The classification of types of tourism includes more than 30 types. From our article you will learn what types of tourism there are.
Automobile tourism (auto tourism)
A popular type of vacation, traveling by car along the main part of the route. Traveling in their own car or in a small group of several cars, tourists most often do not resort to the services of tourism organizers.
Active tourism
A type of travel associated with active methods of movement along a route and performed by a person for recreational and sporting purposes.
Business tour (MICE)
A type of travel that is necessary for business people and may require special services, such as a meeting room or secretarial services.
The abbreviation MICE stands for four areas of business tourism:
Meetings - business meetings;
Incentives - incentive tours (incentive tours) for employees, partners, clients;
Conferences - organization of conferences, participation in exhibitions;
Events - organization of corporate events.
Bicycle tourism
A popular type of active recreation, which has many varieties: from small walks and excursions to complex cycling trips. Cycling routes are laid in different areas: along country roads, along plains and through mountain passes. Special bicycle designs have been developed for cycling tourism.
Domestic tourism
Tourism within the country. A feature of domestic tourism is the temporary departure of citizens of a particular country from their permanent place of residence for recreation, satisfaction of educational interests, sports and other tourist purposes. Carried out only within the national borders of that country. Used to determine tourism by residents within their own country. In international calculations and statistics, domestic tourism may refer to the definition of activities and expenditures by tourism and non-residents in a given country. Domestic tourism does not represent a separate sphere, but is connected with all other sectors of national life.
Water tourism
A type of tourism in which recreation is carried out on the water using kayaks, boats, catamarans, motor ships and other watercraft.
Inbound tourism
Travel within the country by persons not permanently residing there for tourism purposes without engaging in paid activities from a local source.
Gastronomic tourism
Tours for gourmets and lovers of delicious food. Many tourist regions attract travelers with exquisite cuisine or wines. The brochures of travel companies contain information about gourmet dishes typical of the area.
Group tourism
A type of tourism in which a tourist trip is made by groups of people (including families) according to an individual plan or according to a travel company plan, including the definition of areas to visit, duration of stops, overnight conditions, etc. During the group’s travel, a temporary team arises, which provides a high degree of educational impact during meetings, contacts and conversations provided for by the groups’ stay programs on routes or tourist centers. The possibility of obtaining a group rate makes this type of tourism very attractive.
Long-distance tourism
Trips that require a significant amount of time to get to the destination (more than four hours by plane, four days by car and four to five days by boat or train, etc.).
Children's tourism
An organized trip for a group of school-age children (from 7 to 17 years old) accompanied by a leader. In modern conditions, it exists in new forms: educational children's tourism for the purpose of learning a foreign language; health tourism for children in sports and summer camps located both in our country and abroad; excursion and educational children's tourism, etc. There are travel agencies specializing in children's tourism.
Disabled tourism
A type of recreational tourism designed for people with disabilities.
Individual tourism
One person's journey according to his own program. Travel agencies fulfill the orders of individual tourists (determining areas to visit, duration of stops, overnight conditions, etc.). Individual tourism can develop through the channels of kinship and family ties, creative exchanges and visits by invitation. Individual tourism is also practiced under social and youth tourism programs. Services for individual tourism are provided by special, regular or specialized travel agencies.
Intensive tourism
A type of business tourism, i.e. tourist trips (usually group trips) provided by the administration of enterprises and institutions to their employees on exclusively preferential terms or free of charge as a bonus for high production performance.
Caravanning
A common type of automobile tourism is on a caravan or motorhome-type vehicle with a body or trailer specially equipped for housing.
Horse tourism
A form of active recreation, a type of sports tourism.
Cruise
A tourist trip using a particular vehicle not only for transportation, but also for temporary accommodation, food and service.
Cultural tourism
A type of international tourist travel associated with acquaintance of tourists with national cultures, customs, and traditions in the host country.
Medical and health tourism
A type of tourism undertaken for health or medicinal purposes. Resorts provide tourists with complexes of medical and health procedures, massage services, etc.
