Introduction to travel and tourism

WHAT IS TOURISM?

To understand the ‘tourism sector of industry’, it is necessary to define what tourism is. In 1993 the United Nations Statistical Commission defined tourism as comprising ‘the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year, for leisure, business and other purposes’.

When we examine the above definition we can see that tourism can be subdivided into two main categories. These are:

Domestic tourism, which are involves residents of one country travelling only within that country and international tourism, which involves residents of one country travelling to and in another country. Both categories of tourism are important and contribute to economic development.
International tourism can likewise be broken down into two distinct areas. These are:


Inbound tourism, which involves residents of one country travelling to and in another country we could call the “host” country; and outbound tourism, which involves residents of the “host” country travelling out of their own land to and in another country, which has become a host to them. All types of travelers engaged in tourism are described as visitors.


International visitors include:


Tourists (overnight visitors):
A visitor who stays at least one night in a country visited, in either private or commercial accommodation.
Same day visitors
A visitor who does not spend one night in a country visited.

The purposes of a visit for inbound, outbound or domestic tourism can be divided as follows:
• Leisure, recreation and holidays;
• Visiting friends and relations (VFR);
• Business and professional;
• Religious/cultural/historical (Heritage);
• Health;
• other (including special interests).