tourism purposes. Example: A family from Manchester visiting Edinburgh for a weekend break.
✈️ International Tourism
Travel across national borders for tourism. The tourist leaves their home country. Example: A German tourist visiting Thailand.
📈 Mass Tourism
Large numbers of tourists visiting the same destination, often using package holidays. It can bring economic benefits but also cause environmental and social problems.
🌿 Ecotourism
Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. Small groups, low impact, high awareness.
🌎 Scenario Snapshot: Spotting Tourism Types
Scenario: "The island of Koh Samui in Thailand has seen a huge rise in visitors from Europe and Australia. Large resort hotels have been built along the coastline and local fishing villages have been converted into tourist areas."
📌 Key concepts to spot: International tourism (visitors from other countries), mass tourism (large numbers, big hotels), economic impacts (local areas changing) and potentially negative environmental impacts (coastline development).
🏠 Key Organisations in Travel & Tourism
Scenario questions often mention organisations or types of businesses. You need to know what they do and how they fit into the industry.
👥 The Main Players
Key Definitions:
- Tour Operator: A company that puts together package holidays by combining transport, accommodation and other services. Example: TUI, Thomas Cook.
- Travel Agent: A retailer that sells holidays and travel products on behalf of tour operators. They act as the middleman between the customer and the tour operator.
- National Tourist Organisation (NTO): A government body responsible for promoting a country as a tourist destination. Example: VisitBritain promotes the UK abroad.
- Local Tourist Board: A regional organisation that promotes tourism within a specific area. Example: Visit Cornwall.
- Accommodation Provider: Any business offering places to stay hotels, hostels, campsites, B&Bs, self-catering apartments.
📦 Package Holiday
A pre-arranged combination of at least two travel services (e.g. flight + hotel) sold at an all-inclusive price. The tour operator takes responsibility if something goes wrong.
📱 Independent Travel
When a tourist arranges all parts of their trip themselves flights, hotels, activities rather than buying a package. More flexible but requires more planning.
🌍 Factors That Affect Tourism Applied to Scenarios
Scenario questions love to describe a situation where tourism has increased or decreased. You need to be able to name and explain the factors behind this.
📈 Push and Pull Factors
Push factors are reasons why people want to leave their home area. Pull factors are reasons why people are attracted to a destination.
- Push: Cold weather at home, stress, desire for a change, school holidays
- Pull: Warm climate, beautiful scenery, cultural attractions, low cost, good infrastructure
⚡ Other Key Factors
Key Definitions:
- Accessibility: How easy it is to reach a destination. Improved by new airports, motorways, rail links and budget airlines.
- Infrastructure: The basic systems that support tourism roads, airports, water supply, electricity, accommodation and communications.
- Carrying Capacity: The maximum number of tourists a destination can handle without causing damage to the environment or reducing visitor enjoyment.
- Seasonality: The pattern of tourism demand that changes with the seasons. Many destinations have a peak season (busiest) and an off-season (quietest).
- Exchange Rate: The value of one currency compared to another. A favourable exchange rate makes a destination cheaper for foreign tourists.
🏆 Case Study: Iceland From Unknown to Overcrowded
In 2010, Iceland was a relatively unknown destination. Then the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, ironically putting Iceland on the world map. Combined with the rise of budget airlines (improved accessibility), social media promotion and a favourable exchange rate for many visitors, tourist numbers exploded from 500,000 in 2010 to over 2 million by 2017.
📌 Concepts in this scenario: Accessibility, infrastructure pressure, carrying capacity, seasonality challenges and economic impacts of tourism growth.
🌿 Impacts of Tourism The Big Three
Nearly every scenario in Paper 1 will link to one or more of these three types of impact. Get these definitions sharp and be ready to apply them.
💰 Economic Impacts
Positive: Jobs created, income for local businesses, tax revenue for government, multiplier effect.
Negative: Leakage (money leaving the local economy), seasonal unemployment, rising prices for locals.
🌿 Environmental Impacts
Positive: Conservation funding, protected areas, wildlife preservation.
Negative: Pollution, habitat destruction, litter, water shortages, carbon emissions from flights.
👥 Social & Cultural Impacts
Positive: Cultural exchange, improved facilities for locals, pride in heritage.
