1.

1 INTRODUCTION Tourism is primarily about human activity which involves travel from an
originating area to a destination for pleasure or business purposes. The concept
embraces cul- tural, economic and social exchange processes. These elemeñts are
inextricably bound together in a mesh of activity which we refer to as travel and tourism.
Furthernmore, writers often refer to tourism within the context of an origin-destination
matrix. Pearce, for example, in referring to Thurot's multiple origin-destination model
comments:
Tourism is thus a multi-faceted activity and a geographically complex one as different
services are sought and supplied at different stages from the origin to destination.
Moreover, in any country or region there is likely to be a number of origins and
destinations, With most places having both generating (origin) and receiving
(destination) functions. (Pearce, 1989, p. 2)

Few have offereda holistic explanation of the phenomenon. Krippendorf (1987), in his
seminal work The Holidaymakers, explores a multiplicity of factors which mioht explain why
tourism, as an activity in society, 1S increasing. He investigates changina values which favour
travel, such as the desire or people to escape the surroundings of urban areas, He also
examines the pull tactors which encourage visitors to travel t places. Invariably, most studies
set out to explain the symbiotic relationshin hot originating areas and destinations. Ihis 1s
the essence of tourism marketing: the attraction of a potential Visitor from a generating
area to a receiving Every area has some tourism potential, if only for welcoming friends and
relatives o veen visitor from a generating area to a receiving destination or

as a consequence of trading or social activities. Some areas, however, have significant

appeal which makes them primary destinations for a number of generating areas. One
classic example is the Canary Islands which have an all year appeal to colder, urban
generating areas of northern Europe. The transit route in this instance happens to be a four
to five hour flight. Leiper first developed a model in 1979 (which he then updated in 1990)
to explain the relationship between the generating and destination areas by way of a transit
route or region. Figure 1.1 adopts a similar approach to Leiper but stresses both internal
and two way flows between regions as characterized by such a tourism system. The
expression of these internal or localized markets is important in terms of volume if not
value. Uruguay's tourism base is a prime example. It is domin- ated by short stay visitors
from neighbouring Argentina, accounting for as much as 85 per cent of all trips. More
affluent residents of Buenos Aires fly or take the boat for the short trip (four to five hours) to
the beautiful beaches at Punta del Este by way of Montevideo.
1.1.1 Tourism definitions The issue of definition is an interesting
one. It has taken several decades to achieve agreement
between governments as to which categories of travellers or
visitors should be included in the definition of tourism. There
is also still a question of the validity of statistical
comparisons, because governments do not collect statistics
for the same reasons, nor in a similar manner. The World
Tourism Organization has, however, presenteda definition
which is both workable and which has gained acceptance on
a global basis. It is outlined in Figure 1.2.cv
.

In recent years the day excursionist or day visitor has been included in the statis tics. Day
visits clearly make up an important sector of the tourism business in many economies. But
here too there are definitional issues. Practitioners have attempted to standardize the
definition of the day excursionist (or day visitor) to afford comparison but there are,
however, variations. For example, a day visit in Canada is classified as a trip of over 50 miles
in each direction. In the UK, in comparison, a day visit is One which is of a duration of over
three hours or more but not involving an overnight stay. Of all of the working definitions of
tourism proffered, such as Burkhart and Medlik (1989: 42), or Middleton (1994: 8-9), the one
presented by Mill and Morrison (1992: