Shadowing Practice: Overtourism puts destinations under pressure | Vietnam Today - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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As Asia enters its peak travel season,
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As Asia enters its peak travel season,
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the strong return of tourism is bringing both opportunities and pressure.
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Popular destinations are welcoming more visitors,
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but many are also facing crowded streets,
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strained services and growing concerns from local communities.
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So what is over-tourism and why is it becoming a bigger challenge after the pandemic?
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Let's take a closer look.
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Tourism is one of the world's most important economic sectors.
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It creates jobs, supports small businesses,
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generates income for local communities,
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and help promote culture and heritage.
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But when visitors' number grows too quickly,
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the benefits can come at a cost.
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Over-tourism happens when a destination receives more tourists than it can sustainably manage.
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This can lead to crowded streets,
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pressure on transport and public services,
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rising living costs, environmental issues and frustration among local residents.
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After the pandemic, many travelers have been eager to make up for lost time.
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This has helped revive the industry,
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but it has also intensified pressure on already popular destinations.
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The challenge now is not simply to attract more tourists,
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but to manage tourism more effectively effectively.
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Following that overview we now look more closely at how over tourism is playing out across Asia
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and what destinations can do to manage growth more sustainably.
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We spoke with Solin Ling-Leh,
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a hospitality and sustainable tourism expert about the pressures facing popular destinations
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and why success in tourism should be measured beyond visitor numbers.
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Thank you for As tourist numbers rise across Asia,
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what pressures are popular destinations facing and how serious is the issue of over-tourism?
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Thank you for the question.
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So right now, the rising of visitor number in Asia is,
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as you mentioned, characterized as the term we often call as over tourism.
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So in destinations like, for example,
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in Phuket, Thailand, Bali, Indonesia,
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or Kyoto in Japan, the excessive increase or explosion of tourism has reintroduced environmental degradation and social tension.
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Over tourism, you know, less of over tourism as a problem for total number of tourists arriving,
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arriving but more of a problem of concentration in space
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and time across asia destinations are trying to manage tourism pressure
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in different ways what strategies do you think are working best
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especially in reducing pressure on overcrowded areas it's actually quite hard to answer
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to say that which approach works best because different destinations are at very different stages in the destination area life cycle.
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So there is no one solution or one approach fits all.
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For example, in the case of Kyoto,
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they actually look at the combined between technology,
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like combined GPS trajectories, and with the online route and service reviews to identify the alternative construction.
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While for Thailand, the cheaper was more high value and regional with the BCG economy model and the tooling project.
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So they launched a direct flight that might pass the main hub that brings directly the tourists to regional destinations.
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Beyond arrival numbers, what should destinations measure to understand whether tourism growth is sustainable and beneficial for local communities?
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So the traditional reliance on arrival numbers as the main or primary matrix,
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and let up the social and environmental aspect.
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So looking beyond, you know,
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since like, like, you're beyond 2025,
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right now 2026, the measure of tourism impact is also have to apply for meaningful outcomes,
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especially when you look at multiple stakeholders involved in tourism.
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So for communities, for example,
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success is, you know, The success factor is looked at by job creation,
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income retention, and the preservation of cultural heritage than just the quantity of visitors passing through.
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The second indicator is the residence inspection.
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So basically, this indicator monitors citizens' sentiment,
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especially regarding crowding, noise and etiquette.
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Then we also look at infrastructure and resource law.
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The last one is the inclusive growth metrics where it looks at the participation of women,
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youth and even the marginalized groups in the tourism value chain.
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Thank you for your insights.
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So as we have learned,
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countries across Asia are rethinking tourism beyond visitor numbers.
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From coastal communities in Vietnam to rural destinations in China,
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tourism is increasingly being linked with ecology,
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culture, local livelihoods and new consumer experiences.
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The aim is not only to attract more visitors,
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but to create trips that bring deeper value for travelers and more sustainable benefits for communities.
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April marks the start of the peak tourist season at Hon Yen Islet in Dac Lac, Vietnam.
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Local cooperative members are busy taking visitors on basket boat tours to explore the area and see the coral reef,
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while guiding them to protect the environment and avoid damaging conservation zones.
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We show visitors scenic spots,
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swimming areas, swift-lit caves and protected zones.
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Hon Yian Islet is home to 17 coral species.
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One, a hotspot polluted by plastic waste,
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the reef was damaged by both tourists and local fishing due to weak management.
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Today, the environment has been revived.
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Local are protecting the reef while earning income from tourism.
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The cooperative has successfully created and operated six all-inclusive tours.
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We continue to support the cooperative and local community in developing tourism products linked to coral reef conservation,
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monitoring reef health and ensuring marine sustainability.
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We are also helping design new tours and develop sustainable tourism and local capacity."
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Meanwhile China's rural tourism sector has maintained a strong growth momentum this year,
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highlighting new industries and business models.
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according to an official from China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
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Driven by experiential tourism, the sector has seen increasingly diverse consumer experiences in the first quarter of 2026.
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We will promote a range of distinctive,
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diverse and premium rural itineraries,
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create customer-centered, culturally rich and distinctive experiential products,
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thereby generating more employment opportunities and increasing farmers' incomes.
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The rural tourism sector generated revenue of nearly US$140 billion in 2025,
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while villagers' annual per capita disposable income reached nearly US$6,000.

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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will enhance your English skills through a discussion about over-tourism and its impacts on popular travel destinations in Asia, as highlighted in the video "Overtourism puts destinations under pressure | Vietnam Today." You will practice understanding complex ideas and the vocabulary associated with sustainable tourism. This lesson will help you not only in your general English speaking but also in preparing for IELTS speaking practice, as it addresses modern-day issues that may come up in discussions.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Over-tourism: The situation where a destination receives more tourists than it can sustainably manage.
  • Economic sector: A distinct part of the economy that covers specific activities.
  • Environmental degradation: The deterioration of the environment through the depletion of resources.
  • Public services: Services provided by the government for the benefit of the community.
  • Sustainable management: Approaches to managing resources that meet current needs without compromising future generations.
  • Visitor numbers: The count of tourists who visit a specific destination.
  • Social tension: Conflicts or stress within communities typically caused by external pressures.
  • Sustainable growth: Development that meets the needs of the present without harming future generations.

Practice Tips

To effectively improve your English pronunciation while engaging with the video, try using the shadowing technique. This method involves closely following along with the audio, repeating what you hear almost simultaneously. Given the pace of the video is moderate, it allows for clear articulation of words and phrases. Start by pausing after every few sentences to repeat what you’ve heard, focusing on intonation and stress patterns. This practice can significantly enhance your ability to improve English pronunciation.

To complement your shadowing, consider utilizing a shadowing app that can help streamline your practice sessions, allowing you to record and playback your voice. This immediate feedback can be invaluable for recognizing areas of improvement. Engaging with current topics like over-tourism not only helps you learn English with YouTube but enhances your conversational skills about relevant global issues. By discussing the balance between tourism and sustainability, you prepare yourself for IELTS speaking practice that may cover similar themes.

As you progress, challenge yourself to build longer sentences and express your own thoughts on sustainable tourism based on what you learn from the video. This will engage your critical thinking and speaking abilities while also making your language practice more meaningful.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

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