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World Tourism

Tourismis a travel for recreational，leisure or business purposes．The World TourismOrganization defines tourists as people who“travel to and stay in placesoutside their usual environment for more than twenty-four(24)hours and notmore than one consecutive year for leisure，business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated fromwithin the place visited”．Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity．

Despite the uncertainties in the global economy，international tourist arrivals during the first four months of 2008 followed a similar growth trend than the same period in 2007．However，as a result of the economic crisis of 2008，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，while growth from January to April 2008 had reached an average 5.7% compared to its 2007 level．Growth from2006 to 2007 was only 3.7%，as total international tourismarrivals fromJanuary to August were 641 million tourists，up from618 million in the same period in 2007．

Tourismis vital for many countries，such as the U.A.E．，Egypt，Greece and Thailand，and many island nations，such as The Bahamas，Fiji，Maldives and The Seychelles，due to the large intake of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism．These service industries include transportation services，such as airlines，cruise ships and taxis，hospitality services，such as accommodations，including hotels and resorts，and entertainment venues，such as amusement parks，casinos，shopping malls，variousmusic venues and theatres．

TheWorld TourismOrganization reports the following ten countries as the most visited in 2007 by number of international travelers．When compared to 2006，Ukraine entered the top ten list，surpassing Russia，Austria and Mexico．Most of the top visited countries continue to be on the European continent．The top ten countries are France，Spain，United States，China，Italy，United Kingdom，Germany，Ukraine，Turkey and Mexico．

International tourist receipts were USD96.7 billion in 2007，up fromUSD85.7 billion in 2006．When the export value of international passenger travel receipts is accounted for，total receipts in 2007 reached a record of USD 1.02 trillion or 3 billion a day．TheWorld TourismOrganization reports the following countries as the top ten tourismearners for the year 2007．It is noticeable thatmostof themare on theEuropean continent，but the United States continues to be the top earner．TheWorld TourismOrganization reports the following countries as the top ten biggest spenders on international tourismfor the year 2007:Germany，United States，United Kingdom，France，China，Italy，Japan，Canada，Russia and South Korea．For the fifth year in a row，German tourists continue as the top spenders．A study by Dresdner Bank forecasts that for 2008，Germans and Europeans，in general，will continue to be the top spenders，because of the strength of the Euro against the United States dollar，with strong demand for the U．S．in favor of other destinations．

Leisure travel was associated with the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom—the first European country to promote leisure time to the increasing industrial population．Initially，this applied to the owners of the machinery of production，the economic oligarchy，the factory owners and the traders．These comprised the newmiddle class．Cox＆Kings was the first official travel company to be formed in 1758．

The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names．In Nice，France，one of the first and best-established holiday resorts on the French Riviera，the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais;in many other historic resorts in continental Europe，old，wellestablished palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol，the Hotel Carlton or the Hotel Majestic—reflecting the dominance of English customers．

Many leisure-oriented tourists travel to the tropics，both in the summer and winter．Places often visited are:Cuba，the Dominican Republic，Thailand，North Queensland in Australia and Florida in the United States．

Mass tourismcould only have developed with the improvements in technology，allowing the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest，so that greater numbers of people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time．

In the United States，the first great seaside resort，in the European style，was Atlantic City，New Jersey and Long Island，New York．

In continental Europe，early resorts included:Ostend，popularized by the people of Brussels;Boulogne-sur-Mer(Pas-de-Calais)and Deauville(Calvados)for the Parisians;and Heiligendamm，founded in 1797，as the first seaside resort at theBaltic Sea．

Adjectival tourism refers to the numerous niche or specialty travel forms of tourismthat have emerged over the years，each with its own adjective．Many of these have come into common use by the tourism industry and academics．Others are emerging concepts that may or may not gain popular usage．Examples of the more common niche tourismmarkets include:Culinary tourism，Dark tourism，Disaster tourism，Ecotourism，Heritage tourism，LGBT tourism，Medical tourism，Nautical tourism，Sex tourism，Space tourismand War tourism．

