Travel and tourism organisations 74

1.1 Main types of tourism

Introduction

Tourism is the business of providing services such as transport, places to stay or entertainment for people who temporarily leave the place where they normally live, work or study. It includes how they move around and what they do when they get there. Tourism is a valuable industry that is worth a lot of money to many countries around the world. Tourists travel from place to place using the services and facilities provided by the tourism organisations and industry.

• Travel documentation (for example, a passport or a visa) is not required. These can cost money and take time to acquire. • Tourists may be able to use their own transport (for example, cars). This can reduce costs and increase the convenience for the tourist. Because of these advantages, domestic tourists can prepare their trip and depart very quickly. For example, they can decide to leave and be ready to depart the next day. This helps to increase the demand for domestic tourism. The UNWTO reports that worldwide, domestic tourism is over six times bigger than international tourism. Countries such as China, India and the United States of America have a larger percentage of domestic tourism due to the geographical size of the country. In addition to the benefits to tourists, domestic tourism has other advantages, for example: • The environmental impacts of domestic tourism are often less. There are more opportunities for tourists to avoid flying, travel shorter distances and use public transport. • Domestic tourism is less affected by global shocks as tourists will often feel safer from any threats or a lack of certainty when travelling in their own country. • Domestic tourism can increase the understanding of national culture and heritage. TIP In statistics and research into tourism, tourists are sometimes also called ‘visitors’. KEY WORDS tourism: the business of providing services such as transport, places to stay and entertainment for people who temporarily leave the place where they normally live, work or study tourist: a person who travels temporarily from one place to another CASE STUDY ‘We Travel Together’ Figure 1.2: Travelling during the pandemic KEY WORD domestic tourism: a type of tourism where tourists travel within their country of residence (where they live) Domestic tourism Domestic tourism is when a tourist travels within their own country. Domestic tourism has advantages for tourists. These are: • There are no language barriers. This allows the tourist to travel around easily. SAMPLE • The currency is the same, therefore the tourist does During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government not have to pay currency exchange costs. of Thailand provided Thai nationals over the age • The culture is similar, which ensures the tourist does not experience culture shock. of 18 with an opportunity to take part in domestic tourism at a reduced cost. The domestic tourism campaign, known as ‘We Travel Together’,