What is the history of tourism?

Question

uhmm.. the evolution of tourism?

Answer 1

In the Middle Ages, few people traveled unless they had to.  Travel was slow, difficult, and often dangerous.  There were religious pilgrimages to shrines, which became some of the first tourist attractions.

17th-18th century - Leisure travel begins when Northern European aristocrats send their sons to Italy and Greece on a "Grand Tour" to learn about the culture.

19th century - railroads and steamships made travel much faster, and the rise of an urban upper-middle class with disposable income made travel accessible to large numbers of people for the first time.  The French Riviera and mountain resorts in the Alps become developed around this time.

1930's - commercial air travel begins, but is a luxury only for the very rich.

1950's - the development of large commercial jets makes travel much more affordable.  The middle-class in America can go to Florida, Hawaii, and the Caribbean, and the middle-class in Europe can go to the Spanish coast and Greek Islands.

1960's - Backpacking begins as hippies travel to places like Guatemala, Morocco, India, and Bali, attempting to travel cheaply for long periods of time and get closer to the local culture.

1980's - Large scale tourism from Japan begins.

1990's - Formerly closed or difficult to access, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union become open to mass tourism.

2000's - Almost every country has some form of tourist industry.  Growing awareness of problems resulting from mass tourism, including the environmental impact of aviation and of tourist development, and tourism's impact on local cultures.  Rising fuel prices are making long-distance travel more expensive, but in the short-term at least tourist numbers continue to rise worldwide.