Ski tourism
A type of sports tourism that involves skiing along the plains and foothills. Ski tourism requires special training of participants and increased attention from organizers.
Youth tourism
A specific type of tourism activity of youth and adolescents, implemented both within national borders and at the regional and global levels.
Museum tourism
A type of tourism, the specificity of which is to use the tourist potential of museums and adjacent areas. Cooperation between museums and tourism is based on the formation of a system of historical, cultural and natural territories.
Nostalgic (ethnic) tourism
A type of tourism that is carried out by people to the places of their historical residence. Participants in nostalgia tourism are mainly elderly people who previously lived in the area.
Educational tourism
A tourist trip in which a tourist combines relaxation with education.
Organized tourism
Travel by one tourist or a group of tourists according to the exact route and regulations established by the travel company. At the same time, tourists and the travel company are bound by mutual requirements and obligations. Vouchers for such tours are usually sold on the basis of advance payment.
Pilgrimage tourism
A type of religious tourism carried out by believers of different faiths to holy places.
Adventure tourism
A type of tourism associated with the organization of non-standard tours to exotic and environmentally friendly natural reserves, with unusual non-traditional means of transport. Adventure tourism includes hiking expeditions, safari tours (hunting, fishing, photo hunting, etc.), circumnavigation (yachting).
Amateur tourism
Travel using active modes of transportation, organized by the tourist independently.
Wedding tourism
A type of tourism designed for newlyweds.
Rural tourism
A type of tourism that involves the temporary stay of tourists in rural areas for the purpose of recreation and/or participation in agricultural work. Mandatory condition: tourist accommodation facilities, individual or specialized, must be located in rural areas or small towns without industrial and multi-storey buildings.
Sports (active) tourism
Type of active recreation; active and targeted types of physical training and exercise, training, such as swimming, running, cycling, etc. The main task is to guarantee the opportunity to engage in the chosen sport.
Student tourism
A type of youth tourism; travel of students and students.
Shopping tourism
A type of tourism aimed at visiting shops (most often shopping and entertainment complexes) and purchasing goods. Often, “shopping tourism” means not just the purchase of goods, but the entire complex, which also includes related entertainment (restaurants, cafes, cinema, etc.).
Ecotourism (ecotourism)
Visiting places with relatively untouched nature and well-preserved cultural and historical heritage.
Homestay
A type of tourism in which the tourist lives in a house with the owners. A tourist can immerse himself in a foreign culture and learn a foreign language more easily in an everyday context. Staying with a local family is becoming increasingly popular among language tour participants, school and exchange students, and individual interested tourists.
Modern tourism infrastructure has the ability to offer guests from around the world an incredibly wide range of services aimed at providing the best, most varied and memorable holiday. Organization throughout the country is the task of leading tour operators, which they must carry out quickly and efficiently.
Economic component of tourism
The organization of tourism is a serious economic factor that brings stable and regular income to the country's budget. Visitors from other countries (and their ability to pay) contribute to government revenue, which is why international tourism is called active tourism. Or, on the contrary, the departure of a large number of tourists from the country of residence guarantees an outflow of finances, which is called passive tourism.
Rest classification
International tourism is usually classified according to the goals that its participants set for themselves. The main direction is considered to be organizing travel for the purpose of recreation and (or) entertainment. Such trips are the main part of international tourism, combining health, sports, educational or amateur trips. Research shows that the main destinations for such trips are trips to the sun and sea. Very often, entertainment tourism includes visiting some attractions, getting to know the culture and historical development of the country that tourists are visiting.
These formalities are necessary, since international tourism differs significantly from domestic tourism, primarily by the need to cross borders, change the monetary system, overcome language barriers and other details.
Tourism in the minds of most people is associated with relaxation, new experiences, and pleasure. It has firmly entered the life of man with his natural desire to discover and get to know territories unknown to himself, natural monuments, history and culture, customs and traditions of different peoples.
Tourist flows for the purpose of recreation and entertainment are the most massive and determine the geographical structure of international tourism. They originate in the countries of Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region and at the same time gravitate towards them.
