Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460): Theme 3.4 – Tourism – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover Topic 3.4 Tourism in the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022). The topic is examined in Paper 1 Geographical Themes; questions 3 to 5 practise the data skills tested in Paper 2, and question 7 practises the questionnaire methods named for Paper 4 Alternative to Coursework. All places and data in the questions are fictional unless a question asks for your own case study.

Revise first with the tourism study guide and the tourism revision notes. For other topics, use the Cambridge IGCSE Geography hub and the IGCSE Geography checklist.

Questions

1. Define the term “carrying capacity” as it applies to a tourist area. [2]

2. State two physical attractions and two human attractions that could draw tourists to a mountain region. [4]

3. The table shows international tourist arrivals to Pelora, a fictional island country.

Year	2000	2005	2010	2015	2020	2024
Arrivals (thousands)	120	165	240	380	95	410

(a) Calculate the percentage increase in arrivals between 2000 and 2015. Give your answer to one decimal place. [2] (b) Describe the changes in arrivals between 2000 and 2024. Use figures. [3] (c) Suggest two reasons for the fall in arrivals between 2015 and 2020. [2] (d) Suggest reasons why arrivals grew between 2000 and 2015. [4]

4. A bar graph shows the number of tourism jobs each month in Valmont, a fictional mountain ski resort. Reading from January to December, the bars show: 1,800; 1,900; 1,500; 600; 300; 400; 700; 750; 350; 250; 400; 1,600.

(a) Identify the month with the most tourism jobs. [1] (b) Calculate the range in monthly tourism jobs. [1] (c) Calculate the mean number of tourism jobs per month, to the nearest whole number. [2] (d) Explain two problems this pattern of employment may cause for local people. [4]

5. The table shows how USD 1,000 spent by a tourist on a stay at a fictional beach resort is shared out.

Where the money goes	USD
Hotel profits sent to overseas owners	300
Imported food and drink	200
Overseas tour operator commission	150
Wages paid to local staff	180
Goods bought from local suppliers	90
Government taxes	80

(a) Calculate the percentage of the USD 1,000 that leaks out of the country. [2] (b) Explain how leakage reduces the multiplier effect of tourism. [3] (c) Suggest two ways the government could increase the share of tourist spending that stays in the country. [4]

6. Read this description of Port Calder, a fictional seaside resort.

Visitor numbers have hardly changed for ten years. Many hotels built thirty years ago now look dated, and two have closed. Tourism provides most local jobs. Residents complain about crowded streets in summer, and travel websites describe the resort as “old-fashioned”.

(a) Identify the stage of the Butler model that Port Calder has reached. [1] (b) Give two pieces of evidence from the description that support your answer. [2] (c) Suggest two actions that could help Port Calder rejuvenate. [4]

7. A student wants to test the hypothesis “Most visitors to Lake Arno are day visitors”. Lake Arno is a fictional lakeside beauty spot.

(a) Suggest two questions the student could include in a questionnaire to test this hypothesis. [2] (b) Explain why the student should carry out a pilot survey. [2] (c) Describe a suitable sampling method and one problem the student might face when using it. [3]

8. Study this information about Sarnia, a fictional island.

Sarnia has 12,000 residents and receives 48,000 visitors a year. A foreign company plans a 300-room resort on the north coast, next to a mangrove swamp and a fishing village. The company says it will employ 400 staff. Most food on the island is already imported.

Evaluate the benefits and disadvantages that the new resort could bring to the people of Sarnia. [6]

9. Explain why ecotourism is often described as more sustainable than mass tourism. [4]

10. For a named area you have studied where tourism is important, explain why tourism has grown there and describe how it is being managed. [8]

11. “Careful management can make tourism sustainable in any receiving area.” How far do you agree with this statement? Use examples. [12]

Answers

1. The maximum number of visitors a place can take [1] before the environment, local community or visitor experience is damaged [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A definition earns the second mark only if it says what happens when the limit is passed.

2. Physical: snow-covered slopes for skiing [1]; dramatic scenery such as peaks, glaciers or lakes for walking and photography [1]. Human: ski lifts and cable cars [1]; hotels, chalets and restaurants [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Keep the two lists separate; a ski lift placed under physical attractions earns nothing.

3. (a) (380 - 120) / 120 x 100 [1] = 216.7% [1] [2] (b) Arrivals rose overall from 120 thousand in 2000 to 410 thousand in 2024 [1]. Growth sped up, with the largest pre-2020 rise of 140 thousand between 2010 and 2015 [1]. Arrivals then fell sharply to 95 thousand in 2020 before recovering to above the 2015 level by 2024 [1]. [3] (c) A pandemic or health scare leading to travel restrictions [1]; a natural hazard such as a tropical storm damaging resorts or the airport [1]. [2] Also credit political unrest or a global recession. (d) Rising incomes in source countries gave people more money for holidays [1]. Cheaper flights or new direct air routes made the island easier to reach [1]. New hotels and resorts increased the accommodation available [1]. Online marketing and social media made the island better known [1]. [4] Examiner insight: In (b), a description that quotes no figures from the table stays in the bottom of the marks; use years and values with units.

4. (a) February [1] [1] (b) 1,900 - 250 = 1,650 jobs [1] [1] (c) Total 10,550 / 12 [1] = 879 jobs [1] [2] (d) Most jobs exist only in the winter ski season, so many workers are unemployed or have very low income from about April to November [1]; this makes it hard for families to plan or borrow money [1]. Young people may leave to find year-round work elsewhere [1], which weakens the local community and leaves an older population [1]. [4] Examiner insight: For “explain two problems”, each problem needs a consequence, not just the word “seasonal”.

