Tourism Defined
I define Tourism as people visiting places that are outside of their usual environment.
Touring should provide tourists with:
- recreation
- relaxation
- new experiences
- a sense of renewal
- reconnection in relationships
- great memories
2012: 1 billion tourists globally for first time in history. International tourism receipts grew to US $1.03 trillion in 2011.
There are statistics that in 2012, China became the largest spender in international tourism globally with US $102 billion, surpassing Germany and the USA.
Tourism is important and in some cases, vital for many countries.
Tourism has a direct effect on the lives of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations.
Here are just a few things that tourism effects:
- goods
- services
- exports
- employment
- airlines
- cruise industry
- taxicabs
- lodging
- shopping
- amusement parks
- theatre
- music venues
The full list is much longer than this.
Countries that top the tourism list are:
- France
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- China
- Spain
- Italy
- Turkey
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Russia
- Malaysia