What are the different types of tourism?

Tourism as a whole is a broad term that includes any person staying outside of his or her normal environment for between one day and one year for recreational, leisure or business reasons. This can include types of domestic tourism (people traveling within their own country) and international tourism (people traveling across country borders or overseas). But within these two categories of tourism are divisions upon divisions.

With the introduction of e-commerce or online business, tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet. Today, it is easy as ever to buy an airline ticket, a tourism package or even planning your own trip from where you sleep to where you eat and shop. There are even websites that help you plan your own tour or you can buy directly from the separate hotels and airlines to do it without the intermediaries. As it has grown more convenient to plan and go on a tour, there has been an up market trend in the tourism all over the world over the last decade. Most of the top visited countries are on the European continent along with the United States and China. Since most of the tourists are people with high level of disposable income, having a popular tourist site greatly benefits the country's economy. With this fact know, many countries offer cheaper and simpler way of travel within their country and even a set policy for tourists. Along with that, the development of technology in transportation, such as making a bigger and faster airplane, resulting in many low-cost airlines along with easier access to buying tickets online made many different types of tourism more affordable and more accessible. Though there has been set backs at certain tourist attraction sites due to terrorist threats and environmental issues, the tourism market still stands as one of the strongest market in the world. Today, with the easier access to travel, many different types and forms of travel emerged. Though it still carries the traditional form of traveling to a different place, the usual purpose of site seeing has become more specialized.

Adventure Tourism, Inclusive Tourism and Disaster Tourism As different kinds of tourism go, adventure tourism is probably one of the most – well – adventurous. Travelers head for remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas to explore cultures or activities outside of their comfort zones. To further break it down, adventure tourism – also called extreme tourism – includes tourism of native societies, ghettos, jungles and urban areas. It’s related to disaster tourism, which involves visiting areas that have been affected by floods, hurricanes, volcanoes and more, and inclusive tourism, which is tourism accessible to the disabled. It can also include extreme activities such as mountaineering, bungee jumping, rafting, rock climbing, zip-lining and trekking. You’d have to be a daring type of tourist to choose some of these options!

Agritourism As a type of both foreign and domestic tourism, agritourism involves travel to a farm or ranch, including farm stays at anything from bed and breakfasts to dude ranches, produce purchase from farm stands, corn mazes, wine and cheese making, and fruit picking. It’s one of the growing forms of tourism in areas including Australia, Canada, the U.S. and the Philippines.

Backpacking and Freehiking This kind of tourism has two branches – wilderness and travel. Wilderness backpacking usually involves hiking and camping overnight in the backcountry with not much more than a backpack carrying supplies and equipment. In a professional sense, it’s used by soldiers, professional guides, photographers, scientific and academic researchers, park rangers, and search and rescue personnel. Travel backpacking is often used to describe low-cost, independent international travel that include factors such as using public transportation, staying in hostels instead of hotels, and – surprise! – using a backpack for portability. A lot of times this type of tourism is viewed less as a vacation and more of a cultural learning experience. For even less reliance on material comfort, tourists can try freehiking, which falls into two categories: naked hiking (Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like.) or off-trail hiking, where hikers rely on maps, compasses or GPS units to navigate through uncharted areas.

Cultural Tourism, Culinary Tourism and Ethno Tourism Cultural tourism, or heritage tourism, involves immersion in a society’s lifestyle, its people’s history, its art and architecture, its religion, and any other elements that have shaped it and its people. It can also include participation in a culture’s rituals or festivals (think Anthony Bourdain). This is related also to culinary tourism, where travelers pursue unique and memorable drinking and dining; educational tourism, which includes student exchange programs and study tours; and ethno tourism, where travelers observe a country’s native people without the intent of scientific gain.

Celebrity tourism, where tourists will do leisure activities which involve showbiz events and some popular film sites, educational tourism, where people travel to gain knowledge overseas about the different cultures and ideas to gain more insight. Some people go on what is called an adventure tourism where they hire a local citizen to see how the locals view the tourist sites.

Dark Tourism and War Tourism For the more doom-and-gloom type of tourist, this kind of tourism – also called black tourism or grief tourism – involves visiting sites associated with suffering and death. These include castles and battlefields, natural and manmade disaster areas, prisons, and dungeons. It’s also related to war tourism, or travel to active war zones.

Ecotourism, Geotourism and Sustainable Tourism As part of the green movement, ecotourism is defined as small-scale, low-impact travel to fragile, untouched and protected areas. This type of domestic and international tourism strives to educate, provide funds for conservation, benefit economic and political development, and promote respect for cultures and human rights. A lot of times this involves volunteer work and the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency, water conservation and implementation of economic opportunities. People here travel to seek out a new way of life, mostly pro-nature type of life, where they will be more helpful towards the environment. Taking this one step further is geotourism, which focuses not just on sustainability but also on enhancing the area’s character. And, though not related as much to the environment, there’s also sustainable tourism, which involves sustaining a culture’s population, employment and positive local experiences for both residents and tourists.

Health Tourism Also called medical tourism, this form of tourism describes the practice of leaving the country to get healthcare, or of providers traveling to deliver healthcare. Even though health tourism existed long before, it gained importance during eighteenth century. This tourism is associated with spas, places with health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. As a number of doctors have highlighted the benefits of bathing in sea water, and sea bathing, even this has become a part of health tourism.

Nautical Tourism Another of our different types of tourism combines sailing and boating with vacationing and travel. Many of these types of tourists live on their boats and take port in different areas to explore. In fact, it’s become such a popular kind of tourism that marinas have been built specifically for nautical tourists in Europe, South American and Australia. Wouldn’t you like to study that at a tourism school?

