Tourism

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"Tourist" redirects here. For other uses, see Tourist (disambiguation).

Englishman in the Campagna by Carl Spitzweg (c. 1845)

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel
to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year
for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited."[1]
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2008, there were over 922 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth
of 1.9% as compared to 2007. International tourism receipts grew to US$944 billion (euro 642 billion) in 2008, corresponding to an
increase in real terms of 1.8%.[2] As a result of the late-2000s recession, international travel demand suffered a strong slowdown
beginning in June 2008, with growth in international tourism arrivals worldwide falling to 2% during the boreal summer months.[3] This
negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a
worldwide decline of 4% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and an estimated 6% decline in international tourism
receipts.[4]
Tourism is vital for many countries, such as Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Spain, Malaysia and Thailand, and many
island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles, due to the large intake of money for
businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with
tourism. These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and taxicabs,
hospitality services
Etymology
Theobald (1994) suggested that "etymologically, the word tour is derived from the Latin, 'tornare' and the Greek, 'tornos', meaning 'a
lathe or circle; the movement around a central point or axis'. This meaning changed in modern English to represent 'one's turn'. The
suffix –ism is defined as 'an action or process; typical behavior or quality', while the suffix, –ist denotes 'one that performs a given
action'. When the word tour and the suffixes –ism and –ist are combined, they suggest the action of movement around a circle. One
can argue that a circle represents a starting point, which ultimately returns back to its beginning. Therefore, like a circle, a tour
represents a journey in that it is a round-trip, i.e., the act of leaving and then returning to the original starting point, and therefore,
one who takes such a journey can be called a tourist."[5]
In 1941, Hunziker and Krapf defined tourism as people who travel "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the
travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity."
[6][7]
In 1976, the Tourism Society of England's definition was: "Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to
destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes
movements for all purposes."[8] In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of
particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home.[9]
In 1994, the United Nations classified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics:[10]
•Domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country traveling only within this country.
•Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country.
•Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country.

World tourism statistics and rankings

Most visited countries by international tourist arrivals
Main article: World Tourism rankings
In 2008, there were over 922 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 1.9% as compared to 2007. In 2009, international
tourists arrivals fell to 880 million, representing a worldwide decline of 4% as compared to 2008. The region most affected was Europe
with a 6% decline.[4]
The World Tourism Organization reports the following ten countries as the most visited from 2006 to 2009 by the number of
international travellers. When compared to 2006, Ukraine entered the top ten list, surpassing Russia, Austria and Mexico,[3] and in
2008, surpassed Germany.[11] In 2008, the United States displaced Spain from the second place. Most of the top visited countries
continue to be on the European continent, followed by a growing number of Asian countries.
In 2009, Malaysia made it into the top 10 most visited countries' list. Malaysia secured the ninth position, just below Turkey and
Germany. In 2008, Malaysia was in 11th position. Both Turkey and Germany climbed one rank in arrivals, occupying seventh and
eighth positions respectively, while France continued to lead the ranks in terms of tourist arrivals.[12]
History
See also: Grand Tour
Wealthy people have always traveled to distant parts of the world, to see great buildings, works of art, learn new languages,
experience new cultures and to taste different cuisines. Long ago, at the time of the Roman Republic, places such as Baiae
were popular coastal resorts for the rich. The word tourism was used by 1811 and tourist by 1840.[24] In 1936, the
League of Nations defined foreign tourist as "someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours". Its successor, the
United Nations, amended this definition in 1945, by including a maximum stay of six months. [5]
Leisure travel
Leisure travel was associated with the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom – the first European country to promote
leisure time to the increasing industrial population.[citation needed] Initially, this applied to the owners of the machinery of
production, the economic oligarchy, the factory owners and the traders. These comprised the new middle class. Cox & Kings
was the first official travel company to be formed in 1758.[25]
The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. In Nice, France, one of the first and best-established
holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des
Anglais; in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old, well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel
Bristol, the Hotel Carlton or the Hotel Majestic – reflecting the dominance of English customers.
Many leisure-oriented tourists travel to the tropics, both in the summer and winter. Places of such nature often visited are:
Bali in Indonesia, Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, Mexico the various Polynesian tropical islands,
Queensland in Australia, Thailand, Saint-Tropez and Cannes in France, Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico in the United States,
Barbados, Sint Maarten, Saint Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas, Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Turks and Caicos Islands and Bermuda
.
Winter tourism
See also: List of ski areas and resorts and Winter sport
Although it is acknowledged that the Swiss were not the inventors of skiing it is well documented that St. Moritz,
Graubünden, became the cradle of the developing winter tourism: Since that year of 1865 in St. Moritz, [26] many daring hotel
managers choose to risk opening their hotels in winter but it was only in the seventies of the 20th century when winter
tourism took over the lead from summer tourism in many of the Swiss ski resorts. Even in Winter, portions of up to one third
of all guests (depending on the location) consist of non-skiers.[27]
Major ski resorts are located mostly in the various European countries (e.g. Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic,
France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland), Canada, the United States
(e.g. Colorado, California, Utah, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Montana, Vermont, New England) New Zealand, Japan,
 Mass tourism

High rise hotels such as these in Benidorm, Spain, were built across Southern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s to
accommodate mass tourism from Northern Europe.
Mass tourism could only have developed with the improvements in technology, allowing the transport of large numbers of
people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest, so that greater numbers of people could begin to enjoy the
benefits of leisure time.
In the United States, the first seaside resorts in the European style were at Atlantic City, New Jersey and Long Island,
New York.
In Continental Europe, early resorts included: Ostend, popularised by the people of Brussels; Boulogne-sur-Mer (
Pas-de-Calais) and Deauville (Calvados) for the Parisians; and Heiligendamm, founded in 1793, as the first seaside resort on
the Baltic Sea.
Adjectival tourism
For a more comprehensive list, see List of adjectival tourisms.
Adjectival tourism refers to the numerous niche or specialty travel forms of tourism that have emerged over the years, each
with its own adjective. Many of these have come into common use by the tourism industry and academics. [citation needed] Others
are emerging concepts that may or may not gain popular usage. Examples of the more common niche tourism markets
Recent developments
There has been an upmarket trend in the tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe, where international travel
for short breaks is common.[citation needed] Tourists have high levels of disposable income, considerable leisure time, are well
educated, and have sophisticated tastes.[citation needed] There is now a demand for a better quality products, which has resulted
in a fragmenting of the mass market for beach vacations; people want more specialised versions, quieter resorts, family-
oriented holidays or niche market-targeted destination hotels.

