Leisure: Any freely chosen activity or experience that takes place in non-work time.
Sport: A physical activity involving a set of rules or customs. The activity may be competitive.
Tourism: Travel away from home for at least one night for the purpose of leisure (IB definition). I would argue that tourism does not have to involve a night away from home. I think people going on day trips should also be included in a definition of tourism.
Recreation: A leisure time activity undertaken voluntarily and for enjoyment.
Domestic tourism: Tourism within the country of residency.
International tourism: Tourism outside the country of residency.
Day trips (day tourism): Visits to places of interest e.g. the beach or a ruin, but without staying overnight.
Mass tourism or package holiday: Large-scale tourism when flights, accommodation, tours and transfers are booked together and often part of a group.
Sustainable tourism: Tourism that preserves primary tourist resources and supports the livelihoods and culture of local people.
Ecotourism: Like sustainable tourism, but with a focus on the natural environment.
Heritage tourism: Tourism based on historic legacy as its main focus e.g. natural landscape, historical buildings.
Honeypot: A location that attracts a large number of tourists. Antigua in Guatemala would be considered a honeypot location in Central America.
(Economic) Leakage: Money that is lost from a tourist destination. This money is often taken overseas by TNCs e.g. Intercontinental or Hilton.
Medical tourism: When people travel to other countries to undergo medical procedures e.g. dentistry or plastic surgery. This is done either because medical standards are better in the destination, or because medical treatment is cheaper in the destination.
Primary tourist/recreational resources: Pre-existing tourist attractions that often exist naturally e.g. the weather, wildlife, beaches, indigenous people or mountains.
Secondary tourist/recreational resources: Facilities that have been purposefully built for tourists e.g. hotels, restaurants, golf courses and airports.
Safari: Tourism that goes to view wildlife in its natural habitat. Safaris are very common in Africa e.g. Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana.
Resorts: A settlement where the primary function is tourism. Resorts are normally associated with the coast. Large hotel complexes are considered to be resorts.
Sports tours: Trips that either go to play sport or view sport. Trips to the football World Cup or Olympics are becoming much more common.
Health spas: Hotels or resorts that tourists visit for health treatments. This may include massages, detoxes or mud treatments.
All-inclusive: When tourists pay a hotel complex one price which includes all meals, drinks, entertainment, activities, etc. All-inclusive holidays are very common in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Low-cost (budget) airlines: Airlines that offer cheaper than normal flights, by removing add ons like airport check-in, in flight meals, checked baggage and pre-selected seats.
Factors Affecting The Growth of Tourism
Economic Wealth: Even with the ongoing global economic downturn, the world economy is growing. This economic growth is being led by the so called emerging economies' e.g. China, Russia and India. With economic growth more individuals are removed from poverty and are able to afford to go on holiday. People can afford holidays when there disposable income increases. Disposable income is the amount of money left over after all bills are paid for.
Working Week: In recent years the working week has been reduced for many people. In MEDCs, most people now only work 5 days, having both Saturday and Sunday off. In the EU the number of hours people can work in the week, has been set at 48 hours. Increasingly some companies allow their staff to work flexitime. This means that the have a set number of hours they have to work, per week e.g. 48 hours, but they can choose when to work them. This might mean they work 9.6 hours a day or 12 hours a day for four days and have the extra day off. These changes in the working week has meant that more people now have time to take short holidays at weekends.
(Paid) Holidays: Most countries now have laws stating that companies have to give their employees paid leave. In the EU the minimum amount of paid holiday is 28 days. If you add on weekends, this is nearly six weeks of paid holidays. Because of the extra paid holiday more people now have the time and money to be able to go on holiday.
Transport: Over the past 50 years the relative cost of transport has fallen and the ease of moving between countries has increased. Car ownership has increased, new train networks have been built and new airports opened. In the last decade low-cost airlines have emerged and increased tourism. Low-cost airlines offer cheaper flights that normal airlines by removing added extras like airport check-in, in-flight meals, checked baggage and seat selection. The growth of transport has meant people can go on more holidays and also go on shorter holidays (weekend breaks).
Advertising: We are now saturated with advertising on bill boards, in magazines, on TV and increasingly online. These adverts make us aware of new destinations and persuade us to visit new places. There has also been a growth of TV programs just about holiday destinations.
Credit cards: The emergence of credit cards has made it much easier to pay for holidays and it has made it easier for people to buy things once on holiday. Credit cards can be used to pay for hotels and flights online and can be used to pay for things on holiday or take local currency out of ATMs. Credit cards remove the worry of carrying large amounts of money and the time of exchanging currencies.
