Instagram vs. Reality: Social Media and Overtourism

This upper-intermediate English lesson uses the current issue of overtourism to help students practice important grammar skills including verb forms and sentence correction, expand their vocabulary through gap-fill exercises and word formation activities, and develop reading comprehension using real-world travel scenarios. Students will explore how social media affects tourism while building practical language skills.

Warm-Up Activity
The lesson starts with students examining different solutions to overtourism problems. For each pair of solutions presented, students must decide which option would be more effective at protecting popular destinations while still allowing tourism to benefit local communities. This opening activity gets students thinking critically about complex real-world issues.

Video
Students watch an eye-opening video called “Santorini tourism: Instagram vs. reality” that shows the dramatic difference between what tourists expect from social media photos and what they actually experience when visiting this popular Greek island. The video explores crowded viewpoints, long lines for photos, and the environmental impact of mass tourism. After watching, students complete a comprehensive quiz that tests their understanding of the main points and specific details from the video, helping them practice listening skills while learning about tourism challenges.

Exercises
The exercise section includes three targeted language activities that reinforce different aspects of English while staying focused on the overtourism theme. Students begin by completing sentences using vocabulary specifically related to overtourism. The second exercise focuses on grammar, with students choosing the correct forms of verbs in sentences about travel and tourism situations. Finally, they work on word formation by rearranging letters to create verbs commonly used when discussing tourism and travel experiences.

Reading
Students read an informative text about how Instagram and other social media platforms can create unrealistic expectations about tourist destinations. After reading, they answer detailed questions that test their reading comprehension and encourage them to think about the relationship between social media marketing and tourism reality.

Discussion 

The lesson concludes with students analyzing several realistic tourism scenarios and describing what they would do in each situation.