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 When most of us
think of
a tourist, we have in mind a person on vacation to visit a distant location, to see the sights, to visit friends and relatives or to do little else but relax or participate in leisure activities such as fishing or sports. But tourists are more than vacation travelers. There are many other types of tourists, such as business people, convention delegates, pilgrims and other travelers.
a tourist, we have in mind a person on vacation to visit a distant location, to see the sights, to visit friends and relatives or to do little else but relax or participate in leisure activities such as fishing or sports. But tourists are more than vacation travelers. There are many other types of tourists, such as business people, convention delegates, pilgrims and other travelers.
As tourism is the movement of people, it is necessary to define this major component of tourism---the tourist---before producing a definition for tourism. The word TOURIST is
derived from
the term “ tour” which, according to Webster’s international Dictionary (1961), means “a journey in which one returns to the starting point; a circular trip usually for business, pleasure or education during which various places are visited and for which an itinerary is usually planned”. Accordingly, a tourist is “one that makes a tour, one that travels from place to place for pleasure or culture and one that stays overnight usually at an inn or motel”.
Dictionary meanings of tourist have expanded and become complicated with the rise of tourism research. A significant addition to the dictionary meaning was that persons traveling to meetings or on business were included here. Thus a tourist was no longer only a pleasure traveler, he might also travel for business, convention or health, etc.. However, inclusive as this definition was, it ignored the movement of domestic tourists. In 1963, the United Nations sponsored a Conference on International Travel and Tourism in Rome, on which definitions of “visitor” and “tourist” were developed for use in compiling international statistics. It defined a visitor as “any person visiting a country other than
that in which he has his usual place of residence, for any reason other than following an occupation, remunerated from within the country visited”. This definition was to cover two classes of visitors:
1. Tourists, who were classed as temporary visitors staying at least 24 hours, whose purpose could be classified as leisure (whether for recreation, health, sport, holiday, study or religion), business, family, mission or meeting;
2. Excursionists, who were classed as temporary visitors staying less than 24 hours, including cruise travelers but excluding travelers in transit.
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think of