Lecture 1
Tourism : Activity of people taking trips away from home and the industry which has developed to cater to/support the needs of tourism. (does not include migrants, PR, illegal immigrants)
History of tourism * Early travellers travelled for: 1) curiosity 2) food and hunting (survival) 3) trade (trade routes formed – silk road) 4) military control
* Affluent (wealthy) population with time and money to travel – sightsee, experience other cultures and cuisines. * Widely accepted currencies * Widely used languages * Development of infrastructure
Grand Tour Era (1613-1785) * Trend of luxurious travel started by wealthy English * Developed as a status symbol and spread throughout Europe (favourite countries to visit – France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland) * Experience the ‘civilised world’ and study the arts and sciences * Travels often lasted for several years * Growth in travel for business reasons
Mobility Era (1800-1944) * Growing economic prosperity * Advent of leisure time (paid leave) * Made leisure travel possible for working and middle classes * Availability of affordable travel * Increase in systems, modes and speeds of travel * New forms of transport: roads, railroads, steamships * Thomas Cook developed tour packages for mass travel (organised 1st group tour in 1841) * Invention of automobile (Henry Ford – 1914) and airplane (Wright Bros – 1903) expanded freedom to travel.
Modern Era (1945-Present) * Time, $, safety and interest in travel led to unparalleled growth of tourism (Diners club introduced internationally accepted credit card in 1950 = reduce hassle of foreign currency) * Advent of jet travel shortened travel time (1950’s) *