IELTS Speaking Part 3: Travel & Tourism (Band 9 Sample)
IELTS Speaking Part 3 broadens your Part 2 topic into an abstract discussion — here, travel and tourism. A band-9 answer states a clear view, develops it with reasons and concrete examples, and weighs the other side before landing a balanced conclusion. Below are four common discussion questions with band-9 model answers, plus why they score 9 and the collocations worth stealing.
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01 · Discussion questions & Band 9 answers
Q: What can people learn from travelling to other countries?
A great deal, and often more about themselves than about the place. Being somewhere unfamiliar, where your usual habits don't work, forces you to adapt and see your own culture from the outside. On a broader level, meeting people who live very differently tends to make you more open-minded and less quick to judge. I honestly think travel is one of the best antidotes to the kind of narrow thinking you can fall into if you never leave home.
personal insight, then broadenQ: How does tourism benefit a country's economy?
It can be hugely important, especially for developing countries. Tourism brings in foreign money and creates a lot of jobs — not just in hotels and restaurants, but right across the supply chain, from farmers to taxi drivers. It can also fund the preservation of historic sites that might otherwise fall into disrepair. The risk, of course, is becoming over-reliant on it, because tourism is easily disrupted by things like recessions or pandemics.
name the benefit, flag the riskQ: Are there any downsides to mass tourism?
Definitely — and they're becoming hard to ignore. Popular destinations can be overwhelmed, with local people priced out of their own neighbourhoods and landmarks worn down by sheer numbers. There's an environmental cost too, from the flights to the strain on local resources. I think the challenge for the future is finding a more sustainable model — spreading visitors out, capping numbers at fragile sites — rather than simply chasing ever-greater tourist figures.
list the costs, then point to a solutionQ: Do you think people will travel more or less in the future?
On balance, more, I'd say. As incomes rise across much of the world and flights stay relatively cheap, travel is within reach of far more people than it used to be. The one thing that might slow it down is growing awareness of its environmental impact, which could push people towards travelling closer to home or less often but for longer. So the total amount may keep rising, but I suspect how we travel will change quite a lot.
predict, then name the counter-force02 · Why this scores Band 9
Each answer builds an argument in stages — claim, reason, example, then a qualifying turn ("The risk, of course...", "The one thing that might slow it down...") — so the discussion develops rather than lists points. The delivery holds across the longer turns without hesitation.
Travel-and-society vocabulary is precise and idiomatic — "an antidote to narrow thinking", "over-reliant", "priced out", "worn down by sheer numbers", "a more sustainable model" — and the collocations carry the argument rather than decorating it.
A wide range is handled accurately: a reduced clause ("Being somewhere unfamiliar... forces you to adapt"), a concessive ("The risk, of course, is becoming over-reliant"), and hedged prediction ("I suspect how we travel will change quite a lot"). Complex ideas come out without breakdown.
Longer turns are chunked into clear thought groups with stress on the contrast words, so the intonation signals emphasis and qualification the way a fluent debater's would.
03 · Useful phrases for this topic
Tap a phrase to see what it means and how to use it. Natural phrases like these lift your Lexical Resource score.
04 · Frequently asked questions
How is Part 3 different from Part 1 on travel?
Part 1 asks about your own travel in short answers; Part 3 zooms out to tourism, economies and society, and expects developed, opinion-led answers of several sentences. It's a discussion, so expect the examiner to probe your reasoning.
Do I need facts about the tourism industry?
No. Part 3 tests how you reason in English, not your knowledge. A clear opinion with a plausible example ('local people priced out', 'jobs across the supply chain') scores far higher than statistics you're unsure of.
How do I sound balanced without sitting on the fence?
Give your view, then acknowledge the other side and explain why your position still holds ("The total may keep rising, but how we travel will change"). Weighing both while committing to a stance is exactly what band 9 rewards.
How long should each answer be?
Three to five sentences: state your view, give a reason, add an example or a concession. Long enough to develop the idea, short enough to keep the discussion flowing naturally.
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