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3100 BCE
The Beginning
A long time ago, people initially moved around for practical reasons, such as looking for food or water, or fleeing natural disasters or enemies. But as early as ancient Egypt and in the other “high” cultures found throughout the continents at the time, people started to travel for religious reasons. They set out on pilgrimages, for example to Mecca, or on journeys to take a ritual bath in the Ganges River. That was the beginning of tourism. -
The "Grand Tour"
Modern tourism can be traced back to the so-called “Grand Tour”, which was an educational journey across Europe. One of the first who embarked on this journey was the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Wladyslaw IV Vasa, also known as Wladislaus Sigismundus, Prince of Poland and Sweden. And yes, the grand tour was just for the super-rich. In 1624, Wladyslaw travelled to Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic. (1) -
Thomas Cook, Founder of the Package Holidays
Thomas Cook is considered the founder of what is known as organized “package” holidays. In the last decades of the 19th century, the upper social classes in England were so wealthy due to the income from the British Empire that they were the first to be able to afford trips to far-flung areas. -
Period: to
A Little Summary
In 1854, the first travel agency opened. In 1869, the first group tour was launched. From 1889, people took holiday cruises on steamships with entertainment. Seaside holidays became popular around 1900 (and continue to be popular to this day). From the 1970s onwards, many in the industrialised countries could finally afford a holiday. The first criticism over this started in the beginning of the 1970s: due to tourism, there were as many tourists in Spain in 1973 as there were inhabitants. -
The Start of Modern Tourism
Poor or even normal people had neither the money nor the time to go on a holiday. However, that started to change at the end of the 19th century. Around 1880, employees in Europe and North America were granted their first work-free days besides Sundays and the mostly Christian holidays, such as Easter or Christmas. These extra work-free days were usually unpaid in the beginning. Since most people didn´t have the money for travel, this led to trips into the surroundings rather than travelling. -
Tourism Today
In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, 1.5 billion tourist arrivals were recorded around the world, a 4% increase compared to 2018's figures. The most visited countries in 2019 were France with 89 million tourists, followed by Spain with 83 million tourists and the United States with 80 million tourists. China and Italy sit at fourth and fifth places, respectively, with 63 million tourists in China and 62 million tourists in Italy. -
Most Visited Tourist Attractions
And what are the most visited tourist attractions worldwide? According to a recent research from TripAdvisor, these are the top five: the Colosseum (Italy), the Louvre (France), the Vatican, the Statue of Liberty (USA), the Eiffel Tower (France).