TLDR;
This video explores the multifaceted world of tourism, defining it through various lenses—general, UN, and geographical—and highlighting its explosive growth, particularly in France. It categorizes tourism into types based on location (urban, rural, coastal, etc.), activities (sports, culture, business, etc.), and travel styles (luxury, mass, sustainable, etc.), emphasizing the diversification of tourism and its significant economic impact.
- Tourism has grown exponentially since 1950, with France being a top destination due to its diverse offerings.
- Different forms of tourism can be categorized by location, activities, and ways of traveling.
- The diversification of tourism is key to a location's ability to attract tourists year-round.
Introduction to Tourism [0:00]
The video introduces the topic of tourism, noting its significant growth since 1950, despite a recent crisis. The number of tourists has surged from 25 million in 1950 to 1.2 billion in 2016. The video aims to explore different forms of tourism, a relevant topic for both 4th and 3rd-grade studies, especially when discussing France's productive spaces, where tourism is a major economic contributor.
Defining Tourism [1:10]
The video defines tourism using three sources: the Larousse dictionary, the United Nations (UN), and the Géoconfluence geography resource. According to Larousse, tourism is the act of traveling and visiting a site for pleasure, encompassing activities and techniques for travel and leisure. The UN defines tourism as any travel outside one's usual residence for at least one night but no more than one year, for any purpose including business, vacation, or health. Géoconfluence, drawing from Knafou and Stock (2003), describes tourism as a system of actors, places, and practices that allow individuals recreation through travel and temporary habitation outside their daily environments.
The Growth of Tourism [2:43]
Tourism has exploded in recent decades, with a notable drop in 2020-2021 due to the pandemic, bringing numbers back to the levels of the 1990s. However, there was a rebound in 2022, reaching levels similar to 2010, and projections for 2023 estimate a return to pre-COVID figures of around a billion tourists. In 2018, France hosted 90 million international tourists, positioning it among the top 5 global tourist destinations. France's strength in tourism lies in its ability to offer a wide range of activities and experiences.
Diversification of Tourism [3:53]
France's tourism sector is strong because of its diversification, offering a variety of activities throughout the year. Diversification in tourism means a territory can offer a wide range of tourist activities year-round. An example is mountain tourism, which includes winter sports and summer activities like mountain biking and hiking. France can provide numerous activities across all seasons, making it a popular destination.
Types of Tourism Based on Location [4:24]
The video categorizes tourism into types based on location, activities, and ways of traveling. Location-based tourism includes urban tourism (visiting cities), rural tourism (exploring rural areas), mountain tourism (activities in mountainous regions), and coastal or balnear tourism (traveling to coastal areas). Coastal tourism can overlap with urban tourism, such as in Barcelona. Other location-based types include visits to amusement parks. For example, Disneyland Paris attracts more tourists than the Louvre. Additionally, there's memorial tourism (visiting historical sites like Oradour-sur-Glane or Auschwitz) and religious tourism (making pilgrimages to religious sites).
Types of Tourism Based on Activities [6:30]
Activity-based tourism includes sports tourism, cultural tourism (exploring heritage), and artistic tourism (visiting cities for their artistic offerings, such as the Louvre or the Pompidou Center in Paris). Business tourism involves conventions and seminars in different locations, while educational tourism focuses on pursuing education abroad, like studying English in England. Medical tourism involves traveling to other countries for medical procedures that are too expensive in one's home country, such as going to South Korea for eye surgery. Event-based tourism is tied to major events like the Olympic Games or concerts. Lastly, gastronomic tourism involves traveling to experience a country's cuisine, which is very popular in France with its wine, cheese, and bread.
Types of Tourism Based on Ways of Traveling [8:46]
Travel style-based tourism includes blue tourism (traveling by boat or cruise), luxury tourism (involving private jets, high-end shopping, and expensive restaurants), and mass tourism (visiting popular, affordable locations that attract large crowds). Sustainable tourism focuses on respecting the three pillars of sustainable development. Online tourism involves using platforms like Skyscanner, Airbnb, and Booking to easily book travel. There are many other ways to travel, such as backpacking, van travel or caravan travel. There are as many forms of travel as there are tourists, and these forms often mix and coexist.
