Man basic instinct is to travel. With the passage of time the aim of travelling changed. Man used to travel in search of food or shelter before, but now man travel for recreation purpose also. Travel industry is expanding rapidly around the world. The global growth of tourism has attracted the attention of many countries. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. Tourism can be domestic or international. It is usually for recreation, leisure, religious, family or business purposes, usually for a limited time period. According to estimates international tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of 4%.
Overview
Tourism industry is one of the most important industries of any economy. It is growing at increasing rate. It is a source of income for many countries. Tourism brings in large amounts of revenue into a local economy in the form of payment of goods and services needed by tourists in the form of foreign currency. Tourism helps different nation to promote their culture, language, mode of living etc at international platform. International tourism helps to strengthen the bond of friendship and co operation. At the same time tourism also had negative impact on the environment. Tourists can disturb the ecological balance of nature. To attract visitors many nations are clearing lands to construct tourist accommodation.Many tourists do not observe the sanctity of local people, place or local environment.
Types Of Tourism
- Adventure tourism-Adventure tourism means visiting an area or a region which is almost unaffected by human impact, involves new, interesting and exciting experiences; undertaking of risk, requires physical efforts and discovering new things. Examples of adventure tourism are skydiving, paragliding, mountain biking, trekking, climbing, caving, snowboarding etc.
- Culture tourism-Culture tourism has been popular since time immemorial. In the ordinary language culture means the art, customs, ideas etc of a nation, people or group. Visiting the places to explore the culture of that place is called culture tourism.
- Medical tourism-.When people travel to another country for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment in that country, it is known as medical tourism. Medical tourism is also known as Health tourism, medical travel or global healthcare. Some may travel due to non-availability of medical surgeon, for dental care, genetic disorders, derma therapy, heart surgery, orthopedic surgery, Ayurvedic surgery etc.
- Eco tourism– it may be defined as travelling to the natural places with a responsibility to conserve the nature and not affecting and the well being of indigenous people. It has the potential of being used as a sustainable development tools.
- Wildlife tourism-Touring to the natural habitat of wild animals is known as wildlife tourism. It involves watching wild animals in their natural habitat. It also includes interaction with wildlife and taking photographs. It is closely linked to eco tourism and sustainable tourism. The main aim is to have an understanding of local flora and fauna without harming the natural environment.
There are many other types of tourism such as agro tourism, birth tourism, culinary tourism, religious tourism, eco-tourism, heritage tourism, and religious tourism etc.
Advantages Of Tourism
Growing at a rapid pace tourism industry employs millions of worldwide. It helps us to relax and distress ourselves and say good bye to our hectic life. Tourism helps in the development of economy and contributes to the GDP a country.The local people remains get in touch with the people and country. Tourism gives opportunity to people to interact with various cultures. The revenue earned from tourism can be used for the development of local people. It helps in Preservation of biodiversity and restore balance in local ecosystem and economies through eco tourism. The tourist gets more environments friendly through wildlife tourism. He gets aware of conserving our mother planet earth and how to save human culture and rare species. There are many other benefits of tourism.
Disadvantages Of Tourism
Tourism may cause disturbance in ecological balance of nature. Tourist can cause disturbance to animals in their natural habitat. Damage to wildlife parks is acommon phenomenon. Many tourists do not observe the sanctity of local people, place or local environment. Tourist may litter the environment with wrappers, plastic, bottles, empty tins. Air pollution is common in destination spot due to transportation service sectors. To sum up we can say that tourism is affecting the environment.
Conclusion
The govt. should play an important role in promoting tourism. Proper accommodation facilities should be provided at affordable rates. Infrastructure should be developed. Legal procedure should be liberalized. Guides should be given proper training. Historical sites should be maintained properly to attract visitors. Social media can play a great role in promoting the culture and destination spots at international platform.Tourism is widely accepted as an industry and should be developed.
