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There are many definitions of Tourism. You can anyway state that tourism is travelling for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited".
There are seven tourism products to distinguish: transport, accommodations, attractions, shopping, travel service, restaurant and recreation. This module is targeting at the tourism accommodation in rural areas.
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2008, there were over 922 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 1.9% as compared to 2007. International tourism receipts grew to US$944 billion (euro 642 billion) in 2008, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 1.8%. So tourism is still a growing business despite the economic recession.
Tourism growth affects not only the activities directly linked to tourism (mainly in the private sector), but also other sectors such as transport. It allows jobs to be created for various levels of workers, both skilled and unskilled, and for those often marginalized in the labor market such as a middle aged women. See the EU LdV project TOUREAST for more information about the topic of middle aged women.
The opportunities presented by tourism must therefore be seized. However, it must also be ensured that this sector does not develop in an uncontrolled manner threatening the natural environment and the social and cultural life of the country. The uncontrolled development of the sector risks its future being limited in the long term.
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1.1. Tourism, Regional Tourism and Rural Tourism | 1.1.2. Regional Tourism |
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