Lesson Plan: Travel

Discussion: What was the best travel holiday you have ever had?

What things might be in the google travel quiz?

Do the google earth quiz. Which places would you like to go to?

What do you think Egyptian food is? Watch this video and find out:

Mark the following as true /false

• Most people come to Egypt for the food
• Kousari can be found everywhere in Egypt.
• Middle eastern food has a one or two influences
• The Egyptian word for bread means «life»
• The presenter puts on gloves because the foos is so spicy

Language

Use the following words to complete the sentences:

unassuming, fall in love, ancient, kick, overshadowed

• Most people come to Egypt for the _______________ history
• There’s a new group of people working hard to make us ______________ with Egyptian cuisine.
• Egyptian cuisine is always __________________by the monuments.
• I can get the ______________ from the spices.
• This ________________ eatery specialises in a local favourite called haushi

Would you like to try Egyptian food? What is the best food you’ve tried when traveling?

Reading

How do you think travel might be like after COVID19?

What do you think the following topics might refer to?

• Self-tours
• Spreading out
• Responsible travel
• Wellness
• Staying local
• Health and safety
• Sustainability
• Social distancing
• Technology

Match the headings with the sections in this article:

With the world of travel slowly opening up again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, new protocols will have to be introduced for tours and organised adventure trips so that travelers and staff feel safe and protected. Experts have shared with us some of the ways that the industry, and travelers’ perspectives, may be different going forward.

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Leigh Barnes, chief customer officer for Intrepid Travel, feels that hyper-local and domestic tours will come back first because people will feel more confident with their own governments’ assurances. «They’ll be eager to get out and discover their surroundings after months spent in isolation,» he says. «You can expect travel businesses to adapt and respond to these new patterns of travel by developing new experiences to cater to the demand.”

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According to Rob Rankin, president of Incoming Tour Operators Association Ireland, touring and activity holidays will be impacted by the capacity constraints that comes with social distancing. He believes that tour operators will adapt their product to ensure adherence to health guidelines, such as by shortening daily coach touring distances and not moving to as many different locations daily. «Activity providers will offer more outdoors options to less populated locations, with a smaller group capacity that would be easier to socially distance,» he predicts.

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A legacy of the common experience we have all been through with the virus may be that we think more about how our choices impact people in other countries. In terms of tours and adventures, Bruce Poon, founder of G Adventures, anticipates that we may think more about people as individuals wherever we go and conduct ourselves accordingly.

«By employing local people rather than parachuted-in “experts,” by either staying at local hotels or with families and paying them for the privilege, and by buying your drink from the guy with the cart on the street instead of from the big chains, you can make sure that more of your travel dollars stay in the pockets of the people who make your trips so memorable,» he says.

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We have had plenty of time to focus on nature lately, and Leigh Barnes of Intrepid Travel believes that future tours will focus more on wellness and the wilderness. «Because 2020 has become defined by spending a lot of time at home and indoors due to the pandemic, we anticipate 2021 will be about getting outdoors and getting active, with tours centered around things like cycling, trekking and mindfulness,» he says. «Far-flung destinations with fewer visitors and ones that offer a deeper connection with our natural world, such as the Galapagos, will see a lot of interest.”
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Going forward, it’s likely that technology will play a role in enhancing experiences and ensuring safety. Visitors to Beethoven Haus in Bonn don’t get devices provided for tours, for example, but media guides to the museum in several languages can be downloaded for free to play on the visitor’s own device. «The days of paying with cash, receiving a paper ticket and renting a headset to listen to an audio guide are gone,» says Will Gluckin from Get Your Guide. «In the «new normal,» experiences will be contactless, and this is an opportunity to enhance the guest experience through a more seamless combination of physical and digital.»

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As the world has slowed down to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, we are getting to see wonderful aspects of nature come to the fore. In the absence of boats, vaporettos and gondolas, the world-famous canals of Venice have been sparkling with unusually clear water and are full of fish, for example, and lions are exploring parts of Kruger that they didn’t venture to before.

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Popular locations may become less desirable going forward, as the more in demand a place is, the more likely it is to attract crowds. Some experts think that we may come to see the world as a fragile place and realise that descending on it in hordes to enjoy adventures may not be the right thing to do. «What if we decided to spread ourselves out a little, both to see parts of the world our friends, families, and Instagrammers have never seen, and to land where we land a little more lightly?» says Bruce Poon, author of «Unlearn: The Year the Earth Stood Still.»

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Being in confined spaces may not appeal to us at present, which is why self-guided tours may gain popularity over the next few months. «We may see a possible increase in self-drive products as travellers look to cocoon themselves from others,» says Rob Rankin, MD of Vagabond Tours. Indeed, RV sales and rentals are taking off in the US, with peer-to-peer RV rental marketplace, RVshare, reporting a 1000% rise in RV rental bookings since early April.

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In the wake of COVID-19, health and safety will be the top priority for every tour operator and activity provider. They will strive to implement new hygiene and operational standards to ensure guests feel safe and secure, according to Will Gluckin of Get Your Guide. «Along with general best practices like masks and social distancing, operational changes like smaller group tour sizes, capacity restrictions in major attractions and distanced seating on bus tours and day trips will become normal,» he says.

Comprehension

Give a tour of your favourite trip using google earth: https://www.google.com/earth/