Pop-Culture Tourism and Sports Tourism This kind of tourism is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – going to visit locations featured in books, film, music, TV and other forms of entertainment. And it appeals to many different types of tourists – who’s not interested in Elvis or Superman or the Beatles or Seinfeld or something? Trips can be domestic or international depending on what tourists want to see – and being featured in pop culture is a huge boost in popularity for many locations. Just ask the Duke of Northumberland, who lives in the castle that was used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies! Kind of along the same lines is sports tourism, where people travel to see a sporting event outside of their normal environment. This type of tourism rakes in about $600 billion each year.

Religious Tourism Also referred to as faith tourism, this type of tourism encompasses people of faith who travel independently or in groups to holy cities or holy sites for fellowship, missionary or pilgrimage. The largest mass faith pilgrimage takes place annually in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and many religious pilgrims aren’t traveling for the same reasons as those pursuing other different types of tourism. Often, they list a tangible understanding and appreciation of their religion, a feeling of security in their beliefs, and personal connection as the main purposes of faith travel.

Pilgrimage Tourism

Pilgrimages have created a variety of tourist opportunities in medieval period and even in today’s modern tourism, they stand as an important stream of tourism.  

Space Tourism Space tourism is – you guessed it – travel in space! Obviously, most of this is done for business purposes because the average person can’t afford a quick getaway to outer space … though it can be done! The Russian Space Agency is the only one that offers it, but allegedly it comes in at a whopping $20-35 million per flight. That definitely makes the price of simpler types of domestic tourism seem like pocket change!

Voluntourism This growing form of tourism features travel for charitable or volunteer purposes – this is one of the more popular types of domestic tourism, but can also reach internationally. Trips can range from wildlife cleanup to medical aid in a foreign country, and more. Also included in this is traveling for the purpose of scientific research to promote understanding and necessary actions needed for a sustainable environment.

Wildlife Tourism In its simplest definition, wildlife tourism is the observation of wild animals in their natural habitats. It’s especially popular in countries with large areas of undeveloped land, such as Africa, South America, Australia, India, Canada, Indonesia, Bangladesh and more. There is some controversy about this type of tourism, as the pros and cons are equally arguable. On the con side, there’s disturbance of the animals’ breeding, feeding and overall living patterns, in addition to the development of hotel construction on the natural land to account for tourists. Alternately, however, this kind of tourism increases habitat restoration, conservation breeding, research and financial donations, and also deters poachers.

So, in a very large nutshell, that covers it! With all the different types and methods of travel, it seems like it only gets better for the travelers each day, so why not go online and check out what is offered to you. You might find something just for you.

Winter Tourism – Winter sports contribute to winter tourism. Many water sports holiday packages are available at places in many countries apart from Ski and Snow festival tours organized annually. Skiing is extremely popular in the mountainous areas. Ski festivals have variety of events like ski and sled competitions, ski and snow board lessons, performances and recreational activities. Majority of the event participants are from countries with a warm climate.

Mass tourism - Mass travel is possible with improvements in technology allowing the transport of large numbers of people in a short period of time to places of leisure interest. Through this, greater numbers of people enjoy the benefits of leisure time. The increase in the speed of Railways, the better Sea travel options, and the increase in the number of improved Air travel services, the mass travel has grown and developed internationally.

Niche Tourism - Physical activity or sports-oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism such as the mountaineering and hiking (tramping), the backpacker tourism, the sport travel for golf and scuba diving or see a sports event and extreme tourism for people interested in risky activities. There are many types of niche tourism. Some of them are given below.

The Learning-oriented niche tourism includes audio tourism and audio walking tours. The Bookstore tourism involves the travelers visiting independent bookstores. The Creative tourism includes attending cultural festivals, events, and workshops. The Educational tourism is to attend classes and learn certain faculties. The Ancestry tourism is to visit and learn about the birth places. The Hobby tourism is to gather more information about hobbies and this involves garden tours, amateur radio DX-peditions, or square dance cruises. The Music and Dance tourism involves focusing on cultural and arts activities with more emphasis on music and dance. The Heritage tourism involves visiting places to know about the heritage and culture of those places.

There are many sub-types in nature and environment oriented tourisms, such as the Coastal tourism, the Eco tourism, the Garden tourism, and the Rural tourism or the Agritourism. The Lifestyle-oriented niche tourism types include the Gay tourism, the Gourmet tourism, the Wine tourism, the Health tourism, the Medical tourism, the Inclusive tourism or the Accessible Tourism for people with disabilities, the Mystical tourism involving Meditation, yoga, and rituals.

Other miscellaneous types of niche tourism are given below.

The Dark tourism includes travel to sites associated with death and suffering, such as the scene of the Hindenburg airship disaster, or to the sites of disasters (Disaster tourism).

The Free Independent Tourism involves a sector of the market in which the tourists select their own accommodation and transport, rather than using the established tourism booking system.

The Pop-culture tourism is the tourism by those that visit a particular location after reading about it or seeing it used as a location in a film.

The Perpetual tourism involves those individuals who are always on vacation, some of them for tax purposes to avoid being resident in any country.

The Sacred travel or metaphysical tourism is a form of New Age travel where believers travel to and perform rituals at religious sites.

The Shopping tourism promotes shopping festivals such as the Dubai Shopping Festival.

The Space tourism is traveling in outer space or on spaceships.

The Visiting Family and Relatives (VFR) Tourism is traveling to visit persons related by close family ties and it combines the vacation-type activities.

The Distinct form ancestry tourism involves genealogical research.

The Armchair tourism and virtual tourism do not require traveling physically, but involves exploring the world through internet, books, or TV.