Tourism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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] and this negative trend intensified as international tourist arrivals fell by 8% during the first four months of 2009.[2] Thereafter this declining trend was exacerbated in some regions due to the outbreak of the influenza AH1N1 virus.[2]

Tourism is vital for many countries, such as Egypt, Greece and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives 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 taxis, hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts, and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping malls, various music venues and the theatre.

Definition

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' whereas 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 that 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.[4]

Hunziker and Krapf, in 1941, 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."[5] 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."[6] 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.[7]

The United Nations classified three forms of tourism in 1994, in its "Recommendations on Tourism Statistics: Domestic tourism", which involves residents of the given country traveling only within this country; Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country; and Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country.[8] The UN also derived different categories of tourism by combining the three basic forms of tourism: Internal tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism; National tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism; and International tourism, which consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism. Intrabound tourism is a term coined by the Korea Tourism Organization and widely accepted in Korea.^{[citation needed]} Intrabound tourism differs from domestic tourism in that the former encompasses policymaking and implementation of national tourism policies.^{[citation needed]}

Recently,^[when?] the tourism industry has shifted from the promotion of inbound tourism to the promotion of intrabound tourism,^{[clarification needed]} because many countries are experiencing tough competition for inbound tourists.^{[citation needed]}

Terminology

Vacation, in English-speaking North America, describes recreational travel, such as a short pleasure trip, or a journey abroad. Most of the rest of the English-speaking whose of recent British or European descent, rarely say going on holiday. People in Commonwealth countries also use the phrase, going on leave.

Canadians often use vacation and holiday interchangeably referring to a trip away from home or time off work. In Australia, the term can refer to a vacation or a public holiday.

World tourism statistics and rankings

Most visited countries by international tourist arrivals

The World Tourism Organization reports the following ten countries as the most visited in between 2006 and 2008 by number of international travelers. When compared to 2006, Ukraine entered the top ten list, surpassing Russia, Austria and Mexico,[3] and in 2008 surpassed Germany.[9] In 2008 the U.S. displaced Spain from the second place. Most of the top visited countries continue to be on the European continent.

Rank Country UNWTO
Regional
Market International
tourist
arrivals
(2008)[9] International
tourist
arrivals
(2007)[3][9] International
tourist
arrivals
(2006)[10]
1  France Europe 79.3 million 81.9 million 78.9 million
2  United States North America 58.0 million 56.0 million 51.0 million
3  Spain Europe 57.3 million 58.7 million 58.2 million
4  China Asia 53.0 million 54.7 million 49.9 million
5  Italy Europe 42.7 million 43.7 million 41.1 million
6  United Kingdom Europe 30.2 million 30.9 million 30.7 million
7  Ukraine Europe 25.4 million 23.1 million 18.9 million
8  Turkey Europe 25.0 million 22.2 million 18.9 million
9  Germany Europe 24.9 million 24.4 million 23.5 million
10  Mexico North America 22.6 million 21.4 million 21.4 million

International tourism receipts

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% on 2007.[2] When the export value of international passenger transport receipts is accounted for, total receipts in 2008 reached a record of US$1.1 trillion, or over US$3 billion a day.[2]

The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2008. It is noticeable that most of them are on the European continent, but the United States continues to be the top earner.

Rank Country UNWTO
Regional
Market International
Tourism
Receipts
(2008)[9] International
Tourism
Receipts
(2007)[3][9] International
Tourism
Receipts
(2006)[10]
1  United States North America $110.1 billion $96.7 billion $85.7 billion
2  Spain Europe $61.6 billion $57.6 billion $51.1 billion
3  France Europe $55.6 billion $54.3 billion $46.3 billion
4  Italy Europe $45.7 billion $42.7 billion $38.1 billion
5  China Asia $40.8 billion $37.2 billion $33.9 billion
6  Germany Europe $40.0 billion $36.0 billion $32.8 billion
7  United Kingdom Europe $36.0 billion $38.6 billion $33.7 billion
8  Australia Oceania $24.7 billion $22.3 billion $17.8 billion
9  Turkey Europe $22.0 billion $18.5 billion $16.9 billion
10  Austria Europe $21.8 billion $18.9 billion $16.6 billion

International tourism expenditures

The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2008. For the fifth year in a row, German tourists continue as the top spenders.[9][11]