The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism is a very old activity as far as I know & the present means of transportation made it easier. Whatever is the aim of a tourist, this activity broadens the horizons of the human being. I have noticed during my visits to several countries, that the "mobile" persons I met were more open-minded than those who were "stationary" in their homelands.

Hello, 

some interesting ideas about tourism and human psychology and development of 

experience societies you will find here:

Tommy D. Andersson, 2007,  The Tourist in the Experience Economy, In: Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism , Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 46–58, 

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/sjht20

Maybe not exactly an answer for your question but quite close and for me very interesting. 

Best for Christmas!

Waldemar 

The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism is a very old activity as far as I know & the present means of transportation made it easier. Whatever is the aim of a tourist, this activity broadens the horizons of the human being. I have noticed during my visits to several countries, that the "mobile" persons I met were more open-minded than those who were "stationary" in their homelands.

Tourism has many advantages and impacts on both the tourist and the country; visiting more places and meeting more people improves understanding to other cultures.

It is a by-product of evolutionary human history which wants him to explore.

Dear Waldemar/All,

I discovered a new journal.

Cheers to all,

Marcel

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes.

Tourism has implications on the economy, on the natural and built environment, on the local population at the destination and on the tourists themselves. Due to these multiple impacts, the wide range and variety of production factors required to produce those goods and services acquired by visitors, and the wide spectrum of stakeholders involved or affected by tourism, there is a need for a holistic approach to tourism development, management and monitoring.

Impacts of tourism are very important, but what about the biology-based drivers and their (evolutionary) origins? People had to start to move because of necessity (e.g. as in season-related animal migration to find food), but people also move even when they don't really need it from a resource-based point of view.

Tourism is in the human psyche and goes right back to the very beginning of human evolution. The desire to discover tracks back to our earliest ancestors and that inmate curiosity is the reason we survived as a species.

It was not merely a search for food that drove early humans to leave their familiar and possible secure home to seek new horizons it was humanity's desire to expand their experiences and abstract thought.  The Makapansgat pebble was carried more than 20 miles by an imaginative Australopithecine around 2.5 million years ago and is the earliest example of manuport.  The individual that carried that rock was doing more than looking for food.  The pebble and the journey meant something to them. 

This is why we stepped out of Africa and 100,000 years later stepped onto the moon.  That is why we are the dominant species on the planet and why a weak, slow and otherwise feeble primate survived against what should have been all odds.

We have nearly run out of new frontiers to cross but to quote Captain James T. Kirk, we still desire "to boldly go where no man has gone before".  

If this thread was on popular music then a worthy song here might be Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice". As humans we have BOTH the anxiety regarding being alone, which means that we crowd ourselves at large resorts and big hotels, pretty much all at the same time, AND the need to be alone sometimes, which makes us evolve in some examples into polar explorers and to go to that ice hotel in the north of Sweden. The speculations made in this thread are quite un-scientific, I would say. Which does NOT mean that it is a bad topic for discussion! :-)

Michael!

All science begins with speculation.  It is only where it remains with speculation that it is a problem.  Science and tourism share many features, a need to discover new experiences for instance.  Even crowding together on a beach in sunny Spain can give someone a totally new perspective.

All foragers are nomadic and remember, we were foragers until the development of agriculture gave rise to settlements. The need to explore is surely genetic, since it encourages us to look for new territory, new threat perceptions, new potential food sources, new relationships, all of which would add up to survival advantage. 

To my mind, therefore, the need to travel is an intrinsic part of human nature and is one of the reasons for our evolutionary success, for we are not bound to any ecological niche but have managed to colonise the entire gamut of terrains that exist on the planet, even if some of the 'colonies' are only justified by perceived threats from our own species.

Today, the need for economically unjustified travel is called tourism. Certainly, it is fuelled by curiosity, but then curiosity is what distinguishes us from plants! :)

I agree with dear @Peter, the need to travel is an intrinsic part of human nature whatever the reasons are.

Dear @Marcel,tourism can be recognized as long as people have travelled! "Recreational and educational travel already existed in the classical world and, even earlier, in Egypt under the Pharaohs. In the latter, there is evidence of journeys emanating from a luxury lifestyle and the search for amusement, experience and relaxation. The privileged groups of the population cultivated the first journeys for pleasure..."

I do like to travel a lot, but I can not afford!

http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/europe-on-the-road/the-history-of-tourism

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/600773/tourism

I recommend a great book. It is called The Mediaeval Traveller by Norbert Ohler.  It describes the huge number of people who were on the road during the middle ages and dispels the myth that during that period few people travelled.  

David Bibby's superb book 4000 Years Ago also describes the human desire to travel and seek out new experience.

