What is Tourism?

People travel to do something which they cannot if they stayed at home. The purpose may include work, play, school, religion, relationships, and others that may satisfy the traveler’s need. For example, you come to school to study, your parents go out to work, or your relatives abroad visit your family during holidays. Sometimes, families go out of town to go shopping and do all sorts of fun things.

However, not all forms of travel are considered as tourism. As discussed in Lesson I, tour refers to the activities of people when they go through a place in order to see and learn about it in person. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 1991), tourism is: “the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes, except activities remunerated from within the place visited.”