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6000 BCE
Prehistory.
They were settling and the lack of some products they needed made them travel to other places to get the products they didn’t have. They traveled foot. -
1500 BCE
Ancient Egypt
They based their economy on agriculture and trades, which were usually carried by boat on the Nile River. The first pharaon took a cruise along the Nile, whith the purpose of achieving peace and see the lands of East Africa. -
1100 BCE
Ancient Greece.
The first Olympic Games were held, which were athletic competitions in honor of the gods. From the 5th century BC. C. the first visits to monuments such as those of the Acropolis of Athens were made, because people traveled there to watch the games. -
753 BCE
Ancient Rome. (The actual start of tourism).
Each city had services for the population, but they also attracted tourists. The Romans were the first to develop tourism, where in most cases it was for pleasure and they did it in their free time. They had lots of free time. Most of the time tourism was practiced by nobles to see the temples, attend the Olympics, the monuments of Egypt and the markets of Asia. Sometimes they hired local guides that explained the areas with their monuments, festivities… -
476
The Middle Age.
Traveling from one place to another for tourism was only to the reach of minorities, but there were also research and pleasure trips in the Middle Ages by writers who did not belong to the aristocracy. These were trips in which the human being relied on his own forces and, sometimes , they also counted with the help of horses, camels, dromedaries, elephants, carts, sleighs and other devices and boats . -
1492
The Modern Age.
The sector experienced a strong boost caused by the appearance of inns and hotels. These overnight accommodations allowed people to rest in places other than their place of origin. During this time, tourism with the purposes of fun and rest started to get popular. -
The Contemporary Age.
The spas, mountains and beaches were the most choosed destinations. In 185 the first travel agency “Thomas Cook & Son” was created. Henry Wells and William Fargo created the “American Express” agency as a transportation company which later became one of the largest agencies in the world, they introduced financing systems, credit cards and traveler's checks. -
The year of the pandemic.
Global tourism recorded its worst year in 2020, with international arrivals falling by 74%, according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization. Destinations around the world received one billion less international arrivals in 2020 than the previous year. -
2023 tourism.
In 2023, Spain surpasses the record of tourists of 2019, with more than 84 million visitors. Looking to 2024, the growth is expected to continue. France was the most visited country, followed closely by Spain , and then, the United States.