escape
What Is the Tourism Industry?
Tourism is generally regarded as traveling to a location away from your regular domicile or residence for business or pleasure purposes. However, there are quite specific definitions: traveling to another environment for at least 24 hours, but for no longer than one year, for purposes related to business or leisure.
A tourist is generally only classed as such if they stay in overnight accommodation situated in the location they travel to. By its very nature, tourism involves a round trip rather than travel in one direction only. Considering this, the tourism industry refers to all aspects of the service industry that cater to tourists.
What Is the Travel Industry?
Travel refers to the act of moving from one location to another. This can refer to long-distance, short-distance, overseas, domestic, and various other forms. Crucially, travel also includes both round trips and one-way journeys, and it covers a wide variety of different travel purposes rather than business or pleasure, solely. Traveling is focused more toward participating in cultural and social-ecominic activities which embrace the foreign-national traditions of the regions visited.
The travel industry, therefore, refers to the numerous aspects of the wider service industry which cater to the needs and desires of those who have traveled from one part of the world to another.
Characteristic Inclusion
While neither is “good” or “bad”, inherently, each possess different characteristics that result in completely different experiences while venturing throughout the world.
Generally, Tourists are the ones who usually plan their tour whenever they had ample time and funding. Tourists often refer to these travels as a vacation or a holiday. This category of travelers, traveling is for leisure and a short term break. The tourists often lose the essence of what traveling is.
The Traveler is ready for the trip throughout the year. Taking leace may not be an issue. The traveler can take an expedition on any day, setting up a goal emough in advance to experience the real feel of their journey.
Tourists are highly visible, while Travelers blend into the culture. Tourists tend to draw attention to themselves by wearing clothing dissimilar to the local culture, carrying “selfie-sticks”, clogging public access areas and constantly planting their face in a map or GPS application.
Travelers do their best to blend in with the locals and present themselves as knowledgable on their whereabouts and their destination (even if they are a bit unsure). They dress the part, make attempts to adhere to the social norms and adapt to their environment where ever they are.
When it comes to food, there is also a distinct difference. Tourists generally eat only foods with which they are familiar, excluding a cultural experience by avoiding local cuisines and patronizing international chains. The Traveler knows that food has always been deeply seated in every culture and are willing to operate outside their comfort zone. The traveler will often be open to eating local cuisine and tast the country’s culture.
DISCOVERING CULTURES
Travel is often far from a vacation. For those who have experienced traveling and vacationing, there is common knowledge the two are completely different. We consider vacationing as a vacation is going somewhere with the intention of skiing, surfing, exploring theme park, or lying on a beach. Those would be destinations with a focus on relaxation and fun. A vacation is an opportunity to go somewhere and relax.
Travel isn’t usually easy. Travel is discovering cultures, expanding horizons, staying in hostels and backpacking. It involves challenges. It is nothing short of work. Travel is an adventure that leaves a lasting sense of awe. It is anything other than relaxing.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMANITARIAN
Travel began at a very young age and as a solo traveler. My travels began as young as twelve years old, escaping on evenings and weekends into the most frigid winter snow and blistering summer heat. Travel was out of necessity. As aging came along, as did the distances traveled. To this day, decades later, there has never been a time which a vacation has been experienced. Nearly all those who participate with Eccentric Bohemian are travelers, few are or have experienced vacations. We find travel to be more fulfilling, volunteering for work projects, supporting humanitarian causes, and exchanging teaching and learning opportunities. We will never be found on a beach lounging around or cozy in a cabin engaged in small talk. We invest our time in ourselves, our fellow humans, and our environment. We rarely have time to imbibe a vacation and have the intent of being fulfilled and fulfilling others throughout our journeys.
With this approach we have found that every place we have visited has been a favorite for one or more reasons. This is also one of the reasons we choose staying at hostels as opposed to hotels or rental real estate. Hostels are where we have met other travelers who share similar ideals and interests. Those who we have met at hostels have an entirely different perspective on life as a whole and are aligned with reflection and introspection.
