Title: Introduction
Course: Archive > Section: Eco-tourism

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An introduction to tourism

Tourism is an important contributor to many economies. It's based on human resources such as man-made attractions like museums and art, local food, drink and traditions, and physical resources such as natural features that attract tourists like beaches, rainforests and climate. Tourism can bring money and jobs to an area and also educate tourists about local culture.
Tourism is a rapidly growing industry and has far-reaching economic and environmental impact across the world. In 2010, the Middle East and Asia had the greatest growth of tourists. Europe still has the greatest number of tourists - nearly 500 million in 2010.

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There are many factors that help explain the growth in tourism:

- More affluence - people have paid holidays from work.

- Greater awareness - through advertising or television programmes people are more aware of how and where they can spend their free time.

- Improvements in technology - travelling today is much quicker. Travelling by air has become more accessible as you can book on line and choose more budget options.

- More leisure time - people who are retired remain active for longer. There is also a trend to take more than one holiday in a year.

- More choice - in the past seaside holidays and package holidays were the most popular. The industry is seeing more people look at ecotourism and more unusual holiday destinations.

The growth of tourism in the UK