What is Tourism ?

Since the beginning of time humans have traveled. Food, water, safety or acquisition of resources (trade) were the early travel motivations. But the idea of travel for pleasure or exploration soon emerged. Travel has always depended upon technology to provide the means or mode of travel. The earliest travelers walked or rode domesticated animals. The invention of the wheel and the sail provided new modes of transportation. Each improvement in technology increased individuals' opportunities to travel. As roads were improved and governments stabilized, interest in travel increased for education, sightseeing, and religious purposes. One of the earliest travel guides was written by Pausanias, a Greek, which was a 10 volume Guide to Greece, for Roman tourists in 170 A.D..

Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries that delivers a travel experience, including transportation, accommodations, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses, activity facilities and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) claims that tourism is currently the worlds largest industry with annual revenues of over $3 trillion dollars. Tourism provides over six million jobs in the United States, making it the country's largest employer.

Definition of Tourism

Mathieson and Wall (1982) created a good working definition of tourism as "the temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destinations, and the facilities created to cater to their needs."

According to Macintosh and Goeldner (1986) tourism is "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interaction of tourists, business suppliers, host governments and host communities in the process of attracting and hosting these tourists and other visitors."

Other terms of interest are:

Excurionist: Persons traveling for pleasure in a period less than 24 hours (Macintosh and Goeldner, 1986).

Foreign Tourist: Any person visiting a country, other than that in which he/she usually resides, for a period of at least 24 hours (Committee of Statistical Experts of the League of Nations, 1937).

Travel: The act of moving outside one's home community for business or pleasure but not for commuting or traveling to or from school (Macintosh and Goeldner, 1986).

Visitor: Any person visiting a country other than that in which he/she has his/her usual place of residence, for any reason other than following an occupation remunerated from within the country visited (United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism, 1963).

Different Types Of Tourism

Health Tourism – Even though health tourism existed long before, it gained importance during eighteenth century. This tourism is associated with spas, places with health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. As a number of doctors have highlighted the benefits of bathing in sea water, and sea bathing, even this has become a part of health tourism.

Winter Tourism – Winter sports contribute to winter tourism. Many water sports holiday packages are available at places in many countries apart from Ski and Snow festival tours organized annually. Skiing is extremely popular in the mountainous areas. Ski festivals have variety of events like ski and sled competitions, ski and snow board lessons, performances and recreational activities. Majority of the event participants are from countries with a warm climate.

Mass tourism - Mass travel is possible with improvements in technology allowing the transport of large numbers of people in a short period of time to places of leisure interest. Through this, greater numbers of people enjoy the benefits of leisure time. The increase in the speed of Railways, the better Sea travel options, and the increase in the number of improved Air travel services, the mass travel has grown and developed internationally.

Niche Tourism - Physical activity or sports-oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism such as the mountaineering and hiking (tramping), the backpacker tourism, the sport travel for golf and scuba diving or see a sports event and extreme tourism for people interested in risky activities. There are many types of niche tourism. Some of them are given below.

The Learning-oriented niche tourism includes audio tourism and audio walking tours.The Bookstore tourism involves the travelers visiting independent bookstores. The Creative tourism includes attending cultural festivals, events, and workshops. The Educational tourism is to attend classes and learn certain faculties. The Ancestry tourism is to visit and learn about the birth places. The Hobby tourism is to gather more information about hobbies and this involves garden tours, amateur radio DX-peditions, or square dance cruises.The Music and Dance tourism involves focusing on cultural and arts activities with more emphasis on music and dance. The Heritage tourism involves visiting places to know about the heritage and culture of those places.

There are many sub-types in nature and environment oriented tourisms, such as the Coastal tourism, the Eco tourism, the Garden tourism, and the Rural tourism or the Agritourism. The Lifestyle-oriented niche tourism types include the Gay tourism, the Gourmet tourism, the Wine tourism, the Health tourism, the Medical tourism, the Inclusive tourism or the Accessible Tourism for people with disabilities, the Mystical tourism involving Meditation, yoga, and rituals.
Other miscellaneous types of niche tourism are given below.

The Dark tourism includes travel to sites associated with death and suffering, such as the scene of the Hindenburg airship disaster, or to the sites of disasters (Disaster tourism).

The Free Independent Tourism involves a sector of the market in which the tourists select their own accommodation and transport, rather than using the established tourism booking system.

The Pop-culture tourism is the tourism by those that visit a particular location after reading about it or seeing it used as a location in a film.

The Perpetual tourism involves those individuals who are always on vacation, some of them for tax purposes to avoid being resident in any country.

The Sacred travel or metaphysical tourism is a form of New Age travel where believers travel to and perform rituals at religious sites.

The Shopping tourism promotes shopping festivals such as the Dubai Shopping Festival.

The Space tourism is traveling in outer space or on spaceships.

The Visiting Family and Relatives (VFR) Tourism is traveling to visit persons related by close family ties and it combines the vacation-type activities.

The Distinct form ancestry tourism involves genealogical research.

The Armchair tourism and virtual tourism do not require traveling physically, but involves exploring the world through internet, books, or TV.