Negative: Overcrowding, loss of local culture (cultural erosion), crime, resentment from residents.
💡 The Multiplier Effect Explained Simply
This is a concept that comes up in scenarios about economic benefits. Here's how it works:
A tourist spends £100 at a local hotel → The hotel pays its staff → The staff spend their wages at local shops → The shops buy stock from local suppliers → The original £100 has created more than £100 of economic activity. The money "multiplies" as it passes through the local economy.
🚫 Economic Leakage The Opposite Problem
Leakage is when money from tourism leaves the local economy instead of staying in it. This happens when:
- Hotels are owned by foreign companies (profits go abroad)
- Food and goods are imported rather than bought locally
- Tour operators are based in the tourist's home country
Example: A British tourist books a package holiday to Jamaica through a UK tour operator, stays in a US-owned hotel and eats imported food. Most of their money never reaches Jamaican people.
🌎 Scenario Practice: Apply the Concepts
Scenario: "A new international airport has opened in a small coastal country. Visitor numbers have tripled in five years. Local fishermen have sold their boats and now work as tour guides. New hotels have been built by foreign investors. Some residents complain about noise, litter and rising food prices."
📌 Can you spot these concepts?
- ✈️ Accessibility new airport
- 💰 Economic impact (positive) new jobs for locals
- 💰 Economic leakage foreign-owned hotels
- 🌿 Environmental impact (negative) noise and litter
- 👥 Social impact (negative) rising prices, resident complaints
📄 Sustainable Tourism A Key Concept
Sustainable tourism means tourism that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It balances economic, environmental and social needs.
✅ Features of Sustainable Tourism
- Small group sizes to reduce impact
- Local guides and locally owned accommodation
- Respect for local culture and traditions
- Minimal environmental damage
- Fair wages for local workers
❌ Features of Unsustainable Tourism
- Overcrowding beyond carrying capacity
- Profits going to foreign companies (leakage)
- Damage to natural habitats
- Loss of local culture and traditions
- Seasonal jobs with no long-term security
✍️ Worked Scenario Answer Step by Step
Let's put it all together with a full worked example. This is exactly the kind of question you'll face in Paper 1.
📝 Exam-Style Question
Scenario: "Bali, Indonesia, is a popular tourist destination known for its temples, rice terraces and beaches. In recent years, visitor numbers have grown rapidly, with over 6 million international tourists arriving in 2019. Local residents have reported that traditional ceremonies are being disrupted, plastic waste is polluting beaches and the cost of living has risen sharply."
Question: Using the scenario, identify two negative impacts of tourism on Bali. For each impact, explain how it affects the destination. [4 marks]
❌ Weak Answer
"Tourism has negative impacts. There is pollution and prices have gone up."
📌 Why it's weak: No definitions, no link to the scenario, no explanation of how the impacts affect Bali.
✅ Strong Answer
Impact 1 Environmental: The scenario mentions plastic waste polluting beaches. This is a negative environmental impact of tourism. As visitor numbers increase, more waste is generated. If waste management infrastructure cannot cope, pollution damages marine ecosystems, harms wildlife and makes beaches less attractive which could reduce tourism in the long term.
Impact 2 Social/Cultural: The scenario states that traditional ceremonies are being disrupted. This is a negative social and cultural impact. When large numbers of tourists visit sacred sites or attend ceremonies, local traditions can be commercialised or disrespected, leading to cultural erosion the gradual loss of a community's unique customs and identity.
📌 Why it's strong: Each impact is named, defined, linked directly to the scenario and explained with consequences.
🚀 Quick Revision Summary Scenario-Based Questions
- 🔍 Always read the scenario twice before answering
- 📌 Underline key words that link to Travel & Tourism concepts
- 📚 Use the correct definition don't just describe in vague terms
- 🔗 Always link your answer back to the scenario use phrases like "as shown in the scenario..." or "the text states..."
- ✅ For explain/assess questions, always include consequences what happens as a result?
- 🌿 Know your three impact types: economic, environmental, social/cultural
- 💰 Remember: multiplier effect = money spreading through the economy; leakage = money leaving the local economy
- 🌎 Sustainable tourism balances present needs with future protection