Chapter One Introduction to Tourism Studies Basic Concepts and Theories Learning Objectives On successful completion of this module,

e, you should be able to: define tourism from different perspectives appreciate the difficulties and issues involved in defining tourism distinguish tourism from related concepts such as hospitality, leisure and recreation discuss the growth of tourism as a field of academic study, and the implications for the tourism Industry. identify the major platforms that have characterized the development of tourism as a field of study. This first module introduces the study of tourism; covering the definition and concept of tourism as a field of study. 1.1 Basic definitions of tourism There have been many attempts to reach a satisfactory definition of Tourism, and to understand how it relates to hospitality, leisure and recreation. Generally, we think of tourism as a deliberate trip away from home base, which includes leisure, sightseeing, food and drink, and possibly some active recreation. Some points to consider: tourism is people travelling away from home for leisure and recreation but how far before they are classified as tourists? for how long? for what purposes (it is now customary to include business travellers in any definition, presumably on the basis that you cant do business for 24 hrs and will look at the sights). These questions are complex ones, and it should be made clear that how we define the tourist will affect our definition of tourism. Having said that, the following definition by Weaver and Lawton (2006 p. 3) is used in this course: Tourism is the sum of all the phenomena and relationships arising from interactions amongst tourists, host governments and communities, businesses, and non-governmental organizations, involved in the process of attracting, transporting, hosting and managing these tourists and other visitors.

The role that a person or organization holds with respect to tourism generally influences the way in which they define tourism McIntosh, Goeldner and Ritchie 1995, p. 9. for example, identify four different perspectives from which we could look when defining tourism:

1. the tourists view 2. the view of the businesses providing tourist goods and services 3. the perspective of the government of the host community or country 4. the views of the host community itself. To a potential tourist, tourism may mean travel and fun, an escape from daily routine and cares. To a business, it may mean the delivery of goods or services to satisfy tourist needs and wants. To governments, tourism may mean economic development. To a host community, tourism may mean impacts, both positive and negative, resulting from the activities of tourists. Harris and Howard 1996 in their Dictionary of travel, tourism and hospitality terms define tourism quite broadly as being: short-term travel for any purpose other than immigration short-term travel for leisure-related purposes. Alternatively, is it really necessary to look any further than the popular notions conceived by the general public as set out in the Macquarie dictionary? There, tourism is seen as everything associated with the tourist and holidays: the practice of touring especially for pleasure the occupation of providing local services as entertainment, lodging, food, etc. for tourists. Hall (1998, p. 6) identifies a range of tourism definitions from a variety of authors and observes a range of common elements amongst these definitions. Tourism is the temporary, short-term travel of non-residents along transit routes to and from a destination. It may have a wide variety of impacts on the destination, the transit route and the source point of tourists. It may influence the character of the tourist. It is primarily for leisure or recreation, although business is also important. From this discussion, it is clear that there is no universally accepted definition of tourism, but that there is a wide variety of legitimate definitions from which to choose, after due consideration of the essential differences, strengths and weaknesses of each perspective.

1.2 The academic study of tourism

Figure 1.1 shows a number of academic disciplines through which tourism can be perceived. Each of these fields will tend to adopt its own definition and outlook and therefore will study different aspects of tourism. Jafar Jafari and J. Brent Ritchie have produced a model of the array of academic disciplines and approaches relevant to the study of tourism (see figure 1.1). You should look at these, as you will find people writing about tourism now in all the disciplines on the wheel. McIntosh, Goeldner and Ritchie went on to argue that: The fact simply is that tourism is so vast, so complex, so multifaceted, that it is necessary to have a number of approaches to studying the field, each geared to a somewhat different task or objective. (Source: McIntosh, Goeldner & Ritchie 1995, pp. 201) A number of authors have called for an interdisciplinary approach to the study of tourism. This is
in recognition of the number of different approaches to the subject that are possible. Figure 1.1 Study of tourism choice of disciplines and approach

(Source: McIntosh, Goeldner & Ritchie 1995, p. 19)

Your text describes some of the obstacles that have hindered the development of tourism as a legitimate field of study: perceived as a trivial activity many academics refused to acknowledge tourism as a legitimate field of study on the basis that the activity of tourism is trivial regarded as a recent activity the newness of large scale contemporary tourism led some people to consider it should not be a field in its own right

perceived as a vocational field of study this meant it was not seen as having a body of theory, and that it should not be taught in the university system lacking a clear definition and reliable data as you have already seen, trying to define tourism is difficult because of the breadth of activites it encompasses.

