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Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes.

The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes" Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2011, there were over 983 million international tourist arrivals worldwide, representing a growth of 4.6% when compared to 940 million in 2010. [2][3] International tourism receipts (the travel item of the balance of payments) grew to US$1.03 trillion (740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010.[2] In 2011, international travel demand continued to recover from the losses resulting from the late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second half of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008, and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007. [4]The negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4.2% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and a 5.7% decline in international tourism receipts. [5] Tourism is important and in some cases vital for many countries, such as France, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Israel, the United States, theUnited Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Thailand, and many island nations, such as Mauritius, The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and the Seychelles. It brings in large amounts of income in payment for goods and services available, accounting for 30% of the world'sexports of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and services.[2] It also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy, associated with tourism.[3] These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships andtaxicabs; hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping malls, music venues and theatres.

10 Reasons Why People Travel


1. Romance- There are thousands of people who are involved in long distance relationships. At some point though, they need to see each other. For the sake of love, people will travel for hours to spend as much time as they can with the love of their life. 2. Relaxation- All work and no play is not a good thing. People need to get away from the stress of everyday life, and a nice sunny location with a beach might just be what the doctor ordered.

3. Family/ Friends -Many people have family/friends that are located in different parts of the world. They need to visit with them even if it's for a short period of time.

4. Religion- There are places in the world that hold religious importance for many people. Religious travel is often related to a purpose such as seeing where the last pope was buried, or traveling to the town where Jesus was born.

5. Death- A relative, friend or acquaintance has passed away and travel is required to attend the funeral which is located out of town.

6. Honeymoon- You're getting married and are going somewhere special to celebrate. This usually occurs right after the wedding, but there are many occasions where people celebrate a honeymoon years later.

7. Education-You're getting your education somewhere other than where you live or you are going away on an educational school trip.

8. Celebration- Wedding, Anniversary, Birthday, Birth- There's always something to celebrate and it doesn't always happen where you live.

9. Medical/Health- Sometimes the treatment you need isn't available in the city/town where you live. Often the best medical care is costly and requires travel to receive it.

10. Work- Job requirements might mean a fair bit of travel is involved. Even if the travel is within your own country it still has a purpose attached to it.

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