The System and Theory of Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure, and/or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people “travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” Tourism comprises 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 not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited. Tourism is different from travel. In order for tourism to happen, there must be a displacement: an individual has to travel, using any means of transportation (even travelling on foot). But all travel is not tourism. Three criteria are used simultaneously in order to characterize a trip as belonging to tourism. The displacement must be such that: - It involves a displacement outside the usual environment; - Type of purpose: the travel must occur for any purpose different from being remunerated from within the place visited: the previous limits, where tourism was restricted to recreation and visiting family and friends are now expanded to include a vast array of purposes; - Duration: only a maximal duration is mentioned, not a minimal. Tourism displacement can be with or without an overnight stay. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity and it has been given many names in recent decades: including “industry of the 21st century”; “industry of peace” etc. After slowly recovering from the decline resulting from the late-2000s recession and the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, international tourist arrivals surpassed the milestone of 1 billion tourists globally for first time in history in 2012 (the sector had been predicted to reach this threshold a few years earlier). International tourism receipts (the travel item of the balance of payments) grew to US$ 1.03 trillion (€740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010 (unwto.org). In 2012, China became the largest spender in international tourism globally with US$102 billion, surpassing Germany and United States. China and emerging markets significantly increase their spending over the past decade, with two other BRIC countries, Russia and Brazil as noteworthy examples. Tourism is important, and in some cases, vital for many countries. It was recognized in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 (univeur.org) “an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations.” Tourism brings in large amounts of income in payment for goods and services available, accounting for 30% of the world’s exports of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. It also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy, 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. The word tour is derived from the Latin verb ‘tornare’ that means ‘a lathe or circle; the movement around a central point or axis’. The suffix –ism is defined as ‘an action or process typical behaviour or quality’, while the suffix, –ist denotes a person that that performs a given action. When the word tour and the suffixes –ism and –ist are combined, they suggest the action of movement around a circle.