Going back further in time David Lewis Williams and David Pearce describe the human drive to explore in the book Inside the Neolithic Mind.  Humans have always had a desire to explore and not just for the sake of finding food or expanding trade.  The seasonal aggregations of humans in the Neolithic and probably earlier involved travel for the purpose of trade and of ritual.  Our holiday destinations today fulfil the same purpose as illustrated above by Ljubomir in his inclusion of the Britannica definition. 

"relaxation, and pleasure, while making use of the commercial provision of services".

Perhaps some people like to travel whereas other people don't like to travel? Perhaps there is a link with genetics as indicated above? The genetic basis of migration/dispersal/ mobility has been investigated in vertebrate wildlife.

Do feelings related to traveling (more or less sedentary) has a genetic basis? Does it express geographic variation, e.g. insular selecting for sedentary versus mainland/continental populations selecting for mobility? Is there a link between the non-imposed willingness to travel and the presence of  peculiar genes/gene complexes, e.g. as reflected in personality profiles willing to travel more or less?

What about expensive tourism on the moon or mars? Why visiting places that do not match the beauty of Earth? 

It is a question of prestige and competition among billionaire, extravagance tourism! Dear @Marcel, it is a good reading attached! Interesting space tourism predictions!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2579462/Space-tourism-holidays-Mars-Former-astronaut-Jon-McBride-makes-predictions-future-travel.html

I currently apply dream tourism. Fantastic architecture last night.

Does dream tourism equal eco certified nature tourism?

Humans were initially nomadic, moving with crops and prey. One might classify nomadism as enforced physical and mental training. There are ancient trade routes indicating both needs, salt, and decoration, shells and feathers. The practice of 'journeymen' receiving training and learning in another region is another example of travel for mental and physical training. 

Travel appears an inherent (evolutionary?) human characteristic.

Dreaming could be an expression of the need to move about.

ECO tourism is a politically correct name for an ancient practice. I did a lot of ECO touring before I knew what to call it. I often toured without a paid guide.

Could this be an explanation for Restless Leg Syndrome?

Dreams cannot supplant being there, nor can virtual touring. Some botanical and zoological parks may approach the true experience, but once you leave the park the rest of the experience is lost. Travel is a 24-hr, multi-day experience. Living in another local is a total experience. 

Work travel is a partial experience because of the focus. A vacation could be focused, but best when not. 

For a clear and exhaustive exposition on the concept of tourism and its development is useful as it is defined: "Tourism is the complex of events and organizations related to travel and accommodation made for recreation or education" (Devoto, Oils, 2011). At the center of the tourist experience is the "tourist" defined by the World Tourism (World Tourism Organization) as one who travels in countries other than the habitual residence and outside of their daily environment, for a period of at least one night but not more than one year and whose usual purpose is different from the exercise of any remunerated activity within the country visited. Appears correct, then, as easily comes to mind, associate the word tourism with the word "travel" and observe the evolution of the same and of the multiple reasons that in the history of humanity have led to the trip: cultural, religious, recreational, health.

There is uncertainty in trying to answer the question of whether tourism is a discipline of science. Just five years ago, John Tribe in a famous essay is placed precisely this question, giving a negative answer: "Tourism is found not to be discipline" (Tribe, 2004, p. 48). According to Tribe tourism, from an epistemological point of view, it's just a field of study, albeit an important, popular and widespread. I believe the answer to Tribe correct, but we think to ask whether the studies on tourism is a discipline is an epistemological misplaced. The proof lies in the fact that in the literature we find supporters of every possible answer: if Leiper argues that tourism is a discipline of science (Leiper, 1981, 2000; but see also Ryan, 1997), which Hoerner (2000) attributes the name tourismology, Gunn instead ranking as a field of study (Gunn, 1987).

If there is no agreement among experts, what I can tell? Most of the time I was a tourist in my spare time during working trips (International Meetings). Certainly I did not have energizing effects or sexual stimuli, but only I was so tired.

If tourism is defined as one aspect of human behaviour, it can be studied like any other aspect of behaviour, i.e. pluridisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, transdisciplinary....

If tourism is defined as one aspect of a research discipline (e.g. Economy, Demography, Genetics, Medicine, Demography, Mathematics....), it can be studied like any other aspect of a research discipline, i.e. pluridisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, transdisciplinary....

If tourism is defined as a research discipline (e.g. Tourism with its specific Journals), it can be studied like any other research discipline, i.e. pluridisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, transdisciplinary....

Humans versus Wildlife

With the modern techniques available, humans currently are able to move in any direction and towards (nearly) any place. Wildlife apparently have more fixed migration routes than humans. Why? For instance, does wildlife (e.g. migrating birds) move to avoid/minimize 'jetlag effects' due to sudden shifts in perceive photoperiod regimes?

The need to encounter new environments in the absence of resource constraints

Why do people (always) want to encounter new environments unrelated to the availability of local resources (e.g. food), as expressed for instance in touristic activities or other forms of exploration behaviour? Is this for instance a consequence of individual brains willing to avoid mental habituation or individual abilities to perceive more or less environmental detail? People having lower abilities to perceive environmental detail are they more willing to move to encounter new perceived stimuli or environments?