Tourists enjoying cocktails during a beach vacation in The Bahamas

The developments in technology and transport infrastructure, such as jumbo jets, low-cost airlines and more accessible
airports have made many types of tourism more affordable. WHO estimates that up to 500,000 people are on planes at any
time.[28] There have also been changes in lifestyle, such as retiree-age people who sustain year round tourism. This is
facilitated by internet sales of tourism products. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging, in which an
inclusive price is quoted for a tailor-made package requested by the customer upon impulse.
There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist
destinations, such as in Bali and several European cities. Also, on December 26, 2004,
Sustainable tourism
"Sustainable tourism is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and
aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and
life support systems." (World Tourism Organization)
Sustainable development implies "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs" (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)[29]
Sustainable tourism can be seen as having regard to ecological and socio-cultural carrying capacities and includes involving
the community of the destination in tourism development planning. It also involves integrating tourism to match current
economic and growth policies so as to mitigate some of the negative economic and social impacts of 'mass tourism'.
Murphy (1985) advocates the use of an 'ecological approach', to consider both 'plants' and 'people' when implementing the
sustainable tourism development process. This is in contrast to the 'boosterism' and 'economic' approaches to tourism
planning, neither of which consider the detrimental ecological or sociological impacts of tourism development to a
destination.
However, Butler (2006) questions the exposition of the term 'sustainable' in the context of tourism, citing its ambiguity and
stating that "the emerging sustainable development philosophy of the 1990s can be viewed as an extension of the broader
realization that a preoccupation with economic growth without regard to it social and environmental consequences is self-
defeating in the long term." Thus 'sustainable tourism development' is seldom considered as an autonomous function of
economic regeneration as separate from general economic growth.
Ecotourism
Main article: Ecotourism
Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that
strives to be low impact and (often) small scale. It helps educate the traveler; provides funds for conservation; directly
benefits the economic development and political empowerment of local communities; and fosters respect for different
cultures and for human rights.
Pro-poor tourism
The pro poor tourism has to help the very poorest in developing countries has been receiving increasing attention by those
involved in development and the issue has been addressed either through small scale projects in local communities and by
Ministries of Tourism attempting to attract huge numbers of tourists. Research by the Overseas Development Institute
suggests that neither is the best way to encourage tourists' money to reach the poorest as only 25% or less (far less in some
cases) ever reaches the poor; successful examples of money reaching the poor include mountain climbing in Tanzania or
cultural tourism in Luang Prabang, Laos.[30]
Recession tourism
Recession tourism is a travel trend, which evolved by way of the world economic crisis. Identified by American entrepreneur
Matt Landau (2007), recession tourism is defined by low-cost, high-value experiences taking place of once-popular generic
retreats. Various recession tourism hotspots have seen business boom during the recession thanks to comparatively low
costs of living and a slow world job market suggesting travelers are elongating trips where their money travels further.
Medical tourism
Main article: Medical tourism
When there is a significant price difference between countries for a given medical procedure, particularly in Southeast Asia,
India, Eastern Europe and where there are different regulatory regimes, in relation to particular medical procedures (e.g.
dentistry), traveling to take advantage of the price or regulatory differences is often referred to as "medical tourism".
Educational tourism
Educational tourism developed, because of the growing popularity of teaching and learning of knowledge and the
enhancing of technical competency outside of the classroom environment.[citation needed] In educational tourism, the main focus
of the tour or leisure activity includes visiting another country to learn about the culture, such as in
Student Exchange Programs and Study Tours, or to work and apply skills learned inside the classroom in a different
environment, such as in the International Practicum Training Program.
Creative tourism
Creative tourism has existed as a form of cultural tourism, since the early beginnings of tourism itself. Its
European roots date back to the time of the Grand Tour, which saw the sons of aristocratic families traveling for
the purpose of mostly interactive, educational experiences. More recently, creative tourism has been given its
own name by Crispin Raymond and Greg Richards, [31] who as members of the Association for Tourism and
Leisure Education (ATLAS), have directed a number of projects for the European Commission, including cultural
and crafts tourism, known as sustainable tourism. They have defined "creative tourism" as tourism related
Sports tourism

The Tall Ships' Races 2007 in Szczecin, Poland

Since the late 1970s, sports tourism has become increasingly popular. Events such as rugby, Olympics, Commonwealth
games, Asian Games and football World Cups have enabled specialist travel companies to gain official ticket allocation and
then sell them in packages that include flights, hotels and excursions.
Latest trends
As a result of the late-2000s recession, international arrivals suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008.
Growth from 2007 to 2008 was only 3.7% during the first eight months of 2008. The Asian and Pacific markets
were affected and Europe stagnated during the boreal summer months, while the Americas performed better,
reducing their expansion rate but keeping a 6% growth from January to August 2008. Only the Middle East
continued its rapid growth during the same period, reaching a 17% growth as compared to the same period in
2007.[37] This slowdown on international tourism demand was also reflected in the air transport industry,