Touism

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

Summer Visitors by Maurice Prendergast (1897)

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".[1]

Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2010, there were over 940 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 6.6% as compared to 2009. International tourism receipts grew to US$919 billion (euro 693 billion) in 2010, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 4.7%[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 important and in some cases vital for many countries, such as France, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Israel, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy,and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles: it brings in large amounts of income in payment for goods and services and creates opportunities for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and taxicabs; hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping malls, music venues and theatres.

Contents [hide]

1 Etymology

2 World tourism statistics and rankings

2.1 Most visited countries by international tourist arrivals

2.2 International tourism receipts

2.3 International tourism expenditures

2.4 Most visited cities by international tourist arrivals

3 History

3.1 Leisure travel

3.2 Winter tourism

3.3 Mass tourism

3.4 Adjectival tourism

4 Recent developments

4.1 Sustainable tourism

4.2