What is Tourism?

Summary

Tourism, a global phenomenon and the world's largest industry, involves people traveling to places outside their usual environment for less than a year, primarily for leisure rather than employment. It's a complex social, cultural, and economic activity that raises key questions about who travels, where, why, when, and how. The script explores defining tourism by duration, distance, and purpose, distinguishing it from other travel forms and emphasizing the ongoing discussion about its meaning.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Tourism is considered the world's biggest industry by some measures, employing a significant portion of the global workforce.
• 🧳 The concept of tourism involves people visiting places outside their usual environment, encompassing social, cultural, and economic aspects.
• 📚 As a field of study, tourism focuses on key questions such as who travels, where, why, when, and how.
• 🔍 Defining tourism can be challenging, with various definitions serving different purposes, but all agree it involves travel.
• 🕰 The temporal requirement for tourism is that trips must be shorter than one year to be considered as such.
• 📍 The spatial requirement distinguishes tourism by requiring travel beyond the traveler's usual environment, excluding local routine travel.
• 🎯 The motivational requirement specifies that the main purpose of tourism should not be seeking employment at the visited place, differentiating it from permanent migration.
• 🌍 Travel is a broader category that includes all movements of people between geographical locations for any duration, distance, or purpose.
• 📝 A formal definition of tourism describes it as activities of people traveling and staying outside their usual environment for up to one year for non-employment purposes.
• 🤔 The meaning of tourism and related concepts is subject to continuous discussion due to varying perspectives and the utility of different definitions.
• 💬 The script invites viewers to join in the discussion about the meaning of tourism on their website, whatistourism.com.

Q & A

What is the significance of tourism in the global economy according to the script?

According to the script, tourism is considered the world's biggest industry by some accounts and employs up to 10% of the world's workforce.

How is tourism defined in the simplest terms in the script?

In the simplest terms, tourism is what people do when they visit a place outside their usual environment.

What are the key questions that the field of study of tourism is concerned with?

The field of study of tourism is concerned with who travels, where they travel, why they travel, when they travel, and how they travel.

What are the three criteria used to distinguish tourism from other forms of travel?

The three criteria are duration (the trip must be shorter than one year), distance (the trip must extend beyond the traveler's usual environment), and purpose (the main purpose should not be to seek employment at the place visited).

What is the temporal requirement for a trip to be considered tourism?

The temporal requirement states that for a trip to be considered tourism, it must be shorter than one year to exclude stays of a more permanent nature.

What is the spatial requirement in the context of defining tourism?

The spatial requirement stipulates that a trip must extend beyond the traveler's usual environment to distinguish between tourists and locals.

What is the motivational requirement for a trip to qualify as tourism?

The motivational requirement specifies that the main purpose of the trip should not be to seek employment at the place visited, distinguishing tourism from more permanent forms of migration.

What is the broader category that tourism is considered a sub-category of, as mentioned in the script?

Tourism is considered a sub-category of travel, which includes all movement of people between geographical locations for any duration, distance, or purpose.

What is the more formal definition of tourism provided in the script?

The formal definition of tourism in the script is the activities of people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for purposes other than seeking employment.

Why is there a continuous discussion about the meaning of the term 'tourism'?

There is a continuous discussion about the meaning of 'tourism' because different people have different perspectives, and different definitions may serve different purposes.

How is the website mentioned in the script related to the topic of tourism?

The website 'whatistourism.com' is mentioned as a platform where the discussion about the meaning of tourism and its related concepts is encouraged, inviting viewers to join the conversation.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Understanding Tourism as a Global Phenomenon

The script introduces tourism as the world's largest industry, highlighting its significant impact on the global workforce. It poses key questions that the field of study aims to answer, such as who travels, where, why, when, and how. The script emphasizes the need for a clear definition of tourism to distinguish it from other forms of travel. It outlines the three criteria used to define tourism: duration (trips lasting less than one year), distance (beyond the traveler's usual environment), and purpose (not seeking employment at the visited place). The summary underscores the importance of these criteria in classifying tourism and differentiating it from other types of travel.

Keywords

💡Tourism

Tourism is the main theme of the video and is defined as the activities of people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for purposes other than seeking employment. It is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon that has gained significant attention in international research communities. The script discusses the importance of tourism as the world's biggest industry and its impact on the global workforce.

💡World Tourism Organization

The World Tourism Organization is mentioned in the script as the entity that recognizes tourism as the world's biggest industry. It is an example of an authoritative body that provides statistics and insights into the tourism sector, emphasizing its global significance and economic impact.

💡Workforce

In the context of the script, the term 'workforce' refers to the total number of people employed for work. It is highlighted that tourism employs up to 10% of the world's workforce, indicating the vast scale of employment opportunities created by the tourism industry.

💡Social Cultural Phenomenon

The script describes tourism as a social cultural phenomenon, which means it involves interactions between people from different cultures and societies. This aspect of tourism is important as it fosters cultural exchange and understanding, contributing to the diversity of experiences that travelers seek.

💡Economic Phenomenon

Economic phenomenon in the script refers to the significant role tourism plays in the global economy. It is not only about the direct employment it provides but also the indirect economic activities it stimulates, such as hospitality, transportation, and local businesses.

💡International Research Communities

The term 'international research communities' is used in the script to denote the groups of scholars, experts, and institutions that study and analyze tourism from various perspectives. These communities are vital for understanding the trends, impacts, and future of tourism.

