Note that there is a time limit to tourism activities. If a visitor stays in a particular destination for more than one consecutive year, he or she will no longer be considered a visitor. If this happens, the tourist should get a resident visa or he or she will be counted as an illegal alien. Also, note that zero minutes or no time at all is not considered as tourism. The traveler must stay and do something in the destination; transit or pass-through is not considered as a tourism activity.

Based on this definition, tourism excludes the travel of people to earn money at the destination, and travel to familiar environments, such as commuting to work or school. Transit, or just passing through, say in an airport, is not considered as a tourism activity, too.