            + What is the evolutionary origin of the psychological drive to move in the absence of resource constraints? Is there a relationship between movement and different forms of training? For instance, is there a relationship between functional brain activity training and the willingness to encounter new stimuli or new environments? Does the brain regulate or adjust its own organisation via behavioural change resulting in encounters of new environment-related stimuli? For instance, brain organisation up-dates may require behavioural movement resulting in the perception of new stimuli impacting on changes in neural development and neuron networks? 

            + What is the role of environmental constraints concerning the place of living in (temporal) movements unrelated to the availability of resources? Is perceived environmental quality not only expressed via food or water, but also via other factors influencing mental state (e.g. pollution, noise, social pressures, etc...)? How do we estimate 'mental state' of wildlife inducing movements accepting for instance that environmental ecologists are not (always) wildlife psychologists?

I support the idea of ECO tourist mentioned by dear @Kamal; actually, tourism should be nature friendly.

Dear Marcel,

I completely agree with your point of view that, with the modern techniques available, humans currently are able to move in any direction and towards (nearly) any place

Dear Mahfuz,

This includes not only physical movement, but also mental movement

Yes, Dear Marcel. It includes mental movement.

I've been going through this thread with great interest,

Thank you, dear Marcel!

Tourism is the most importasnt economical activity in my country. (actually, Portugal's Economy depends on it, be it good or bad)

There are so many different fields in tourism. We have a good amount of thermal water tourists. We have cultural interest sites, and also routes for religious tourism. 

In the South of the country, in the sunny Algarve, many locals live exclusively on touristic activities, and only work for the warmest sunny seasons of the year, and then rest for 6 months, with the money they earned. This accounts for a sort of schyzoid, on-and-off population, with very peculiar characteristics.(a great sociological case-study!) 

Tourism: local population size and composition expresses huge temporal/seasonal variation versus Non-tourism: local population size and composition is stable? Would it select for different personality profiles in host populations?  

Here in the Himalaya, tourism is seasonal, as Maria describes it... the main difference between people dependent on seasonal tourism and other people is the need of the former to amass double the amount of money in half the amount of time, compared to others. This results in the development of sharp practices which, under different circumstances, they might not condone. What they do during their 'free time' depends upon personal inclination: it might be the time, as in the development of cuckoo clocks, or partaking astonishing quantities of hallucinogens, as in some parts of the Himalaya and Central Asia.

Dear Peter! What a marvelous job you have, collecting butterflies in the Himalayas !!! (I went through your profile, and It looked to me, as a sort of dream-come-true, for any person who appreciates nature or biology... Nice to meet you!.

Thank you, Maria. Yes, I suppose I do have an interesting job profile and sometimes I even envy myself. However, I have not managed to convince my wife, who often feels that I should go out and earn some money instead of trying to solve the problems of the universe that no one else seems to be interested in....

Thank you very much for your appreciation! :)

Dear all, 

Humans have been travelling trough their history, wether out of curiosity or because of depleted lands (Out of Africa). On the move has evolutionary gains of being able to change your surroundings actively. Another gain from travelling could result in enriching the gene pool of your tribe: hunter-gatherer bands were often unrelated, according to recent research. Archaeologist Clive Gamble, in his excellent book 'Palaeolitic Societies of Europe' gives evidence of extensive travelling and trade trade over several thousands of kilometers in our distant history. Other archaeologists like Steve Mithen ('The prehistory of the mind') and Corballis and Lea ('The descent of mind'), argue travel and trade is associated with cooperation, advanced tool making and intelligence.

I agree with dr, Matar: there is ample archaelogical evidence tourism broadens your mind!

Peer van der Helm

At a personal level, every human being is driven by two questions - Where has he come from?; and Where will he go? And in a quest to find these answers, he travels - either physically or mentally. Physically, to different places and mentally, to different planes of existence.

Can't say whether 'tourism' is the right word to explain this movement. Rather 'wandering' seems to be better. 'Tourism' is more about visiting places we have read about or heard of. On the other hand, wandering is more driven by curiosity.

I don't think that the habit of collecting curio/or visiting a place out of curiosity is a product of evolution. One reason is that there is some truth in the proverbial, "curiosity kills the cat", and evolution is founded on the principle of survival not risk-taking. The existence of such a phenomenon must therefore be relegated to the artifact of intelligence. Only an intelligent being would want to spend previous energy being curious because that curiosity may mean the difference between survival or extinction

(it is also very hard to cultivate intelligence if you are constantly looking over your back or busy hunting for your next meal- although some may say this is another form of "intelligence"). The venturers in Charles Plog's tourist psychographics help keep the travel industry going, the conservatives help oil the lucrative machinery once its potential has been scouted out by the venturers/risk-takers/curious bunch.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001088040181020X