There has been an up market trend in the tourismover the last few decades，especially in Europe，where international travel for short breaks is common．Tourists have higher levels of disposable income and greater leisure time and they are also better-educated and have more sophisticated tastes．There is now a demand for a better quality products，which has resulted in a fragmenting of the mass market for beach vacations;people wantmore specialised versions，such as Club 18-30，quieter resorts，family-oriented holidays or niche market-targeted destination hotels．The developments in technology and transport infrastructure，such as jumbo jets，low-cost airlines and more accessible airports have made many types of tourismmore affordable．There have also been changes in lifestyle，such as retiree-age people who sustain year round tourism．This is facilitated by Internet sales of tourismproducts．Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging，in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor-made package requested by the customer upon impulse．

There have been a few setbacks in tourism，such as the September 11 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations，such as in Bali and several European cities．Also，on December 26，2004，a tsunami，caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake，hit the Asian countries on the Indian Ocean，including the Maldives．Thousands of lives were lost and many tourists died．This，together with the vast clean-up operation in place，has stopped or severely hampered tourismto the area．

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably．In this context，travel has a similar definition to tourism，but implies a more purposeful journey．The terms tourismand tourist are sometimes used pejoratively，to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited by tourists．

TheWorld TourismOrganization(UNWTO)forecasts that international tourismwill continue growing at the average annual rate of 4%．By 2020 Europe will remain the most popular destination，but its share will drop from60%in 1995 to 46%．Long-haul will grow slightly faster than intraregional travel and by 2020 its share will increase from18%in 1995 to 24%．

With the advent of e-commerce，tourismproducts have become one of the most traded items on the Internet．Tourismproducts and services have beenmade available through intermediaries，although tourismproviders(hotels，airlines，etc．)can sell their services directly．This has put pressure on intermediaries fromboth on-line and traditional shops．

It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between Tourismexpenditure per capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context．Not only as a result of the important economic contribution of the tourismindustry，but also as an indicator of the degree of confidence with which global citizens leverage the resources of the globe for the benefit of their local economies．This is why any projections of growth in tourismmay serve as an indication of the relative influence that each country will exercise in the future．

Space tourismis expected to“take off”in the first quarter of the 21st century，although compared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit will remain lowuntil technologies such as a space elevator make space travel cheap．

Technological improvement is likely to make possible air-ship hotels，based either on solar-powered airplanes or large dirigibles．Underwater hotels，such as Hydropolis，expected to open in Dubai in 2009，will be built．On the ocean，tourists will be welcomed by ever larger cruise ships and perhaps floating cities．

As a resultof the economic crisis of2008，international arrivals suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008．Growth from2007 to 2008 was only 3.7%during the first eight months of 2008．The Asian and Pacific markets were affected and Europe stagnated during the boreal summer months，while the Americas performed better，reducing their expansion rate but keeping a 6%growth from January to August 2008．Only the Middle East continued its rapid growth during the same period，reaching a 17%growth as compared to the same period in 2007．This slowdown on international tourism demand was also reflected in the air transport industry，with a negative growth in September 2008 and a 3.3%growth in passengertraffic through September．The hotel industry also reports a slowdown，as room occupancy continues to decline．As the global economic situation deteriorated dramatically during September and October as a result of the global financial crisis，growth of international tourismis expected to slow even further for the remaining of 2008，and this slowdown in demand growth is forecasted to continue into 2009 as recession has already hit most of the top spender countries，with long-haul travel expected to be the most affected by the economic crisis．However，some travel destinations have experienced growth during hard economic times，drawing on low costs of living，accessibility，and friendly immigration laws permitting tourists to stay for extended periods of time．Recession tourism，a phrase coined by Matt Landau in his research about Panama，has evolved as an alternative escape option for nervous crisis-goers in 2009．

Tourismis the issue that nearly every city faces．It is worldwide and a threat to beaches，famous landmarks，holy areas and also resorts．Attracting a high volume of tourists can have negative impacts，such as the impact of33 million tourists a year on the city of New York，or the potential to impact fragile environments negatively，or the impact of the December 26，2004 tsunami on the tourists themselves．The environment can be affected negatively by cruise ship pollution in many ways，including ballast water discharge，and by pollution fromaircraft．