This direction of tourism is characterized by 3 features (according to Aleksandrova A.Yu., 2001):
1. Intraregional trips prevail over interregional ones.
Their ratio is 82: 18. In Europe, intraregional tourist flows account for up to 90% of all departures, in America and the Asia-Pacific macroregion - up to 75%.
- 2. Meridian direction of tourist flows. Tourists from northern countries mainly relax on the shores of warm seas; there is an expansion of oncoming flows from south to north.
- 3. The exchange of tourists between former metropolises and colonies has developed. This is facilitated by strong traditional ties, the absence of a language barrier, and simplified tourist formalities.
Europe is the largest market for leisure and entertainment tourism (Figure 1). This is where the main tourist flows are formed and sent here. The intraregional nature of tourism is more pronounced than the interregional one. Intensive intra-European exchange is facilitated by:
- * a large number of countries in a relatively small area;
- * close economic, cultural and ethnic ties between states;
- * developed network of ground transport communications;
- * simplified tourist formalities;
- * a wide variety of natural recreational and cultural-historical attractions;
- * developed tourist infrastructure.
In this tourism market, two of its subregions especially stand out - Western and Southern. They account for over 60% of all tourist arrivals in the region. The main European flows of tourists are formed here, and this is where they head. According to the WTO, the share of intraregional trips in the inbound tourist flow to Europe is slightly lower than in the outbound one. The values of these shares do not coincide in other tourist regions.
Travel for the purpose of entertainment and recreation forms the basis of international tourist exchange. They account for about 70% of world tourism. They combine recreational, educational, and amateur sports trips. Modern economic science considers tourism as a complex socio-economic system, in which a diversified industrial complex called the tourism industry acts as one of the components. This is a set of hotels and other accommodation facilities, means of transport, public catering facilities, accommodation facilities and facilities, educational, business, recreational, sports and other facilities of organizations engaged in tour operator and travel agency activities, as well as organizations providing excursion services and guide services. translators.
Entertainment interest includes elite society, interesting acquaintances, meetings, communication, pleasant pastime, presence as a spectator at competitions, freestyle and snowboarding demonstrations, ski entertainment super-shows and much more. Tourism for the purpose of recreation consists of short-term or longer rest for the purpose of physical or psychological recovery of the body. In addition, this group also includes resort holidays, in which the natural properties of the soil, climate and sea water are used for treatment or recuperation.
According to WTO forecasts, at the beginning of the third millennium the ratio of intra- and interregional tourist flows in the world will change somewhat. Tourist exchange between regions will develop more intensively than within regions. Relatively high growth rates in the number of tourist departures from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe and America are predicted, which will largely determine the overall picture. As a result, the share of interregional tourist trips will increase to 24% by 2020, and the share of intraregional trips will correspondingly decrease to 76%.
In terms of the number of foreign visitors, France holds the lead (81.4 million people in 2011), which is significantly ahead of Spain (with 56.1 million tourists), Italy (37.5 million) and the UK (30.5 million). Germany closes the top five with 22 million foreign tourists.
The Americas region, which ranks second in terms of arrivals after Europe, attracts tourists from all over the world. The incoming tourist flow is distributed among four subregions: North America, island states and territories of the Caribbean, South America and Central America. Seven out of every ten tourist arrivals in the Western Hemisphere come from North America. She remains the leader despite the slow decline in her share. At the same time, the share of the countries (territories) of the Caribbean, Central America and especially South America is increasing. South America is rapidly increasing the number of tourist arrivals. It has unique natural sites and historical and cultural monuments, thanks to which the South American destination is becoming increasingly popular among American and European tourists.
The huge tourism potential of this continent is still extremely poorly used. As it becomes involved in tourism, the share of South America in international profits to the region will increase.
In America, as well as in Europe, the overwhelming majority of tourist flows are concentrated within the region. The exchange of tourists is especially intensive between the three countries of North America: the USA, Canada and Mexico. Moreover, the tourist flow from the United States to Mexico, according to the WTO, is the largest in the world.
