History of Tourism

The earliest
forms of leisure tourism can be traced as far back as the Babylonian and
Egyptian empires. A museum of “historic antiquities” was open to the public in
the sixth century BC in Babylon, while the Egyptians held many religious
festivals attracting not only the devout, but many who came to see the famous
buildings and works of art in the cities. The local towns accommodated tourists
by providing services such as: vendors of food and drink, guides, hawkers of
souvenirs, touts and prostitutes. 

From around the
same date, Greek tourists travelled to visit the sites of healing gods. Because
the independent city-states of ancient Greece had no central authority to order
the construction of roads, most of these tourists travelled by water, hence
seaports prospered. 

The lands of the
Mediterranean Sea produced a remarkable evolution in travel. People travel for
trade, commerce, religious purposes, festivals, medical treatment, or education
developed at an early date. 

Guidebooks became
available as early as the fourth century BC, covering a vast area of
destinations, i.e. Athens, Sparta and Troy. Pausanias, a Greek travel writer,
produced a noted “description of Greece” between AD 160 and 180, which, in its
critical evaluation of facilities and destinations, acted as a model for later
writers. Advertisements, in the form of signs directing visitors to wayside
inns, are also known from this period. However, under Romans rule is where
international travel became first important. With no foreign borders between
England and Syria, and with the seas safe from piracy due to the Roman patrols,
conditions favoring travel had arrived. Roman coinage was acceptable
everywhere, and Latin was the common language. Romans travelled to Sicily,
Greece, Rhodes, and Troy, Egypt and from the third century AD, to the Holy
Land. 

Domestic tourism
also flourished within the Roman Empire. Second homes were built by the wealthy
within easy travelling distance...

2000 years Before Christ, in India and
Mesopotamia

Travel for trade was an important feature
since the beginning of civilisation. The port at Lothal was an important centre
of trade between the Indus valley civilisation and the Sumerian civilisation.

600 BC and thereafter

The earliest form of leisure tourism can be
traced as far back as the Babylonian and Egyptian empires. A museum of historic
antiquities was open to the public in Babylon. The Egyptians held many
religious festivals that attracted the devout and many people who thronged to
cities to see famous works of arts and buildings.

In India, as elsewhere, kings travelled for
empire building. The Brahmins and the common people travelled for religious
purposes. Thousands of Brahmins and the common folk thronged Sarnath and
Sravasti to be greeted by the inscrutable smile of the Enlightened One- the
Buddha.

500 BC, the Greek civilisation

The Greek tourists travelled to sites of
healing gods. The Greeks also enjoyed their religious festivals that
increasingly became a pursuit of pleasure, and in particular, sport. Athens had
become an important site for travellers visiting the major sights such as the
Parthenon. Inns were established in large towns and seaports to provide for
travellers' needs. Courtesans were the principal entertainment offered.

  

This era also saw the birth of travel writing. Herodotus was the worlds' first
travel writer. Guidebooks also made their appearance in the fourth century
covering destinations such as Athens, Sparta and Troy. Advertisements in the
way of signs directing people to inns are also known in this period.

The Roman Empire

With no foreign borders between England and
Syria, and with safe seas from piracy due to Roman patrols, the conditions
favouring travel had arrived. First class roads coupled with staging inns
(precursors of modern motels) promoted the growth of travel. Romans travelled
to Sicily, Greece, Rhodes, Troy and Egypt. From 300 AD travel to the Holy Land
also became very popular. The Romans introduced their guidebooks (itineraria),
listing hotels with symbols to identify quality.

Second homes were built by the rich near Rome,
occupied primarily during springtime social season. The most fashionable
resorts were found around Bay of Naples. Naples attracted the retired and the
intellectuals, Cumae attracted the fashionable while Baiae attracted the down
market tourist, becoming noted for its rowdiness, drunkenness and all- night
singing.

Travel and Tourism were to never attain a
similar status until the modern times.

In the Middle Ages

Travel became difficult and dangerous as
people travelled for business or for a sense of obligation and duty.

Adventurers sought fame and fortune through
travel. The Europeans tried to discover a sea route to India for trade purposes
and in this fashion discovered America and explored parts of Africa. Strolling
players and minstrels made their living by performing as they travelled.
Missionaries, saints, etc. travelled to spread the sacred word.

