Tourism facts for kids

A tourist

Tourism means people traveling for fun. It includes activities such as sightseeing and camping. People who travel for fun are called "tourists". Places where many tourists stay are called "resorts". Places that people go to for tourism are called tourist destinations.

There are a lot of reasons why people travel for fun:

• Some people travel to learn about the history or culture of a city or country, or learn about the people who live there, or their ancestors.
• People from cold places sometimes like to relax in the sun. Many people from the north of Europe or North America travel to warmer places and visit beaches.
• Some people travel to do an activity which they cannot do at home. There are lots of ski resorts in the mountains of Switzerland and Austria, and seaside resorts in Greece and other warm countries.
• People sometimes visit friends and family in another city or country.
• Finally, some people enjoy a change in scenery. City people go to forests or deserts, and vice versa.

The tourism industry

The tourism industry has different parts. Some of these are:

• Transport; such as airlines, railways, boats, and road transport.
• Places to stay; such as hotels, camping grounds or parks, youth hostels, and bed and breakfasts.
• Food and drink; such as restaurants, cafes and bars.

• Mass tourism means travel by groups on scheduled tours. Mass tourism can reduce costs for people who wish to travel.

Damage tourism can bring

Tourism can bring damage to the local area, and/or the tourists. Litter, scuba-diving and deforestation are problems for popular places such as St. Lucia, Hawaii and others. Scuba-diving can damage coral reefs which are home to hundreds of species of sea animals. Tourism can change culture when people learn each others’ ways, and certain local traditions are being put aside for tourists.

Related pages

• Tourist attraction

Images for kids

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  [Times Square]] is the hub of the Broadway theatre district and a major cultural venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The pedestrian intersection also have one of the highest annual attendance-rates of any tourist attraction in the world, estimated at 60 million.

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  Backpacker tourism]] in Vienna.

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  1922 postcard of tourists in the High Tatras, Slovakia

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  One of the main attractions of northern Lapland in terms of tourism is the opportunity to locate bright Aurora Borealis in the sky. The picture was taken from Ruka, Finland in 2011.

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  Barcola, a holiday resort in antiquity as well as in the 19th century with the Miramare Castle and later

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  A Japanese tourist consulting a tour guide and a guide book from Akizato Ritō's Miyako meisho zue (1787)

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  Prince Ladislaus Sigismund of Poland visiting Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest in Brussels in 1624

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  Englishman in the Campagna by Carl Spitzweg (c. 1845)

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  Panels from the Thomas Cook Building in Leicester, displaying excursions offered by Thomas Cook

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  Strandkorb chairs on Usedom Island, Germany. Not only does the service sector grow because of tourism, but also local manufacturers (like those producing the strandkorb chairs), retailers, the real-estate sector and the general image of a location can benefit.

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  Durban is well known for its beachfront and "Golden Mile" promenade.

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  Blue Shield Fact Finding Mission in Egypt

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  Prinzessin Victoria Luise, the first cruise ship of the world, launched in June 1900 in Hamburg (Germany)

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  Reisepläne (Travel plans) by Adolph Menzel (1875)

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  Tourists at the Mediterranean Coast of Barcelona, 2007

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  The Sanctuary of Christ the King, in Almada, has become one of the places most visited for religious tourism.

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  An example of a tourist destination in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

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  A destination hotel in Germany: Yacht Harbour Residence in Rostock, Mecklenburg

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  Friendship Force visitors from Indonesia meeting their hosts in Hartwell, Georgia, United States

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  A tourism conference underway

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  The Skull Chapel in Kudowa-Zdrój, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, is an example of an attraction for dark tourism. Its interior walls, ceiling and foundations are adorned by human remains. It is the only such monument in Poland, and one of six in Europe.

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  Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina

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  St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the Italian city of Rome, one of the largest religious tourism sites in the world

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  SpaceShipTwo, a major project in space tourism

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  Cultural tourism: tourists outside a Geghard monastery in Armenia, 2015

See also

In Spanish: Turismo para niños