According to the WTO forecast, the intensity of tourist exchanges between America and other regions of the world will increase. Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East have good prospects in the American inbound tourism market.
International tourism in the Asia-Pacific region is a relatively young phenomenon. The tourism industry here began to develop recently - in the 80s of the 20th century.
The structure of the inbound tourism market in the Asia-Pacific region practically repeats (with some rearrangements and clarifications) the distribution of tourist arrivals to America by region of the world. In the Asia-Pacific region, tourist arrivals are concentrated predominantly in one subregion.
The main tourist flows are directed to East Asia. More than half of all arrivals occur in this subregion. The second most important subregion is Southeast Asia. Together they register 90% of tourist arrivals. Australia and Oceania have a small market share. The spatial structure of tourist arrivals in the Asia-Pacific region largely depends on the state of the international tourism market in China. It accounts for a third of all arrivals in the region, and including the territories of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) and Taiwan - over 50%.
Today, these countries attract tourists primarily for their exotic nature and the possibility of swimming and beach holidays. In addition, Hong Kong and Singapore offer excellent shopping. Thailand has become a fashionable tourist destination, especially with the development of a new beach area on the southern coast and the organization of cultural and educational trips to the north of the country. Entertainment tourism is well developed in the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.
Japan is among the top ten countries in the region in terms of arrivals. It receives flows of visitors for various tourism purposes, including recreation and entertainment. The Japanese entertainment industry is recognized as the second largest in the world, second only to the American one. It should be noted that the tourism business in the region is established and operates successfully only in developed and newly industrialized countries. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia, despite all efforts, have an insignificant market share.
The uneven development of the international tourism market in the Asia-Pacific region makes it difficult to predict its condition. Nevertheless, WTO experts pin their hopes on reviving intra- and interregional tourist exchanges. They believe that in the first decades of the third millennium, East and Southeast Asia and Oceania will maintain their position as one of the fastest growing tourism regions in the world.
Tourism for leisure and entertainment purposes in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. The most serious changes in the structure of international tourism over the past 10 years have occurred on the African continent. In the late 1980s, the share of arrivals from regions with close ties, especially Europe, was higher than the share of intraregional travel. However, already in the early 90s in Africa, intraregional exchange began to predominate while maintaining strong contacts with Europe. The number of arrivals to Africa in 1999 was 25 million, including 10.5 million from Africa itself, 9 million from Europe and 5.5 million from other regions of the world.
The most advanced countries in the international tourism market are the countries of Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa - Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, specializing in bathing, beach and educational tourism, Zimbabwe and Kenya, organizing safaris in numerous national parks, game reserves and game reserves, and the Republic of South Africa .
The Middle East plays a minor role in the leisure and entertainment tourism market. The prospects for its development, despite the rapid growth in tourist arrivals in recent years, remain uncertain. They depend on the process of peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the achievement of political stability in the region.
For South Africa, the forecast cannot be called optimistic either. WTO experts recommend that South Asian countries pay attention to interregional tourism, long-distance and ultra-long-distance travel, and focus marketing efforts on developing the largest outbound tourism markets in Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Tourist flows for the purpose of recreation and entertainment are the most massive and determine the geographical structure of international tourism. They originate in the countries of Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region and at the same time gravitate towards them.
A feature of tourism for the purpose of recreation and entertainment is that intraregional trips, mainly to neighboring countries, prevail over interregional ones. In Europe, intraregional tourist flows account for about 90% of all departures, in America and the Asia-Pacific region - almost 75%. Only the structure of outbound tourism in South Asia is dominated by interregional trips.
According to UNWTO forecasts, in the near future the ratio of intra- and interregional tourist flows in the world will change somewhat: tourist exchange between regions will develop more intensively than within regions. Relatively high rates of increase in the number of tourist departures from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe and America are predicted to largely determine the overall picture. As a result, the share of interregional tourist trips will increase (up to 24%), and the share of intraregional trips will correspondingly decrease (up to 76%).
