Faroe Islands Close to Tourists but

Open to Volunteers
January 6, 2020
6 Intermediate Economy & Business Europe

Exercise 1

Vocabulary
volunteer /ˌvɑːlənˈtiːr/ a person who does work but is not paid
Noun
We need more volunteers who are willing to give
blood.
We need a few more volunteers for the school
festival.
A lot of volunteers gathered at the disaster area to
help the victims.

application /ˌæpləˈkeɪʃən/ an official written request for something

Noun
Where can I get a job application form?
This is an application form for a bank loan.
Please sign the application on the dotted line.

sign up /saɪn ʌp/

Phrasal Verb to agree to become involved in an organization, event,
etc.

They signed up for a yoga class at the gym.

They signed up for a shopping account online.
He signed up for the chance to win a free vacation
to Las Vegas.

random /ˈrændəm/
Adjective done, happening, etc. without any pattern or reason

I just picked a random number and won.

 Students are told to line up in a random order.
director /dɪˈrɛktər/ a senior manager
Noun
He has been a company director for over twenty
years.
The Board of Directors will meet at nine in the
morning.
She serves as a director on the boards of several
companies.
Let me speak to the executive director about that
and see if she agrees.

Exercise 2

Article
Faroe Islands Close to Tourists but Open to Volunteers

Located around 300 kilometers north of Scotland, the Faroe Islands

will close a number of its tourist attractions for the weekend of April
16 to 17, 2020, but will welcome volunteers to come and help look
after them.

In the first 24 hours that volunteer applications were opened, 5,886

people from 95 countries signed up. There are only 100 spaces, and
volunteers will be chosen at random. They will get free
accommodation, food, and travel around the islands while they are
helping.

Fourteen tourist attractions will be closed, including Slættaratindur,

the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands, The Telegraph reports. The
last part of the mountain’s main path isn’t safe, so while it is closed to
tourists, the volunteers will help make a new route up the mountain
and put up signs.
This is the second time the Faroe Islands have closed to tourists. The
first time was in 2019, and it was a success, so officials have decided
to do it once a year.

Guðrið Højgaard, director at Visit Faroe Islands, told CNN Travel in

2019, "For us, tourism is not all about numbers." She explained that
the islands welcome tourists every year, but it is also important to
protect both the local community and the environment.

More and more tourists have been visiting the Faroe Islands in recent
years. In 2013, 68,000 tourists visited the Danish territory, The
Telegraph reports. And in 2018, that number reached 110,000.

A view of Funningur fjord, Faroe Islands.

Exercise 3

Questions
1. How many volunteers will be chosen for the program?

2. What kind of work will the volunteers do on the Faroe Island's highest
 mountain?

3. How many people visited the Faroe Islands in 2018?

Exercise 4

Discussion
1. Would you be interested in volunteering in the Faroe Islands?

2. Have you ever done any volunteer work? If so, please share your
experience.

3. If you were to go on a volunteer program abroad, where would you

choose and what kind of work would you like to do?

4. What do you make of the idea that "tourism is not all about
numbers"?

5. Would you rather visit Scotland or the Faroe Islands? Why?

Exercise 5

Further Discussion
1. Do you have any travel plans for 2020? If so, what are they?

2. What countries are on your must-see list? Why?

3. If you could only vacation in one country for the rest of your life,
where would you choose and why?

4. What would you say is the most important thing you've learned while
traveling?

5. The happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving
more. – H. Jackson Brown Jr. What do you make of this statement?