Depth Study 1 - Tourism

#6 Describe the commodity, goods or service (Tourism)

• Tourism is a service which allows people to experience the history, environment and cultures of other places.

#6 Facts to describe Tourism

1. According to UN tourism data, approximately 1.4 billion international tourists arrivals were recorded globally in 2025

2. France is the country that consistently ranks as the world’s most visited destination based on annual international tourist arrivals.

3. Approximately 55% of trips is undertaken primarily for leisure, recreation, and holidays.

4. USA is the nation that produces the highest umber of international tourists

5. China is the nation that leads global tourism expenditure, spending the highest total amount annually on international travel.

6. 1 in 10 of all jobs worldwide is generated by the travel and tourism industry.

7. Approximately 10% of overall global GDP is directly and indirectly contributed by the global travel and tourism sector

8. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are the type of economy that relies on tourism for the highest percentage share of its overall GDP

9. Visiting friends and relatives, health, and religion are the second-largest purpose accounts for roughly 27% to 30% of total international travel trips worldwide.

10. In international tourism, the length of stay overnight (at least 24 hours/ 1 night) distinguishes a ‘tourist’ from an ‘excursionist’ (same-day visitor)

11. Europe is the global region that captures the highest market share of total international tourist arrivals globally

12. The Maldives is the country that has the biggest GDP contribution from tourism

13. Sydney Harbour is Australia’s most visited tourist destination

14. Tourism contributes $78 billion, which is roughly 2.9% to Australia’s GDP

#7 Describe the process of diffusion of Tourism and its spatial distribution

1. Capability: Ease Of Travel

• The physical, financial, and regulatory freedom that allows people to move between places. It is driven by infrastructure like budget airlines, highways, and open border agreements

2. Expansion: The Crowd Effect

• A pattern of geographic spread where a central tourist hub becomes overcrowded and expensive, forcing the excess flow of visitors to ripple outward into the immediate neighbouring towns and surrounding areas.

3. Contagious: Trending

• The phenomenon where global tourist flows are pulled toward a highly specific site because it has achieved universal recognition as a symbol of a country or culture.

#7 The Spatial Distribution of Tourism

• Core to Periphery Tourism

  • Intra-Regional = 80% of tourism occurs in the same region

  • Inter-Regional= Tourism (long haul) between 3 core regions

  • Outer-Regional= Northern Hemisphere travel to warm places in the Southern Hemisphere (Inter-Hemispherical tourism)

• Core Tourism Regions:

  • Europe

  • North-America

  • Asia-Pacific

• The Reasons For This Pattern:

  • Wealth

  • Connectivity

  • Freedom

#8 Describe the changes occurring in the spatial distribution of the production and consumption of Tourism