Another feature of international tourism for the purpose of recreation and entertainment is manifested in the meridional direction of tourist flows: tourists from northern countries willingly relax on the coast of warm seas. Americans and Canadians are the main visitors to Caribbean resorts. In Europe, bathing and beach tourism is concentrated in the Mediterranean. Norwegians, Danes, Finns, Swedes, and Irish spend their holidays here.
Recently, oncoming tourist flows from south to north have been noticeably increasing, mainly to the resorts of Northern Europe and the Scandinavian countries, which is explained by the state of the environment and the gentle sun.
In Finland and Sweden, as the number of overnight stays by tourists from Germany, one of the main tourism markets for the Nordic countries, falls, the number of overnight stays by tourists from Spain is increasing. Iceland, the least explored country in northern Europe by tourists, is also facing intense competition for the international travel market. To attract visitors, she introduced 40 new itineraries in 1996, including whale watching trips. The number of tourists wanting to see these huge marine animals in natural conditions is increasing rapidly.
The exchange of tourists between the former metropolises and their colonies is developing, facilitated by the absence of a language barrier and traditionally strong ties, primarily in the economic and cultural spheres. The British and Dutch, the Spanish and the Portuguese show interest in the historical past and present of the former colonies. The Portuguese save money in order to see Brazil, and Brazilians try to visit Portugal at least once in their lives, since for many of them this country is their historical homeland. In 1996, every third European who set foot on the African continent was French. Most of them chose holidays in Morocco and Tunisia. This feature of the spatial distribution of tourist flows is manifested not only in Africa. Twice as many tourists from England arrive in South Asia as from other European countries, and these tourist flows are mainly directed to the former British colonies - India and Sri Lanka.
By purpose, tourism is divided into recreational or ordinary holidays and business tourism. Also, tourism can be both internal - within one's own country, and external - with travel abroad. The travel agency will offer you one of the following types of tourist holidays:
- Bus tours- inexpensive bus travel, mainly for excursions. In Russia and the CIS countries, bus tours to Europe are very popular, primarily because of their low cost.
- Ski tours- a trip for the purpose of skiing. In Russia, both vacations within your own country (for example, in Sochi in winter) and trips to foreign ski resorts are popular.
- Shopping tours- a trip to purchase things. To Greece for fur coats, to Italy and Spain for traditional sales. On a trip like this you can buy a lot of quality things for very little money.
- Weekend tours- weekend vacation, primarily within the country and even in your region. But there are also short weekend beach tours to the Black Sea, Turkey, Egypt or European resorts.
- Medical tours- recreational holidays in boarding houses and sanatoriums.
- Medical tourism- travel for the purpose of treatment of illnesses or, for example, childbirth. For example, in Thailand there is very cheap and high-quality dentistry, and in Israel there is treatment for oncological diseases.
- Excursion tours- trips on excursions. Memorable places and attractions.
- Educational tours- training (most often abroad). For example, trips to Cyprus to learn English are very popular.
- Event holiday- a trip to see an event (for example, a concert)
- Beach holiday- the most popular type of recreation in Russia. The resorts of the Black Sea, European countries on the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea in the off-season, and in winter the countries of Southeast Asia and India are popular.
- Rest as a Savage on the Black Sea or independent travel abroad- vacation without the participation of a third party, that is, tour operators and travel agencies. In recent years it has become increasingly popular.
- Cruise vacation. There are both river cruises on the Volga and other rivers, and ocean cruises.
- Sex tourism. Tourism for the purpose of obtaining physical pleasure. Turkey and Egypt are popular among women, while Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia are popular among men.
- Pilgrimage or religious tourism. Traveling to visit religious shrines or perform rituals. In Russia, trips to Jerusalem among Christians and to Mecca among Muslims are popular.
We looked at the types of recreation that travel agencies will offer you. However, there are other types of travel, including exotic ones: disability tourism - for people with disabilities, gastronomic - gastronomic tour to get acquainted with local cuisine, military - to places of military operations, extreme, etc.