Leisure travel in India was introduced by the
Mughals. The Mughal kings built luxurious palaces and enchanting gardens at
places of natural and scenic beauty (for example Jehangir travelled to Kashmir
drawn by its beauty.

Travel for empire building and pilgrimage was
a regular feature.

The Grand Tour

From the early seventeenth century, a new form
of tourism was developed as a direct outcome of the Renaissance. Under the
reign of Elizabeth 1, young men seeking positions at court were encouraged to
travel to continent to finish their education. Later, it became customary
for education of gentleman to be completed by a 'Grand Tour' accompanied by a
tutor and lasting for three or more years. While ostensibly educational, the
pleasure seeking men travelled to enjoy life and culture of Paris, Venice or
Florence. By the end of eighteenth century, the custom had become
institutionalised in the gentry. Gradually pleasure travel displaced
educational travel. The advent of Napoleonic wars inhibited travel for around
30 years and led to the decline of the custom of the Grand Tour.

The development of the spas

The spas grew in popularity in the seventeenth
century in Britain and a little later in the European Continent as awareness
about the therapeutic qualities of mineral water increased. Taking the cure in the spa rapidly acquired the nature of a
status symbol. The resorts changed in character as pleasure became the
motivation of visits. They became an important centre of social life for the
high society.

In the nineteenth century they were gradually
replaced by the seaside resort.

The sun, sand and sea resorts

The sea water became associated with health
benefits. The earliest visitors therefore drank it and did not bathe in it. By
the early eighteenth century, small fishing resorts sprung up in England for
visitors who drank and immersed themselves in sea water. With the overcrowding
of inland spas, the new sea side resorts grew in popularity. The introduction
of steamboat services in 19th century introduced more resorts in the circuit.
The seaside resort gradually became a social meeting point

Role of the industrial revolution in
promoting travel in the west

 The rapid urbanisation due to
industrialisation led to mass immigration in cities. These people were lured
into travel to escape their environment to places of natural beauty, often to
the countryside they had come from change of routine from a physically and
psychologically stressful jobs to a leisurely pace in countryside.

Highlights of travel in the nineteenth
century 

·       
Advent of railway initially catalysed business travel and later leisure travel.
Gradually special trains were chartered to only take leisure travel to their
destinations.

·       
Package tours organised by entrepreneurs such as Thomas Cook.

·       
The European countries indulged in a lot of business travel often to their
colonies to buy raw material and sell finished goods.

·       
The invention of photography acted as a status-enhancing tool and promoted
overseas travel.

·       
The formation of first hotel chains; pioneered by the railway companies who
established great railway terminus hotels.

·       
Seaside resorts began to develop different images as for day-trippers, elite,
for gambling.

·       
Other types of destinations-ski resorts, hill stations, mountaineering spots
etc.

·       
The technological development in steamships promoted travel between North
America and Europe.

·       
The Suez Canal opened direct sea routes to India and the Far East.

·       
The cult of the guidebook followed the development of photography.

Tourism in the Twentieth Century

The First World War gave first hand experience
of countries and aroused a sense of curiosity about international travel among
less well off sector for the first time. The large scale of migration to the US
meant a lot of travel across the Atlantic. Private motoring began to encourage
domestic travel in Europe and the west.  The sea side resort became annual
family holiday destination in Britain and increased in popularity in other
countries of the west. Hotels proliferated in these destinations.

The birth of air travel and after

The wars increased interest in international
travel. This interest was given the shape of mass tourism by the aviation
industry. The surplus of aircrafts and growth of private airlines aided the
expansion of air travel. The aircraft had become comfortable, faster and
steadily cheaper for overseas travel. With the introduction of Boeing 707 jet
in 1958, the age of air travel for the masses had arrived. The beginning of
chartered flights boosted the package tour market and led to the establishment
of organised mass tourism. The Boeing 747, a 400 seat craft, brought the cost
of travel down sharply. The seaside resorts in the Mediterranean, North Africa
and the Caribbean were the initial hot spots of mass tourism.

A corresponding growth in hotel industry led
to the establishment of world-wide chains. Tourism also began to diversify as
people began to flock alternative destinations in the 70s. Nepal and India
received a throng of tourists lured by Hare Krishna movement and transcendental
meditation. The beginning of individual travel in a significant volume only
occurred in the 80s. Air travel also led to a continuous growth in
business travel especially with the emergence of the MNCs.