IGCSE Travel and Tourism 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

A tourist visa is primarily designed to regulate and control the entry and stay of foreign nationals in a country. When a traveler applies for a tourist visa, they must provide information about their travel plans, ensure they meet the entry requirements, and often prove their intent to return to their home country. This visa helps governments keep track of who is entering their borders, ensuring that tourists do not overstay their permitted time and that all visitors comply with local laws and regulations.

While promoting cultural exchange is a positive outcome of tourism, it is not the core function of a tourist visa. Providing discounts for local attractions is also unrelated to the visa's purpose, as that typically falls under promotional activities by tourism boards or businesses rather than an official immigration document. Lastly, facilitating unrestricted international travel contradicts the very nature of visa regulations, which are intended to impose certain guidelines and checks on who can enter and for how long.