💡Key Questions

The script lists 'key questions' that the field of study of tourism is concerned with, such as who travels, where, why, when, and how. These questions are fundamental to understanding the motivations and patterns of tourism, which in turn helps in shaping policies and strategies within the industry.

💡Definition

The script discusses the challenge of defining tourism, as there are various definitions that serve different purposes. A definition helps to categorize and understand what constitutes tourism, distinguishing it from other forms of travel and movement.

💡Criteria

Criteria in the script refer to the specific requirements or standards used to distinguish tourism from other forms of travel. The three criteria mentioned are duration, distance, and purpose, which help to clarify what is considered tourism according to the script.

💡Temporal Requirement

The 'temporal requirement' is one of the criteria used to define tourism. It specifies that for a trip to be considered tourism, it must be shorter than one year, thus excluding longer, more permanent stays. This criterion is used to differentiate between short-term visits and long-term residence.

💡Spatial Requirement

The 'spatial requirement' is another criterion for defining tourism, which stipulates that the trip must extend beyond the traveler's usual environment. This helps to distinguish between local, routine travel and the broader concept of tourism that involves visiting new and distant places.

💡Motivational Requirement

The 'motivational requirement' is the third criterion mentioned in the script, which focuses on the purpose of the trip. It states that the main purpose of tourism should not be to seek employment at the place visited, distinguishing it from permanent migration.

💡Travel

Travel, as discussed in the script, is a broader term that includes all movements of people between geographical locations for any duration, distance, or purpose. Tourism is considered a sub-category of travel, with specific criteria that differentiate it from other types of travel.

Highlights

Tourism is considered the world's biggest industry by some accounts, employing up to 10% of the global workforce according to the World Tourism Organization.

Tourism is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon that is gaining increasing attention in international research communities.

The field of study of tourism focuses on key questions such as who travels, where, why, when, and how.

Defining tourism involves distinguishing it from the broader concept of travel.

Three criteria are used to differentiate tourism from other forms of travel: duration, distance, and purpose.

For a trip to be considered tourism, it must last less than one year, which is the temporal requirement.

The spatial requirement states that a trip must extend beyond the traveler's usual environment to be classified as tourism.

The motivational requirement specifies that the main purpose of tourism should not be seeking employment at the visited place.

Travel encompasses all movement of people between geographical locations for any duration, distance, or purpose.

A simple definition of tourism is what people do when they visit a place outside their usual environment.

A formal definition of tourism involves activities of people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one year for purposes other than seeking employment.

There will always be a variety of definitions for any term or concept due to different perspectives and purposes.

The meaning of the term 'tourism' and its related concepts should be continuously discussed to capture its evolving nature.

The website 'whatistourism.com' invites viewers to join the ongoing discussion about the meaning of tourism.

The transcript emphasizes the importance of understanding the essence and uniqueness of tourism as a phenomenon.

The discussion of tourism highlights its multifaceted nature, involving economic, social, and cultural aspects.

The transcript concludes by encouraging further exploration and discourse on the concept and implications of tourism.

Transcripts

[Music]

what is

tourism by some accounts tourism is the

world's biggest industry according to

the world tourism organization it

employs up to 10 of the world's

workforce

but what exactly is this phenomenon we

call tourism

simply put tourism is what people do

when they visit a place outside their

usual environment

it is a social cultural and economic

phenomenon that is steadily getting more

attention in international research

communities

[Music]

as a field of study it is concerned with

the following key questions

who

travels where

why

when

and how

as with most topics of interest there

are many ways of defining tourism

however and various definitions have

been put forward to serve of various

purposes but one thing everyone agrees

to is that tourism has to do with travel

that is movement between relatively

distant locations

but not all forms of travel are

considered tourism so one of the main

challenges of definition has been to

distinguish tourism from the concept of

travel

one way of separating tourism from other

forms of travel involves looking at the

following three criteria duration

distance

and purpose

the first criterion examines the

duration of the trip it has to do with

how long the trip lasts

for a trip to be considered tourism it

must be shorter than one year this

qualification is meant to exclude stays

of a more permanent

nature there is no absolute minimum

requirement with regards to duration but

trips of less than a couple of hours are

usually not considered tourism

this is called the temporal requirement

the second criterion examines the

distance travelled

this qualification puts as a minimum

requirement that for a trip to be

considered tourism it must extend beyond

the traveler's usual environment this is

done to exclude local routine travel and

to be able to distinguish between

tourists and locals

this is called the spatial requirement

[Music]

the third and final criterion examines

the purpose of the trip

tourism may include travel for many

different reasons but the main purpose

should not be to seek employment at the

place visited this is done to

distinguish tourism from more permanent

forms of migration this is called the

motivational requirement

travel of which tourism may be

considered a sub-category includes all

movement of people between geographical

locations for any duration distance or

purpose

so to recap

a simple way to define tourism is to

describe it as what people do when they

visit a place outside their usual

environment

[Music]

a more formal definition of tourism is

the activities of people traveling to

and staying in places outside their

usual environment for not more than one

consecutive year for purposes other than

seeking employment

it should be emphasized however that for

any topic and indeed any term or concept

there will always be a variety of

definitions

this is because different people will

have different perspectives and because

different definitions may serve

different purposes

thus for tourism as for all other isms

that matter there is and should be a

continuous discussion about the meaning

of the term itself and all its

underlying and related concepts

we hope that you will join us in this

discussion at what is tourism.com

see you there

[Music]

you