Accommodation: In recent decades the quality and quantity of accommodation has improved. Accommodation can vary from basic shared dormitories to luxury hotel suites. The increased variety and quality mean more people are now comfortable about traveling abroad.
Booking: Booking flights and hotels is now much easier. You can use a travel agent, but increasingly more people are going online to book their own flights and hotels and flights either directly or through agents. It is also possible to look at customer reviews (www.tripadvisor.com) so you can assess the quality of hotels, tours, etc.
Communication: Improved communication has not only made booking holidays easier, it has also meant people can now keep in contact much easier while abroad. This has removed the worry from many families. You can now update your status on Twitter or Facebook or send an e-mail or text to family letting them know where you are or what you are doing. It is now just as easy to communicate with your family half way around the world as it is from the next street.
Passports and visas: More and more people now have a passport. In previous years Chinese citizens were not allowed passports to travel overseas, now they are. It is now easier to get visas to visit new destinations. For example, British and Salvadorians do not need visas to visit each others countries.
Language: English is slowly become an international language - it is the most widely spoke second language. As the number of English speakers increase, more and more people are confident about going on holiday and knowing that they will be able to communicate. As the tourism industry develops the amount of multi-lingual guides is also increasing so it is possible to visit a foreign country and go on a tour in your native language.
New Facilities: New golf courses, swimming pools, sports stadiums, theatres, etc. are constantly being opened. This has increased the amount of leisure and sport, but also tourism. People now go on golfing holidays, sports tours or cultural breaks.
Retirement: Even though the retirement age may be increasing in some countries, most people now do retire. Retirement has been made possible with the introduction of pensions and a rising life expectancy. People are now living longer and are able to support themselves. This has meant that people now have more opportunities to travel after their working life.
Family Size: In most developed countries the fertility rate is declining. Smaller families now mean that it is much easier and much cheaper to take holidays.
Movement from Subsistence Farming: In years gone by many societies have been based on subsistence farming. This has meant that people have to grow and tend their own crops and animals. With the advent of commercial farming and supermarkets, people no longer need to farm so are free to go on holidays.
Population Growth: As the world's population grows, now about 7 billion, there are obviously more people who might go on holiday.
New Destinations: As communication and transport improve, it has become easier to hear about and travel to, more remote destinations. Destinations that once seemed out of place e.g. Antarctica or the Amazon Rainforest are now common destinations. With new destinations being discovered all the time, more and more people are going on holiday and visiting these places.
Definitions
Leisure: Any freely chosen activity or experience that takes place in non-work time.
Sport: A physical activity involving a set of rules or customs. The activity may be competitive.
Tourism: Travel away from home for at least one night for the purpose of leisure (IB definition). I would argue that tourism does not have to involve a night away from home. I think people going on day trips should also be included in a definition of tourism.
Recreation: A leisure time activity undertaken voluntarily and for enjoyment.
Domestic tourism: Tourism within the country of residency.
International tourism: Tourism outside the country of residency.
Day trips (day tourism): Visits to places of interest e.g. the beach or a ruin, but without staying overnight.
Mass tourism or package holiday: Large-scale tourism when flights, accommodation, tours and transfers are booked together and often part of a group.
Sustainable tourism: Tourism that preserves primary tourist resources and supports the livelihoods and culture of local people.
Ecotourism: Like sustainable tourism, but with a focus on the natural environment.
Heritage tourism: Tourism based on historic legacy as its main focus e.g. natural landscape, historical buildings.
Honeypot: A location that attracts a large number of tourists. Antigua in Guatemala would be considered a honeypot location in Central America.
(Economic) Leakage: Money that is lost from a tourist destination. This money is often taken overseas by TNCs e.g. Intercontinental or Hilton.
Medical tourism: When people travel to other countries to undergo medical procedures e.g. dentistry or plastic surgery. This is done either because medical standards are better in the destination, or because medical treatment is cheaper in the destination.
Primary tourist/recreational resources: Pre-existing tourist attractions that often exist naturally e.g. the weather, wildlife, beaches, indigenous people or mountains.
Secondary tourist/recreational resources: Facilities that have been purposefully built for tourists e.g. hotels, restaurants, golf courses and airports.
Safari: Tourism that goes to view wildlife in its natural habitat. Safaris are very common in Africa e.g. Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana.
Resorts: A settlement where the primary function is tourism. Resorts are normally associated with the coast. Large hotel complexes are considered to be resorts.
