Initially, tourism and travel were only engaged in by the very wealthy (with the exception of pilgrims visiting holy sites). In the 18th century, trips for health improvement — “taking the waters” — gained enormous popularity. In 1758, the first (and still existing) travel company Cox & Kings was founded in Great Britain. However, with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the development of communications, the situation began to change dramatically. In the world — primarily in Europe and North America — the welfare of the population grew, salaried workers received guaranteed weekends, and in some cases, vacations. As a result, the number of tourists began to increase. In 1841, British entrepreneur Thomas Cook organized a railway excursion for 570 clients, subsequently founding the company Thomas Cook. Thus was born mass tourism.
This was the beginning of the tourism revolution, giving rise to a huge variety of tourism types, the resort industry, special financial instruments (such as traveler's checks), contributing to the creation of the entertainment industry (many holidays and festivals are organized specifically to attract tourists), communication systems, the development of big sports (e.g., the Olympics), and so on. In 1937, the League of Nations (the precursor to the UN) first used the terms “tourism” and “tourist” in official documents. Tourism came to be defined as a journey taken outside one's home country for more than 24 hours.
Richard Sharpley and David Telfer, authors of the book “Tourism and Development,” note that a “state fashion” for tourism has emerged in the world. Only a handful of countries do not promote themselves as tourist destinations. Tourism has become an integral part of strategic concepts for economic and social development. Countries with vastly different economies and political systems have tried and continue to try to develop tourism. For example, after the collapse of the USSR and the cessation of Soviet subsidies to Cuba, tourism became the main driver of the island’s economy. In the 1990s, Iraq organized an international advertising campaign: “From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein: 2,240 years of peace and prosperity.” Many countries used tourism to employ people who lost their jobs due to the decline of other economic sectors.
There are quite a few countries in the world that derive the lion's share of their income from tourists. For example, European Monte Carlo and San Marino live this way, with 90% of their budgets coming from tourism revenues. In Cyprus, 25% of the working-age population is employed in tourism. Even in countries with diversified economies, special tourism zones are created. For instance, Los Angeles in the USA transformed from a small town into a huge megacity in less than a century. The reason was its mild climate and proximity to the ocean, which allowed it to first become a popular vacation spot and later build up other economic muscles.
On the other hand, tourism has not only advantages but also disadvantages. In 1899, Norwegian economist Thorstein Veblen, who worked in the USA, published the book “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” in which he first noted the main feature of consumerism: when making purchases, people began to be guided by irrational motives. In particular, they began to buy certain goods to emphasize their belonging to a particular social group. Veblen also paid attention to the emerging tourism. He noted that contemporary Americans and Europeans travel in order to be seen traveling. Leisure became a manifestation of supreme elegance and style.
Famous French philosopher Jean Baudrillard published the book “America” in 1980, based on his observations of the USA. Baudrillard noted that California — a favorite place for beach lovers and surfers — is a new type of civilization of the “resort type”. According to his forecast, the number of places intended primarily for recreation would increase every year. This would lead to an apocalypse, as people would become interested in the “easiness” of life and work.
American historian Hal Rothman, author of the book “The Devil's Bargain,” notes that tourism can revive the economy. However, it leads to serious and often irreversible consequences: damage to the way of life of local residents, loss of political autonomy as they must primarily consider the opinions of travel agencies and tourists, environmental degradation, disappearance of affordable housing in tourist centers, from which local residents suffer, and so on.
Historian Phoebe Kropp, author of the study “Culture and Memory of the Modern American Place,” argues that tourists transform the world to suit their needs, and when tourists change, the world changes as well. She describes a telling metamorphosis that occurred with the California town of Palm Springs. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was a small resort for tuberculosis patients. In the 1950s, it became a favorite winter vacation spot for the elite of the western US states. In the 1960s, a popular resort among Hollywood movie stars. In the 1970s, it transformed again — this time attracting wealthy retirees. In the 1990s, Palm Springs became a vacation spot for gays and lesbians. At the beginning of the 21st century, a new metamorphosis occurred: the local Indian tribe built a casino on its territory, and as a result, Palm Springs began to turn into a gambling center.
Dean MacCannell, author of the book "The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class", believes that the tourist is the apotheosis of modern man. With the advent of tourists, the world has changed dramatically - not externally, but internally. Mountains, rivers, historical monuments, folk customs, and festivals have turned into tourist attractions. Tour operators, wittingly or unwittingly, create a new reality: tourists must be sure that they are seeing the authentic, not the artificial, although, according to MacCannell, in tourist centers there are no longer serious differences between the "real" and the "made for tourists." MacCannell makes a sad conclusion: because more and more places on the planet are turning into resorts and tourist centers, tourism will gradually destroy the unique features of local cultures.
Based on materials from Washington ProFile.