About Tourism

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". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2007, there were over 903 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 6.6% as compared to 2006. International tourist receipts were USD 856 billion in 2007.


Despite the uncertainties in the global economy, international tourist arrivals during the first four months of 2008 followed a similar growth trend than the same period in 2007. However, as a result of the economic crisis of 2008, 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, while growth from January to April 2008 had reached an average 5.7% compared to its 2007 level. Growth from 2006 to 2007 was only 3.7%, as total international tourism arrivals from January to August were 641 million tourists, up from 618 million in the same period in 2007.

Tourism is vital for many countries, such as the U.A.E, 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.

" in [[THunziker 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. "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. 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.

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. 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. Intrabound tourism differs from domestic tourism in that the former encompasses policy-making and implementation of national tourism policies.

Recently, the tourism industry has shifted from the promotion of inbound tourism to the promotion of intrabound tourism, because many countries are experiencing tough competition for inbound tourists.[citation needed] Some national policymakers have shifted their priority to the promotion of intrabound tourism to contribute to the local economy. Examples of such campaigns include: "See America" in Singapore" in Singapore; "100% Pure New Zealand" in New Zealand; "Amazing Thailand; "Incredible India" in India; and "The Hidden Charm" in Vietnam.

The World Tourism Organization reports the following ten countries as the most visited in 2007 by number of international travelers. When compared to 2006, Ukraine entered the top ten list, surpassing Russia, Austria and Mexico. Most of the top visited countries continue to be on the European continent.

1. France Europe 81.9 million 79.1 million
2. Spain Europe 59.2 million 58.5 million
3. United States North America 56.0 million 51.1 million
4. China Asia 54.7 million 49.6 million
5. Italy Europe 43.7 million 41.1 million6
6. United Kingdom Europe 30.7 million 30.7 million
7. Germany Europe 24.4 million 23.6 million
8. Ukraine Europe 23.1 million 18.9 million
9. Turkey Europe 22.2 million 18.9 million
10. Mexico North America 21.4 million 21.4 million

International tourist receipts were USD 96.7 billion in 2007, up from USD 85.7 billion in 2006. When the export value of international passenger travel receipts is accounted for, total receipts in 2007 reached a record of USD 1.02 trillion or 3 billion a day.[4] The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten tourism earners for the year 2007. It is noticeable that most of them are on the European continent, but the United States continues to be the top earner.

1. United States North America $96.7 billion $85.7 billion
2. Spain Europe $57.8 billion $51.1 billion
3. France Europe $54.2 billion $46.3 billion
4. Italy Europe $42.7 billion $38.1 billion
5. China Asia $41.9 billion $33,9 billion
6. United Kingdom Europe $37.6 billion $33.7 billion
7. Germany Europe $36.0 billion $32.8 billion
8. Australia Oceania $22.2 billion $17.8 billion
9. Austria Europe $18.9 billion $16.6 billion
10. Turkey Asia $18.5 billion $16.9 billion

The World Tourism Organization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourism for the year 2007. For the fifth year in a row, German tourists continue as the top spenders. A study by Dresdner Bank forecasts that for 2008, Germans and Europeans, in general, will continue to be the top spenders, because of the strength of the Euro against the United States dollar, with strong demand for the U.S. in favor of other destinations.

1. Germany Europe $82.9 billion $73.9 billion
2. United States North America $76.2 billion $72.1 billion
3. United Kingdom Europe $72.3 billion $63.1 billion
4. France Europe $36.7 billion $31.2 billion
5. China Asia $29.8 billion $24.3 billion
6. Italy Europe $27.3 billion $23.1 billion
7. Japan Asia $26.5 billion $26.9 billion
8. Canada North America $24.8 billion $20.5 billion
9. Russia Europe $22.3 billion $18.2 billion
10. South Korea Asia $20.9 billion $18.9 billion

Forbes Traveler released a ranking of the world's 50 most visited tourist attractions in 2007, including both international and domestic tourists. The following are the Top 10 attractions, followed by some other famous sites included within the list of the 50 most visited: It is noticeable that four out of the top five are in North America.

Most visited attractions by domestic and international tourists in 2007.

1. Times Square New York City United States 352 National Mall and Memorial Parks Washington, D.C. United States 253 Magic Kingdom Lake Buena Vista, Orlando United States 16.64 Trafalgar Square London United Kingdom 155 Disneyland Anaheim, California United States 14.76 Niagara Falls Ontario & New York Canada & United States 147 Fisherman's Wharf & Golden Gate San Francisco, California United States 138 Tokyo Disneyland & Tokyo Disney Sea Urayasu Japan 12.99 Notre Dame de Paris Paris France 1210 Disneyland Paris Paris France 10.6

Other selected famous destinations 11 Great Wall of China Badaling China 1015 Louvre Paris France 7.518 Eiffel Tower Paris France 6.724 Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong China 5.228 Universal Studios Los Angeles United States 4.731 Grand Canyon Arizona United States 4.436 Statue of Liberty New York City United States 4.2437 Vatican City Vatican City Vatican City 4.238 Sydney Opera House Sydney Australia 439 The Colosseum Rome Italy 442 Empire State Building New York City United States 444 London Eye London United Kingdom 3.547 Giza Pyramids Cairo Egypt 350 Taj Mahal Agra India 2.4 Euro monitor released a ranking of the world's 150 most visited cities by international tourists in 2007. The following are the leading 15 cities, according to Euro monitor's ranking: Most visited cities by international tourists in 2007:

1. London United Kingdom 15.34
2. Hong Kong China 12.05
3. Bangkok Thailand 10.84
4. Singapore Singapore 10.28
5. Paris France 8.76
6. New York City United States 7.65
7. Toronto Canada 6.63
8. Dubai United Arab Emirates 6.54
9. Istanbul Turkey 6.45
10. Rome Italy 6.12
11. Barcelona Spain 5.04
12. Seoul South Korea 4.99
13. Shanghai China 4.80
14. Dublin Ireland 4.63
15. Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 4.40

However, other sources report Paris as the most visited city in the world with 30 million visitors.Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion temple in Kyoto, Japan.Dubai, UAEThe Matterhorn, near Zermatt in the Swiss Alps.The Great Bath at the Roman Baths in Bath, Somerset, one of the world's first health tourism sites.

Ski jumping hill in Karpacz, PolandWealthy 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. In 1936, the League of Nations defined foreign tourist as "someone travelling 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.

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.

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 often visited are: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Thailand, North Queensland in Australia and Florida in the United States.

Major ski resorts are located in the various European countries (e.g. Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland), Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Chile and Argentina.
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 began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.In the United States, the first great seaside resort, in the European style, was Atlantic City, New Jersey and Long Island, New York.

In continental Europe, early resorts included: Ostend, popularized by the people of Brussels; Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and Deauville (Calvados) for the Parisians; and Heiligendamm, founded in 1797, as the first seaside resort at the Baltic Sea.