5. (a) 300 + 200 + 150 = 650 [1]; 650 / 1,000 x 100 = 65% [1] [2] (b) Money that leaks out is not re-spent in the local economy [1]. So fewer local businesses receive extra income from tourists [1], and fewer further jobs are created in the next rounds of spending [1]. [3] (c) Require or encourage hotels to buy food from local farmers and fishers [1], so money paid for food stays with local producers instead of going on imports [1]. Support locally owned hotels or require local partners in foreign-owned resorts [1], so a share of profits stays in the country [1]. [4] Examiner insight: In (a), show the working; a correct final figure with no working risks the method mark if you slip.

6. (a) Stagnation [1] [1] (b) Visitor numbers have hardly changed for ten years [1]; hotels look dated and two have closed [1]. [2] (c) Build a new attraction such as a conference centre or water park [1], which gives visitors a new reason to come [1]. Market the resort to new groups, for example off-season short breaks [1], which spreads visits through the year and reduces summer crowding [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Evidence marks need words lifted from the resource; general statements about the model do not count.

7. (a) “Are you staying overnight in the Lake Arno area?” [1]; “How long will you spend at Lake Arno today?” [1] [2] (b) A pilot survey tests the questionnaire on a small group first [1], so unclear or unnecessary questions can be changed before the main survey [1]. [2] (c) Systematic sampling: ask every tenth person passing a fixed point such as the car park exit [1], at several times of day and on different days [1]. A problem is that some people refuse to answer, so the sample may not be representative [1]. [3] Examiner insight: A good sampling answer says where and when, as well as naming the method.

8. Benefit: the resort could create up to 400 jobs for an island of 12,000 people [1], and wages spent locally would support shops and services through the multiplier effect [1]. Disadvantage: building next to the mangrove swamp could destroy habitat and fish nursery areas [1], harming the fishing village’s income [1]. With most food imported and a foreign owner, leakage will be high, so the benefit may be smaller than the job figure suggests [1]. Judgement: the resort is worthwhile only if it is required to employ and buy locally and to protect the mangroves; otherwise the fishing village bears the costs [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Use the resource’s details (400 jobs, mangroves, imported food); a general list of tourism impacts limits you to the lower marks.

9. Ecotourism keeps visitor numbers small [1], so it stays within the carrying capacity of fragile environments [1]. It often uses local guides and locally owned lodges [1], so more income stays in the area and gives local people a reason to protect it [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “It is better for the environment” is too vague; explain the mechanism.

10. Example answer: the Maldives. The real exam marks extended case-study answers with levels of response; the points below show what a top-level answer contains.

Growth: the Maldives has 1,192 coral islands with reefs, lagoons and white sand beaches, ideal for diving and snorkelling [1]. The first resort, Kurumba, opened in 1972 [1], and luxury “one island, one resort” developments reached by seaplane from Velana International Airport added a human attraction [1]. Arrivals reached about 1.7 million in 2019 [1].

Management: a green tax has been charged since 2015, and from 2025 it is USD 12 a night at resorts [1]. Guesthouses on inhabited islands now pay a lower green tax rate, and their spread takes income beyond resort islands [1]. Waste from Malé has been shipped to the landfill island of Thilafushi since the early 1990s [1], although this has created its own pollution problems [1]. [8] Examiner insight: Case-study marks depend on place-specific detail; a generic “tropical island” answer cannot reach the top level.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point. The indicative points below show what a strong answer includes.

Agree: management can reduce damage by limiting numbers, as in Bhutan’s per-night Sustainable Development Fee [1], which aims for fewer, higher-spending visitors [1]. Fees and taxes can fund conservation, such as the Maldives’ green tax [1]. Zoning and visitor codes protect sensitive areas such as reefs [1]. Local ownership and local supply chains cut leakage, making benefits last [1].

Disagree: some threats are outside a receiving area’s control; Maldivian reefs and beaches are threatened by sea-level rise and coral bleaching [1], with land reaching only 2.4 metres above sea level [1]. Governments that depend heavily on tourism income may not cap numbers [1]. Small fees, such as Venice’s EUR 5 day-tripper charge from 2024, may not change visitor behaviour much [1]. Management can push crowds to other, unprotected sites [1].

Judgement: management can make tourism more sustainable in most places, but not in any place [1], because success depends on enforcement, local support and global factors such as climate change [1]. [12] Examiner insight: “How far do you agree” needs a clear judgement with a reason; a balanced list with no verdict cannot reach the top level.

Where marks are usually lost

• Describing data without quoting figures, years and units.
• Missing working in calculations, which loses method marks.
• Mixing physical and human attractions.
• Explaining a problem without its consequence for people.
• Ignoring the resource’s details in evaluate questions.
• Giving one-sided answers when the command word is evaluate or “How far do you agree”.
• Case-study answers with no named place, dates or figures.
• Naming a sampling method without saying where, when and how.

Next steps

• Revisit weak areas in the tourism study guide.
• Check reef conditions in coasts, which helps with reef-damage answers.
• Find out where you stand across the course with our diagnostics.
• Want help from a teacher? Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

These questions are written for the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022), Topic 3.4 Tourism. Use them with official past papers from Cambridge International or your school.