1.3 Tourism platforms The concept of four dominant platforms or perspectives for the study of tourism was developed by Jafari (2001). Advocacy developed in the post-WWII era, tourism was uncritically seen as an economic saviour and a positive force. Cautionary challenged advocacy platform and argued for public sector intervention. Negative impacts were highly criticised. Adaptancy introduced small-scale and community based tourism. Knowledge-based acknowledges that all tourism has impacts but can be modified through management.
1.4 Distinguishing terminology

You may find that the terms tourism, hospitality, recreation, leisure and travel are conflated (that is, they are used as interchangeable terms). While these four activities can in one sense be perceived as a sub-set of tourism, they are also distinct fields of study in their own right, that are by no means contained within definitions of tourism. 1.4.1 Leisure Leiper proposed the following definition of leisure: Leisure is a category of human experiences found in recreational and creative behavior pursued with a relative sense of freedom from obligations, and regarded as personally pleasurable. (Source: Leiper 1995, p. 64) It may be simplest at this stage to take the approach of Weaver and Lawton 2006, page 29 who

classify leisure and recreation as categories of tourism. Thus tourism is one of the avenues through which people may choose to gain a leisure experience, but not all tourism involves leisure. You will find there is an entire field of material about leisure in its many facets, and although you do not need to know this field in detail, you should be aware of how it is distinguished from tourism. 1.4.2 Recreation Considerable debate has occurred over the distinction between recreation and tourism. Again, you do not need to know the full definition of recreation in detail at this stage. French, Craig-Smith and Collier define recreation as: A rewarding activity taken willingly and for no financial remuneration. The activity is taken to recreate oneself and can involve anything from sitting in a chair listening to a record to climbing the ice face of a mountain. (Source: French, Craig-Smith & Collier 2000, p. 14) 1.4.3 Hospitality If you consider how important services like transport and accommodation are to a tourism experience it is evident that hospitality and tourism are closely linked. However, they are not the same. The following definition is provided by French, Craig-Smith and Collier. Hospitality can be defined as the act of meeting and looking after people who are normally referred to in a commercial organization, such as an hotel, as guests. Hospitality involves the provision of food and beverage, the supply of accommodation and/or the offering of entertainment and other services. (Source: French, Craig-Smith & Collier 2000, p. 12) 1.4.4 Events There have always been reasons for people to gather and celebrate. Especially now when leisure is said to lead to discretionary time and discretionary income. Often people decide to attend an event as part of their leisure experience. An event can be defined as, a themed public celebration of sport, fine art or culture Getz 1997, p. 945. 1.4.5 Travel versus tourism Leiper (1995, p. 33) made the comment that In everyday communication the expression tourist often means an inferior traveller or visitor and he explained that the reasons for this attitude are complex and are the result of events that have occurred over two hundred years. In this course, travel and tourism are deemed to be one and the same, however it is important that you are aware some people still choose to make a distinction.

1.5 The importance of tourism

Direct revenue Indirect revenue Jobs and regional development Competition with other industries

2.1 The concept of a system Leiper (1995) proposed a tourism system comprised of five main elements. 1. The tourist 2. Tourist generating region this generally refers to the tourists home or origin. 3. Transit route this refers to the travel route taken to reach the destination. 4. Destination the main place a tourist stays in during their trip but note that a trip may also incorporate multiple destinations. 5. Tourism industry the industry itself is distinguished from tourism. Leiper (1995) notes that the benefits of this systems approach are: The model can be applied at a number of levels. For example, it may be used to represent global tourism, or to describe tourism in a particular region of a country. An interdisciplinary approach is facilitated, rather than being limited to just one field. Note also that there are a huge number of whole tourism systems, but Leiper (1995, p.27) lists three main systems: 1. Domestic tourism systems 2. Outbound tourism systems 3. Inbound tourism systems. 2.2 The tourist Weaver and Lawton state that a definition of tourism (which you looked at in module 1) depends upon how the tourist is defined. This section now considers the tourist in terms of spatial, temporal and purposive criteria. 2.2.1 Spatial component There are two major divisions within the spatial component. The first relates to where the tourist is travelling from and to. The following terms are important because you will refer to them throughout the rest of your study: Domestic tourist travel occurs within a persons country of residence International tourist travel occurs outside the country of residence

 Outbound tourist departing for an international destination Inbound tourist arriving from another country. The second spatial component relates to the distance travelled, that is a long or a short distance. There are a number of differences between these types of tourists such as expenditure patterns and length of stay, and they require different management strategies by transport organisations, hence the following terms: Long haul trips Short haul trips. 2.2.2 Temporal components This component relates to the length of time involved in a persons trip. The two distinctions are: Stayover where at least one overnight stay is involved Excursionist trip does not incorporate an overnight stay. 2.2.3 Travel purpose Not all purposes of travel qualify a person as a tourist. The categories listed below are generally recognised as tourism (those in bold are the larger categories). Leisure and recreation Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) Business Sport Spirituality Study Health Events Conferences Multipurpose 2.3 The origin region The origin region has largely been ignored as a component of the tourism system. However, when you consider that tourist demand drives a large part of tourism, the nature of the region in which those tourists normally reside is important. It is particularly important in influencing the kinds of impacts that are experienced in the other regions.

List of References
Weaver & Lawton 2006, Tourism management, chapter 1.