Key Terms in Culture, Tourism, and Technology

Vocabulary flashcards defining key terms related to cultural geography, tourism, media, and cybersecurity.

Alternative fact (or alt fact)

A statement that can be proved to be false.

Cultural homogenization

The process of reduction in cultural diversity through the diffusion of popular culture.

Custom

The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.

Cyber espionage

The unauthorized and clandestine deployment of a computer virus to observe or destroy data in the computer systems of government agencies and large corporations.

Ecotourism

Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of local people, and involves interpretation and education.

Esports

Sports competitions using video games.

Fake news

A false report disseminated under the guise of an authentic news report, created to maliciously spread misinformation and mislead consumers of the content.

Folk culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Franchise

An agreement between a corporation and a business owner to market that corporation's products in a local area.

Habit

A repetitive act performed by a particular individual.

Malware (or malicious software)

Hostile or intrusive computer software designed to cause intentional harm.

Overtourism

A phenomenon whereby certain places of interest are visited by excessive numbers of tourists, causing undesirable effects for the places visited.

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits and seeks similar material goods despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Ransomware (or cryptoviral extortion)

A form of malware that encrypts the victim's computer files, making them inaccessible, until a ransom is paid to decrypt them.

Responsible tourism

Tourism that minimizes negative economic, environmental, and social impacts and generates greater benefits for local people.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Terroir

The contribution of a location's distinctive environment to the way food produced there tastes.

Trolling

The practice of posting deliberately inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in social media in order to provoke quarrels or otherwise upset people.

Voluntourism

A form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for a nonprofit organization.

Web application attack

An exploitation of a vulnerability in the coding of an app in order to gain access to a database.