Basic Definitions in Tourism

The World Tourism Organisation distinguishes between three basic forms of tourism:

• domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country travelling only within the country;

• inbound tourism, involving non-residents travelling in another country;

• outbound tourism, involving residents travelling in another country.

International tourism consists of inbound and outbound tourism.

Tourism expenditure can be defined as "the total consumption expenditure made by a visitor or on behalf of a visitor for and during his/her trip and stay at destination."

International tourism expenditure is defined as expenditure of outbound visitors in other countries including their payments to foreign carriers for international transport.

Basic definitions of tourism were established at the United Nations (Conference on Tourism and International Travel, Rome 1963) and by the United Nations Commission on Statistics (April, 1968).

These definitions were revised and updated at the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) conference in Ottawa in June 1991 and certain recommendations were formulated.

These have been adopted by most countries. The WTO has published these recommendations in its report "Recommendations on Tourism Statistics."

The WTO's definition of the traveller moves away from the concept of the "visitor" and distinguishes between the "tourist" and the "excursionist." In fact, travellers can be categorised in four ways:

• Domestic visitors;

• International visitors;

• International tourists;

• Excursionist

The domestic visitor

For statistical purposes, the term 'domestic visitor' describes any person residing in a country, who travels to a place within the country, outside his/her usual environment for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose of visit is other than an activity for which he/she is paid within the place visited.

Domestic tourism is very significant in world tourism as it represents, on average, over 80 per cent of all tourism movements.

The international visitor

The term international visitor describes any person visiting a country other than that in which he or she has usual place of residence but outside his/her usual environment for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the country visited.

Two factors differentiate visitors from other international travellers: their country of residence and their motivation for travel.

Certain types of travellers are excluded from the category of ‘tourist’ for reasons other than that of residency. These are:

- people travelling for political reasons: refugees;

- people travelling for political / professional reasons: migrants, members of the armed forces, diplomats, embassy staff;

- people travelling for professional reasons: nomads, border workers, seasonal workers, couriers;

- people sent abroad by their companies or government. These are considered residents of the country where they normally live (temporary immigrants);

- transit passengers and permanent immigrants.

Classification of international visitors

People who travel to work in a foreign country and are paid by this country have different motives for travelling than other visitors to the country. The WTO has devised a system of classifying international travellers which separates visitors that should be included in international tourism statistics from those that should not.

It is often difficult to identify and classify accurately each traveller in the global movement of people crossing borders.

Are they in transit? Are they in transit for more or less than 24 hours? Are they remaining in the airport or staying at an airport hotel? Will they visit the town? And so on.

The international tourist

A visitor whose length of stay in a country reaches or exceeds 24 hours, thus spending at least one night in the visited country, is classified as a tourist. If his length of stay in the country is less than 24 hours he is categorised as a same-day visitor.

International tourists are defined as:

Temporary visitors staying at least 24 hours in a country whose motive for travel can be described as being either for: leisure (pleasure, holidays, health, study, religion or sport); or for: business, family or work assignments.

Research and analysis: In tourism, research generally means collecting data — units of information — that can be put into statistical form, and the analysis means interpreting trends or deriving other meaning from the statistical figures.

Visa is a travel document that gives permission for a foreigner to enter, or in some cases to leave, another country. It is usually stamped in a traveller's passport.

Infrastructure means the facilities such as airports, roads, water, sewers, electricity, and so on that are necessary before development of an area can take place.

Social tourism is recreational travel that is paid for wholly or in part by ; a government, a trade union or a similar organization. Even in countries where the tourist industry has less economic importance, there is a tourist bureau with official status.

A license is a document giving permission to carry on a particular kind of activity.

Travel statistics, as important as they are to the tourist industry, should be considered as estimates rather than accurate figures.

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