DEFINITION Of TOURISM And TRAVEL Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which imply tourism expenditure. As such, tourism has implications on the economy, on the natural and built environment, on the local population at the destination and on the tourists themselves. Due to these multiple impacts, the wide range and variety of production factors required to produce those goods and services acquired by visitors, and the wide spectrum of stakeholders involved or affected by tourism, there is a need for a holistic approach to tourism development, management and monitoring. This approach is strongly recommended in order to formulate and implement national and local tourism policies as well as the necessary international agreements or other processes in respect of tourism. Business visitor A business visitor is a visitor whose main purpose for a tourism trip corresponds to the business and professional category. Country of reference The country of reference refers to the country for which the measurement is done. As a general observation, it should be noted that in the International Recommendations 2008: (a) The term “country” can be transposed to a different geographical level using the term “place” instead (either a region, municipality or other subnational geographic location); (b) The term “long-term” is used as the equivalent of a year or more and “short-term” as less than a year. Country of residence The country of residence of a household is determined according to the centre of predominant economic interest of its members. If a person resides (or intends to reside) for more than one year in a given country and has there his/her centre of economic interest (for example, where the predominant amount of time is spent), he/she is considered as a resident of this country. Destination (main destination) of a trip The main destination of a tourism trip is defined as the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip. See also purpose of a tourism trip. Domestic tourism Comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference, either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip. Economic analysis Tourism generates directly and indirectly an increase in economic activity in the places visited (and beyond), mainly due to demand for goods and services that need to be produced and provided. In the economic analysis of tourism, one may distinguish between tourism’s ‘economic contribution’ which refers to the direct effect of tourism and is measurable by means of the TSA, and tourism’s ‘economic impact’ which is a much broader concept encapsulating the direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism and which must be estimated by applying models. Economic impact studies aim to quantify economic benefits, that is, the net increase in the wealth of residents resulting from tourism, measured in monetary terms, over and above the levels that would prevail in its absence. Employment in tourism industries Employment in tourism industries may be measured as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in any of their jobs, as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in their main job, as a count of the jobs in tourism industries, or as full-time equivalent figures. Excursionist (or same-day visitor) A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) if his/her trip does not include an overnight stay. Forms of tourism There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism. Inbound tourism Comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip. Internal tourism Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism plus inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips. International tourism International tourism comprises inbound tourism plus outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips and the activities of non-resident visitors within the country of reference on inbound tourism trips. Meetings industry To highlight purposes relevant to the meetings industry, if a trip’s main purpose is business/professional, it can be further subdivided into “attending meetings, conferences or congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions” and “other business and professional purposes”. The term meetings industry is preferred by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Reed Travel over the acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) which does not recognize the industrial nature of such activities.