Meaning & use
tourist attraction
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Meaning
nouncountable
A place or thing, such as a monument, museum or beach, that many visitors travel to see.
Grammar: Takes an or the: the town's main tourist attraction.
Patterns
- a tourist attraction in somewhere
- visit a tourist attraction
The old castle is the town's biggest tourist attraction.
We skipped the usual tourist attractions and walked through the neighborhoods instead.
Opening a new tourist attraction brought jobs to the area.
Word forms
| plural | tourist attractions |
|---|
Common combinations
- a popular tourist attraction
- The waterfall is a popular tourist attraction in spring.
- a major tourist attraction
- The cathedral is a major tourist attraction in the region.
- visit a tourist attraction
- We plan to visit a tourist attraction every day of the trip.
- top tourist attractions
- Her blog lists the top tourist attractions in Lisbon.
- a famous tourist attraction
- The leaning tower is a famous tourist attraction.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sight
- A sight is something worth seeing and is often used in the plural, as in see the sights, while tourist attraction sounds more official.
- landmark
- A landmark is a recognizable building or place, which may or may not draw tourists.
- point of interest
- It is a neutral label found on maps and signs and lacks the sense of crowds.
- destination
- A destination is the place you are traveling to, often a whole town, not one specific site.
Word family
- tourist noun
- a person who travels for pleasure
- tourism noun
- the business of visitors and their needs
- attraction noun
- something that draws interest
- attract verb
- to draw people or interest
Commonly confused: tourist attraction or tourist trap?
tourist attraction vs tourist trap
A tourist trap is a place that overcharges visitors, whereas a tourist attraction is simply a place worth visiting.
Practice
The ancient bridge is now the city's main ____, drawing thousands of visitors every week.
Choose one answer.
A tourist attraction is a place visitors come to see. A tourist trap suggests overpriced and disappointing, which does not fit the neutral praise here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tourist attraction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.