Tourism: what is it?

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Tourism is a trillion-dollar industry that involves leisure travel to natural wonders and foreign cities. Travel agencies arrange travel, accommodation, and other services for tourists. Guidebooks and websites provide information on traveling to any location, and the US Department of State issues bulletins on foreign dangers.

The tourism industry is a worldwide business that deals with leisure travel. Such travelers are called tourists or tourists; their destinations include natural wonders, foreign cities, and other attractions. Tourists are distinct from business travelers or people who travel to reside in a distant place for weeks or months at a time. Tourists come from all over the world and will travel to almost any location. Popular sites are called tourist destinations. Numerous companies around the world provide services of one type or another to the tourism industry.

For most of human history, traveling to distant places has been a difficult process. Even in ancient times, however, wealthy people sometimes traveled for the pleasure of visiting legendary places. With the advent of motor vehicles in the 19th and 20th centuries, ordinary people were able to go on trips for the sake of travelling. This was the origin of the tourism industry. Mark Twain’s famous travelogue, The Innocents Abroad, chronicles his experiences with a group of American tourists visiting Europe and the Middle East in the 19th century.

In modern times, the tourism industry is one trillion US dollars (USD) annually. According to the International Air Transport Association, $1 billion is generated by the airline industry, which carries more than two billion passengers annually. Other tour vehicles include trains, cruise ships, along with more basic methods of travel such as hiking and horseback riding. Hotels, bed and breakfasts, and resorts offer comfortable accommodations to tourists, sometimes in otherwise primitive locations. Many local businesses benefit from the presence of tourists, who bring income to areas that may be remote and impoverished.

Travel agencies are an important part of the tourism industry. For a fee, these agencies will arrange travel, accommodation, meals and other services for tourists. They often offer travel packages to large groups visiting the same destination which will reduce the cost for each individual traveler. For destinations that are remote or have difficult language and cultural barriers, travel agencies are often the best and safest way to travel. Some tourists, however, will prefer to travel alone.

Many resources are available to help the modern tourist. Numerous guidebooks and websites cover the specifics of traveling to almost any location. These travel guides form an industry of their own within the larger tourism industry. The United States Department of State and other government agencies in various countries issue bulletins informing travelers of dangers in foreign locations. Tourism is meant to be an adventure, but with so many resources at your disposal, there’s no reason to make the trip unprepared.




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