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Tourism takes many forms, each with unique characteristics, motivations and impacts. This review session will help you consolidate your understanding of the main tourism types you need to know for your iGCSE Travel & Tourism examination.
Key Definitions:
Leisure tourism involves travel for recreational, holiday, or visiting friends and relatives (VFR) purposes. It's the most common form of tourism globally.
Key characteristics:
Example: A family from Manchester spending two weeks at a beach resort in Spain during the summer holidays.
Business tourism involves travel for work-related purposes, including meetings, conferences, exhibitions and trade fairs.
Key characteristics:
Example: A marketing executive attending a three-day industry conference in Birmingham, staying in a city centre hotel.
Special interest tourism involves travel focused on particular activities, interests, or destinations. These niche markets are growing as tourists seek more authentic and personalised experiences.
Travel motivated by interest in the history, heritage, arts and culture of a destination.
Example: Visiting the British Museum in London or Edinburgh Festival.
Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people.
Example: Wildlife watching in the Scottish Highlands with a conservation focus.
Travel involving physical activity, cultural exchange, or activities with a perceived risk.
Example: Rock climbing in the Peak District or white-water rafting in Wales.
These growing sectors reflect changing motivations for travel, with tourists increasingly seeking self-improvement and wellbeing during their trips.
Travel specifically for health treatments, medical procedures, or wellness experiences.
Key types:
Factors driving growth: Lower costs abroad, waiting lists in home country, availability of treatments, combining treatment with holiday.
Travel primarily for learning experiences, including language courses, study tours and school trips.
Key types:
Benefits: Cultural exchange, language acquisition, practical learning experiences.
Dark tourism involves visiting sites associated with death, disaster, or suffering. Examples include:
While controversial, dark tourism can provide important historical education and commemoration when managed sensitively and respectfully.
Tourism can also be categorised by whether it crosses national borders:
Travel within one's own country of residence.
Key features:
Example: A family from London visiting the Lake District for a week's holiday.
Travel that crosses national borders.
Key features:
Example: British tourists visiting Spain for a two-week summer holiday.
Regardless of the type of tourism, sustainability has become a critical consideration in tourism development.
Sustainable tourism aims to minimise negative impacts while maximising benefits for:
Conserving natural resources, minimising pollution and protecting biodiversity.
Example: Limiting visitor numbers to fragile ecosystems like the New Forest.
Respecting local cultures, involving residents in decision-making and ensuring benefits reach local people.
Example: Community-owned tourism enterprises in the Scottish Highlands.
Creating stable employment, supporting local businesses and ensuring long-term economic viability.
Example: Farm diversification into tourism in Wales to provide additional income streams.
The Lake District National Park in Cumbria demonstrates multiple tourism types in one destination:
The region faces challenges balancing tourism development with conservation, managing visitor numbers during peak seasons and ensuring tourism benefits local communities year-round.
Sustainable initiatives include promoting public transport through integrated passes, supporting local food producers and developing low-impact accommodation options.
When preparing for your iGCSE assessment on tourism types, remember to:
Remember that exam questions might ask you to: