Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes.The World Tourism Organization tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and 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 has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2007, there were over 903 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 6.6% as compared to 2006. International tourist receipts were USD 856 billion in 2007.

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 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, as total international tourism arrivals from January to August were 641 million tourists, up from 618 million in the same period in 2007.

Tourism is 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 service , such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts, and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, shopping malls,various music venues and the theater.

Definition

Hunziker and Krapf, in 1941, defined" tourism as people who travel "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity." In 1976, the Tourism Society of England's definition was: "Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes."citation needed" In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home.

The United Nations classified three forms of tourism in 1994, in its "Recommendations on Tourism Statistics: Domestic tourism", which involves residents of the given country traveling only within this country; Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country; and Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country."[citation needed]". The UN also derived different categories of tourism by combining the three basic forms of tourism: Internal tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism; National tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism; and International tourism, which consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism. Intrabound tourism is a term coined by the Korea Tourism Organization and widely accepted in Korea."[citation needed]" Intrabound tourism differs from domestic tourism in that the former encompasses policymaking and implementation of national tourism policies.[citation needed]

Recently, the tourism industry has shifted from the promotion of inbound tourism to the promotion of intrabound tourism. Some national policymakers have shifted their priority to the promotion of intrabound tourism to contribute to the local economy. Examples of such campaigns include: "See America" in Singapore" in Singapore ; "100% Pure New Zealand" in New Zealand ; "Amazing ; "Incredible India" in India; and "The Hidden Charm" in Vietnam .[citation needed].