Sports tours: Trips that either go to play sport or view sport. Trips to the football World Cup or Olympics are becoming much more common.
Health spas: Hotels or resorts that tourists visit for health treatments. This may include massages, detoxes or mud treatments.
All-inclusive: When tourists pay a hotel complex one price which includes all meals, drinks, entertainment, activities, etc. All-inclusive holidays are very common in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Low-cost (budget) airlines: Airlines that offer cheaper than normal flights, by removing add ons like airport check-in, in flight meals, checked baggage and pre-selected seats.
Factors Affecting The Growth of Tourism
Economic Wealth: Even with the ongoing global economic downturn, the world economy is growing. This economic growth is being led by the so called emerging economies' e.g. China, Russia and India. With economic growth more individuals are removed from poverty and are able to afford to go on holiday. People can afford holidays when there disposable income increases. Disposable income is the amount of money left over after all bills are paid for.
EU debates working-hours limits - BBC article
(Paid) Holidays: Most countries now have laws stating that companies have to give their employees paid leave. In the EU the minimum amount of paid holiday is 28 days. If you add on weekends, this is nearly six weeks of paid holidays. Because of the extra paid holiday more people now have the time and money to be able to go on holiday.
UK workers get least paid leave - BBC article
Transport: Over the past 50 years the relative cost of transport has fallen and the ease of moving between countries has increased. Car ownership has increased, new train networks have been built and new airports opened. In the last decade low-cost airlines have emerged and increased tourism. Low-cost airlines offer cheaper flights that normal airlines by removing added extras like airport check-in, in-flight meals, checked baggage and seat selection. The growth of transport has meant people can go on more holidays and also go on shorter holidays (weekend breaks).
Budget airlines boost the world's air traffic - Independent article
Advertising: We are now saturated with advertising on bill boards, in magazines, on TV and increasingly online. These adverts make us aware of new destinations and persuade us to visit new places. There has also been a growth of TV programs just about holiday destinations.
Credit cards: The emergence of credit cards has made it much easier to pay for holidays and it has made it easier for people to buy things once on holiday. Credit cards can be used to pay for hotels and flights online and can be used to pay for things on holiday or take local currency out of ATMs. Credit cards remove the worry of carrying large amounts of money and the time of exchanging currencies.
Accommodation: In recent decades the quality and quantity of accommodation has improved. Accommodation can vary from basic shared dormitories to luxury hotel suites. The increased variety and quality mean more people are now comfortable about traveling abroad.
Booking: Booking flights and hotels is now much easier. You can use a travel agent, but increasingly more people are going online to book their own flights and hotels and flights either directly or through agents. It is also possible to look at customer reviews (www.tripadvisor.com) so you can assess the quality of hotels, tours, etc.
Passports and visas: More and more people now have a passport. In previous years Chinese citizens were not allowed passports to travel overseas, now they are. It is now easier to get visas to visit new destinations. For example, British and Salvadorians do not need visas to visit each others countries.
Language: English is slowly become an international language - it is the most widely spoke second language. As the number of English speakers increase, more and more people are confident about going on holiday and knowing that they will be able to communicate. As the tourism industry develops the amount of multi-lingual guides is also increasing so it is possible to visit a foreign country and go on a tour in your native language.
New Facilities: New golf courses, swimming pools, sports stadiums, theatres, etc. are constantly being opened. This has increased the amount of leisure and sport, but also tourism. People now go on golfing holidays, sports tours or cultural breaks.
Retirement: Even though the retirement age may be increasing in some countries, most people now do retire. Retirement has been made possible with the introduction of pensions and a rising life expectancy. People are now living longer and are able to support themselves. This has meant that people now have more opportunities to travel after their working life.
Life expectancy to soar - BBC article
Family Size: In most developed countries the fertility rate is declining. Smaller families now mean that it is much easier and much cheaper to take holidays.
Movement from Subsistence Farming: In years gone by many societies have been based on subsistence farming. This has meant that people have to grow and tend their own crops and animals. With the advent of commercial farming and supermarkets, people no longer need to farm so are free to go on holidays.
Population Growth: As the world's population grows, now about 7 billion, there are obviously more people who might go on holiday.
New Destinations: As communication and transport improve, it has become easier to hear about and travel to, more remote destinations. Destinations that once seemed out of place e.g. Antarctica or the Amazon Rainforest are now common destinations. With new destinations being discovered all the time, more and more people are going on holiday and visiting these places.
The rise of genocide memorials - BBC article